- How long have you been juggling, Mr. Petit?
- Since my grandmother bought me juggling
bags for my th birthday.
- When did you start doing it professionally?
- When I was .
- Would that be about the same time you met Alfred Uhler?
- Yes.
- As a matter of fact--
could you hold that a minute?
As a matter of fact, it was Alfred Uhler who gave
you your first job, wasn't it?
- Yes it was.
- How long did you two work together?
- Off and on for years.
- Did he teach you anything in that time?
- He taught me some things, but most things, I taught myself.
- You taught yourself nothing.
- I taught myself how to go beyond the sort
of simple birthday party, middle of the road
juggling I was doing when I was with you.
- Let's not get into any recriminations, OK, Ross?
- So you think you're too good for birthday parties?
- I'm not saying I'm too good for it.
I'm saying I don't want to do it anymore!
- Mr. Petit, the issue is not what type of venue
you want to work in.
The issue is whether or not you stole
Mr. Uhler's juggling routines.
- Can we get back to the deposition?
- Mr. Uhler took ill last year, didn't he?
- Yes.
- Did he approach you after he had recuperated, asking
to get back together again?
- Yes, he did.
- What was your response?
- I told him that I was working by myself.
- Did you tell him at that time you
thought he lacked the physical skill
your present act requires?
- When I'm his age, I won't have the physical skills either.
Juggling is a young man's game.
Them's the facts.
- Hey, junior!
Think fast!
- Hey, guys.
- Do you think my physical skills are sh*t, huh?
- Yes, I do.
- Alfred, this is no way to resolve this.
- I think your physical skills are sh*t,
and you don't have the simple grace to accept that.
- I accept this-- you're a peasant!
Everything you are, you owe to me.
And when this lawsuit is over, I intend to get paid in full!
- Ugh!
[saxophone playing]
[theme music]
- OK, first group, ready, and!
[piano playing]
Good.
Next group.
And a one.
Good.
Much better, Rosalie.
Next group, and one!
- What happened?
- As per your request, I dropped the demand
for money damages in return for releasing
you from your contract.
They refused to consider it.
- So we're going to trial?
- As early as o'clock this afternoon
if the courtroom becomes available.
- OK.
- Are you ready?
- I don't know.
- Let me put it to you this way.
He's not leaving you much of a choice.
- Thanks for coming here in person.
- Do you want to get something to eat?
A late breakfast, early lunch?
- Thanks.
I'd rather do this until it's time to go to court.
- OK, first group, once again, please.
From the corner.
Ready, and!
- Hastings versus National Ballet Theater.
- We represent Erica Hastings.
We're suing Alex Vedder and National
Ballet for breach of contract.
- What kind of breach?
- He stopped using her as principal dancer,
and he refuses to allow her to dance for anyone else.
- I remember seeing her dance at Symphony Hall in Boston.
She is incredible.
- I went out with a dancer once.
Boy, are they nuts.
- Nuts or not, I used to fall in love with them every time
I'd walk past Lincoln Center.
- Uhler versus Petit.
- Yeah, that's me.
Uhler is accusing Petit of stealing his act.
We represent Petit.
- What kind of act?
- Jugglers.
- Jugglers?
You're not taking this one on the arm, Stuart?
- No, Ross Petit's career is going places.
He's a paying customer.
- How can you sue for stealing an act?
You can't copyright a juggling routine.
- Uhler's attorney is throwing anything he can at us--
trade secrets, misappropriation of professional property,
the Lanham Act.
He's a bit of a gloryhound, and he's
hoping something will stick and he gets his name in the papers.
- What kind of glory can there be in juggling?
- Are you kidding? I wish I could juggle.
- I can juggle.
- You can juggle?
- Are you serious?
You can juggle?
- Just a little bit. - Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
If you can do this, I'll represent you.
- No, no, no, no.
- Yeah, come on.
Let's see. - Yeah.
- I'll represent you. - Yeah, come on.
- Come on. [clapping]
- All right, but I'm not that good.
[whistling]
OK.
I can't-- I can't do it for that long.
And I can't--
- Whoa!
All right.
- I can't do it while I'm talking.
- Don't give up your day job. - All right.
