…and LEAR is open! The reviews are fantastic, in that even when they hate it, they HATE it. There is no middle ground in this production. It's balls-out, literally. No one can walk away without strong feelings. The Washington Post loved it, the Washington Times hated it. Fun fun fun.

The show's actually been open for a week, but I've been busy with a) family, visiting from Chicago; b) understudy/put-in rehearsals; c) moving over to Foggy Bottom for the week; & d) performances.

With the family in town, I've done my first tourist-y jaunts. I went to the Mall for the first time. Visited the Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, and FDR memorials. Like FDR a lot – well designed. Lincoln is amazing, of course, but I had never noticed that he is posed as a classical Roman consul – right hand open, left hand closed, right foot forward, left foot back. Man, every time I begin to doubt our Roman roots, they're shoved in my face.

Dash was pretty wiped by the time we got to the Jefferson Memorial, so he and I sat on the floor behind Jefferson's statue and hung out. He pointed to the writing on the walls, and asked me to read it to him. It was the Declaration of Independance. I dutifully read it to him. When I finished, he looked at me and said, "That's a good story, Daddy."

The National Zoo is pretty fantastic, though how they managed to design it so that everything is up-hill is a wonder. Pushing a double stroller all day, I was feeling it. But the pandas were great, the hippo was cool, and Dash loved the alligators.

In famous political people sightings, I seemed to have hit the quota my first week. But I've been hanging with several Broadway stars, which has been fun. And I heard that Christopher Hitchins came to see the Saturday show – Ed Gero ran into him at the Chophouse after the show, and they had drinks. He apparently loved it, which is gratifying, if predictable – it's a rather bleak show, displaying on stage what he's seen first-hand.

Now that the family is home and the show is up, it's time to write. Steve and I are doing Shanghai Low work today, and I finished editing another chapter of the Roman novel. Then it's off to the gym, the bar, and bed.

More soon.

DB