「中國皇后號」 The Flu and Double Run-throughs!

The weather is cooler now. I don't know if it's the sudden weather change or if it's the air conditioning on the MTR (which for anyone over 6' tall can be a big problem) but I picked up a serious flu bug several days ago. By Tuesday afternoon, I could feel the flu hallmarks of nasal swelling, exhaustion and muscle pain all over. With so little time left until we perform for the public, I didn't want to risk not recovering quickly and dashed off to see my favourite doctor.

I was a little surprised to discover that I was feverish! I shouldn't have been surprised because I had been experiencing hot and cold all day long; i.e., my body's thermostat was out of wack. My doctor prescribed the best medicine he could (not all medicines are created equal) and suggested that I take one or two days off rehearsals to recover. I shook my head in response to indicate that taking time off would not be an option. There was still so much to work on in the play and so little time left to do it in.

So I spent two days; perhaps three; rehearsing with a fever, all the while keeping everyone else on the cast at least an arm's length away from me, and not talking unless I absolutely had to. Sneezing and coughing were simply not permitted! Not that that helped much. As my doctor indicated to me, the recent sudden cold snap combined with the high pollution levels in Hong Kong has led to a great many people coming down with the flu, including several on our cast.

I'm getting better, but to be extra safe, I revisited my doctor yesterday and he agreed that I would need a second course of medicine to be sure of full recovery, with a few small changes to the medicine just in case I'm dealing with more than one type of bug.

Fortunately, we have this weekend off so I can relax; physically at least; and recover more before returning to rehearsals next week.

Next week! Ah... fun! Double full run-throughs every day except Tuesday. It will be tiring without a doubt. On Wednesday, we move rehearsals to the City Hall theatre where we'll remain until the last show on Jan 31. With double run-throughs daily, next week will probably be the most taxing week in our 8-week period together. Once the show goes live, work will be relatively light weight, with double run-throughs only occurring four times during the two weeks that we'll be performing.

I have just checked with URBIX, and have found that tickets have sold very quickly for most of the shows. There are still reasonable selections available for the last three shows but they might not last long.

Well I'm off to get a little warm sun on our porch while going over the various scenes of the play in my head ;-)

Cheers all.