3  

 
(Darkness.   Distant   thunder   and   rain.   The   cast   is   revealed   in   mourning   clothes   with  
umbrellas,  facing  upstage.  Mount  Repose  Cemetery,  Haverstraw,  New  York.  April  3,  
1950.  Weill  walks  through  the  mourners  and  speaks  directly  to  the  audience.)  

GREG     It  is  almost  done.  They  have  reached  the  K’riah,  the  ritual  rending  of  the  garments,  
symbolizing   the   tear   that   is   in   the   mourner’s   heart.   Dayan   Ha'emet,   they   say,  
"Blessed  is  the  Judge  of  Truth,"  praying  because  as  mortals,  we  cannot  understand  
God's   decrees   and   judgments.   All   we   can   do   is   accept   them,   and   to   acknowledge  
that  God  is  in  control  of  all  life.    
 
And  now  the  eulogy.  Maxwell  Anderson  at  his  most  eloquent:  
 
"It  takes  decades  and  scores  of  years  and  centuries  to  sift  things  out,  but  it's  
done  in  time  −  and  Kurt  will  emerge  as  one  of  the  very  few  who  wrote  great  
music."  
 
(smiling)  He  was  a  lovely  man,  Maxwell,  but  I  didn't  give  a  damn  about  writing  for  
posterity.  
 
Now   the   Kaddish.   Amen.   And   the   Shura,   the   words   of   consolation:   "May   you   be  
comforted  among  all  the  mourners  of  Zion  and  Jerusalem."    
 
(music   under)   There   is   an   expression   in   Hebrew   that   translates,   "Words   from   the  
heart  go  directly  to  the  heart."  It  is  something  I  have  always  tried  to  live  by.  
   

Johnny’s  Song  (Johnny  Johnson)  

GREG       WHEN  MAN  WAS  FIRST  CREATED    

I’M  SURE  HIS  MAKER  MEANT  
HE’D  BE  OF  GOOD  INTENT,  
KIND  HEART  AND  LOVE,  FORGIVING  WRONG,    
AND  THOUGH  THROUGH  AGES  FATED    
TO  CLIMB  OUR  WANDERING  WAY    
AT  LAST  WE’LL  FIND  THE  DAY    
WHEN  JOY  SHALL  BE  OUR  SONG.  
 
I  HEAR  FROM  EV’RY  DOUBTING  THOMAS    
THE  WORLD’S  A  MIGHTY  CRUEL  PLACE    
THE  BROKEN  HEART,  THE  BROKEN  PROMISE    
THE  EVIL  OF  THE  HUMAN  RACE,  
BUT  YOU  AND  I  DON’T  THINK  SO,  
WE  KNOW  THERE’S  SOMETHING  STILL    
OF  GOOD  BEYOND  SUCH  ILL    
OF  RIGHT  BEYOND  THE  WRONG.  
 
    AND  WE’LL  NEVER  LOSE  OUR  FAITH  AND  HOPE