[FRANK, spoken]
It's Frank DiLella with New York One's On Stage, and we're here for the opening night of Eleanor!, the Eleanor Roosevelt musical
[BARRY, spoken]
Let's talk process
(sung)
When I'm in character, I go insane
I stagger, I stammer, I sob
I make the audiences feel my pain
And if they don't leave depressed, then I've not done my job
[DEE DEE]
Each time I find a role like Eleanor
The artist inside of me thrives
I put on that wig and those prosthetic teeth
And know I'm changing lives
By the time I get tuberculosis in Act Two
[BARRY]
Even the people who are dead inside
[BOTH]
Will shout "Bravo!" on cue
[SHELDON, spoken]
The first review is in! The New Jersey Star-Ledger
[DEE DEE, spoken]
Don't tell me, unless it's a rave. Or a mixed positive
[SHELDON, spoken]
It says we're a hit!
[BARRY, spoken]
Oh my God!
(sung)
We're a hit and I think we deserve it!
[DEE DEE]
That's for sure
[BARRY]
Also, it means that this tour de force
Will not be forced to tour
[DEE DEE, spoken]
To Eleanor! May she run for eternity!
[ENSEMBLE]
To Eleanor!
[ALL]
Cheers to a show that's so inspiring
It's almost too much to sit through
And if we've won that might mean one more thing
[BARRY]
That in ten years or so, we'll do Eleanor 2!
[DEE DEE]
I can predict what the reviews will say
Before the next note has arrived
It's ground-breaking
[ENSEMBLE]
Earth-shaking
[BARRY]
Life-affirming
[ENSEMBLE]
Breathtaking
[BARRY and DEE DEE]
Gut-wrenching
[ALL]
Heart-aching
[BARRY and DEE DEE]
In two words, it's history-making
That's why every actor strives
For adulation
And compensation
That comes from nightly
Changing lives
[BARRY, spoken]
It's just what we do