- Derek Wills: [after Ivy's excuses during rehearsal] Where's Karen? Karen?
- Karen Cartwright: I'm right here.
- Derek Wills: Show her how to do this.
- Karen Cartwright: Do what?
- Derek Wills: [impatiently, in that commanding voice] The vibrato on the note.
- Karen Cartwright: The vibrato...?
- Derek Wills: [impatiently] 'Happy Birthday', just sing 'Happy Birthday'!
- Karen Cartwright: You want me to sing...
- Derek Wills: Oh, my God, is there a problem here? What, am I not speaking English? Just stand up and sing 'Happy Birthday' as Marilyn! I've seen you do it.
- Karen Cartwright: [hesitant start, then warbles] Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, Mr. President, happy birthday to you...
- [everybody's over-awed, except Ivy, who sees her own star fading]
- Derek Wills: [to Ivy] Did you hear that? Karen! Maybe you could work with Ivy on that. Set something up with Larry. Let's do it again, please
- Karen Cartwright: This is so silly. I mean, I don't... I don't know. You sounded amazing, Ivy, I don't know why you need to do this.
- Ivy Lynn: To take singing lessons from a chorus girl?
- [takes song lyrics from Karen in flippant way]
- Karen Cartwright: That's not what I was going to say.
- Ivy Lynn: [airily] No?
- Karen Cartwright: Look, I know this is awkward for both of us.
- Ivy Lynn: [airily] It's not awkward for me.
- Karen Cartwright: Well, you're acting kind of...
- Ivy Lynn: [condescending] Kind of, what? No, tell me, how am I acting?
- Karen Cartwright: Look, you don't have to be all mad at me.
- [shakes her head]
- Karen Cartwright: I'm no threat to you, I'm... I'm not anything.
- Ivy Lynn: Oh, my God.
- Karen Cartwright: Okay.
- [gives up, turns to leave]
- Ivy Lynn: Can I give you a little advice?
- Karen Cartwright: [resignedly turns around, humors her rival] Oh, please do.
- Ivy Lynn: I'm a grown-up, and I have a pretty clear sense of what I bring in to the party.
- Karen Cartwright: That's the advice?
- Ivy Lynn: No, the advice is... Don't get ahead of yourself. If I need a little dialect coaching, so be it. Marilyn got help all the time...
- [raises her eyes]
- Ivy Lynn: all the time.
- [giggles]
- Ivy Lynn: But she knew what she brought to the party too. And what she had... couldn't be taught.
- [contemptuously flings lyrics aside]
- Ivy Lynn: Larry!
- [overtly sweet to man as he enters:]
- Ivy Lynn: Ah, I've been waiting and waiting!
- [giggles and makes girlish welcoming gesture, and Karen walks away dejected]
- Karen Cartwright: [after Ivy's song] Hey, that was really amazing.
- Ivy Lynn: [curtly] Thanks.
- Karen Cartwright: I got the chills.
- Ivy Lynn: Oh, my God. Just stop. Seriously. Don't condescend to me.
- Karen Cartwright: I wasn't.
- Ivy Lynn: Look, I've got a lot on my plate, but I'm handling it. And I don't care what you think, or what Derek thinks.
- [goes off]
- Dev Sundaram: What I do know is I've got a hot girlfriend, and it wouldn't hurt to show her off at the big party I'm attending tonight.
- Karen Cartwright: Poor Marilyn. This is what her life was like every day. This is what drove her to booze and pills, you know, this is what killed her.
- Dev Sundaram: Yeah, well, a sexy dress is not going to kill you, but I might if you don't hurry up.
- Ivy Lynn: Hey,
- [hammering at door]
- Ivy Lynn: I know you're in there! The doorman told me you were.
- [inside, in his lounge chair, Derek shakes head, gets up]
- Ivy Lynn: He didn't try to stop me, he was so nice... and he treated me with respect.
- [Derek opens the door of his apartment]
- Ivy Lynn: Do you even know what that is? Respect?
- Derek Wills: You're drunk, Ivy. What are you going on about?
- Ivy Lynn: Oh no. No, no, no. I'm not the problem. You are. You blow so hot and cold, I don't even know what day it is anymore. You are so hideous to me!
- Derek Wills: I'm probably hideous.
- [turns his back on her, walks away down hallway]
- Ivy Lynn: You humiliate me! When you're not ignoring me! Half the time I feel that I don't even exist
- [tosses her handbag after him]
- Ivy Lynn: for you in there.
- [stamps her foot]
- Derek Wills: No one does.
- [advances]
- Derek Wills: I'm not kidding. And this isn't some big romantic statement about who I am as an artist, it is just a fact.
- Ivy Lynn: [drunken giggle] Don't give me...
- Derek Wills: Don't give you what? The truth? Isn't that what you came here for? Look, I'm building something in that rehearsal room, abd with all due respect, it would be a lot easier if everyone pretended for five minutes... not to have all of those annoying feelings, because frankly, they get in my way.
- Ivy Lynn: Theater is about feelings!
- Derek Wills: Oh, you can have feelings. They just have to be about Marilyn. I'm not kidding.
- [turns around, walks away]
- Ivy Lynn: I know you're not.
- Derek Wills: [stops, turns around] Are you staying?
- Ivy Lynn: [softly] Are you asking me to stay?
- Derek Wills: [comes back] Come on.
- [takes her face in his hands]
- Derek Wills: Don't be mad at me.
- [kisses her]
- Karen Cartwright: [after singing 'A Man Needs A Woman' to her mirror, and remembering how Ivy treated her] Try bringing that to the party.