Posted by Ross @ 09/07/2002 11:40 AM PST

Before i forget HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. LURIE!!!
I've met a number of celebrities over the years but I think my first encounter was the most memorable.
It was my first visit to New York in 1973. I attended my first Broadway musical "Cyrano" starring Christopher Plummer on opening night. There was quite a bit of hoopla and the press was there and it was all very impressive. The audience burst into applause when Mayor John Lindsay took his seat in the orchestra. I was in the front row of the mezzanine and asked the lady next to me why everyone was applauding. She gave me a "oh, you poor thing" look and told me it was the mayor.
I enjoyed the show and went downstairs to the lobby. I was wending my way through the crowd when I encountered a fairly large woman with a flowing evening gown on with her back to me. It was so crowded I was having a hard time getting by her. Before I could say anything, she turned around to face me. My jaw fell to the floor and my eyes bugged out of me head. I was about 10 inches from Shelley Winters. I dropped dead in my tracks and could not speak. A man that she knew was standing in back of me and wanted to introduce her to his friends. I was still standing motionless and the friends formed a semi circle around her as they all shook hands. I couldn't resist the urge. As soon as the man next to me let go of her hand, I grabbed her hand in a killer grip and said, "It's been so nice meeting you", and fled into the crowd. As everyone knows her voice carries for a long distance. Over the din in the lobby I heard her yelling, "Who was that? Who was that?"
After the show I came down the stairs to the lobby at the same time that Mayor Lindsay was leaving from the orchestra section. Our paths merged at the same time and I was walking out the theatre with him. A lady in front of me turned and said, "I hate to bother you but could you tell me where the cast party is being held?" I stopped in my tracks once more. Was I going to admit I was a tourist from Portland, Oregon and this was my first time in New York? NO! My exact words were, "The sources I know said it would be at Sardi's." I only hoped God would not strike me dead before leaving the theatre. As I left and there all kinds of people piling into limos going to the party, I wondered what would happend if I got into one of the limos and went to the party. I chickened out.
I know this went on a bit long but it was my first brush with fame and I will never forget that night. I am somewhat surprised that Ms Winters did not mention me in her autobiographies. She had two books to do it in. If she's reading this drop me a line Shelley.
The next day I read in The Times that the party was held at Sardi's.

Posted by Dennis Clancy @ 09/07/2002 01:06 PM PST

Ross,

The deluxe dvd edition of
Sleeping Beauty will be out
this month in the USofA; it's
been already released in
Europe this last june, if you
can believe that, and the clips
you saw of Mary Costa are
included of course.

She was in the filmmusical
THE GREAT WALTZ.

I'm the one I admit who posted
the lyrics to A Certain Smile.....

No, i wasn't there for the
première of Princess Diaries: I
saw pics on the internet and I
just LOVE Julie.....

.... and I wish they had
recorded the concert
performance of Carnival with
Ann Hathaway....
Bruce, where were you ?!

I know, I know Paris has loads
of museums but they are not
as lively as American/British
musicals !

Yes, there's one of Anthony
Perkins RCA recordings out;
it's from the series
manufactured in Spain, like
the "soundtrack"of Darling Lili
and most albums by Henry
Mancini.

Michel Legrand is very grateful
to Mr Mancini, because he's
the one who gave him his
break in Hollywood...

Posted by François @ 09/07/2002 01:58 PM PST

Joyeux Anniversaire Monsieur
William Lurie !

Posted by François @ 09/07/2002 02:00 PM PST

Happy day, William E. Lurie!
Many many more to you, good
sir.

As for celebrities, never really
met any...yet...

Posted by Jed @ 09/07/2002 02:32 PM PST

Happy birthday William.
Celebrities! I have the autographs of Bk & GH but have yet to meet either. I met Keith Michell in a car park after a production of "Scrooge" in which he starred. He was quite delightful and we talked about his performances in "Robert & Elisabeth" and the play "Dear Love" (in which he once again plaed Robert Browning). I saw the latter.