- Check this out.
[sighs] OK.
- Hey. - Yes!
- Hey. - Woo!
[laughing] [clapping]
- Hey, hey.
- Anyone else with some special skill?
- Yeah, does this count?
[laughs]
[clapping]
[whistling]
- So how much you figured they laid out for this renovation?
- I don't know.
A bundle, no doubt.
You know what occurs to me?
I have a friend with a tile and terrazzo business.
If I could have got him the job doing the floors,
we all could have made money.
All right, a missed opportunity.
No big deal.
So what's with you?
- What do you mean?
- Do I mean?
I mean, what's up with you?
Every time I see you lately, all I get are short answers.
What, are you depressed?
- No.
- Plus, you haven't been to Du-Pars in two weeks.
Rosalie asks about you every time I see her.
- She's the reason I haven't been at Du-Pars.
I don't really want to see her that much.
- Why not?
- Because she wants to live together.
- What's wrong with that?
- I don't know if I want to do that.
- What is it that you're worried about?
- Well, I know a lot of people who got married
and ended up getting divorced.
- And that may be the way it ends
up for you, to which I say, better to have loved and lost.
You know what I mean?
You also are not exactly a catch.
You know what I mean?
You're a nice guy.
We both know you're a taco or two
short of a combination plate.
But you got a good thing going with a girl
who's similarly equipped.
She ain't bad-looking.
Unless I missed my guess, she won't go out on you.
Plus, you'll be eating a hot meal every day
for the rest of your life.
So what's the problem?
- Hey, Benny.
- Hi.
- Are you going to make the introductions,
or do I have to do it myself?
- Oh, Denise, this is Dominic.
Dominic, this is Denise.
- Dominic Nuzzi.
- How do you do?
- Yours is a new face to these environs, am I wrong?
- Mm.
I've been here about four months.
- Oh, then I must not have been coming around because you,
I would notice.
- [chuckles] Should I take that as a compliment?
- What else?
- Nice to meet you.
- Ms. Hastings, how old were you when
you started with the National Ballet Company?
- I joined the company when I was .
I was studying since I was eight.
- Would you describe for us your relationship with Mr. Vedder?
- He's the choreographer.
I was his principal dancer.
- Did there come a point at which you ceased
to be his principal dancer?
- Yes.
- Would you describe those circumstances for us?
- In Mr. Vedder's eyes, I had become increasingly difficult.
- Were you difficult?
- I didn't used to be.
I was a quick study.
I rehearsed endlessly.
I starved myself to stay thin.
And for years, nothing mattered to me, but his approval.
- Would you describe for us the events that
took place on January , ?
- We were in rehearsals for Coppélia.
There was a certain step.
I wanted to do it my way.
He wanted me to do it his way.
I did it his way, and I broke my foot.
As I was helped off stage, he turned his back
and walked away.
- Would you tell us what happened after you returned?
- I told Mr. Vedder that I was fully recovered.
He said that he had all his principal roles cast
and that he wasn't sure when he would get to me.
- How did you respond?
- I asked to be released from my contract
and permitted to dance for another company.
- Did Mr. Vedder permit you to do this?
- No.
- Can you tell us what Mr. Vedder has effectively done
to your career as a dancer?
- I haven't performed in more than a year and a half.
Given the physical demands of dancing,
given the age that I am, a year and a half is a very long time.
- I have nothing further.
- Would you tell us, Ms. Hastings,
is there a minimum number of principal roles per year
specified in your contract?
- No.
- Since this is an issue of some importance to you,
why isn't it specified?
- At the time I signed my last contract, I wasn't
thinking of a minimum number.
I was dancing all the time.
- You were an adult when you signed this contract.
Isn't that right?
- Yes.
- And you had an attorney or a manager representing you?
- Yes.
- So, really, what it comes down to,
Ms. Hastings, is that Mr. Vedder is choreographing
with another ballerina, and you would like
him to choreograph with you. - Objection!
Speechmaking.
- Sustained.
- That is not what it comes down to.
What it comes down to is that I refuse
to be the wind-up ballerina in Alex Vedder's music box.
I want to be treated with respect.
