"The Theatre" lyrics - PETULA CLARK

It's a funny thing,
The theatre,
When you stop and think of it.
The comedy, the drama,
When your're striving for the hit.

I mean, the idea of an audience
And an actor on the stage.
Well, don't you think it's rather
Funny
Watching someone earn his wage?

There's something about the theatre
Though I'm not sure what it is.
It's surely not the money
Or the thing they call "show biz".

We hear about the magic of the theatre,
Fantasy
Quite unlike the movies or the telly.
I agree.

I love going to the theatre,
Sitting right there, where you are
Watching my favorite actor
Or the birth of a new star.

All those magic evenings
With Lloyd-Webber or the Bard,
An old play by whoever,
Something new by Tom Stoppard.

And the musicals of Bernstein, Hammerstein,
And Sondheim are so sublime
That sometimes I wish they'd never end.

The best way to go to the theatre
Is right there, through the stage door.
I leave the world behind me
Like a mantle on the floor.
And, oh, the sweet relief to know
At least for the next few hours
I'll know the plot
And in these times that's quite a lot.

And everybody knows their lines
And who they are and where they stand.
It's grand.

Unlike the world outside these doors.
The homeless that the world ignores,
The violence, the poverty,
The things we cannot help but see,
Including our own inadequacy
To somehow make it right.

I can't forget the things I've seen
And all the places that I've been.

I can't forget,
Some haunt me yet.
The millions of refugees
And my anger will not let me sleep
And when my grief becomes too deep, I sing.
Yeah, I sing.

I sing along with friends,
We sing and try to make amends
For some of life's insanity
And in the name of charity
We beg for money on the stage.
We smile and try to hide our rage.
We try to help.
I know that you do too.
Most of us do.

So, here we are in this hallowed place,
Sharing a special time and space.
I hadn't realized before,
But maybe that's what the theatre is for,
To bring us together,
To make us see that the magic
Is not just some fantasy.
Though we all need some fantasy.
No, the magic is here, in you, in me.
It's a funny thing, the theatre.