well friends in talking about songs from be more kind we reach i don't want to say the end of the
story because look at us we are still on tour ladies and gentlemen and we're going to be on
tour next year and we're going to be on tour the year after that and essentially we're going to
keep going around as long as you guys want us to keep coming around um so it's not the end of the
story but it's it is at the very least the present day let's say that so uh by way of wrapping up
this whole storytelling thing um uh i wanted to play one more song um and it's an important one
for me um i know i've been talking a lot tonight um but you can kind of get rid of most of that
and remember just this all i ever wanted to be when i was a kid was to be an entertainer right
and what i mean by that is somebody who has the fortune to travel around the world um with their
art and and be on different stages every night um in front of different crowds trying to raise a
laugh raise a smile raise the roof raise the weight of the world just for a little while um
and uh and every morning i wake up on my tour bus and i have to pinch myself because that is
literally what i do for a *** living ladies and gentlemen and i am appreciative of how lucky
i am all of us on this stage we know that we only get to do this because people like you keep coming
out for the shows and giving us your time and your attention and we appreciate it more than you could
possibly *** imagine so newcastle please give yourselves a round of applause
so this is a song about being an entertainer and i'd like to dedicate this song to our friend emily
barker ladies and gentlemen it is always a pleasure and an honor to share a stage with her
this song is called balthazar impresario my name is balthazar impresario it's written at
the bottom of the page i have artist's hands though i'm a working man my craft has been forgotten by
the age so tonight will be my last night on the stage this is my family's trade my father built
this place at the turning of the 20th century i have been working here some 50 years but the young
these days are glued to tv screens and the old girl is dying on her feet
once more to the boys one more curtain call give the crowd everything they're asking for
more always make them laugh try to make them cry always take the stage like it's the last night of
your life my friends from theater school all thought i was a fool for trading shakespeare
for the musical and now my son's left home he set out on his own and the critics think
we're quaint but set to fall but they've only seen the show from the stores
so
once more to the boards one more curtain call give the crowd everything they're asking for
always make them laugh try to make them cry always take the stage like it's the last night of your
life all the things you see behind these tattered scenes all the smiling faces with the landline in
their eyes each imperfect turn flickers once then burns only last a moment but for me they never die
because we are respected
but we're not remembered we are the ghosts of vaudeville
we are the fathers of the horse i will never be famous
we are mirages we are something more we are entertainers
i'd smooth my thinning hair in a gilded mirror to try to hide the tell signs of my age
my name is balthazar impresario tonight will be my last night on the stage
you