I also have met Samantha Sang at the engagement party of a mutual friend's daughter. No comment would be my comment on that one!

Autographs. I am not a collector but I do have one from Paul Jones. (One time lead singer of Manfred Mann and he played "Pippin" in London.) He bought a book from me. (Perhaps he new that it would be the first step on my way to fame and riches. I am still waiting for the second step.)

Posted by Tom from OZ @ 09/07/2002 02:46 PM PST

Thank you all for your birthday wishes. I spent the day at the matinee of HAIRSPRAY. My colored tights and pantaloons went unnoticed on the subway, but when I got to the theatre the man behind me asked me to remove the pointy hat. At intermission they did not have cheese slices and ham chunks (nor cheese chunks and ham slices) and although there was a lot of dancing in the show they did not do the hora. Still I loved the show. I was afraid that after all the hype I would be disappointed like I was with THE PRODUCERS but that was definitely not the case with HAIRSPRAY. I think the difference is that THE PRODUCERS basically put the screenplay on stage with much of the same dialogue so I knew what was coming before every laugh but HAIRSPRAY followed the plot of the film but with all new dialogue. The score was a mix of authentic 60's style pop and good old Broadway and for once in recent years the amplification didn't kill the sound. Every number almost stopped the show. If I were producing another new Broadway musical this season I wouldn't hold out any hopes for Tonys. HAIRSPRAY should win all 4 acting awards: Marissa Jaret Winokur, Harvey Fierstein and Dick Latessa are locks, and the supporting actress could go to almost any of the female cast. My choice would be Mary Bond Davis. In fact Ms. Davis is so good that my only complaint is that after her second act number "I Know Where I've Been" it's downhill after that and it takes about ten munutes before the show gets going again.

In answer to the celebrity question of the day, I once met Bette Davis after a matinee of NIGHT OF THE IGUANA. She was much more polite than I would have expected although we talked for less than a minute. The nicest celebrity I ever met was Miss Julie Wilson. I worked with her in stock when she was the star and I was a lowly apprentice and yet when I saw her again a dozen years later she greeted me like a long lost friend. I give her credit for dropping out of show business when she was at the height of her career to raise her family and I am thrilled that she was able to come back as big a star as ever.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 09/07/2002 03:47 PM PST

P.S. Yes Ron I will be having cake later. It will be Chocolate Fudge with Vanilla Icing. If you want to share it, e-mail me your snail mail address and I will send you a piece.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 09/07/2002 03:51 PM PST

Because of my working for the
Disney/MGM Studios in
Florida, a few years back, I
was lucky enough to meet
some nice and famous people
like Cyd Charisse, Brenda
Vacarro, and Susan Sullivan --
the Tylenol lady !-- who, not
only is a gorgeous woman, but
also a witty and smart person.

At one time, a very famous
French TV show celebrated its
200th broadcast LIVE from the
theme park, and I was pulled
out of my department to do
some work on that show...

One of the guest stars was Mr
Mannix himself, Mike Connors,
who's an "old colleague" of
Bruce....if I remember right...

I was to do the simultaneous
translation for the host of the
show and for Mike Connors.
We rehearsed the previous
afternoon, and, since I had
been a guest relation host at
EPCOT Center -- now just
EPCOT, if you please ! -- I got
to tour guide Mr Connors the
whole evening through the
Walt Disney World
property....where he had never
been before.

He was very casual and
simple in his manners -- very
few people did recognized him
-- and talked about his career
and one movie he did with
Maurice Chevalier, saying that
the latter was very distant
during the whole filming.
If I had been smart, I could
have written a complete article
about him and sell it to the
local paper, but I was so
honored to be in his presence,
and so thrilled to be on the set
the next day.

My parents, who hadn't seen
me in 6 years, and not
knowing if I would really be
appearing in the show, got to
see me live , and in good
company ...

The set was outside, on the
"New York Street" of the park,
and they had me dressed up
as a New Police cop, in a
costume that had to be
borrowed from the Universal
Studios wardrobe, if you can
believe that !!

