The Crazy Journey of meeting Robin Williams

Alright for those who read my blog about the broadway show Bengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo then know that I met majority of the cast and not Robin Williams.  I also added that I had planned on going back to meet him, but I didn't know what a crazy day it would be.  So let me start from the beginning.

On Tuesday June 14th, 2011 I had plan on going into the city to see Jennifer Hudson perform a few songs while being filmed.  I was going to bring my sister along because I got an extra ticket.  The concert started at around 11am and if you wanted to get a good spot you have to go early.  I remember waking up and my sister Brooke and I were to exhausted so we just went back to sleep.  I'm a fan of Jennifer Hudson but I would never go anywhere with my sister if she didn't get enough sleep.  Brooke can be very cranky and if I'm also tired it is something I don't want to deal with.

After going back to bed and getting up a few hours later there was an event honoring a few celebrities.  Jennifer Hudson was one of the celebrities to perform in that event.  I was going to meet my friend Maria and maybe have Brooke come along if she wanted too. I went with Brooke into the city in mid afternoon to head to the event.  When we arrived at the event there was no one there.  People were still setting up and the weather was lousy.  It was raining on and off.  It was a real pain.  Maria still wasn't there and we could only do is just wait.  It didn't seem like a big event.  I wasn't to excited to be there.  The weather was giving me a headache and that just made things lousier.  About 25 minutes of waiting I get a call from Maria telling me that the Spider Man show on Broadway was having its opening.  I don't think anyone would of thought it would of made it out of previews.  We all figured that might be a better event to go watch because there would be a lot more people there.  It was like a 15 minute walk because we were like 15 blocks away.  When we got to the theatre we saw a red carpet and a few people lined up waiting to see who would arrive.  Maria showed up a bit later.  It would be about an hour and a half until people showed up.  It was very hard to take pictures because of how many people were there and also they went in pretty fast into the theatre.  When the people started to arrive I saw one of John Lennon's sons, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and Loren Michaels.  They didn't stop because I guess they had to get into the theatre quickly.  Brooke left before people were showing up because she was hungry and wasn't feeling well.  She was at the Apple Bee's getting some dinner.  I planned on meeting her there because I barely ate that day.  After I saw the few celebrities I decided I needed to eat something because I figured I wouldn't see anyone else.  Maria decided to go check the other side of the theatre to see if there was another red carpet.  Turns out there was and that was where most of the celebrities were arriving.  I wasn't to upset about it.  I figured Brooke and I could just go meet Robin Williams after the show finished.

After we ate we still had a few hours to waste.  I decided to go to Dave and Busters because I LOVE GAMES.  I am addicted to the claw machines and I am great at them.  If you don't believe me well tell me have you ever gotten 13 stuffed animals in one night from the claw machine?  Well I did and I gave them to my mom to give to her kids at her school.  I even won two  stuffed toys that were a 100 dollar bill.  I figured I would give one to Robin Williams as a joke saying I was paying him because he was so good.

Finally the time passed and it was time to go wait out in front of the stage door.  Luckily for us the play wasn't finished yet so we got great spots.  We even started talking to one of the workers at the theatre who makes sure the fans don't go over board crazy.  I asked him if there was anyone famous watching the play and he said he wasn't sure.  I mentioned I saw Kirk Douglas and he kept saying he didn't come to the show.  I was thinking OMG did I just post everywhere that I saw Kirk Douglas and this was some random old guy.  I was thinking OMG I made a fool of myself.  I just want to add I'm not familiar of what Kirk Douglas really looks like.  I have never met him in person and I have not watched many of his films.  The guy then said here I have a picture I'll show you of who was really here and he brought me in through the back stage door.  Honestly I didn't care I was walking through the stage door because all I could think is how stupid I was to mistake someone for Kirk Douglas.  He then shows me this picture of two old men at a barber shop.  Turns out he was just playing with me.  It was Kirk Douglas who I saw and he was just having some fun watching me freak out.

Me and Robin Williams

Robin Williams and Brooke

Probably about 20 minutes later after that joke Robin Williams came out.  I was shocked he came out so fast I figured he would be the last one to come out.  I couldn't wait to take a picture with him and I know Brooke was excited to meet him.  He comes up to us and I told him I want to pay him a $100 bucks.  He said sure thanks I'll give it to my dog.  I gotta say that was pretty cool and funny that he would at least be honest to what he was doing with it.  I didn't mind he was giving it to his dog because that dog could now have its own fake money to brag about.  Then I got to take a picture with Robin Williams and then I had to take Brooke's picture.  Now everyone who knows Brooke also knows never to let her take pictures.  Brooke managed to take my picture upside down and extremely blurry.  My picture I took of Brooke looks amazing.  So after I saw the picture I was pretty pissed because of how horrible it looked.  I hate to say it but it isn't hard to take a picture.  You press a button wait three seconds and its done.  Easy right?  For Brooke its extremely difficult.  Here look at the pictures to see for yourself.  I wan to add that I turned the picture right side up, but I can't fix how blurry it is.  That was the end to our long crazy day.  At least we got to meet Robin Williams.

