I love Broadway shows. Love them. Especially musicals. Cannot get enough of them.
And I love Kristin Chenoweth. She is the best. So naturally I was overjoyed to get tickets to closing night of Promises, Promises as a Christmas present from my in-laws.
On the way in to the show with the family, we ran in to none-other-than Molly Shannon (of Saturday Night Live Fame), who is in the show...
She was so so so nice to the few people that were near the stage door waiting to see her. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time, but some of her superfans were camped out there waiting to meet her. As soon as she got out of the car, we heard an ear splitting shriek, which as it turns out, was emitted by a rather large man. He was pumped. Super pumped. And while I found him to be...well, honestly a little scary, she was nothing but wonderful to him and very generous with her time. Not one to turn down a celeb photo op, I hopped up there and got my photo snapped with her. Super cute! It's really nice to see a celebrity that clearly appreciates her fans and takes the time to meet them. A+ to you Molly Shannon, superstar.
As you can see, Ben was just as excited to be at the theater on a Sunday afternoon during the Giants game as I was. It may not look like it, but deep down in that frown is a burning love of Kristin Chenoweth. What can I say, best little brother ever.
The show was fabulous, of course. We had amazing seats (thanks to the Curtiss family!) I Loved the old-time music, looooved Kristin (duh!), loved Sean Hayes and Molly Shannon was hilarious. Really, no complaints, it was adorable. And because it was closing night, the cast was very emotional and there were some funny moments. Having never done the stage door thing before, I decided to harness my inner nerd and give it a go. I was shocked by what ensued, shocked. First of all, I was hardly alone in my desire to catch a glimpse of Cheno and gang. People ran, not walked, ran, from the theater to get a good spot outside the door.
Not a particularly good picture, but gives you an idea of how many people were out there. I'd guess it was close to 500. Or more.
So of course it was no surprise that other people love Cheno and wanted to get her autograph after the show (everyone should love her, she is amazing, obviously). But I assumed I might be in the higher age category and would mainly be hanging out with teenage girls. Wrong. Very few teens in sight. And as far as fans go, I don't even register on the super-fan scale. There were a group of people not far from me in the gantry that had been to 100s of shows and were card carrying members of the K.Cheno fan club. They had brought her presents and were talking about all the different times they had met her. And they were all adults, not a teeny bopper in sight. I thought it was a little odd, but to each his own, and they all seemed nice enough. After a little wait, she finally emerged (after her body guards went around telling people not to take pictures with flash- it apparently triggers her migraine problem) and she was ADORABLE. She greeted her super fans personally- as in- knew their names, was gracious about the presents they brought her and took the time to hug each and every one of them. It was amazingly kind of her. What a special person to take time out of her busy night to be grateful for her fans. The super fan immediately next to me apparently has sent her art work- for which she was thanked profusely. I got to say hello and chat a bit as she signed autographs. Amazingly nice woman. And tiny. With out flash I couldn't get a good picture at a distance and then she was literally so close to me that it would have been pretty obnoxious to shove a camera in her face. So this is as good as it gets folks.
I may be unlikely to do the stage door thing again anytime soon- it was a bit much. But it was fun to see Kristin, I am a huge fan. And it was also nice to see another celebrity being so kind to her fans.
We also got to see American Idiot while we were in NY- no pictures to document the occasion for that one, but it was SO GOOD. As a special treat, Billie Joe Armstrong from Greenday appeared in a small role in the show (he was fab!), which only made it that much better. I love classical Bway musicals- but I also love a good rock musical, and this one was awesome. In my list of all time favorite shows seen on Broadway, it comes out near the top (After Wicked and Spring Awakening and maybe In the Heights, if you were interested, and right before Legally Blonde) If you like Greenday, you have to see it. I am still singing it in my head- right now actually.
OK, enough gushing for one post. Now there is clear evidence that I am a dork, a fact that most of you already knew. But I love Broadway- I think it's so amazing and I really appreciate the opportunity to see such talented artists live. Looking forward to our eventual return to NY and seeing many, many, many more shows.
