Show Synopsis:
It's 1976, and Frank Shepard is hosting a party at his upscale Los Angeles residence to celebrate the movie he recently produced when his old friend Mary gets drunk and embarrasses him in front of his shallow friends. Frank's wife Gussie confronts him about his affair, they end their marriage, and Frank tries to figure out how he got to where he is. He remembers 1973, when his friend and partner Charley rants on national television about how Frank has been selling himself out as an artist and does not want to work with Charley anymore. Their friendship is over and Mary's alcholism is worsening. Frank remembers 1968, when he returned from a post-divorce cruise and Mary and Charley welcomed him back to New York. They argue over Frank's interest in working in film instead of theatre and Charley advises Frank to end his affair with Gussie, a prominent Broadway actress at that point, but Gussie tells Frank that she wants to leave her husband for him.. Mary has been in love with Frank for years and begins drinking to cope with her disappointment. In 1966, Frank divorces Beth and fights over custody of their child, and Mary consoles him and encourages him to go on a cruise. Frank remembers 1964, when he and Charley had their first hit Broadway show, starring Gussie, and 1962, when Gussie first promoted Charley and Frank's music at a swanky party and Frank clearly loved people fawning over his talent. Frank remembers 1960, when Charley, Frank, Beth, and Mary put on a revue at a nightclub in Greenwich Village parodying the Kennedys and celebrated Frank and Beth's engagement (which is clearly the result of an unplanned pregnancy). Next Frank remembers 1959, when Frank, Charley, and Mary were struggling to create art and first met Beth at auditions for their revue, and 1957, when recent college grads Frank, Charley and Mary met on a rooftop to view Sputnik in orbit and dreamed about all the great things they would do.

Character:
Beth, a slightly insecure dreamer who falls in love with Frank.

Song Context:
Reporters have flocked to the steps of the courthouse to report on Beth and Frank's divorce and custody case. Beth says goodbye to Frank, taking their child with her, because she cannot be with him knowing that he had an affair with Gussie.	

Fun Facts:
1. This musical was originally based on the play Merrily We Roll Along by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. 
2. The character of Beth only sings this song in more contemporary productions - in the original Broadway production, Frank sang it to Beth. 
3. At a later point in the musical, Beth and Frank sing a reprise of this song with slightly altered lyrics, pledging their love for each other while Mary looks on their happy marriage with grief. Because of the reverse chronological structure of this musical, this song and its reprise has the opposite emotional effect that reprises normally have - the fury in this song fully complements the rapture later on.