and Colette is in Maurice's arms as the ensemble joins in ending the song with a flourish. As lights come up, we see Maurice asleep in her bed. She, in a dressing gown, looks upon him and then tries to send him away. He only smiles and she succumbs to his charms. In his undershorts, straw hat, and cane he performs "Ooh-La-La" for her and she joins in with her own interpretation snatching the hat and cane from the young man. They agree not to become serious or possessive of one another. They agree to consider their relationship nothing more than a fling, a diversion, a distraction, "Something for the Summer," nothing more than "a little sexual soufflé" as the lyric puts it. Projected in the background are images of SaintTropez in the 1920s. The ensemble joins in the song as the scene extends into "something for the winter" in Paris with images of the city in the '20s. In the sequence that follows, "Madame Colette" is honoured with a raft of citations and tributes from the King of Sweden to Belgium's Royal Academy. As she approaches a platform she is older and worn, and suddenly crumbles, clutching in pain at her leg as the lights fade. Jacques is at her side but she refuses even an aspirin to ease the pain, determined to endure every feeling, even suffering. Maurice and Colette face the discrepancy in their ages - she at 57, he at 34 - and what the future holds for them as he pleads with her in his song, "Be My Lady." As Colette is re-reading old letters from her mother, a list of deaths and events through the 1930s into the German invasion of France, is listed. The Nazis have taken Maurice, who is Jewish, prisoner. "The Room Is Filled With You" is a memory song recalling their love from the past; the song is underlined with a faint military beat and the scene shifts as she is being interrogated by a German officer. She is back at her desk gathering jewels and cash to bribe the officer for Maurice's release through a French collaborator. Maurice appears. He sweeps her off her feet and bells ring out and the music swells at the war ends. Colette, with a cane, helped by Maurice, approaches her bed as she sings "Growing Older." She turns to the audience to inform them "We're married, by the way, Maurice and I." Why had they waited so long? She explains "because we're busy. We never had a morning free … " She complains of the cold. She seems to age before our eyes, growing weak, so fragile but still feisty enough to embrace all of her life and experience, rejecting nothing, discarding nothing, and the act ends with an exuberant reprise of "Joy," as we get a glimpse with photographs from the past: Colette as a youngster in braids, as Willy's bride, as a dancer, a Lesbian, in middle age, and Colette at the end still singing out: "Joy." MUSICAL NUMBERS 1. Joy - Colette, Company 2. Come To Life - Willy, Colette, Company 3. A Simple Country Wedding - Company 4. Do It For Willy - Willy, Ensemble 5. Willy Will Grow Cold - Jacques 6. Two Claudines - Colette, Willy, Company 7. Why Can't I Walk Through That Door? - Colette 8. The Music Hall - Jacques, Ensemble 9. The Dog And Cat Duet - Colette, Jacques 10. I Miss You - Sido 11. La Vagabonde - Colette, Missy, Women 12. Love Is Not A Sentiment Worthy Of Respect - Sido 13. Now I Must Walk Through That Door - Colette, Ensemble 14. Autumn Afternoon - Colette, Ensemble 15. Decorate The Human Face - Colette 16. Riviera Nights - Jacques, All 17. Ooh-La-La - Maurice, Colette 18. Something For The Summer - Maurice, Colette, All 19. Madame Colette - Ensemble 20. Be My Lady - Maurice 21. The Room Is Filled With You - Colette, Women 22. Growing Older - Colette
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