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It's A Boy! (a circus opera)

by Ron Romanovsky

/
1.
Circus Theme 01:39
2.
MOM: Take me to my birthing room Let me walk the hall Don't ask me to lay down Give me a birthing ball Keep the IV from my arm I don't need it today Let my partner cut the cord Let me go the natural way I don’t care which doctor's on Don't let him cut me Don't give me those meds because I want it naturally No ointment for the baby's eyes Forget the vitamin K Just put the baby to my breast Let me go the natural way If we have a darling boy Give him a Leboyer bath DAD: And circumcise him right away So he'll look just like his dad
3.
NURSE: To think of one more baby boy Defenseless as a baby's toy A cut of the unkindest kind Must bear witness one more time If there's a god In this whole world I pray you, let it be a girl If the parents only knew But there is nothing I can do I've said the words that I can say There's nothing left to do but pray My God! It's more than I can bear Not one more boy, please hear my prayer I've heard their screams a thousand times A witness to a thousand crimes So many stories left untold And each one still destroys my soul If there's a god In this whole world I pray you, let It be a girl
4.
Birth Theme 01:54
5.
MOM: Your sweet sweet lips, your perfect nose Your rosy cheeks, your ten little toes Your precious little pee-pee. your wondrous eyes Your tender bottom, your pink chubby thighs DAD: We've waited so long for you to come I'm your dad MOM: And I am your mom BOTH: And we can see, it's perfectly true You're perfectly, perfectly you La la la la ... MOM: You've got daddy's dimple DAD: You've got momma’s smile BOTH: We've been praying for you all this while And now it's clear we both can see You're perfect as perfect can be You're perfectly, perfectly you
6.
DOCTOR: Yes! It's acleaner wiener Circumcision, no decision It's protection from infection Infatuation, masturbation AIDS, cancer, syphilis Insanity and bedwetting Well the parents, they are asking I am merely multi-tasking It's a service I'm performing Hygienic, aesthetic, prophylactic and conforming Don't worry It's a simple procedure We'll hurry It won't hurt him for long Trust me I'm the authority And anyway, at three-fifty a pop How can I stop? Gonna snip it Gonna clip it Gonna shred it Gonna edit Gonna tame it Gonna shame it Gonna make him a cleaner wiener Gonna make a cleaner wiener!
7.
1st YOUNG MAN: I got the locker room blues Circumcision's to blame My buddies and me, we jus' don't look the same I feel ashamed I'm so confused That's why I sing these locker room blues I got my manhood And it's damn good There's more of me To love and caress But they're sayin' that there oughta be less I got the locker room blues ... There's somethin' I got That they do not While they're all hangin' out In the locker room My willie's snuggled In its cozy cocoon! DOCTOR & DAD: He's got the locker room blues Circumcision's to blame He and his buddies jus' don't look the same He feels ashamed He's so confused That's why he sings them locker room blues 1st YOUNG MAN: I got the locker room blues...
8.
DAD: I'm circumcised and I'm fine I want him done 'cause he's my son I'm circumcised and I'm fine I want him done 'cause he's my son Don't cry, son, take it like a man Your father did, so I know that you can! DOCTOR & 1st YOUNG MAN: He's circumcised and he’s fine He wants him done 'cause he's his son He's circumcised and he's fine He wants him done 'cause he's his son DAD: Don't cry, son. It's for your own good You'll look like me, the way that you should! DOCTOR & 1st YOUNG MAN: You don't want him lookin' different Different in the locker room You don't want him lookin' different Different in the locker room Different in the locker room DAD: Oh no... no, I'm fine I'm circumcised and I'm fine... DOCTOR & 1st YOUNG MAN: And he's fine
9.
2nd YOUNG MAN: I've been robbed, I've been knifed I've been altered, changed for life Part of me gone for good Cheated out of my manhood I had no say, I had no voice You had no right to make that choice A razor blade to my flesh Amputation of the sex And I can't, no I can’t get over it No, no, no I can't get over It One who rapes, he does time My butcher's well paid for his crime Why didn't you hear me scream? Did you pretend it was just a dream? And I can't no. I can't get over it No. no. no I can't get over it One day old, a helpless baby You let a sadist mutilate me You should have been the ones to save me Mom and Dad, you betrayed me No, no I can't get over it
10.
11.
If Only 02:15
MOM: If only my arms could hold you If only I could enfold you If only I could protect you My baby boy If only I could embrace you If only they wouldn't deface you. If only I could defend you My darling boy But it's not my thing It's a guy thing So I'll let you go
12.
NURSE: Look at your son, your beautiful one Why would you let him be defiled Spare him the blade, he's perfectly made Nothing less than a miracle child How could a knife make his sex clean? How could you not hear his scream? Your unfound fears become his tears A wound that we know will never heal His cries of pain become my grief They will echo forever in my dreams Who has the right to cut your son? Not you nor I nor anyone His cries of pain become my grief They will echo forever in my dreams
13.
Just A Nurse 02:56
DOCTOR: You're just a nurse On shaky ground Asking for trouble and Overstepping your bounds Only a nurse Way out of line Scaring the parents and Causing mothers to cry You'd best be careful Just wait and see You don't want to tango With the likes of me So watch out young lady Or I'll see to it You will be fired I guarantee it! NURSE: I won't be silenced Not one more time Won't be complicit While you're committing a crime I'm not afraid Cause I can see One day soon history Will have sided with me You're the one scaring So give me a break! You're selling fear And your reasons are fake So don’t threaten me You hypocrite You're drunk on power You revel in it!
14.
What If 03:30
DAD: What if circumcision isn't such a good decision? What if all the reasons given are untrue or simply lame? MOM: What if there's nothing to it and it's better just to do it? Go ahead and put him through it while he cannot feel the pain? DAD: What if? MOM: What if? DAD: What if we don't have him done? MOM: And what if he's the only one? BOTH: And does it matter if a son is different than his dad? DAD: What if he has a brother? MOM: Is rejected by a lover? BOTH: As his father and his mother would we feel that we've been had? DAD: What if what if? MOM: What if what if? BOTH: What if they cut off that part and make a slip and pierce his heart? And then what if the bleeding starts and doesn't ever stop? What if he won't stop crying and what if the doctor's lying? Has he talked us into buying something that we didn't want? DAD: What if what if what if... what if what if... what if what!? MOM: What if what if what if... what if what if... what if what!? BOTH: What if circumcision isn't such a good decision? What if all the reasons given are untrue or simply lame? What if there's nothing to it and it's better just to do it? Go ahead and put him through it while he cannot feel the pain What if we don't have him done and what if he's the only one? And does it matter if a son is different than his dad? What if he has a brother, is rejected by a lover? As his father and his mother would we feel that we'd been had? What if they cut off that part and make a slip and pierce his heart And then what if the bleeding starts and doesn't ever stop? What if he won't stop crying and what if the doctor's lying Has he talked us into buying something that we didn't want? DAD: What if what if what if... what if what if... what if what?! MOM: What if what if what if... what if what if... what if what?!
15.
16.
Reprise 01:25