And since he won't do that, I want
to dance for someone who will.
- Do you give Mr. Vedder any credit for your success?
- Of course I do.
- He has, after all, been choreographing
principal roles for you since you were , hasn't he?
- Yes, he has.
- Is it not possible that when you were ,
there was another dancer who was the same age
you are now, who may have felt similarly displaced by you?
- You think I should be grateful?
- I ask that the witness be directed
to answer the question.
- He is not God.
He does not get to do whatever he wants with me.
He does not get to keep me from dancing.
- I have no further questions of this witness.
- I was given over to you when I was a very little girl.
- Ms. Hastings.
- I gave you everything I had.
- Ms. Hastings, please.
- Why did you leave me for dead?
- Ms. Hastings, I'm going to ask you to stop this outburst.
Sit down now.
- The fact that you are a genius doesn't let you do that.
It doesn't let you destroy my life
any more than you already have.
- Well, where do you want to go, Rosalie?
- We could go to Oki Dog and get a pastrami burrito.
- [sighs] I have to be back by o'clock, Rosalie.
I don't have time for a long lunch.
- Well, it won't take that long.
- It will, Rosalie.
- Well, then, we could go someplace else, then.
- Hi, Rosalie.
Nice to see you.
- Hi.
- Benny, did you have a chance to pick up Eli's prescription?
- I'll go now.
- Can we still go to lunch?
- I'm not gonna have time today.
- You can go pick up the prescription on your way
back from lunch, too, you know.
- Oh.
Do you mind if we have lunch another day?
- No, I don't mind.
You're his girlfriend, aren't you?
- Me, his girlfriend?
No.
- He never stops talking about you.
- Benny and I work together.
We're friends.
I mean, that's it.
Believe me.
- He thinks you're beautiful.
- He thinks you're beautiful, too.
- No, he doesn't.
He doesn't look at me the way he used to.
He doesn't even want me around.
- Well, how long have you guys been going out?
- Almost a year.
- Ah, see?
You're probably just going through a dry spell.
I mean, that happens when you've been going out for a
year sometimes.
- No, I don't think it's a dry spell.
I don't think that he loves me anymore.
- Almost done.
- Thanks a lot for doing this for me, Denise.
I got to be back in court in half an hour.
- You know, I was reading some of it.
I hope you don't mind.
- I don't mind.
- It seems that these dancers worship this guy.
- And there was a time when Erica Hastings worshipped him.
- Yeah, what happened?
- She changed.
Her capacity for abuse changed.
- I don't know how anyone could let themselves
be controlled like that.
- He encouraged it.
- Yeah, but they still had to let themselves be controlled.
I mean, would you do that?
- Not by a choreographer.
- It would never happen to me.
Doesn't matter who it was, unless it was,
you know, maybe Jesus Christ.
Did you ever think of what you would do if it was Jesus?
- You mean if he revealed himself to me?
- Yeah.
- Well, I guess I would do whatever he asked me to.
- Yeah, but what if you didn't know it was him?
- Part of his being Jesus is that he lets you know.
- Yeah, but it may not be that obvious.
I mean, if it's the guy with the toupee
who comes to fix the Xerox machine,
I know he would get by me.
And God knows I've been wrong about men before.
- How did you learn how to juggle, Mr. Uhler?
- I taught myself.
- Just out of thin air?
You never watched anybody?
- Oh, sure, I watched the greats--
Frances Brunn, Béla Kremo, Felix Adanos, Roscoe Zambini.
But I never stole from them.
- Well, what is it exactly that you think Mr. Petit stole?
- Oh, his cascades.
- I haven't done the cascades in over a year.
That's how up to date you are. - Gentlemen.
- Did you ever write down any of these routines, sir?
- No, of course not.
- Did you copyright them?
- No, I did not.
- Did you and Mr. Petit ever enter into any kind
of non-competition contract?
- We were partners.
- Isn't it a fact, Mr. Uhler, that Mr. Petit
was responsible for a great many of the routines
you did during the time you were together?
- Absolutely not.
Two, three routines tops.
That's it.
The rest was mine.
- But you experienced a considerable gain in income
during the time that Mr. Petit was with you,
isn't that correct?
