Flaminio is convinced that their lowbrow humor will enchant the King, make their fortunes, and cement his reputation as a theatrical genius for all time. Once in France, their performance for the King begins with three vulgar "lazzi" or comic routines, which lead up to the most bawdy piece of all, "Armanda's Tarantella," featuring the little dwarf, all the men, and a series of double-entendres!. But instead of glory and fame, the response of the religious court is to throw them out of France. Flaminio is angry and humiliated before his troupe, but rallies them to his side once again with his artistic vision. ("Improvisation.") The only one not convinced is Francesco. Lights come up on a beautiful young noblewoman named Isabella. We learn that she writes stories against her parent's wishes. ("The World She Writes.") Francesco notices her and gets her to come down from her balcony. She shows him a play she has written, "The Moon Woman," and soon they have discovered they are kindred spirits, born to play "Opposite You." They elope, and Isabella joins the troupe. All the men are enamored of her. Armanda is jealous, but Columbina understands how men are. In "My Body Wasn't Why," she sings about her passionate love affair with Flaminio, which led her to be his leading lady. But during the course of the song, Flaminio tells her she is now too old to play that role, that he is giving it to the fresh-faced Isabella. Columbina must settle for the role of the comic maid. The Glorious Ones perform the second play-within-a play. It is still "The Comedy of Love," Flaminio is still the leading man who nearly kills himself, but now Isabella is the leading lady. During the performance, Isabella and her husband Francesco play a trick on Flaminio, and suddenly the clownish Arlechino becomes the leading man. After the show, Flaminio is furious at the trick, but Columbina tells him to deal with the fact that he's too old to play the role of the lover. She had to. Flaminio has "Flaminio Scala's Ominous Dream" in which he fantasizes that Isabella and Francesco are leading him astray and trying to destroy him. The actors tease each other backstage. Francesco presents Isabella's play to them, and suggests they try it, implying that their roles will be fuller than the stereotypes they play every night. Flaminio is drunk and enraged by this challenge to his authority. But the troupe votes to try the new play. In his drunken state Flaminio sees the troupe mocking him and deriding his "Rise and Fall." But in the end, he goes along with it, agreeing to play the grotesque, comic character of Captain Spavento. Before the performance of "The Moon Woman," Columbina and Flaminio prepare to go onstage. Flaminio is depressed, but Columbina suggests maybe they should finally retire and settle down together. "There's more to life than theater," she tells him, and he seems to agree. The Glorious Ones present "The Moon Woman," now dressed in more elegant masks and costumes. The play is stilted and poetic, nothing like their old, freewheeling slapstick. Flaminio tries to play his part, but can't. He throws off his mask and begins to improvise. The cast can't help themselves--they join him. At last, he pretends to kill himself for love as he always did, staggers around and falls. Columbina falls to her knees, praying comically for him, but suddenly realizes that the blood is real and that Flaminio is indeed dead. As the actors grieve, mystified by his terrible act, Flaminio rises and looks back on his life, and the beauty of doing something of worth. ("I Was Here"). Armanda arrives at the monastery where Flaminio was raised, bringing with her "Armanda's Sack." One by one, all the Glorious Ones light up, remembering their glory days in the theater with Flaminio Scala. At last, they arrive in Heaven, where Flaminio awaits them, and we are back to our opening image--stars, clouds, a little stage. They look down through a window in the sky, and see Armanda's sack being disposed of. But they are not forgotten. Instead, a "film projector" begins to flicker, and they see a parade of comic icons- -Lucille Ball, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, etc--they realize their comedy has survived the centuries and exists today. The curtain closes as the Glorious Ones explode into joyous peals of laughter.
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