The Opera

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## Natasha's encounter with Moscow society;

Marya takes her guests Natasha and Sonya into the world of Moscow, to the Opera. Natasha is fascinated and meets a mysterious new friend.

MARYA D.
The opera, the opera!
Hold up your dresses and jump out quickly

SERVANT
Ladies
Welcome to the opera

SONYA
Bare arms and shoulders
Brilliant uniforms
Pearls and silk
Glittering before our eyes
Feminine envy
A whole crowd of memories
Desires and emotions
Natasha, smooth your gown

CHORUS
Natasha, smooth your gown

NATASHA
Looking in the glass
I see I am pretty
Not a girl anymore
I've never felt like this before

Hundreds of eyes
Looking at my bare arms
My bare arms and neck
My bare arms and shoulders

CHORUS
The two remarkably pretty girls
Had not been seen in Moscow in many years
Everybody knew vaguely of Natasha's engagement
One of the finest matches in all of Russia

SONYA
Look, there's Alexey, home from the war at last

MARYA D.
He has changed
Dear me, Michael Kirilovich has grown still stouter!

CHORUS
There's Boris and Julie, engaged
And Anna Mikhaylovna, what a headdress she has on!

HELENE
And is that Natasha

CHORUS
And is that Natasha
And is that Natasha

NATASHA
They are looking at me
They are talking about me!
They all like me so much
The women envious
The men calming their jealousy

SERVANT
Announcing Fedya Dolokhov
He dominates Moscow's most brilliant young men
He stands in full view
Well aware he's attracting attention
Yet as much as ease as though he were in his own room

MARYA D.
Dolokhov was in the Caucasus
And he killed the Shah's brother!
Now all the Moscow ladies are mad about him
Dolokhov the assassin!

SERVANT
Announcing Countess Helene Bezukhova
The queen of society
Beautiful, barely clothed
Plump bare shoulders, and much exposed neck
Round which she wears a double string of pearls

CHORUS
Helene and Dolokhov, arm in arm
Pierre the cuckold sits at home
Pierre the cuckold sits at home
The poor man

PIERRE
No, I am enjoying myself at home this evening

NATASHA
Oh, that neck
Oh, those pearls

HELENE
So beautiful
What a charming young girl
So enchanting

NATASHA
I blush scarlet

MARYA D.
Countess Bezukhova, Pierre's wife
Have you been here long?
And where is dear Pierre?
He never used to forget us

NATASHA
Yes Pierre, that good man
A little sad, a little stout
He must come visit us

HELENE
I will implore

MARYA D.
There's a woman one should stay far away from

Now Natasha
The curtain rises

CHORUS
The curtain rises

NATASHA
Everyone in the boxes and the stalls became silent
All the men, old and young, in uniform and evening dress
All the women in the hall
With gems on their bare flesh
Turned their whole attention
With curiosity to the stage

(Two singers perform a scene from an avant-garde opera.
It is grotesque and amazing.)

NATASHA
Grotesque and amazing
I cannot follow the opera
Or even listen to the music
I see painted cardboard
Queerly dressed actors
Moving and singing so strangely in the lights
So false and unnatural
I'm ashamed and amused
And everyone else seems oblivious
Yes everyone feigns delight

SONYA
And feeling the flood of brilliant lights,
The warm perfumed air heated by the crowd,
Natasha little by little
Began to pass into a state of intoxication

(Natasha joins the singers in the opera.)

NATASHA
Oh I'd tickle you all if I could
Oh I'd tickle you all if I could

SONYA
And then
A rush of cold air

NATASHA & SONYA
An exceptionally handsome man walked in
With a confident yet courteous air

HELENE
This was Helene's brother
Anatole Kuragin
He moved with a swagger
Which would have been ridiculous
Had he not been so good-looking
And though it was the middle of the act
He walked right down the aisle
His sword and spurs jangling
His handsome perfumed head held high
And he looked right at Natasha

ANATOLE
Mais Charmante

HELENE
And he took his place in the front row next to Dolokhov

NATASHA
How handsome he is
How intoxicating

SONYA
In the second act there were tombstones
The moon over the footlights
Horns and contrabass
Black cloaks and daggers in their hands

NATASHA
I turn around again and our eyes meet
He gazes straight into my eyes
He is talking about me

SONYA
Candles burning
A crimson throne
The Tsar wails a mournful tune
They all wave their arms
And everybody cheers
“Bravo, bravo!”

NATASHA
Everytime I look at him
He's looking at me
Everytime I look at him
He's looking at me
Everytime I look at him

SONYA
A terrible noise, a clutter in the crowd
A storm of chromatic scales and diminished sevenths
With rapturous faces everyone was shouting
Screaming and shouting, “Bravo!”

CHORUS
Bravo, bravo
Bravo, bravo
Bravo, bravo

SONYA
And then
A rush of cole air
And Anatole entered the box

**Everyone shall fall under Big Cheese's rule.**