[Intro - spoken over music, CHORUS in unison, conspiratorial whisper] **ALL:** *Shhh... look who’s here...* [Verse 1 - ENSEMBLE, pointillistic, trading lines, waltz tempo] **WAITRESS** *(polishing glasses)*: Every morning at eight, like a clock he walks in **BOOKSELLER** *(newspaper down)*: Same grey trench coat, same tired skin **STUDENT #1** *(over coffee)*: Takes the corner table, back to the wall **PRIEST** *(stirring sugar)*: Like he’s waiting for judgement... or a fall **OLD MAN** *(chess board)*: Nobody knows his name, but we call him... **ALL** *(whispered)*: *Mister Silver...* [Pre-Chorus - JAZZ TRIO starts vamping, tension builds] **FLOWER GIRL**: And every morning at eight-oh-five... **ARTIST** *(sketching)*: She blows in like springtime, barely alive **STUDENT #2**: Nineteen, ribbons, poems in her hands **WAITRESS**: And his eyes... oh, his eyes... they understand **ALL** *(leaning in to audience)*: Something’s gonna happen on rue de Seine... [Chorus - FULL COMPANY, big Broadway chanson, orchestral swell] **ALL**: It’s eight o’clock on rue de Seine The rain is just the same But something’s different in the air We all can feel the flame! He’s fifty-three and married, She’s nineteen and unreal, And we’re the ones who have to watch A love that cannot heal! So order your coffee, take your seat, Pretend you don’t see... The saddest, truest thing in Paris: What never can be! On rue de Seine! [Verse 2 - ENSEMBLE, faster, more urgent, staging: they move tables like chess pieces] **BOOKSELLER**: She doesn’t know he reads her lines **PRIEST**: He doesn’t know she writes his name **STUDENT #1**: We’ve watched this dance for thirteen days **OLD MAN**: And every day it’s just the same **WAITRESS** *(to audience)*: Until today... today she ran late... **FLOWER GIRL**: Until today... he dropped his plate... **ARTIST**: Until today... their hands... **ALL** *(gasp, freeze, then release)*: ...touched! [Bridge - spoken/sung, BRECHTIAN, they break the 4th wall] **JAZZ SINGER** *(steps forward)*: We’re not the story. We’re just the frame. **WAITRESS**: The sugar in the coffee, the wind in the rain. **PRIEST**: We take no sides. We place no blame. **BOOKSELLER**: We just watch Paris play its game. **STUDENT #2** *(to us)*: So if you’re here for happy-ever-after... **OLD MAN**: You picked the wrong street. **ALL**: But if you’re here for truth... and heartbreak... and grace... **WAITRESS**: Bienvenue. [Final Chorus - FULL COMPANY + ORCHESTRA, modulates up, tragic & thrilling] **ALL**: It’s eight o’clock on rue de Seine The stage is set, the die is cast! He’ll speak her name, she’ll light his fire, And nothing, nothing, nothing can last! She’s spring and he’s winter, And we’re all the snow, Watching two people melt For one Sunday... or so... So hold your breath and hold your wine, The bell’s about to ring... She’s walking in... he’s looking up... **ALL** *(whispered, lights focus on HER entering, HIM seeing her)*: ...and so it begins... On rue de Seine!
