GYPSY DAWN Act 1 Scene 2

Scene 2

The bedroom of the Princess Maritza. The elaborate bed is horizontally placed downstage right. Upstage are elegant draperies which, when opened, reveal glass doors leading to a terrace. Through the doors we can see another view of the same lush forest. At rise, the strains of "Waters of the Moon" can be faintly heard. MARITZA, a beautiful young woman, sleeps soundly. She resembles Jeanette MacDonald. There is a slight rap at the door. MARITZA does not stir. Then the rap becomes louder. MARITZA stirs, but does not awaken. The door downstage left opens cautiously, and MARIANNE, her maid, enters. She also resembles Jeanette MacDonald.

MARIANNE

Your highness…
(MARITZA still does not awaken.)

MARIANNE

Please, ma'am, you must awaken.

MARITZA

Go away.

MARIANNE

But, your highness, today is the day you must attend the treaty luncheon in Kielbasa. It is a long journey, and you don't want to arrive late.
(MARIANNE pulls open the draperies allowing the soft light of dawn to fill the room. MARITZA stretches and yawns.)
MARITZA Why does Montavia need a treaty with what is barely a tiny dot on the map? What are the Kielbasians going to attack us with? Sausages?

MARIANNE

But your father, the King, is counting on you.

MARITZA

I know. He did the same thing with poor dear Mama when she was alive. He used to send her to all their unimportant principalities, but when it came to Paris or Vienna or Budapest, he was packed a week in advance. What is that?

MARIANNE

What is what, your highness?

MARITZA

That music in the distance.

MARIANNE

It's that noisy gypsy again.

MARITZA

What a lovely melody! And what a lovely voice!

MARIANNE

Oh, mum, all gypsies sing. That's how they distract you while they steal your purse.

MARITZA

I wonder what face goes with that voice.

MARIANNE

Your highness!

MARITZA

A princess can wonder, too, Marianne. And look at that dawn! Isn't it exquisite!

MARIANNE

It's a gypsy dawn.

MARITZA

A gypsy dawn? But you don't trust gypsies. Why do you call it that?

MARIANNE

I don't call it that. The gypsies call it that. Some dawns twinkle across the sky,
Some dawns thunder and jeer;
Some dawns sputter, and some dawns sigh,
And some dawns never appear.
But when you feel the whole world hum,
You know a gypsy dawn has come.

Gypsy dawn,
How strange and magical it feels!
Gypsy dawn
Is in your heart and in your heels.
You long to dance,
You long to glide across the floor.
You want romance,
A love you've never had before.
Gypsy dawn,
It casts a spell upon the dew.
Gypsy dawn,
It brings the thrill of something new.
Then you will know
By the time another dawn shall glow,
Your dream of love will come true.

(The music continues as MARITZA begins to dance about the room, then suddenly she stops. Faintly we hear Nikko's voice picking up the tune.)
MARITZA Marianne, listen! It is he again.

MARIANNE

They have no business being this close to the palace. I'll have the guards destroy the entire camp.

MARITZA

No, I wouldn't hear of it. Hmm. A gypsy dawn, and I must spend the day in Kielbasa.

MARIANNE

Your highness, please. We must hurry. I've laid out your blue for the journey.

MARITZA

I'm not going.

MARIANNE

But, your highness…what will your father say?!

MARITZA

I don't care. I'm not going. You're going.

MARIANNE

Your highness!!!

MARITZA

You and I are exactly the same size. You shall wear my blue and the ostrich hat with the veil. The Kielbasians will never know the difference.

MARIANNE

But what do I know about treaties?

MARITZA

What does anyone know about treaties? No matter what happens, all you do is smile.

MARIANNE

Smile?

MARITZA

(as she begins to dress Marianne in her own clothes) That's all you do is smile.
Smiling is your task.
You charm and you beguile.
Your face becomes a mask.
You rise above it
When the chandelier falls down,
You say, "I love it,"
When they spill gravy on your gown.
And, of course, you have to grin
At the eye that's made of glass,
At the paunch and double chin
And the Duchess who has gas.
Though your corselet unfastens
And you stumble on the tile,
And you're threatened by assassins,
You must smile and smile and smile.

MARIANNE

You make it sound so simple,
But I know not what to say---

MARITZA

Just show your lovely dimple,
They’ll sign their lives away.

For all you do is smile,
Smiling is your job;
You're smiling all the while
At the crowd and at the mob.
Noblesse obliges
Throughout famine and through death,
In wars and sieges,
Or when they've garlic on their breath.
For you always have to beam
At each pompous little twerp
When you see the way they gleam
At a throne they would usurp.
Though the dinner's a disaster
And the conference a sin,
You are made of alabaster
And you grin and grin and grin.

MARIANNE Oh, mum, please. I couldn't!

MARITZA

You not only can, you shall!

MARIANNE

But, mum, what will you do while I'm in Kielbasa?

MARITZA

I? I shall spend one glorious day as an ordinary girl.

MARIANNE

But your highness!

MARITZA

Remember, Marianne. You said it yourself. It's a gypsy dawn.

LIGHTS QUICKLY DIM