One for the Money

My son isn't speaking to me
Because I'm doing a show
For the money

He says his father wouldn't have done that
When his father ran this theater
We didn't do shows
For the money

I told him that when his father was alive
We had to whore ourselves out
To stay in the black
And even then sometimes we didn't

That's right
I used the term 'whore ourselves out'
When speaking to my son

If he wants to act like Mr. Businessman
Then he's going to hear how business talks

This theater has been in the family
For twenty years

When my husband and I opened it
We used to have to walk through the audience
During the summer shows
Fanning them
So they wouldn't pass out

We couldn't afford air conditioning

My son, Bryce, is like my husband
All about the art

My son, Tanner, is like me
Realistic

Bryce calls us 'the management'

I let it pass
Until last week

Last week I lost it

Scott died suddenly last fall
And for awhile
I contemplated just shutting the place down
But he wouldn't have wanted that

So I agreed to make running the place
A family affair

Big mistake

Tanner wanted us to start doing musicals
And Bryce said if he ever walked into the theater
And saw someone doing a tap dance
He'd take an axe to the lighting board

He sounds just like his father

So I scrapped the idea
Of a democracy
And Mama took the throne

In terms of queens and popularity
I'd say I'm a little more Victoria
Than I am Elizabeth

My first big task
Was picking next season

And I decided to open
With a mainstream favorite

Bryce nearly ripped me apart

'Theater is not done for money,' he said
And I said, 'Honey, EVERYTHING is done for money.'

I admit
I'm not an artist
I'm a mother

When you're a mother
You need to feed your family
And when theater feeds your family
Theater needs to do
Whatever it needs to do
To put something in the pot

And when Scott died
I decided I was sick
Of working just for pride

I wanted to relax
I wanted to go on a vacation
I wanted to buy ridiculously expensive shoes

And I wanted to see people leaving the theater
Smiling and laughing
And not looking like
We'd just performed grotesque sexual acts
In front of them

Because in some shows...we did

My husband wouldn't have approved
Of the changes I'm making
That's true

He cared about the family
But he didn't care about the money
And he didn't see that caring about the family
MEANT caring about the money

And like it or not
He cared about the theater more

. . . . .

Maybe I should just close the place
But the boys need it
It reminds them of their Dad

And I still like thinking of those summers
Running around with fans
Trying to cool down our V.I.P. subscribers

All three of them

So we'll do one for the money
And then...

Then we'll see about the art

Until then
The show goes on