Early to Bed

About the show

Each of the two acts of Early to Bed is framed as a flashback being narrated by a character named O'Connor in a present-day New York bar. The action takes place in interwar Martinique. El Magnifico, an ageing Spanish bullfighter, is travelling to the "Pan-American Goodwill Games" with his son, Pablo, and his valet, Pooch, when his car breaks down. The son is hit by another car and is taken to recover at the Angry Pigeon, a bordello run by Rowena, a former schoolteacher. The woman who was driving, a nightclub dancer named Lois who was travelling to a gig, is also injured, and is taken to the Angry Pigeon as well. The pair fall in love. El Magnifico and Rowena have had a romantic affair in the past, and still feel a connection, and Pooch and Rowena's maid Lily-Ann are also attracted to each other. At the Angry Pigeon is a newly hired prostitute named Eileen of all the newcomers, she is the only one who understands that the Angry Pigeon is a brothel, with all the others assuming it is a finishing school. Rowena keeps the true nature of the establishment hidden in order to continue wooing El Magnifico. Presently, the California State University track team arrive in the area for the Goodwill Games, and El Magnifico invites them to stay at the Angry Pigeon. Together with the prostitutes they build a parade float for the Games, but the effort expended on building it, and interacting with the prostitutes, leads to the team losing. President Roosevelt congratulates them via radio regardless, assuming that they deliberately allowed the other countries to win, and the Martinique mayor acknowledges Rowena and the Angry Pigeon for their role. All the couples are united.