Part of the audience were the
park guests, and, during
segments, Mike fiddled with
"my" real-fake gun, to the roar
of the crowd...

During the whole broadcast I
kept thinking: I hope my
parents are watching, i hope
my parents are watching.....

....and they were !

Posted by François @ 09/07/2002 04:12 PM PST

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MR. LURIE!

..and I'll add myself to the list of Angela's admirers at the Gershwin, but with a little backstory.
Miss Lansbury was the recipient of the first fan letter I ever wrote, and in turn, she had her husband send me a personalized invitation to meet and greet her in her dressing room following a certain performance of SWEENEY. Well, I was agog and aghast, as I had no pantaloons, nor pointy hats - but I did have a lovely bouquet of yellowish-peach roses...Backstage, up that elevator, and as I got off, I was greeted individually by most of SWEENEY'S cast members -each of them commenting or questioning, "You must be Angela's friend from Pittsburgh!?!?" Len, Ken, Sarah, Edmond, Victor - all of them; anmd finally, Peter Shaw, who graciously escorted me into the star's dressing room, where we did chat on and on (she let me hold her Tony Award!) until we were interrupted by a knock on the door. Angela herself rose to open the door, still clad in her sumptuous peach dressing gown, turned to me with at twinkle in her eye and stated, " Now, I've got a big surprise for you."
(I had actually THOUGHT of ending the post here and now, just for suspense sake, but instead, I thought that I might presume upon the fellow Hainesies and Kimmelets to posit their own theories as to what was behind the door that Angela was about to open...)

I've spend hours and hours in the company of Betty Lynne Buckley - twice here in Pennsylvania, and once at The Bottom Line in the Village. If anything, she was even a little more gracious than Angela, but Betty and I hit it off from the first second our eyes met. I did get to speak to her indirectly during her first concert post-Carnegie Hall: she was introducing "Move On," and she suffered a brain fart, and asked if anyone in the audience KNEW what show it was from. i didn't answer right away, oh, no, not me, but waited to see/hear if there were any other Sondheimites in the house (i KNOW there were plenty of sodomites, but that's another tale for another time) before shouting out from the back row, "SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE." Well, later in her dressing room, she consiritorially looked at me and said, "That was YOU that knew MOVE ON, wasn't it?" at which point she called Kenny Werner over to introduce him to me, and to boast that she had found the one who helped her through her rough moment on stage. Betty was even more gracious the next time she was in Pittsburgh - she did a fundraiser for the Pittsburgh Council for the Arts, and requested that I be allowed admittance as her "guest" to this truly expensive dinner and show on stage at the palatial Benedum Center. (The funny thing about that evening was that I encountered several people I knew from Carnegie-Mellon, who made the wronged assumption that I was part of the CATERING CREW!) But Betty did dedicate her final a capella "Amazing Grace" to me, and my freind Judy, a Methodist minister, who had come downtown with me to see Betty before the show.
Barbara Cook is as lovely in person as she is on stage. She and I didn't get MUCH time together, but, I did get to bring up the one thing in her career that really interested me: her work for Alfred Hitchcock Presents - "A Little Sleep."
Rob Marshall and Scott Wise approached me at the intermission of SHE LOVES ME, and told me how much they enjoyed having me as an audience member :)
Michael Piontek was very gracious when he appeared here in KISS ME, KATE. As was Laurie Gamache.
Petula Clark was divine.
David Cassidy was pretty darned cool.
John Denver (whom I saw a few weeks before his tragic accident)also dedicated a song to me during his concert, saying that it was one that he normally didn't, but since someone in the audience had mentioned it to him, he decided to do that night - "Perhaps Love."
David Campbell was very young and very talkative after his
Rainbow & Stars engagement.
..oh, and how could I ever forget the night in York, PA, with Mandy Patinkin??? He was not the egocentric, toublesome, person I had been led to believe he was.
Those that I would still like to meet are:
Liza Minnelli, Judy Kuhn, Judy Kaye, Sally Mayes and Dame Julie.
Harvey Fierstien, Mel Brooks (it could happen this week), Jason Graae, Guy Haines and of, course, Bruce Kimmel.