- That had nothing to do with him.
It had to do with people coming to the boardwalk again
when things were slim.
And they were slim a lot in the early days.
I always made sure he had a hot meal.
- But isn't it a fact that Mr. Petit drew the crowd?
- No, it was not a fact.
- And during the last two years, wasn't he carrying you, sir?
- Carrying me?
Nobody ever carried Alfred Uhler.
Nobody.
You hung on to me until I got sick.
And when I came back, you spit on me!
- Ms. English, how long have you been dancing with the National
Ballet Theater?
- Seven years.
- And what has been your experience with the company?
- I was a dancer in the core.
I am now a principal dancer.
- Are you acquainted with Erica Hastings?
- Yes, I am.
- Have you ever observed Mr. Vedder
and Ms. Hastings to argue?
- Many times.
- And what would they argue about?
- The interpretation of a role or the phrasing of a step.
Erica would argue about all kinds of things.
- Did you ever perceive Alex Vedder
to be punitive towards Ms. Hastings
as a result of these arguments?
- I don't believe Mr. Vedder was punitive, no.
- We've heard testimony from Ms. Hastings to the effect
Mr. Vedder was abusive, that he was unfeeling, that he had,
in effect, left her for dead.
Has that been your experience?
- Objection.
Irrelevant.
- The witness is a dancer in Alex Vedder's company.
Her testimony is directly relevant.
- Objection overruled.
You may answer the question.
- I have never found Mr. Vedder to be abusive or unfeeling.
I have found him to be a source of inspiration
and encouragement.
And I'm very grateful for every word
that he has ever said to me.
- No further questions.
- Ms. English, you have replaced Erica Hastings as Alex Vedder's
principal dancer, have you not?
- Yes, I have.
- Is it fair to say that Mr. Vedder's approval
is very important to you?
- Yes.
- Was it also fair to say that you wouldn't want
to risk his disapproval by being anything
less than totally supportive?
- I haven't said what I've said because I'm
afraid of his disapproval.
- Did he ask you to testify?
- He didn't have to ask.
- Where are we, counsel?
- Well, I'm afraid we're still miles apart, Your Honor.
- It looks like we're going to court.
And, I might add, we could be looking at setting
a precedent here, sir.
- What I'd like to be looking at, Mr. Pembrook,
is a settlement.
In my opinion, this is the kind of costly
and time consuming dispute that should never
be resolved by a judge or jury.
- The parties can't agree.
- Well, there is-- there is one thing they agree on.
- What?
- Roscoe Zambini.
- Who is?
- He's a very famous juggler, Your Honor,
and he lives in Echo Park now.
And he's revered by both Mr. Petit and Mr. Uhler.
I think we could convince both of them
to submit to Mr. Zambini arbitrating this dispute.
- The best suggestion I've heard this morning, Mr. Markowitz.
If both parties agree, the court will
happily order this to binding arbitration
in front of Mr. Zambini.
And his decision will be final.
- [sneezes]
- Denise Iannello.
Now there's a name with music through it.
- Ugh, what do you want, Dominic?
- What? I come up to see Benny.
- Yes, so?
- So, Benny's busy.
Is it all right I smoke in here?
- No, it's not all right you smoke in here.
- Well, how do I know?
- If it's all right to be smoking, I'd be smoking.
- Why don't you come downstairs with me
and we'll have a cigarette?
- Oh, I was going to go down at :.
- That's minutes from now.
You could go down again.
- All right, come on.
- See?
We both smoke menthol, so we can bum off each other.
- That's a comforting thought.
- Oh, come on, be nice.
- Dominic, what's up with your friend, Benny, huh?
- What?
- Well, does he want to break up with this girl?
- Are you kidding?
Not if he knows what's good for him, he doesn't.
- You know, she's been pretty upset about the way
he's been treating her. You know what I mean?
That's why I'm asking.
- I'll straighten him out.
- Well, I don't know that he needs to be straightened out.
The long-term relationship may not be what he wants, you know?
- Are you kidding me? They're perfect for each other.
He should be thankful he's got her.
- Mm-hmm.
But he shouldn't stay with her reluctantly,
you know what I mean?
