Greenwich Me Time

After a night of no sleep and too much drinking at the UCBT New Year's Eve party, I arrived in London on Sunday to the excitement of...a transit strike. Of course, being polite British strikers, they didn't completely shut the tube, they just ran it less efficiently.

Scott and I are in London to do our show, GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL! for 26 performances at the Jermyn Street Theatre (just south of Picadilly Circus!). So far it's been a mad rush of rehearsals and set accumulation as well as adding two new songs to the show that have never been performed for an audience.

One song is a patter song called "What's The Word?" in which the townspeople of Schlimmer spread rumors about Gutenberg. It's mildly retarded, but I think it really flushes out the characters of Beef Fat Trimmer and Another Woman (something that was definitely lacking - Who is this Beef Fat Trimmer? Why does he trim?).

The other song is a big Act I finale called "Tomorrow is Tonight." It's very retarded but will rock your socks off. It also has one of my new favorite lyrics from the show:

LOOK AT THESE HANDS
THEY'RE ATTACHED TO A NORMAL MAN
A NORMAL MAN WHO PROBABLY CHANGED YOUR WORLD!

TOMORROW IS TONIGHT
IT'S A HISTORY AND FUTURE FIGHT!
TOMORROW IS TONIGHT

Think Meatloaf meets The Who.

I finally got to my accomodations on Monday night - a bed and breakfast in Earl's Court called the Windsor House Hotel. My room is approximately the size of a poor man's foyer, but also includes a hilariously small shower crammed in one corner and an 8-inch television sitting on a chair at the foot of the bed. BBC 2 and 3 even come in pretty clear. 1, 4 and 5 - not so much.

I ate breakfast on Tuesday in the basement B&B "dining hall." It consisted of toast, a soft-boiled egg, and a German family fighting about German things. Might very well be the last time I engage the second "B" while I'm here. I don't cotton to Germans and toast.

Even though I have only been here a few days, I am surrounded by Brits, and I find myself already adopting a British accent from time to time, as well as saying phrases I would never normally say like, "Shall we break early then?" Earlier today I caught myself saying, "Perhaps it would be proper if we phoned."

It's horribly annoying.

See - I did it again. I'm going to be a real asshole by the time I get back to the colonies.