Posted by td @ 09/07/2002 04:20 PM PST

td,

Bruce was behind the door !

..or Guy Haines...

or maybe Mr StePHen
Sondheim himself ??

The suspense is killing me !

You sure met nice people..

I did talk very briefly to Dame
Julie twice actually; she was
not Dame yet, and it was on
cold December nights in
Miami Beach and Clearwater,
after her concerts....

She graciously signed a pic of
her I had brought from a
Cinderella pantomime she did
when she was 19.

"My goodness! You've been
waiting for me in the cold !"
were her words when she saw
us.

Posted by François @ 09/07/2002 04:43 PM PST

These are wonderful celeb stories - however, I'm afraid we'll need more of them, so those who haven't posted get off your butt cheeks and do so immediately.

Ben, speaking of Joel Paley (I did indeed produce Ruthless! and I spent mucho time carousing with Miss Rita McKenzie yesterday and today), did you know he has changed the spelling of his first name to Joal. Isn't that strange? Isn't that too too? Rita didn't know why.

The show was a bit better today, but not much, although I did sell more stuff than most - I actually did pretty okay today - sold several books and a few DVDs too. The promoters of the event came and apologized to each and every one of us, and felt that it was just bad timing on their part - what with the closeness to the anniversary of Sept. 11, and with the Jewish holiday. To make amends, they invited each and every one of us to the big comedy award bash tonight, honoring Carl Reiner and Debbie Reynolds. I'm not going because it was too last minute for me, and also because I simply don't like these kinds of events. I'm off to dinner now - my pal David Wechter has flown in and I do believe you will be able to find us at the craps tables, craps, of course, being a coprophiliac's favorite form of gambling.

Posted by bk @ 09/07/2002 05:09 PM PST

td - I'm guessing the surprise
behind the door was one Mr.
Stephen Joshua Sondheim.

Posted by Jed @ 09/07/2002 06:03 PM PST

Der Brucer and I seem to inhabit a different world. We've met our share of celebrities. (Dick Van Dyke was filming his show on location on the Queen Mary, with Janet Leigh, who I didn't recognize at first because I keep thinking she's a brunette. Well, she was, in Bye Bye Birdie! They were both very gracious, and I answered their questions on what the various buildings on the skyline were. Everyone gets the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific mixed up with the Long Beach Arena, because the Arena has the Wyland whales painted on the sides.) But most of the celebs we meet are in the political arena. (No whale jokes, please!)

The prettiest in the political arena that we've met is Rep.Mary Bono, of course (Sonny's widow). She is so nice. We were in Washington D. C. for a lobbying day, and she joined the group we were with when she could have left us to a staff member. Very friendly, interested in what we had to discuss (yes, she really was listening), and able to come up with pertinent questions on the fly.

The most interesting celebrity, however, was (now former) House Speaker Newt Gingrich! He was on a speaking tour, and we were comped tix for a fundraiser in his honor in Beverly Hills. Included was a photo gig, one of those deals where the politician stands there, and everyone is herded in to pose with him as quickly as possible. Well, der Brucer and I got our turn, and Mr. Gingrich says to der Brucer "Stand a little closer," and puts his arm around der Brucer's waist to pull him in. Der Brucer, quip ever ready, replied "Careful, you might ruin your reputation, we're members of Log Cabin" (the gay Republican organization). Mr. Gingrich just smiled even wider and replied "My reputation's already ruined."

There's a reason why, in the pic we got in the mail some time later, der Brucer looks like he'd just been goosed.

Happy Birthday, William! Keep on celebrating!

