Café Edison

I had just come off 2 plus years on the road
It was hard
Travel day was your only day off
A real grind
It was the best gig I ever had
Contract over
Head back to my empty house in NJ
Needing work
So, I called up the Producer who extended my last contract
He came out on tour after I was thrown into the lead as a stop-gap replacement
He was doubtful
I was pretty young to play the part
Grew a bushy beard
Learned some make-up tips
Did a little "old man schmacting" and BAM!
Kept the job
Till the contract ran out, and, a person you may have heard of (Colm Wilkinson) took over the role
Funny thing
He shadowed me several shows
Nice as can be
Heard, "I'm too feckin' old for this" in a brogue more than once
With Colm taking back over I was out of work
The producer, Peter, was involved with another show
This character was young
A Marine in Vietnam
Hesitantly he agreed to have lunch with me
at
The Café Edison
Walking in, well, it wasn't what I expected
Booths looked like they were out of the 60's
A menu was sort of stuck up on the wall behind the register
with those letters you can change around like on a church sign
But you can tell these menu items haven't changed
Maybe ever
High ceilings
Beautiful columns
Chandeliers and a neon Budweiser sign
The place was worn down
It looked like New York
Glamorous and disheveled
As we sit down Peter looks a little surprised
I was shorn clean for the first time in years
Pink cheeks a poppin'
Hair cut tight
Ran the 6.2 loop around the park
Daily
Not the same guy he knew several months ago
He suggests the Moza ball soup
Which was delicious
Tells me,
"More deals have been done in this place than anywhere in NY."
Looking around
It's eclectic
Odd for sure
But there was something
Even if you couldn't quite put your finger on it
There was energy all around
I get my audition
Got the role