Marguerite Lyrics – All Songs from the Musical

"Marguerite" – The Musical Guide & Song Meanings

Review: the lyrics as moral alibi

How do you write a romantic musical about a collaborator and still get an audience to lean in rather than lean away. “Marguerite” tries by treating love as a kind of late-life evidence: proof that the title character is not only what she did to survive. The show updates “La Dame aux Camélias” to German-occupied Paris, then asks Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil to do the dirty work. Make desire sound urgent. Make guilt sound survivable. Make the war feel like a third person in every room. The catch is that the lyric has to carry moral complexity without turning into a lecture.

When it works, it is sly. “Day by Day” repeats, returning with altered social temperature, the same party people rewriting themselves in public as the political wind changes. A smart lyrical mechanic in a show that depends on mechanisms. When it misfires, critics heard stock rhymes and thin subtext, which is brutal in a piece where words are supposed to justify behavior no one wants to justify. Variety summed up the dynamic neatly: Kretzmer’s English rewrite can keep pace with Legrand’s restless melodies, but seldom feels inevitable. That “inevitable” feeling is what makes sung drama land.

Legrand’s score is the real seduction. It moves between salon gloss, period jazz, and aching ballads. That variety is also a story note: Marguerite lives in curated surfaces, while the Resistance kids live in rhythm and risk. The best productions make that clash visible. Don’t play the whole evening like perfume-advertisement romance. Let the lyrics scrape a little.

Viewer tip: listen to “Come One, Come All,” “China Doll,” and “The Letter” before you see it. Those three teach you how the show speaks: public myth, private persona, and coercion in plain language.

How it was made

“Marguerite” arrived in the West End in May 2008 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, positioned as a big swing: an original musical with Michel Legrand’s music and a Boublil-Schönberg book team, directed by Jonathan Kent. The making-of reporting at the time is telling. Kent talked about short scenes and an “intense emotional journey” that made cohesion the central staging problem, where music, lighting, design, and performance had to land in the same dramatic lane. That is a director politely describing a score that wants to be cinematic and a book that keeps cutting like film.

Kretzmer’s contribution is its own story. In What’s On Stage’s pre-opening feature, he notes that he has written French-origin projects for decades while not speaking French beyond tourist basics. That matters because it frames his work here as adaptation-by-ear and craft, not translation-by-fluency. Boublil’s French originals supply the spine. Kretzmer supplies singable English, sometimes elegant, sometimes suspiciously functional. The show’s later history quietly confirms how malleable it was. The 2010 Ostrava production reportedly rebuilt the book and lyrics (with Boublil and Marie Zamora), added new Legrand numbers, and brought in William David Brohn for new orchestration. In 2012, the Tabard Theatre revival leaned into revision again, with Jude Obermüller creating a new seven-piece orchestration and musical adaptation in close collaboration with the creative team.

That pattern is the show’s biography: “Marguerite” keeps being rewritten because its central question is hard. What does redemption sound like when the world is still keeping score.

Key tracks & scenes

"Come One, Come All" (Company)

The Scene:

Prologue. Paris, August 25, 1944. A crowd narrates Marguerite as legend and warning. Directors often light it like a street tribunal: faces half-seen, judgement everywhere.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyric makes her a story first, a person second. That is the show’s strategy and its trap. If she is only myth, she never has to answer for specifics.

"Let the World Turn" (Marguerite, Friends)

The Scene:

Act I. March 3, 1942, Marguerite’s 40th birthday in a Parisian salon. Champagne lighting. Controlled smiles. The war is outside, kept out by money and denial.

Lyrical Meaning:

It is denial as choreography. The words try to normalize the abnormal. Marguerite sings the party into existence because the alternative is admitting what she is trading for safety.

"Jazz Time" (Annette, Ensemble)

The Scene:

A swing band is brought in, and the room becomes an excuse to move. The light warms. The danger does not.

Lyrical Meaning:

Annette’s lyric is youth with teeth. In a show full of older characters managing optics, the Resistance kids sing with less varnish and more velocity.

"China Doll" (Armand, Marguerite)

The Scene:

Armand plays Marguerite’s old hit, coaxing her to sing. Often staged with a spotlight that feels like memory: flattering, isolating, slightly cruel.

Lyrical Meaning:

“China Doll” is persona made audible. The image is delicate, decorative, and controlled, which is exactly how Marguerite wants to be seen. The lyric is also a warning: porcelain breaks, and everyone knows it.

"I Am Here" (Marguerite, Armand)

The Scene:

Act I, later. Marguerite goes to Armand’s flat and they sleep together. The stage usually simplifies here: fewer bodies, fewer social masks, a tighter pool of light.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyric is presence as promise. In wartime, “here” is not just romantic proximity. It is a risk contract.

"Take Good Care of Yourself" (Annette)

The Scene:

That night at the train station. Annette stays behind while plans fracture. Cold lighting. Distance. The sound of leaving built into the rhythm.

Lyrical Meaning:

It is the show’s cleanest moral line. Annette’s words are practical love, not glamorous love. That contrast makes Marguerite’s choices look sharper.

"Day by Day (Part Two)" (Company)

The Scene:

Act II. A park meeting between Marguerite and Armand while the crowd sings “change.” The staging often lets the chorus drift like opinion: present, shifting, hard to escape.

