Best Sighting Yet!

Okay! First! Out doing the ticket sales thing yesterday evening (or late afternoon rather, since the sun was still up); Marian Seldes passes by on her way to the theatre. She's currently playing in Deuce opposite Angela Lansbury. This is the second time I've seen her. I gesture to her, and say "Break a leg." She mouths a 'Thank You', and went on her way. Classy lady.

I was out with Joyce pitching tickets when she thought she spotted someone out of the corner of her eye, and quickly dismissed it. I asked who, and she said "Martin Sheen."

I scanned the crowd, and found a man walking away; and recognized the walk. I've been a West Wing fan for years, to say nothing of Wall Street, etc. I catch up to him, and as we're stopped at the crosswalk, I offer my hand and say, "Excuse me sir, but I had to say I love your work."

Sheen smiles and accepts my hand. Joyce races up, also shakes hands with him, and the three of us had a very pleasant conversation for about two minutes. He asked if we were actors, we said yes, talked shop for a bit. By this time, others had stopped and started taking pictures. No-one had recognized him prior to this (I think) because of the glasses he wore, or possibly because he was so casually dressed. Regular Joe all the way.

Some people understandably don't have patience or the time to talk to fans; but he was more than happy to talk to us for a few minutes. It was incredible.

So, yeah. That happened.

A Memorable Night

And for no shortage of reasons! In order of issue (or in more explainable terms, the chronological reasons):

#1. Mark's Birthday. Happy Birthday! I had a truly fantastic time tonight. I hope you enjoy your present as much as I enjoyed playing Six Degrees. Great night.

#2. A new celebrity sighting: John Glover, enjoying dinner at a restaurant w/ open patio windows on 9th avenue. Sweet.

#3. While waiting for Mark outside the House of Brews, who do I overhear across the street but a group of men singing songs of Phi Mu Alpha? The New York Alumni branch of my college fraternity, signing like jaybirds. I joined in, showed them my fraternity pin (kept always in my wallet) and doing the secret handshake, met a dozen brothers in one go. It was nothing short of fantastic, as far as coincidences go.

Today was good. Quite good. A long day to be sure, but a good day none the less. Shazam.

One For The West Wing Fans

Since I spotted Alan Rickman, a week hasn't gone by (I think) where I haven't run into someone famous. I hope the trend continues, it keeps me on my toes and it's also just plain neat.

Tonight, it was Allison Janney. It's been raining buckets all day; and I was in no position to stop her on the street to say "Hi, I loved you in West Wing, blah blah blah". So I didn't.

Still. Worth mentioning.

I Heart NY

After a decent practice today with the improv group; a few of us went out for a late lunch/early supper dealy at a deli on 47th. Who walks in but Brian O'Byrne? The guy's done a number of shows on Broadway and he's in a terrific independent (I think) flick; Easy. He won the Drama Desk Award for his work in Doubt.

I debated w/ my fellow improvisers whether or not to go up and say hi, and they agreed that it'd be okay to step up. I didn't want to bother him or nothin'.

I walked up, said "Excuse me sir, I just had to say I loved your work in Easy." He was actually surprised that I'd seen it, considering its limited release. I shook his hand, we talked for all of thirty seconds, I said thanks and left.

So that was neat.

Petrificus Totalus!

Had another improv show tonight (which went splendidly by the way, more on that in a sec), but the highlight of the evening was my first NY celebrity sighting: Alan Rickman.

Alan Freaking Rickman, walking down the street like a regular joe w/ his wife (I presume). I recognized him on the spot, and I completely froze. "Holy shit! It's Alan Rickman!" He kept on walking. I didn't ask him for an autograph, I didn't say I'm a huge fan of his work; I said nothing. I was completely dumbstruck for a good ten seconds, and by that time they were gone.

Was this a good thing? Probably. Nobody likes to be bothered when they're headed someplace. But still. Alan Rickman. Awesome.

The show went swimmingly. There were some very good moments, including some physical comedy. Kevin jumped into my arms, (don't ask) at which point the director of the game called "Freeze!", at which point he and his counterpoint discussed how the plot was going. I held Kevin for what was probably a good minute or two; and the audience cracked up because it was taking an effort. Good times.

Be well, folks!