Posted by S. Woody White @ 09/07/2002 06:25 PM PST

Still in Montreal, Canada

Happy Birthday Bill

I've been fortunate to meet many people over the years and I've been fortunate that 9 out of 10 people have been nice and a gem to meet (and/or work with)

Edward Albee
Stephen Sondheim
Angela Lansbury
Christopher Reeves
Kathy Baker
Norm Alden
Joseph Maher
John Hillerman
and others

and the only two that I didn't care for was one of the actors from Night Heat (can't remember his name at the moment) and Liza Minnelli who I met this past February before she became David Guest's beard ah I mean wife. More than anything I guess I felt sorry for her. A characterization of what she once was. Too much make-up (Clown White) A hair style met for twenty year olds and smoking like a chimney. Here is someone who wants to get back to singing!

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 09/07/2002 06:59 PM PST

Ron,

We're waiting for your stories,
please, and NO gateau
rhyming... even to celebrate
William !

Thanks.

Posted by François @ 09/07/2002 07:03 PM PST

Michael Shayne,

you usually are more
moderate in your opinions...

Don't get me wrong; I am not a
fan of Liza, but I don't feel sorry
for her, a not too charitable
attitude.

Liza is a mixed up person, and
might have some "excuses".

I'm like you though; I can't
understand why so many
singers do smoke !!!
By smoke, I basically mean
regular tobacco.....

Christopher Reeves: what a
remarkable man ! Such an
inspiration to us all, and yes,
even to Liza !

Posted by François @ 09/07/2002 07:11 PM PST

Ah, my meetings with celebrities have been so varied, given the elite circles within which I move!

It was on a ship at sea in 1973, off the coast of Africa, the day before the longest total solar eclipse of the twentieth centery, one tropical afternoon by the pool that Isaac Asimov turned to me and observed, "Your fly is open." The lady in his company remarked, "As a woman, I find that intriguing," to which Asimov replied, "As a man, I find it disgusting."

Posted by William F. Orr @ 09/07/2002 07:20 PM PST

Ah, yes, and Tim Curry! How could I ever forget the witty Mr. Curry. There I was, standing on the sidewalk listening to my friend Richard Wexler play Mozart on his violin for the after-theatre crowd, when Mr. Curry stepped out of the stage door (as he had also been playing Mozart--in Amadeus) yes, he stepped right out of the stage door and onto my left foot. I shall never forget Mr. Curry's words to me. "Excuse me," he said, and continued on his way.

Posted by William F. Orr @ 09/07/2002 07:34 PM PST

And am I the only one on this list who has met J. Edgar Hoover? It was in 1954 that I was in his office, at the age of nine (wish that I could be always nine), and J. Edgar (Mary to his friends) shook my hand.

But we were never intimate.

Posted by William F. Orr @ 09/07/2002 07:40 PM PST

Attn: William Orr -
Sorry to say that I did not meet J. Edgar! In 1954, I was not even a twinkle, if you catch my drift...
BUT, my uncle, an air force colonel was MARILYN MONROE's escort on her U.S.O. tour of Korea! I have two exceedingly rare photos of that occasion, neither one has been published.
But, Angela Lansbury did introduce me to Stephen Sondheim.

Posted by td @ 09/07/2002 09:10 PM PST

td,

I've been holding my breath for
so many hours !!!!

Who was behind the door ?

The Big Bad Wolf ?

Posted by François @ 09/07/2002 09:29 PM PST

Oops, sorry td !

my timing is all wrong...

"The story of my life "

6:30 here ! AM !
Coffee's ready !

Posted by François @ 09/07/2002 09:30 PM PST

Because of the Sondheim Celebration this summer, I had a pretty good share of celebrity brushes and meetings and chats...