He should be straight with her, tell her what he wants.
- Absolutely.
All right, how's this for a concept?
We go out to dinner, the four of us, no pressure.
We just get them out, you know, and give him
an opportunity to be with her under
semi-festive circumstances.
And then he can fall in love with her again, like that.
- Sounds good, but what do they need us for?
- Oh, we provide a little atmosphere.
Plus, we can bill it as a double date.
- Now, why would we do that, Dominic?
- Well, so-- so nobody feels set up, you know?
- Well, not for nothing, but I don't want it to be like me
and you went out on a date.
- Oh.
What, are you worried you'll lose your head, huh?
Afraid you might do something foolish
and regret it the next day?
Hey, I won't let you do that.
I won't permit that to happen.
[music playing]
- Can I talk to you for a second?
- Sure.
- I'm in the middle of a trial, and I'm starting
to second-guess myself.
- About what?
- About having gone to trial in the first place.
- Was there an opportunity to settle?
- Sure, but they weren't offering very much money,
and they refused to release her from her contract,
so I advised against it.
- So why are you second-guessing yourself?
- At one time, Erica wanted to drop this case,
not go to trial, not even settle.
She wanted to just walk away.
- Why?
- Despite everything that Alex Vedder
had done, in some corner of herself,
she was still devoted to him.
She believed that it was possible that they
could work together again.
I disabused her of that belief.
- Sounds to me like that was your job.
- Well, maybe she would be better off if I hadn't done
my job, if I had just left her to her dancer's world
and her devotion, however misguided it might be.
- She didn't come to you for that.
She came to you because she thought she needed
somebody to take this guy on.
She thought she needed an attorney.
Was she wrong about that?
- No.
- Then stop second-guessing yourself and do
what she hired you to do.
- What was your relationship with Erica
Hastings, Mr. Vedder?
- She is one of my dancers.
- Would you describe for us the process by which
she became one of your dancers?
- I saw her in ballet class for the first time when she was .
I watched her work.
I saw what she was capable of.
She was asked to join the company when she was .
- What was it that you saw in her exactly?
- Well, I saw that hers was a great instrument--
long legs, long neck, wonderfully high arches.
- Was it strictly a matter of physical characteristics?
- No, no, no, of course not.
It was also her ability, her spirit,
the way she moved her arms, her elevation, her pirouettes.
Here was someone who was going to become a great dancer.
- Would you say that you were hard on her?
- Well, of course I was.
She wasn't born a ballet dancer.
She was taught.
She became the dancer she is because I
was hard on her, because I drove her in the way that I did.
- Did there come a point in your relationship
when it began to change?
- There came a point when Erica changed,
hence our relationship changed as well.
- In what way did Erica change?
- She became argumentative, pointlessly so.
She would question things that were
quite inappropriate for her to question.
And when she failed to get her way, she would become petulant.
I felt her work suffered as a result.
- Why did you replace Ms. Hastings as principal dancer?
- Well, she broke her foot.
- She claims that after the foot was healed,
you refused to restore her to her position in the company.
- By the time she returned, there were other dancers
I was choreographing for.
As to her being restored to her previously held position
in the company, well, that has as much to do
with her as it does with me.
- No further questions.
- Are you familiar with a drug by the name of butazolidin?
- Objection.
Irrelevant.
- I'll allow it.
- Mr. Vedder.
- I have heard of it, yes.
- You are aware that it is an anti-inflammatory drug commonly
administered to racehorses.
- Well, I take your word for it.
- Are you aware that Erica Hastings has been using
this drug to relieve the pain in her tendons since the time
that she was a teenager?
- No, I was not aware of any such thing.
I leave the personal regimen of dancers,
be it pharmaceutical, nutritional, or otherwise,
to the dancers themselves.
- Is that why you turned and walked
away when she broke her foot?
- I turned away because I could see that she was being
adequately attended by others.
I am not a physician.
I am not an ambulance attendant.
And I had a company to run.
- At a certain point, you found out
that Erica Hastings was going to a dance
coach outside of your company.
Isn't that right?
- Yes.
- You threatened to fire her as a result of that, didn't you?
