Bumping into celebrities = awesome. In fact, I like to bump into
celebrities people don’t realize are celebrities (aka Broadway strongholds).
When I start seeing Broadway folks around town, I believe that fate is back in
my favor. It just makes me giddy.
A few months back. The Apple
Store. Upper West Side. I plop down with my back-breaking bag—it was holding
two laptops—and begin the impatient wait to be helped at the Genius Bar. Fear
not geniuses! I will wait for you because I have accidentally sat down next to
Joshua Henry (2011 Tony Nominee for The Scottsboro Boys, cameo role in the 1st SATC movie, currently on Broadway in Porgy & Bess). I sit trying to catch glimpses of him in my
peripheral vision—I don’t want to blatently stare!
When Joshua gets up to
leave, I introduce myself. I nearly start crying explaining to him how much of
an impact his performance in Scottsboro Boys had on me. He is so gracious. So sweet. A total
darling. He is sincerely happy I had recognized his performance, well-evidenced
by his appreciative facial expression. And he stands there dressed to the nines
and good-looking to boot. We talk a bit about how he likes Porgy & Bess and then he trots off leaving the Genius who had
waited on him asking me “Who is that?” A star, sir. A star.
A few weeks later, I was
running to yoga in the theater district and I bumped into Kerry Butler fresh
off her matinee performance of Gore Vidal’s The Best
Man. She was “stage-dooring
it,” as my brother would say. Her baseball cap pulled low to cover her
excessively stage make-uped face and her sweatshirt bundled up to her ears to
keep her warm. She was on her phone so I didn’t bother her.
I’ve run by Karen Olivo
(now playing Cassie on “Harry’s Law” but formerly of the Broadway stage as
Anita in West Side Story and Vanessa in In The Heights),
Christopher Fitzgerald (original Boq in Wicked, Igor in Young Frankenstein), Cynthia Nixon (please tell me you know that
one) and so many more.
My highest profile
celebrity sightings actually happened my freshman year of college on
consecutive nights. My brother was in town and I was taking him to see the two
Broadway shows he could not see with my parents: Avenue Q and Spring Awakening. Rachel McAdams sat a few rows away in Spring Awakening. Can I just say how simply radiant she is? Her
skin is smooth like porcelain. No one was bothering her, so we didn’t either,
but when we left the theater and she was just zipping down the street I
couldn’t resist. We got her autograph and she was genuine and down to earth.
More shocking than her quiet demeanor was that most people had no idea who she
was. Hello! Mean Girls! The Notebook!
Geez.
The subsequent evening
Joseph and I went to Avenue Q. We walked to 42nd Street to get on the subway and BAM! Sarah
Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick and Mikhail Baryshnikov. By the looks of their Playbills they had
just seen The Pirate Queen. I lost my mind and started running after her
screaming, “Miss Jessica Parker! Miss Jessica Parker” as if her middle name was
actually a hyphenated last name. One of my finer moments. She did stop to sign
our playbills, ducking behind her male entourage so as not to cause too much
commotion. She freaked when we tried to take a photo. Note: Do not EVER try to
take a photo of her if you get that close. But how nice of her to stop (and how
stupid of us not to talk to Matthew and Mikhail)!
While this major
sighting was clearly exciting, I actually prefer my little passingsby and
casual Apple store conversations.
Today, I ran by Amy
Brenneman on 42nd Street. I love her on “Private Practice” and she was
completely dressed down. You wouldn’t even recognize her.
When these moments
happen, my heart races just a bit and I get this little jolt of adrenaline. I
think I react this way mostly because I realize “They’re people, too!” They’re
on the subway, and at the bus stop, and chatting on their phones as they almost
get run over by cabs. They dress in sweats and go out with no makeup on!!
Sometimes, they’re even REALLY REALLY nice. They are thankful for fans. I like
to think that celebrity spottings are like winning the sidewalk lottery—that luck
must be on my side and my future fate is on the up and up.
In what other city do
celebrities roam the streets like normal people? (And don’t say LA because I
refuse to believe they act normal there.) New York is primed for moments like
these. I just hope I keep running into them and my good luck streak stretches
for a long New York moment.
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