So, not only did I lose Internet connection at home, but I also became ill, leaving me completely cut off from the world for most of the week.

There's so much I'd like to catch up on, but I should first throw out the warning that with all the medicine I'm on right now, my brain is somewhat foggy. Earlier this week I was rather embarrassed that I didn't recognize someone that I just saw in The Full Monty, especially since I was particularly impressed with her performance.

The Full Monty

This is a show I recommend seeing--if there are still tickets to be had.

In fact, I really wish I weren't feeling so poorly and could write a genuine review of this show. Right now, I can hear the mocking echoes of my high school English teacher who would disparage any paper turned in that consisted of nothing more than "I liked it. It was good. I will tell my friends about it."

Instead, I'll just toss out a few general observations and make my apologies that I'm not bringing them together into a more coherent treatment:

• All of the male voices were very strong. It was a pleasure to listen to them.
• Ethan Link and Tony Sump were fantastic as Jerry and Dave. Given how animated Sump usually is on stage, it was fascinating to watch him play a droopy, depressed character who couldn't shake the weight off his shoulders for most of the story.
  
• The interactions between Jeff and Jennifer English were also delightful. Jennifer played the wonderfully exuberant wife who is blissfully unaware of her devoted husband's distress.
  
• Kari Surbrook was marvelous portraying the woman who was both the animated organizer of the Chippendale strip show and the wife who desperately wanted her husband's attention back.
  
• I became teary-eyed in the reprise of "You Rule My World" when the wives finally show their husbands exactly what they're made of.
• A pet peeve of mine: Yes, the music was very good, but given that it was synthesized, it might have been nice if they'd turned the volume down a notch or two so that the actors didn't have to strain so much to be heard. Or, at the very least, if the actor mikes could have been turned up during the musical numbers. There were moments when it was just too difficult for them to push above the music.
  
• Overall, the musical was a fun way to spend an evening. It took the audience on a full range of emotions from tears to laughter to stomps of approval.
  

As Bees in Honey Drown

I had originally planned to go see this show on Tuesday, but I was too sick to make it (and I don't think they would have wanted an audience member with a hacking cough sitting through the performance). So I'll be going tonight instead.

Jane Falion went and recommends it. I'd offer to write about it tonight, but I still don't have Internet connection, so it could be awhile.