- Yes, I did.
- Is it not a fact, sir, that you sought
to punish Erica Hastings each and every time
she had the temerity to, in any way, challenge your authority?
- Let me try to explain something.
Choreographing a ballet is a mathematical process.
The manner in which each step is ex*cuted
is that way for a reason.
As the choreographer, it is I and I alone who
determine what that is to be.
Ultimately, it is not, as Ms. Hastings would want it to be,
a collaborative process.
You see, what dancers do is dance.
- Except that for the last year and a half,
Erica Hastings hasn't danced, has she?
- Well, that's a matter of circumstances.
- Given that the circumstances are that you're not using her,
why didn't you see fit to release her?
- She's under contract to me.
My contract allows me to use her or not
to use her as I think fit.
- Is it possible, sir, that the real reason is that you can't
bear the thought of her dancing for anyone else,
that in the interest of breaking her will,
you would lay waste to an entire career?
- Objection.
Compound question.
- Sustained.
- Is it possible that you are doing
what you're doing for no reason other than to punish her?
- I do that which is in the service of the ballet.
I have neither to apologize nor to explain.
- I have nothing further.
- Don Zambini, please forgive us for imposing on you.
- As long as the check doesn't bounce, it's not an imposition.
- Mr. Zambini, we really appreciate you doing this.
- Good.
- We thought you might sit over here.
- It's all right.
I can see from here.
- I saw the film of you doing a -ball fountain.
- Oh, yeah?
- If I hadn't seen it, I'd have sworn it was impossible.
- It is impossible, but I did it anyway.
Now, can we get started here?
- By all means.
You know what we're looking to have you determine here, sir?
- This man says that this man stole his act, right?
- Right.
- Good.
Let's start with Mr. Uhler.
- OK.
You know, I had surgery last year, so I'm not really %.
But I'm trying my best just to show you
how it used to be, you know?
There is mistakes here.
- Do you do hats?
- No, I don't.
- What are you showing me hats for when he doesn't do hats?
- Oh, I'm just warming up, sir.
- Commence with the relevant parts of the act, Mr. Uhler.
Please!
- Yes, sir, Don Zambini.
Here, this is behind the back here.
Then I go back this here.
And here has always got me a little giggle, see?
And then the shower and down.
And then I used to catch it on this side,
roll it onto this side, and catch them with my neck,
but you know, since my problem with the neck, I can't do it.
And finally, I finished up with this one.
[applause]
- Let's have no demonstration of approval, please!
Mr. Petit.
- Oh.
[music playing]
No, I have one more thing.
[drum roll]
- Whoa, yeah!
[applause]
- I'll have my decision tomorrow, only you come
to my place if you don't mind.
- No, no, we'll come to you.
- Elevators upset my equilibrium.
- Ladies and gentlemen, very few dancers
achieve the success or the fame of Erica Hastings.
Very few have stood and received ovations
on stages strewn with flowers as many times as she has.
And the man most responsible for her success,
for her training, the man who has been choreographing for her
since she was years of age, that man is Alex Vedder,
the man she is now suing.
Whether or not Erica Hastings was entitled
as a member of his company to challenge his authority
is not at issue here.
As artistic director of the company,
he was wholly entitled to determine
the extent of Ms. Hastings' participation
in the creative process.
He was and is entitled to use or not to use her as he sees fit.
There is not a separate body of contract
law for ballet dancers.
Erica Hastings is an adult with adult rights
and adult responsibilities.
And it is wholly appropriate that we
treat her accordingly and deny her
the relief that she is seeking.
- I think that Erica Hastings expects to be treated
like an adult. The surest indication of that
is that she's sitting here in this courtroom.
By doing so, she is standing up to the most powerful man
she has ever known, a man who enjoys the adoration and blind
devotion of legions of ballet dancers, who uses that position
to remain wholly unaccountable.
Erica Hastings is not in this courtroom
because Alex Vedder was hard on her.
She is here because having signed a contract
as a principal dancer, she had the right
to expect that she would dance.
She had the right to expect that a full year and a half of which
she was capable of dancing would not be taken away from her
for reasons having nothing to do with her ability,
having nothing to do with legitimate, creative
prerogative of an artistic director,
but rather, having to do with the desire of that director
to control and punish.
