jennifer1128 said: "OMG thank you sooooo much. Do you happen to know where the show takes place? I know the majority is at the Stardust Ballroom but do you know what city/state that is located in?
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I can't remember if an exact setting is specified. As a New Yorker myself at the time, I thought of it taking place in Manhattan, but I suppose it could take place in any large Northeastern city.
But here's the link for the original, TV musical play:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_the_Stardust_Ballroom
It says Bea is a "New York widow", so that would appear to be the locale. Casting Dorothy Loudon and Vincent Gardenia as the leads gave it a "NYC" feel, though that doesn't always mean Manhattan. Definitely urban.
I'm not contradicting the post above that says Bea sings the song "to herself"; but you should take that note in the musical theater sense. The number is a musical soliloquy sung to the theater audience, so we understand it to represent the character's thoughts. But don't turn it inward: Bea is singing/stating her credo and she is absolutely defiant by the end. Remember that her friends and family are all horrified that she has gone from upstanding wife and widow to the mistress of a married man. One has even called her son in from California to "deal" with Bea. So, in one, non-literal sense, she is speaking to all of them as well.
Or to put it another way, the number is Bea's "Rose's Turn", without the over-the-top madness. Her decision is emotional, yes, but in a way it's also rational: half of him is better than nothing at all.
It absolutely stopped the show when I saw it, as it was intended to do. Unfortunately, the 2 hours before it were brilliantly staged but terribly cool relative to what most people expect from a musical. (I never thought watching people dance in a circle was terribly exciting: the center of the energy is in the center of the circle, not directed at the spectator. Watch how DANCING WITH THE STARS cheats out to solve this problem.)
The answers to your questions about time and place are in the synopsis at Tazber's link. Read the last couple of paragraphs.
Updated On: 3/2/16 at 08:46 AM
