The Street Scene tenement, as discussed previously in 'Strangers in a Strange Land, Part 1', houses a panorama of accent-bearing tenants representing what were indeed major ethnic groups of that time (Scandinavian, Italian, Irish, German). Abraham Kaplan is not only Jewish but Socialist; the building is cared for by Henry Davis, a black janitor. It is a hot day in June, and Jennie Hildebrand, a teenager who lives in the building, radiantly returns from her high school graduation, singing the genuine school song of Julia Richman High. Her neighbors join her to rejoice upon her bright future, for she has won a scholarship to an art school. When night falls and the tenants have all gone in, Rose Maurrant, who works in a real estate office (probably pulled young from school to be a secretary or bookkeeper, to help support her family, as was common at that time) comes home accompanied by her sleazy coworker, Harry Easter, with whom she has gone out to dinner after working late. He works upon her desire to make something of herself, claiming to have "three or four friends in show business" who could put her on the stage. "Wouldn't you like to be on Broadway," he sings unctiously, and lists various luxury goods from Bergdorf Goodman that could be hers if she only lets him "show...the way." Rose is a sensible girl. She knows she doesn't love Easter, she knows exactly what he's after; Rose puts him straight and says a firm goodnight.
But even the littlest kids on the block have aspirations and a certain cynicism regarding riches, in this opera. They engage in a game of tag in which whoever is caught needs to act out living like a hobnob on Park Avenue. Charlie Hildebrand, Jennie's young brother, is first; he brags that his father's name is Rockefeller and shovels diamonds in the cellar. A girl named Joan is next, and is commanded to act like a "deb" (debutante). She complies by describing how she is a perfumed bleached-blonde; Rose's young brother Willie then takes a turn, as a "gent" who is a drunkard and a gambler. Obviously, none of the kids have even seen real rich people and, if anything, the latter two portrayals have been modeled upon fellow residents of their own neighborhood who have taken on airs.
