Me, London; David, Chicago

I "moved" with my things to Chicago Friday night and joined David in the Windy City. As I unpacked in our Chicago apartment (very nice and spacious), I had to simultaneously re-pack as I flew out to London Sunday for nearly a week. I arrived in London this morning.

My time in Chicago was brief, but it was good to see David before my week in London and Hamburg. I got to see the Baby's, Johnny's and Penny's (the leads and their respective understudies). Everyone seemed to be in good, positive spirits. It was surreal to be in a room full of Baby dopplegangers, Johnny dopplegangers, and Penny dopplegangers. It's like being in a room full of genetically enhanced attractive people.

Their dancing already looks great. As usual, David is doing a terrific job! :)

Chicago seems like a fun city to live for a few months. I suppose it's a nice city in the summer. It was hot -- and I hear the Chicago summers are hot -- but it was less oppressive hot than New York has been, so it felt fresh to me.

But now I am back in London! Just hanging out in the hotel today, laying low. Walked around Covent Garden and tried to get a massage, but everywhere was booked. I walked over to the Sanctuary, which is a "ladies only day spa"... the idea being that women spent half the day there relaxing and being pampered. I didn't want to spend half the day there, only get a massage, but was willing to pay for the entrance fee if that was what I needed to do as I was desperate for a massage. But I encountered a fat, repulsive and rude lady at the desk, who insisted on calling me "Darling" as she emphatically and dramatically told me it was impossible for me to get a massage. She repeatedly emphasized the impossibility in a near panic-stricken and overly loud tone, as if my inquiring about a massage availability was an outrageously inappropriate question. A simple, "I'm sorry, we're fully booked" would have sufficed, it seemed to me, but she was nastily melodramatic and offensively unattractive. It was too much for me to handle having just flown in from Chicago without much sleep, with an aching back. I grumbled, "I understand that you don't have any openings but you don't have to be rude about it" and walked out. There's nothing "Sanctuary"-like about a place that is overseen by a hideous, rude, stressed-out and grotesque lady.

Luckily, I found a nicer, more elegant and certainly more peaceful spa at the One Aldwych hotel, where I booked a massage for Wednesday night.

Casting continues tomorrow, and on Friday I will fly to Hamburg. I hope the week will go by quickly... although I suppose I will also need to hope there will be enough time to complete what we need to complete.

And so it goes... I will miss David this week, but he will have a busy week in Chicago -- ensemble dance week -- so I shall take the positive outlook that we are both working very hard and making contributions to make our show better.