Brian Stokes Mitchell (generous, kind, talented, and giving - and he was always buying cookies from the canteen), Christine Baranski (what a great lady), Judy Kuhn, Michael Cerveris, Rebecca Luker, Raul Esparza (who was gracious enough to talk about his craft and process), Alice Ripley, Emily Skinner, Lynn Redgrave (whom I finally got to thank for some wonderful words of wisdom she imparted in an acceptance speech a few years ago), Mia Farrow, Tony Kushner, Donna Murphy (who I always seem to be eating next to whenever I'm in New York), Blair Brown, Doug Sills, Randy Graff, John Dossett (an amazingly nice man), Michelle Pawk (John's wife), Barbara Bryne, Barbara Cook (who took a few moments to speak to me as she was packing up her dressing room since she had a plane to catch right after her show), John Barrowman, Mary Beth Peil, etc., etc... I don't mean to offend anyone else who was involved with the Sondheim Celebration by leaving their names off this list - they're there in spirit.

OH... and, of course, Mr. Stephen Joshua Sondheim himself. *I had met him a few times before, but the first day of rehearsal, during the Equity meeting, Mr. Sondheim; Larry Blank, the conductor; David Gursky, the assistant conductor; and me, the humble rehearsal pianist, sat in rehearsal room 2 trying to fix Mr. Sondheim's new iBook.. then he shared stories of the original SWEENEY TODD rehearsals with us for about an hour. Oh, and we did get his iBook "fixed".

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 09/07/2002 10:36 PM PST

And then there were the celebrities I didn't know I met.

At a friend's wake, a cousin of the mother of the deceased breezed in, offered condolensces, chatted a bit and breezed out. It wasn't until a few weeks later that I learned I had been talking to Lanie Kazan.

After a preview of Nine, Karen Akers introduced me and my friend Debby to a gracious and flighty gentleman. Years later, Debby remarked about the time we met Tommy Tune. "We met Tommy Tune?" I asked.

Posted by William F. Orr @ 09/08/2002 03:51 AM PST

I am a shameless autograph hound after shows, so I have a few good autographs. I met, among others, Edie Falco after Side Man. After The Real Thing, Jennifer Ehle and Stephen Dillane were both rather distracted. Gabriel Byrne (A Moon For the Misbegotten) was mostly tired, and said he needed a drink (ironic, that.) Cherry Jones (same show)is a lovely person. She happily talked with us (even though she had another show that evening) and then rode off on her bicycle. I complimented her on her on her performance in Cradle Will Rock, which seemed to really flatter her. Paatrick Stewart was very gracious (bringing his own Sharpie) after the disappointing Ride Down Mount Morgan.
A few summers ago, after a long wait in line, I met Audra McDonald after a concert with the Cleveland Orchestra. She was as lovely in person as on stage. After The Visit I met the cranky John McMartin, and Ms. Chita Rivera, the personification of divahood herself. She came out, after a half an hour, with a small fuzzy dog, who she referred to as "her baby". She was lovely, and seemed thrilled that someone so young was interested in the theatre.
Helen Mirren (Dance of Death) was also thrilled that someone so young was interested in the theatre, particularly such a challenging piece. Ian McKellen, a personal idol of mine, is much shorter than I thought he was, maybe 5'6", and seemed very tired. He was very impressed that I was familiar with his non-Lord of the Rings work (Richard III, Gods and Monsters, etc.) Kate Burton is gorgeuous, and also appealingly genuine. We also heard about her appearance in The Elephant Man before it was announced to the press. In Noises Off: Patti and Faith both ran out of the theatre before anyone could make it to the stage door. (Snooty!) Richard Easton, Katie Finneran, et. al. were all friendly, and Peter Gallagher was friendly beyond the call of duty, posing for many pictures and making sire that everyone was satisfied before leaving. He also took time to promote Adam Sandler's awful Mr. Deeds, in which he had a supporting role. Jeffrey Wright, after Topdog/Underdog, was just tired. After Private Lives, Alan Rickman was a bit rude (Maybe he was annoyed about having lost the Tony), but Lindsay Duncan was lovely. (She really is that beautiful close up.) In a personal thrill, I got to see Annie Golden after The Full Monty, who seemed thrilled that she actually had fans.
Well that was rather exhaustive, and probably boring, and I doubt that anyone will read it, (I imagine that the next notes are up) but what the hell.

Posted by Hapgood @ 09/08/2002 10:08 AM PST