credits

released January 1, 2006

Produced and arranged by
Ron Romanovsky

Executive Producer
Betty Katz Sperlich
Nurses for the Rights of the Child

Recorded live at the Santa Fe Playhouse, Santa Fe, New Mexico on June 20, 2005.

Engineered by Gregory Anderson and mixed and edited by Canton Becker. Additional recording, engineering and mixing by Baird Banner at Kludgit Sound, Cerrillos, New Mexico, January, 2006

Music by Ron Romanovsky and lyrics by Betty Katz Sperlich except "The Natural Way": lyrics by Teri Dalton, music by RR, "Praying for A Girl": music and lyrics by BKS and RR, "If Only" and "Perfectly You”: music by BKS and RR, lyrics by BKS, "What If, "Just A Nurse”, and "Can't Get Over It": music by RR, lyrics by BKS and RR.

All songs published by Bodacious Music, ASCAP. All rights reserved. Lyrics reprinted by permission. For information on other recordings by Ron Romanovsky visit RomanovskyAndPhillips.com.

Graphic design by Susan Hyde Holmes. Illustrations by Catherine Ferguson. Photos by Norbert Sperlich, Betty Sperlich, Julie Graber and Susie Waksman.

Special thanks to Gregory Anderson, Canton Becker, Mary Conant, Tim Hammond, Matthew Hess, Mark Reiss, MD (DoctorsOpposingCircumcision.org), Norbert Sperlich, Charles Tichenor, Duane Vosquil, and all our friends for their generous support and enthusiasm.

Dedicated to Marilyn Milos, founder of the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (www.nocirc.org).

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Romanovsky & Phillips Santa Fe, New Mexico

Romanovsky & Phillips were the first “out and proud” American gay male musical duo to
achieve national acclaim. From 1982-1999, an era when gay artists often hid their sexual orientation, this duo performed songs which openly celebrated their lives as gay men.

With tight harmonies and memorable melodies, their sassy and inspired songs uniquely capture the gay experience of those decades.
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