The Prince is Giving a Ball
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The Prince is Giving a Ball
Lyrics By Oscar Hammerstein II Music By Richard Rodgers
The bustling village square of the kingdom is interrupted by a rousing announcement from a palace herald: In honor of the Prince’s birthday, the King and Queen are hosting a ball for the whole kingdom, where the Prince hopes to meet his future bride. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s playful ensemble number was easily adapted to the medium of television; the original TV production cut to a close-up of each group of citizens as they sang their individual lines.
LISTEN
“The Prince is Giving a Ball” LYRICS
Town Crier:
The Prince is giving a ball!
Sextet:
The Prince is giving a ball!
Crowd:
The Prince is giving a ball!
All:
The Prince is giving a ball!
Town Crier:
His Royal Highness
Christopher Rupert
Windemere Vladimir
Karl Alexander
François Reginald
Launcelot Herman—
Small Boy:
Herman?
Town Crier:
—Herman Gregory James
Is giving a ball!
Sextet:
The Prince is giving a ball!
All:
The Prince is giving a ball!
Father:
Our daughter’s looking dreamy-eyed.
Mother:
The Prince is giving a ball.
Daughter:
They say he wants to find a bride;
He may find one at the ball.
Girl Brushing Hair:
If only he’d propose to me!
Kneeling Girl:
I pray that he’ll propose to me!
Girl With Mirror:
Why shouldn’t he propose to me?
Woman With Iron:
I wish I hadn’t married Sam.
Mother Pulling Corset Strings:
Pull in your little diaphragm.
Brunette:
I’ll wear a gown of satin jade.
Blonde:
And me, I’m in a pink brocade.
Kid Sister:
And me, I’m in the second grade!
Sextet:
The Prince is giving a ball!
The Prince is giving a ball!
Town Crier:
His Royal Highness,
Christopher Rupert, son of Her Majesty Queen
Constantina Charlotte Ermintrude Gwinyvere Maisie—
Small Girl:
Maisie?
Town Crier:
—Maisie Marguerite
Anne Is giving a ball!
Sextet:
The Prince is giving a ball!
The Prince is giving a ball!
Large Girl:
I wish I didn’t like to eat.
Dietrich-Type Girl:
I wish I were demure and sweet.
Girl With Glasses:
I wish I were a bolder girl.
Grandma:
I wish I were a younger girl.
Kid Sister:
I wish I were an older girl!
Sextet:
The Prince is giving a ball!
The Prince is giving a ball!
Town Crier:
His Royal Highness,
Christopher Rupert, son of
His Majesty King Maximillian Godfrey Ladislaus Leopold Sidney—
Crowd:
Sidney?
Town Crier:
—Sidney Frederick John
Is giving a ball.
All:
The Prince is giving a ball!
The Prince is giving a ball!
The Prince is giving a ball!
"The Prince Is Giving A Ball" (Rodgers/Hammerstein II)
Copyright © 2013, 1957 by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II,
Copyright Renewed, Williamson Music Company (ASCAP), c/o Concord Music Publishing.
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.