We would ask that Alex Vedder's refusal
to use Erica Hastings as principal dancer
be recognized as a material breach of contract.
We ask that consequential damages be set in the amount
of a quarter of $ million.
In addition, we ask declaratory relief of the court
so that Erica Hastings is free to dance.
- There.
You go through a car wash, and it won't come down.
- Well, do you think that he'll like it?
- What's not to like?
Look at you.
You look fabulous!
- [laughing] I hope Benny thinks so.
- Men like to see a little bit of an effort being made,
you know what I mean?
I mean, no matter what they say, they
all like to see the makeup, and they all like to see the shoes.
- I never wore shoes like this before.
- What do I do with it?
- What do I do with it? What's the matter with you?
You've never seen a collar pin before?
- No.
- Here, like this.
- Oh, what's it for?
- It's to afford you a certain take-charge quality, which
might otherwise be lacking.
- Does it do that?
- Absolutely.
- I'm nervous.
- Listen, Rosalie.
You can't live or die based on Benny.
If the guy's in love with you, he'll show it.
And if he's not, dump him, and find someone else.
- Now what am I supposed to do again?
- Ben, look, I know you got reservations,
but you're supposed to put on the dog a little bit.
You're supposed to make her feel as if you desire her.
Look, it's not that complicated.
Tell her she looks nice.
[accordion playing]
- Oh, whoa!
[giggling]
- Look at you.
- Doesn't she look gorgeous?
- Oh.
- What do you think, Benny?
- You look nice.
- Do you like my hair?
- Guess so.
- I like the total package.
I feel like we're sitting here with a couple of real dolls.
- Well, you are.
- Hey, hey.
Right, Ben, huh?
- Oh, they're playing "Mala Femmena."
- You know "Mala Femmena"?
- Do I know "Mala Femmena"?
It was my father's theme song.
- B flat, Frankie.
- Oh.
I feel like I'm at home.
- [singing in italian]
- That was great.
- Not as good as Jimmy Roselli maybe, but.
- No, you were good.
You sing it better than my father,
I'll tell you that much.
Yeah.
- What's the matter, Benny?
- Nothing.
- You don't like the way that I look, do you?
- I don't know.
- You don't know?
- Uh, may I interject something here?
- You don't know whether or not you want to be my boyfriend.
Then you don't know whether or not you want me around.
Guess what?
You could just stop trying to make up your mind!
- Excuse me.
- Where are you going?
Rosalie, wait!
- Did you hear anything I said to you before?
- Yeah.
- Then why were you so completely without enthusiasm?
Why did you say, "I don't know," when
she asked you whether or not you liked the way she looked?
- Well, I--
I didn't know!
- You're a moron, Ben.
You're, in fact, a moron.
- I'm not a moron!
Stop calling me a moron, Dominic.
- OK, OK, Ben, OK.
Relax.
You're not a moron.
[accordion playing]
- How are you doing?
- I just tried to call Rosalie.
Her mother said she didn't want to talk to me.
- Can you blame her?
- No.
- Fill me in here, Benny.
Do you want to be with this girl or not?
- I don't know.
- Do you think there's somebody better out there?
- Well, I'm not really looking for somebody better.
- So are you tired of her?
- No.
- Well, then, what's the problem?
- She wants to get married.
- And you know this?
- Well, I know she wants to move in together.
And I wouldn't want to do that without being married.
- And you don't want to marry her?
- I don't know what I want.
- I mean, only you know if you want to marry her or not.
I'll tell you this, though.
You keep on treating her like you did last night,
you're going to lose her.
- Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict?
- Yes, we have, Your Honor.
- What say you?
- In the matter of Hastings versus National Ballet Company,
on the issue of breach of contract,
we find for the plaintiff and award consequential damages
in the amount of $,.
- The plaintiff's request for declaratory relief is granted.
The contract is terminated.
She's free to work for whoever she wants.
The jury is dismissed with the thanks of the court.
- We did it.
- It's a miracle.
- Erica, can we speak to each other?
- Have your attorney call me, Mr. Vedder.
