Drugs are your friend

I was finally able to get to the doctor today for some powerful drugs to knock out this nasty sinus infection I've been toting around in my noggin for the last two weeks. I know you're supposed to lay of the antibiotics lest you become immune, but I couldn't take any more of the groggy days and puffy eyes.

My week-long drug cocktail of Sudafed and Zyrtec just wasn't cutting it anymore. And my mental sluggishness combined with severe sinus pressure even caused me to forget to mention seeing my home girl, Jaygee, in her off-off Broadway show last week, Honor. Forgive me, mi amour. I'll owe you a gourmet spam and eggs feast when I see you again. Anyway, Jay Mac was fantastic in the comic role of Mitsuko in this Prospect Theatre musical adaptation of Shakespeare's As You Like It transferred to feudal Japan. The story worked wonderfully within this new framework and the exoticism of the Asian milieu helped soften some of the more far-fetched plot convolusions. Having done my time in countless productions of the Asian bread and butter shows (King and I, Miss Saigon, et al), I was not surprised to see that I had worked with a majority of the cast. Well, at least the chunk of the cast that was over 30. Everyone looks so young to me now. It was totally ego boosting to know I've worked with so many of these talented people. But it was equally depressing knowing I wasn't onstage with them, but instead spending my days at a desk submitting expense forms for spoiled investment bankers. Oh well, you gotsta' make a living, right?

With some work, I think there is indeed a future for this show. But the first 15-20 minutes is in desperate need of some judicious editing. It starts a bit slow and tries too hard to be "important." The somber tone of the opening doesn't really match the rest of the show. I'm not saying to take out all the blood and drama, but the story doesn't really start to get moving until the girls escape from the palace. Until then, it's almost just static atmosphere - beautiful atmosphere - but not necessarily plot forwarding. If I was James Lapine and taking this show to the Broadway, I'd ask the writers to streamline the opening, get to the mother's suicide quicker, and cut a couple of verses of the title song. We get it already, they act with "honor." wink, wink, nudge, nudge, sledgehammer over the head. This show is screaming for a move to a bigger house and a bigger budget.