Lyrical Meaning:

The number’s power is repetition across the score. Critics noted it returns multiple times, using the same tune to chart how public attitudes flip from collaboration to denunciation.

"The Letter" (Marguerite)

The Scene:

Otto forces Marguerite to write to Armand, promising to stop hurting Annette if she complies. Many stagings go dim and fixed here: one desk, one pen, coercion as stillness.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyric is surrender pretending to be clarity. Marguerite tries to encode truth inside a lie, hoping Armand will hear the subtext. The tragedy is that subtext is a luxury during occupation.

Live updates (2025/2026)

Information current as of January 29, 2026. There is no confirmed major West End or Broadway revival publicly announced for “Marguerite” in 2025 or 2026. The show’s modern footprint is mostly archival and revision-driven: the 2012 Tabard Theatre version is the last notable London return, and the Czech Ostrava revision remains the big example of the material being aggressively rebuilt rather than simply restaged.

What has changed recently is how the score is consumed. The Original London Cast Recording remains widely available on streaming platforms, and the metadata tells part of the story: physical release reporting points to late July 2008 on First Night Records, while major digital storefront listings carry 2008 publishing and rights info that kept it in circulation long after the stage run ended. If you are encountering “Marguerite” now, odds are it is through the album first, then a niche or revised staging second. That sequence flatters Legrand, and it also matches the critics who liked the music more than the show.

Programming trend to watch: revivals that scale down. The Tabard’s reworked seven-piece orchestration and the documented emphasis on musical adaptation suggest that “Marguerite” may have a better future as a tighter chamber piece, where lyrics can read clearly and the plot’s moral math can feel intentional, not foggy.

Notes & trivia

• The West End premiere began previews on May 7, 2008 and opened May 20 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, with an early closing announced for September 13, 2008.
• The show’s book is credited to Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, and director Jonathan Kent, with English lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer adapted from Boublil’s French originals.
• “Day by Day” is designed as a recurring musical lens; contemporary reviews noted it returns multiple times to track shifting social attitudes during occupation.
• The 2010 Ostrava production was reported as a substantial rewrite, including new Legrand material and a new orchestration credited to William David Brohn.
• The 2012 Tabard Theatre revival advertised a new book, a reworked seven-piece acoustic orchestration, and further musical revisions, with Jude Obermüller credited for re-orchestration and musical adaptation.
• Press coverage around the cast recording described a July 28, 2008 release on First Night Records, starring Ruthie Henshall, Julian Ovenden, and Alexander Hanson.
• At least one major review singled out “China Doll” and “Day by Day” as standouts, even when the overall verdict was mixed.

Reception

“Marguerite” had an awkward split reaction: admiration for Legrand’s tuneful range, frustration with the writing’s emotional leverage. Some reviews praised the repeating “Day by Day” idea as a smart structural device. Others heard trite lyric choices and a book that struggled to generate real tension. Even sympathetic critics often sounded like they were bargaining: there are things to savor if you can accept a heroine built from compromises.

“Day by Day … repeated four times to show how the attitudes … shifted.”

“Kretzmer's lyrics … keep up … but rarely feel as if …”

“Predictable rhymes” and an “absence of wit.”

Quick facts

• Title: Marguerite
• Year: 2008
• Type: Through-sung romantic war drama
• Music: Michel Legrand
• Lyrics: Herbert Kretzmer (English), Alain Boublil (original French)
• Book: Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Jonathan Kent
• Basis: “La Dame aux Camélias” (Alexandre Dumas, fils), relocated to occupied Paris
• West End premiere: Theatre Royal Haymarket (previews May 7, 2008; opening May 20, 2008)
• Key original cast: Ruthie Henshall (Marguerite), Julian Ovenden (Armand), Alexander Hanson (Otto)
• Selected notable placements: “Come One, Come All” as post-liberation framing; “Let the World Turn” at the birthday salon; “China Doll” as a public persona resurfacing; “I Am Here” as the private crossing; “The Letter” as coercion; “Day by Day” as a recurring social barometer
• Album: Original London Cast Recording; widely streamed; press reports a July 28, 2008 First Night Records release, with 2008 digital storefront listings and rights metadata

Frequently asked questions

Who wrote the lyrics for “Marguerite”?

Herbert Kretzmer wrote the English lyrics, adapted from Alain Boublil’s original French text, with Boublil also credited as lyricist on the show.

Where does “Day by Day” happen in the story?

It functions as a recurring public chorus across the score; in Act II it frames Marguerite and Armand meeting in a park while the crowd sings of change.

What is “China Doll” really saying about Marguerite?

It frames her as curated beauty and controlled performance. The lyric makes her fragility part of the brand, which is why the image haunts the show when reality starts cracking it.

Is there more than one version of the musical?

Yes. Major revisions are documented in the 2010 Ostrava production and the 2012 London revival at the Tabard Theatre, including new orchestration and rewritten material.

Is the cast recording the best starting point?

Often, yes. Several critics who were cool on the staged piece still praised the music, and the album lets Legrand’s writing register without plot logistics getting in the way.

Key contributors

Sources: The Guardian, Variety, What’s On Stage, Playbill, TheaterMania, London Theatre, Wikipedia, Festival Bruxellons!, Tabard Theatre archive page, Jude Obermüller official site.