Going to take it easy today. I feel much better this morning, but that crash yesterday evening was kinda scary. Going to give myself a mostly laid-back day today to continue recovering. We went to brekkie at a cute French place two blocks over called Un Deux Trois, so named because their street address is 123. Cute.

From there, Rob went off to do some shopping and I made my way back to the hotel, with a couple of quick selfie stops for Facebook. The first was captioned “Give my regards” and the second, “Tell all the gang”. If you know, you know. I looked up Herald Square, but it was farther than I wanted to walk this morning.

Felt like shit most of the rest of the day, but managed to get up the strength to walk a couple blocks to see Moulin Rouge. I figured that I could feel like crap at the hotel, or I could feel like crap while watching a show. Rob was at Little Shop of Horrors with an empty seat next to him, due to a mixup in communication and booking two shows on the same night. Le sigh.

Full disclosure: I love the movie. I love it most of all for the music in it, so when I heard the Original Broadway Cast recording and heard that most of the songs were chucked out in favour of new ones, I was not impressed. I thought that a few worked, but most didn’t. I’m happy to report that almost none of the crap that was in that original recording is still in the show. It’s still not the movie soundtrack, but at least most of the songs actually work well with the show now. Hearing the audience occasionally giggle when they recognize a new song let me know that the soundtrack likely evolves and changes from time to time. Smart, that keeps people coming back.

One of my favourite songs from the movie, “Roxanne Tango” became Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and it didn’t work at all. Then much later in the show, “Roxanne Tango” showed up after all, but in a wild new arrangement that sucked the life out of the original and turned it into a “let’s see how loud we can belt out these notes” showcase. But that’s really my only complaint. The sets, the costumes, the dancing, all stellar. “Come What May” was also a new arrangement, but it still worked. I think it was most likely re-arranged in order to fit the range of the two leads.

Speaking of which, Christian (Ewan McGregor’s character in the movie) was played by a pasty white guy who looked like he actually came from Lima, Ohio, the same as his character. Everyone else in the show was black, with the exception of a few of the dancers… and it absolutely worked. Christian was an outsider trying to fit into a strange new world and the casting reinforced that concept without having to say it. No matter how hard he tried, he would never be like them. Brilliant. Plus, Rayven Bailey, who played Satine, can sing. Lordy.

Times Square was still Times Squaring as I walked through it back to the hotel. Rob came in a few minutes later and said the Little Shop was fantastic - I’d have loved to have seen it, as it’s one of my favourite shows, but I’ve seen it at least five times (different productions) and Moulin Rouge was new to me.

And now it’s off to bed. Hoping to feel better tomorrow.

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