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Synopsis

Act I Agnes and Michael are young, wellborn, in love and about to leave for their church wedding. They sing of memories and fears (All The Dearly Beloved) and offer both a prayer for and a toast to their future – Together Forever. After the ceremony they rhapsodize on the meaning of marriage – I Do!I Do!. In their wedding clothes, they arrive in their bedroom at home. Their big, imposing, turn-of-the-century, carved oak, four-poster bed, a symbolic character in the story of their marriage, enters center stage. Michael proves to Agnes he has not had too much champagne, and she changes into her pink and silken nightie and he into his striped, flannel nightshirt. In bed (they get there with some embarrassment but no reticence) Michael is anxious to sleep, but Agnes is the curious bride – Goodnight. While she sleeps, Michael sings and dances a review of his happy, marital state – I Love My Wife. Time passes. Michael sleeps while Agnes turns to her domestic chores, and also, unabashedly, turns her profile to the audience. Yes, she is with child – Something Has Happened. Michael wakes, petulantly ringing a cowbell to summon Agnes, he wants attention; he is a writer too exercised to write, a nervous, incipient father, obsessed with labor pains. They realize how very much they are now dependent on each other, and how much in love – My Cup Runneth Over. Agnes’ anticipated labor pains arrive and Michael flies for the doctor, but not before putting the empty crib by the bed. His deportment is that of the so-typical “father during birth.” It’s a boy. Agnes and Michael are parents (Love Isn’t Everything) and soon another child arrives – a girl. Michael has become so successful a writer that a formal dinner is being given in his honor. Agnes and Michael are dressing themselves resplendently when bickerings come to a head – Nobody’s Perfect. They return from the dinner furious with each other. To Agnes’s sarcastic “You were the life of the party!” he answers, “If you don’t enjoy playing second fiddle you’d better leave the band and form one of your own.” Tempers flare . . . and Michael admits to an extra-marital excursion. Agnes explodes bitterly and Michael explains – A Well Known Fact. He retires to the library for the night. Agnes has worked herself into a state of mad self-assertion. If women her age go to pot, as Michael has sung, then in her case, “the pot’s going to be hot.” She materializes the bird of paradise hat she has been hiding for years, for now is certainly the time to wear it – Flaming Agnes. Michael returns to find her still be-hatted. The tirade continues, and when he reminds her the house is his, she packs a bag and grabs the checkbook (The Honeymoon Is Over), but he runs screaming after her and carries her back. Act II Agnes and Michael, in their pajamas and wearing festive paper hats and holding noisemakers, wonder if they really should have decided to spend New Year’s Eve at home by themselves – Where Are The Snows? They accept and conquer their domestic and emotional crisis and they dream aloud about the future – When The Kids Get Married. But Michael is not happy the day daughter Elizabeth gets married – The Father Of The Bride; and after the wedding Agnes goes into a tailspin of depression – What Is A Woman? Michael refutes her expressions of emptiness and she realizes she is confused – Someone Needs Me. Actually, he has been worried about her and plotting to make her happier. It is time, they agree, to accept their approaching old age and appreciate their good fortune – Roll Up The Ribbons. So, gracefully, they become “their age.” They close their trunks and prepare to leave their precious bed to the new, young owners of This House, solving their only remaining problem, the disposal of their “God Is Love” tiny pillow, by leaving it behind along with a bottle of champagne.

Credits

She (Agnes): Mary Martin He (Michael): Robert Preston