A star in Twilight the Musical

Jenna Leigh Green and Me

Jenna Leigh Green and Me

On 1/16/12 there was one night musical about the movie Twilight in an off broadway theatre.  In all honesty I really could careless about Twilight.  I'm really not a big fan.  But when I read that Jenna Leigh Green was going to be in the show I knew I wanted to go.  I watched her on the show Sabrina The Teenage Witch as Libby and I thought she was cool.  I also saw some videos of her on youtube singing and she sounded amazing.  I had literally found out about this musical just days before it was happening and it was already sold out.  Still I didn't care I wanted to meet her so I decided to just go and wait until she came out of the stage door like most fans do. I got into the city around 7:30pm and the show didn't start until 8pm.  It was freezing that night.  I went in and out of stores just to keep warm.  Around 9:30pm I headed to the theatre to wait.  As I waited it started to get even more colder and it started to snow.  I did not expect that to happen.  While I was waiting I met some star kids fans.  Turns out some of the star kids were performing in the show.  Eventually the show ended and the actors were coming out.  It wasn't until about 30 minutes later Jenna Leigh Green came out.  I really wanted to meet her and I thought I might miss her so when she came out I literally jumped at the opportunity.  I held out a picture of her and said "Please will you sign this".  I think it might of scared her a little because I don't think she was expecting it.  She was really nice and I even got to take a picture with her.  Actually two because the person taking the picture didn't know how to do it.  Anyone who takes pictures with my phone doesn't know how to do it.  Its kind of funny.  Turns out the guy took two great pictures.  For someone who didn't know how to use it did very well.  Now if only my sister could take as good pictures.

The Adam's Family on BROADWAY

The Adams Family has been on television starting in the 1960's and now in 2011 it is on Broadway.  I wasn't sure what to expect when I planned on going to the show.  Honestly I was more interested in seeing Bebe Neuwirth who played Morticia.  I have seen her on the show Cheers and I saw how she can play a dark character with humor.  I thought her to be Morticia in The Adam's Family was a great role to see her play.  The rest of the cast included Roger Rees as Adam Gomez, Adam Grupper as Mal Beinke, Heidi Blickenstaff as Alice Beinke, Jackie Hoffman as Grandma, Zachary James as Lurch, Rachel Potter as Wednesday, Adam Riegler as Pugsley, Jesse Swenson as Lucas Beinke and Uncle Fester was played by an understudy Jim Borstelmann.

When I go to the theatre I saw the gift shop and it was pretty cool stuff.  They had several shirts that had quotes the characters in the show say during the play.  Some of them were kind of funny or just plain old cool.  I got one because I thought the saying was pretty interesting it was a quote said by Wednesday.  When I went to my seat there was one thing on everybody's mind who was sitting down.  Why is it so cold here?  Well at least I think everyone was thinking about that.  It felt like it was 55 degrees in there.  I was glad I brought a sweater with me.  

About 30 minutes later the show started.  I have to say I was not all impressed with the show.  The Adam's Family on Broadway seemed to be more happy and cheerful than usual.  It seemed strange and then having a plot about Wednesday an 8 year old who wants to get married.  I know the Adam's Family is a strange family but I wouldn't expect them to let their 8 year old daughter get married.  Also Wednesday didn't have her pig tails.  In the cartoon picture for the Adam's family you can see they drew Wednesday with pig tails.  I guess this show was more for little kids than older ones.  

Jesse Swenson

Adam Riegler

Rachel Potter

Bebe Neuwirth and Me

Jim Borstelmann

Jim Borstelmann

Adam Grupper

Zachary James

Roger Rees and Me

Well after the show was over I got my stuff and headed out to the stage door.  I was glad I got a good spot up in front.  It wasn't long until some of the cast started to come out.  I have to say I was quite shocked about this cast.  I know it was late at night but I still have never seen a cast of people move so quickly in a line signing autographs trying to get out of there.  It really sucked because since they kept moving it was hard to get decent pictures.  Jesse Swenson was the first one to come out.  He seemed nice but tired at the same time.  Then Heidi Blickenstaff came out.  I don't think anyone realized who she was because she looked completely different out of costume.  Jackie Hoffman came out and she really wanted to get out of there because she signed playbills so fast like I have never seen before.  It was actually quite amazing to watch her go down the line so fast.  Then Adam Riegler came out and he seemed nice.  Rachel Potter was next to come out and she was pretty cool.  I thought she was pretty good on the show because her voice sounded amazing.  Then Bebe Neuwirth came out and before she came out we were told she wouldn't stop for pictures, but only just signing autographs.  Luckily someone next to me asked for a picture and got one so I did the same and I got to take a picture too. Jim Borstelmann came out next and he was very funny.  He actually kept coming out at random times to say hi to people.  He even came out in his make up and he was just so up beat.  Then Adam Grupper came out.  He seemed very nice and tired.  He signed everyone's playbills, took pictures and spoke to people in the crowd.  Zachary James came out and he was tall.  I wanted to ask Zachary James how tall he was but he moved by pretty quick.  About 10 minutes later the last cast member came out to greet the fans.  His name is Roger Rees and he was pretty cool.  He was very nice and calm after his performance on stage.  He did look a bit exhausted.  I was glad to get  a picture with him.