He and I will speak to one another.
- Erica.
- What do you want to say?
- I want for you not to leave me.
To this end, I want to open our coming season with you
dancing the lead in Giselle.
And I'm willing to guarantee this to you in writing.
- I really don't feel that this is the time
or the place to discuss this.
- Erica, will you think about what I'm saying to you?
- Let's talk about this another time.
- Look, neither of you understand what is happening
here in the slightest, do you?
I want to talk to this woman myself.
Erica, what are you going to do?
Hmm?
Find some choreographer who's nice,
who'll tell you what you want to hear?
You're walking away from me and from our company
to let some second-rate talent choreograph dances for you.
I want you to think about what you and I have done together.
- Are you expecting me to give you
an answer right this minute?
- No.
- Then let me by.
- Dump it!
- Dump it?
Dump the whole thing?
- Come to me when you have something else!
Here's my decision.
I don't think any penalty should be assessed.
- Why not?
- Because he didn't steal.
His act is his act.
- With all due respect, Don Zambini, his act
used to be my act.
- No.
You never did what he is doing.
Did he learn from you?
Yes.
He watched, he studied.
He absorbed your technique and your knowledge.
And he left, went off on his own.
That happens.
- Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Zambini.
- I'm not done!
- Oh.
- What your client did is as bad as stealing.
- What did he do?
- He didn't show respect for his teacher.
- I think I have shown respect.
- And I tell you, you have not.
You made him come to you when he got out of the hospital.
You cut him out of your professional life.
I think he deserves better than that from you, Mr. Petit.
'Cause I studied at the feet of the great Maurice Levitsky,
and I left.
I went off on my own.
But I always acknowledged the debt.
- With all due respect, Mr. Zambini, I think he has--
- It's OK.
What should I do?
- For the next year, half the time
you work, you work with him.
- OK.
- I don't want it if it's pity.
- Is it pity, Mr. Petit?
- No, no, it's not pity.
- It's not pity, Mr. Uhler.
Shake hands.
[music playing]
Good.
- Is Rosalie here?
- Yeah, she's in the back.
Do you want me to get her for you?
- Yes, please.
- Rosalie!
Someone out here wants to see you.
- Hey.
What are you doing here?
- I wanted some pie.
- What kind of pie you want?
- I don't want any pie.
I came here to tell you I'm sorry for being mean to you.
- Well, you did make me feel real bad, Benny.
- I know.
I'm sorry.
Do you-- do you still want to move in together?
- I don't know.
- Well, I don't.
- OK, then we won't!
- I think we should get married first.
- Are you asking me, Benny?
- Yeah.
- Well, then you have to ask me.
Go on.
Say the words.
Ask me.
- Will you marry me?
- The answer is yes!
- Pick up, Rosalie!
- OK!
Oh, my goodness.
I want a very big diamond ring.
- Where is it?
You're waiving the money?
- I know you don't agree with this.
- He's guaranteeing you this one role.
What happens after that?
- I don't know what happens after that.
- Erica, why are you in such a hurry to do this?
- I need to work.
- You can go back to work with another choreographer.
- It's not the same with another choreographer.
- Assuming that it's not, do I have
to remind you of the things you said
when you first came to see me?
- I wasn't dancing when I first came to see you.
- Forgive me for what will no doubt sound like heresy,
but I think that some things may be more important than dancing.
- What did you play with when you were a little girl?
- What did I play with?
- Yeah.
Paper dolls?
Tea sets?
Stuffed animals?
- I'm sure I played with all those things.
- I don't remember playing with any of them.
All I remember is this.
The more serious I became about it, the less interested
I was in doing anything else.
I know that sounds horribly obsessive, and maybe it is,
but I want to tell you, what I put into this work
and what I get out of this work are the most important
things in the world to me.
- Will you at least give yourself
some time to think about this?
- No.
[piano playing]
[music playing]
08x11 - Mckenzie, Brackman, Barnum and Bailey
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High-powered law firm of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak handles both criminal and civil cases, but the office politics and romance often distract them from the courtroom.
High-powered law firm of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak handles both criminal and civil cases, but the office politics and romance often distract them from the courtroom.