I have three different versions of this song (Williamstown Previews, Broadway before it was cut and Benanti’s Subculture) and all are slightly different, but considering the Broadway/Benanti ones came after, I assume they’re what JRB considers final. So here’s what I believe the lyrics are from those and I’ve added the Williamstown differences in brackets for you. There may be some errors - feel free to correct me!
He Forgave Me
Chiara
I told Ferruccio I was sorry with a voice like melted butter
I swore I’d never even notice any other boy again
And do you think he was a man and threw me back into the gutter?
No, Francesca
He forgave me
I kissed Ferruccio and I still could feel my lover’s tongue caress me
I washed ten kilos worth of laundry, cursing all these stupid men
I made him gnocchi and reluctantly allowed him to undress me
So Francesca
He forgave me
Men are weak, men are blind
Men believe whatever foolishness we feed them
If we ever should let on that we don’t need them
They crumble into dust
Men are scared and inclined
To allow a woman anything she wishes
Just as long as we don’t make them do the dishes
Or ask them to adjust
And in a snap I’m back, Ferrucio’s wife and Angelino’s mother
“But will I lie to him again?”, I think it isn’t if, but when
I’m sure he’s tortured in his soul that I surrender to another
Oh Francesca
Heaven save me
I betrayed him
And I shamed him
Still Francesca
He forgave me
Chiara & Francesca
What we do, what we take (Men are just little boys)
Is a substitute for what we once expected (They start crying when their favorite toys get busted)
A connection when our hopes are disconnected (Immature and far from ready to be trusted)
In a way that we survive (No brains above their necks)
Let it grow, let it break (They can sure make some noise)
And return to our accepted definitions (Make him feel like a confessor and your savior)
For a moment we were more than our relations (Let him justify his own obscene behavior)
We’ve got to feel alive (So he can write the cheques)
Chiara
You think that marriage is uncompromised, a sacrament, anointed
But what was passionate goes past within a year, or five, or ten
You’re so concerned with being perfect that you’re always disappointed
He won’t notice (So your actions)
Or outlive you (Will outlive you)
Chiara & Francesca
He’ll be hurt (They’ll be hurt)
He’ll be lost (They’ll be lost)
Chiara
But you know
He’ll forgive you
GIF/GRAPHIC TAG GAME
→ MUSICAL THEATRE + FAVORITE SHOW (tagged by lilycravens)
I TAG: birdlaces and desireearmfeldt
A selection of Tony Award Winner Kelli O’Hara’s credits:
Francesca Johnson (The Bridges of Madison County 2014) • Nellie Forbush (South Pacific 2008) • Clara Johnson (The Light in the Piazza 2005) • Anna Leonowens (The King and I 2015) • Cathy Whitaker (Far From Heaven 2013) • Babe Williams (The Pajama Game 2006) • Billie Bendix (Nice Work If You Can Get It 2012) • Julie Jordan (Carousel 2013)
“On behalf of our director Bartlett Sher, we want to say something — we want to say thank you for coming to help us send this out into the world, because this is by no means going into the ground.
For all those of you who don’t know how it is to be in theatre or what it is to make a show, we work really hard together to do the emotional part, and it’s so heavy for us; and every person in this cast, this crew, the men and the women in the front and the back, all on the stage, the house staff, everybody has done this; and I know I can speak for them all when I say it’s been a labor of love. This is something that we’ve believed in from the very beginning.
I thought today wasn’t going to go over very well, and then I realized that I could do this show because I felt the exact same way every single night of performing it as I felt tonight…which is absolute and complete gratitude; and I will never feel any other way, and I have never worked with more sincere, uncynical, beautifully talented people in my entire life and I don’t know that I will again.”
- Kelli O’Hara after the final performance of The Bridges of Madison County at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, May 18th, 2014.
I’m a really quiet person usually and I’m finding it hard not to scream it from the rooftops, which is saying something, but because I love you all and want to share good news with you, I thought I’d tell you that I HAVE BEEN CAST AS THE BAKER’S WIFE IN MY UNIVERSITY’S PRODUCTION OF INTO THE WOODS!!!!!!!!@$!%^!*#!#@^!!# The news came literally mid-show of my second last show as Florinda in another production, and needless to say it was very hard to act as a disgruntled blind girl for the rest of the run. I AM SO EXCITED it is literally a dream come true (only a few months after being depressed about not performing at all and contemplating what my life would be like if I never performed again). This role is one of those ones I have always wanted to tick off my list (which is daunting as I have to live up to my own ridiculously high expectations, that should be fun) but for now, I haven’t been able to stop smiling and cannot wait to get this show on the road. LET THE MOMENT GO, DON’T FORGET IT FOR A MOMENT THOUGH.
“It’s about choices. And to make choices, and let them be the most positive thing they can for you even if they lead in a direction you didn’t plan on."
The Bridges of Madison County opened on Broadway at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, February 20th, 2014.
I very rarely post photos of myself on here (namely because I don’t really like to), but I realised I had never really spoken about my trip to New York this past December/January, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to share some highlights with you all!!
So there you have it - some highlights from my trip (there may be more to come). It really was the trip of a lifetime and I can’t wait to go back and do it all again!
When a girl grows up in Napoli,
she is more or less a target…
(by request of the #bridgekids)