In the end it was a pretty long day, but I still enjoyed it.  I got to meet Adam Carolla and the cast of the Adam's Family all in one day.

GO CRAZY FOR THE TONY AWARDS

June 12th 2011 was the day of the Tony Awards.  For those who have never heard of the Tony's then you need to come to NYC from where ever you are because you need to see a musical on Broadway right away.   The Tony's celebrates Broadway just like the Emmy's, Ocars celebrate actors and actresses in movies and television shows.

I brought my sister Brooke to come along with me to watch celebrities walk the red carpet.  Now let me tell you it really sucked that we had to watch from across the street.  What was worse is that the streets weren't blocked off so buses, trucks and all cars would be passing by.  That was not cool.  Well before all of this since Brooke and I arrived at the Beacon theatre where it was taken place at around 2pm.  We had to wait about 3 hours until people would start arriving around 5:30pm.  Luckily for us there was a fair in the front of the Beacon theatre.  Out of all the days in the week they choose that day of the Tony's to have a street fair.  It was kind of funny but a great way to pass by the time.  Brooke and I were going to all the booths to check out what they had.  It was mostly jewelry and clothing.  It was a pretty good street fair.

Brooke and Christine and Me

Around 3:30pm Brooke and I rushed back across the street behind the theatre of the red carpet to find a good spot.  What really sucked is that the carpet was filled with reporters and camera crews.  It really wasn't fair.  That still didn't stop us from trying to get attention to our side.  I was wearing a Doogie Howser shirt for Neil Patrick Harris and Brooke came up with the idea to write a sign saying "I need a doctor in the house is Doogie Howser here".  That sign got us a lot of attention.  I also wrote another sign saying "WE LOVE THE TONY'S".  We watched the reporters turn around and start reading our signs.  They even started filming our signs which was awesome. Our sign even caught the attention of some people who work at a radio station SiriusXM.  They were really nice and they interviewed us and took pictures with us. When the celebrities started to come it was impossible to see them because of all of the reporters and camera crews on the carpet.  Like I said that didn't stop me from trying to have some fun.  I started to  scream to everyone across the street especially celebrities.  I would find out which celebrity was near our side and I would belt out one big yell of their name.  When Judith Light came by I kept yelling "Judith Light you were awesome on the Who's the Boss.  You are the boss on Who's the Boss"!  When it was Whoopi Goldberg I yelled out "Whoopie Goldberg you're awesome. Can I have tickets to the view"?  When I saw the cast of the musical Book of Mormon I started yelling to them and when they started reading our sign I think I started yelling as if we were in a conversation as a joke.  I also did this to several reporters looking our way.  "Hey. How are you?  I'm good.  Show some NYC LOVE"!!!  All of the people around me were finding it entertaining.  Brooke kept her hands over her ears because when you scream next to someone it usually hurts their ears.  I was having a blast.  One of the cops said from across the street "your loud".  I said "Thanks".  I never knew how loud I could be.  I was quite proud of my accomplishment.  What was even great is the attention I got for my yelling.  Besides some of the pissed of reporters the celebrities were actually waving to us.  I always got their attention.  It was quite hilarious and cool.

Me and Brooke

Since it was hard to get pictures of the celebrities I just got wide shots of the crowds and the red carpet.  You can see for yourself how crazy it was.  Even though we didn't get to meet anyone it didn't matter.  Right after the red carpet Brooke and I got on the subway to go to Times Square.  They were showing the Tony Awards on a big screen in Time Squares.  They even had a place where you can take a picture if front of Tony Awards background.  Brooke and I took a picture 5 minutes before the Tony's ended.  It was pretty cool.  I had a lot of fun and I would surely go again.

