Sympathy Jones

File it under "The Show Must Go On": Kate Shindle limped out on stage during the pre-show announcement to explain that she'd sprained her ankle the night before in Legally Blonde and that she'd be playing the karate-kickin' secretary-turned-spy lead in this final performance of Sympathy Jones while safely seated downstage. The rest of the cast would pretend she was where she usually was on stage. I have a feeling that this may have been the most fun performance of the whole run: everytime Shindle would mime karate chops from her seat and someone ten feet away had to react, the audience cracked up anew. It never got old. Since this was a highly unusual performance, I'm not comfortable saying so much about the show and the performances, except that the material is cute (more TV's Batman than Modesty Blaise), there are certainly some nifty era-appropriate songs in the mix here (I especially liked the Shirley Bassey-like opener) and Kate Shindle is more than a trouper: she's a star.