William Finn
Prologue: 911 Emergency / I Have So Many Songs
[RHODA]
Gordon! Gordon!

[ENSEMBLE]
911 emergency
Take him down to NYU
Stroke's a possibility

[RHODA]
I should try to locate Roger!

[DR. BERENSTEINER]
Lift him carefully on one, two, three

[ENSEMBLE]
And up!

[RICHARD]
Take the pulse and watch his eyes

[NANCY D.]
Call the Department of Neurology

[RHODA]
I should try to locate his mother
[ENSEMBLE]
Somebody try to locate his mother!

[RICHARD]
When was he last seen eating?

[RHODA]
I don't know!

[NANCY D.]
Hysterics are self-defeating
Don't you know?

[DR. BERENSTEINER/RICHARD/NANCY D.]
Presence of bleeding
Where this whole mess is leading
We cannot say for sure yet

[RHODA]
Roger's sailing near Martha's Vineyard

[NANCY D.]
Patient's name?

[RHODA]
Gordon Schwinn
[NANCY D.]
Are you next of kin?

[RHODA]
I wish! We work together. He's gay

[NANCY D.]
Is he HIV?

[RHODA]
I can't be absolutely sure but I don't think so. No! The answer is no! I think?

[NANCY D.]
First the blood test then EKG

[ENSEMBLE]
And then?

[NANCY D.]
Get a CAT scan and watch his eyes!

[ENSEMBLE]
And then?

[NANCY D.]
Call the Department of Neurology!
[RHODA]
I should try to cancel my meeting

[ENSEMBLE]
And then?

[RHODA]
I should get in touch with his mother!

[ENSEMBLE]
And then?

[RHODA]
I should try to locate Roger!

[GORDON]
All the songs I never wrote
Fizzle and remain
All the songs I did not start
All the rhymes I never made
All the stories I delayed in telling
Are welling up inside my brain
I should explain
I have so many songs!
I have so many songs!
I have so many songs!

[THE MINISTER]
Stories of passion
Stories of friendship
And tales of how romance survives

[GORDON]
I have so many songs!

[THE MINISTER]
Stories of yes-es
Of frogs making messes
And poor, unsuccessful and fat people's lives

[GORDON]
Stories of living

[THE MINISTER]
Stories of living

[GORDON]
Stories of dying

[THE MINISTER]
Stories of dying

[GORDON/THE MINISTER]
And ways we can deal with our fears

[GORDON]
Stories of horses
Parental divorces
And how rich or poor
It's a very small sphere
Where we appear