The Normal Heart

This is a continuation to the last post I put up.  The same day I saw Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, I also saw the show The Normal Heart.   This is a must see show.  When Ellen Barkin won a tony award for her performance in The Normal Heart it was well deserved.  During the show she has a speech that she gives with emotion and power.  It was an amazing performance.

Lee Pace

Joe Mantello

The Normal Heart takes place in the early 80's when the AIDS epidemic was just starting.  Ned Weeks played by Joe Mantello is a man who decides to spread the word about this disease because no one is doing anything about it.  He had teamed up with Dr Emma Brookner played by Ellen Barkin who informed him about the epidemic.  You follow Ned Weeks in his journey of letting everyone know about the disease.  You see him succeed, fall in love and his hardships.  The rest of the cast are Felix Turner played by John Benjamin Hickey, Jim Parson as Tommy Boatwright, Lee Pace as Bruce Niles, Patrick Breen as Mickey Marcus, Luke Mcfarlane as Craig Donner/ Grady, Mark Harelik as Ben Weeks, Richard Topol as Hiram Keebler/ examining doctor and Wayne Wilcox as David.

Jim Parsons and Me

Right after I had gone to see Bengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo, since Robin Williams wasn't coming out to meet the fans because it was in the middle of the day I decided to go see some of the stars of The Normal Heart.  Not all of the cast came out because it was in the middle of the day but I just really wanted to see Jim Parsons.  I did get to meet Lee Pace, Joe Mantello and Patrick Breen.  When Patrick Breen came up to me and asked "Why don't you get your play bill signed"? I had given him an envelope to sign and that's why he asked that. I said "I didn't see the show yet and I was going to see it tonight and I figured it would be easier to meet the cast now".  He thought it was a bit interesting and then went on to sign the other fans play bills.  Then I got to meet Jim Parsons.  I was really excited because he was a very funny actor on television and I couldn't wait to meet him in person. When I met him I actually didn't say anything except "Can I take a picture with you"? When he said sure  I just said "Thank you" right after the picture.  I thought it was pretty cool.  He was very calm and kind to everyone.

 I recommend this show to everyone.  The show is just phenomenal and it is based on the truth.  When I was at the show by the end everyone was in tears.  I felt like people working at the theatre should of been handing out tissues.  Instead what they did is hand out a letter that someone wrote.  Watching the show makes you feel different emotions such as anger, sadness, happy and you even might feel like you have power.  The power to stand up for a cause and fight for it.  I think this is a great show because of the education it provides the audience.  When ever there is a new disease out their in the world people handle it differently.  Everyone is equal and no matter what part of the population is affected by the disease those people should not be treated differently.  We are all equal and we are all people.  If one part of the population has a disease we should help them and not ignore it.

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Yesterday I went to two broadway plays Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo and The Normal Heart.  I will talk about the The Normal Heart in my next post.  For those who don't know Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad  Zoo is about the beginning of the war in 2003.  Robin Williams also stars in the show.  The other stars are Glenn Davis, Brad Fleischer, Hrach Titizian, Sheila Vand, Arian Moayed and Necar Zadegan.

Hrach Titizian

Arian Moayed

Glenn Davis

I went to the first showing of the play of that day at 2pm.  I was very interested in what the play would be like.  I also wanted to see Robin Williams perform live.  I have to say the play was very interesting.  I'm not sure how else to put it.  The show gives you a look at how the war was, and how the soldiers and people were effected.  The play shows how the people felt after loss and killing others to survive.  You got the feeling that all of the people effected were haunted.  I think people should see this show because it lets you see how people effected by war feel.  For those who are not fighting the war or in the places where war is taking place, we really don't have an understanding of how the effects can be devastating.  Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo showcases all of the effects.  I wouldn't recommend young children to see this because I don't think they could handle the show, and it wouldn't be appropriate for them to see.

Kirk Douglas

After the show ended I rushed outside to meet some of the cast members from the play.  I found out that Robin Williams wasn't going to come out and that really sucked.  But it didn't matter because I could always come back and try to meet him.  What was really amazing is the first person to walk out of the stage door.  It was no other than KIRK DOUGLAS.  This man is 94 years old and looks fantastic.  He came to watch the performance just like anyone else.  He couldn't stop to take pictures or sign autographs but that didn't matter.  To see him in person was just fantastic.  I even got to take a quick picture of him coming out the stage door.  Since this was the first show of the day not all of the cast members would be coming out to meet the fans.  I did get to meet most of the men in the show.  They all were very kind while meeting the fans.