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.

CHRIS ROCK on Broadway

Annabella Sciorra

There is a show on broadway called The Motherf**ker With the Hat starring Chris Rock, Bobby Cannavale, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Annabella Sciorra and Yul Vazquez.  I really enjoyed this show and I recommend for people to see this show.  I also want to add that if you do not like cursing you will not like the show.  As you can see they have f**cker in the title and they really love to use that word A LOT.  Also the show would not be appropriate for younger kids.

Yul Vasquez

Elizabeth Rodriguez 

Alright let me start off this story by saying I had no plans going to see the show The Motherf**ker with the Hat.  What was originally suppose to happen that day is I got tickets for my sister and I to go see Jennifer Hudson perform.  We waited in line under the hot sun for about 3 hours for the event to start.  As the time passed for the show to start they told us that that Jennifer Hudson was admitted to the hospital.  Everyone on line was bummed out, and wished we would of known sooner.  But at the same time I felt bad for Jennifer Hudson and hoped she would be okay.  She had food poisoning, and if she performed in the heat with that it would be gutsy and crazy.  Since we didn't get to see Jennifer Hudson, that wasn't going to stop me from doing something with my sister Brooke in the city.  I remember going to the box office to the show The Motherf**ker with the Hat and asking if they had any discounts for the show, which they did.  So we headed to 45th street to the box office and checked to see if there were any tickets for the show that night.  And guess what.  There were extra tickets and for a decent price.  I didn't care that we would have to waste about 6 hours until the show.  At least we were going to be doing something in the city, rather then go home and do nothing.

6 hours in the city in the heat is not always the greatest.  It makes you tired and freaking hot.  It also makes some people cranky not naming names Brooke.  What was good about that day is that there was a drink product being advertised in times square.  I forgot the name of the drink but it was some sort of lemonade.  People were taking 5 bottles of lemonade because it was free.  I'm not a big fan of lemonade, but if its free I'm taking it.  I grabbed about 5 bottles to take around with us.  Brooke and I started just walking into stores in times square to pass the time.  Also I liked going into random stores because of the air conditioning.

Eventually it became 7pm and we started to head back to the theatre because the show started at 8pm.  I won't tell you that much about the show because I don't want to give it away.  I will tell you that the writers did an amazing job with putting some comedy in the serious situations.  I feel like it lifted the mood in the theatre, so it wouldn't all be a very dramatic and serious play.

Brooke and Bobby Cannavale

Bobby Cannavale and Me

Brooke and Chris Rock

Chris Rock and Me

After when the show ended I ran out of the theatre to get a good spot to stand by the stage door.  I think Brooke caught up to me when I got outside.  I think we got pretty good spots.  After about 10 to 15 minutes of waiting Annabella Sciorra came out to sign autographs.  She was really nice, and she sounded as if she was losing her voice.  I'm not surprised because her character does a lot of yelling in the show.  Then Yul Vasquez came out.  His character was awesome and hilarious.  When I got to meet him I said to him a line from the show "Where's the vondoom"?  He said "You mean vandawm".  I said it wrong but I'm going to go with that where I was sitting I couldn't hear well.  We then got into a short discussion about how a martial arts teacher taught him about pressure points.  Then Elizabeth Rodriguez came out.  She looked exhausted and anyone who does a broadway show is expected to be exhausted.  All of the actors and actresses came out exhausted, but she was the one who looked like she wanted to go home to sleep.  I actually felt a little bit bad because she had to meet people after the show.  Bobby Cannavale came out soon after.  I know my sister and I were a bit excited to see him because we met him about 2 years ago at our high school when he was filming the movie Weakness.  Brooke and I got to be extras with several other kids in our high school in the movie.  When he came to our side to where we were standing we told asked him if he remembered filming that, and we told him we were there.  Brooke and I also got to take a picture with him.  I just want to say this ahead of time that Brooke is the worst at taking pictures.  I know she may not like me saying that but she hears me tell it to her every time she takes a picture.  Alright finally Chris Rock comes out and starts taking pictures and signing autographs for his fans.  He was a cool guy, but also seemed dead tired at the time.  We go to take a picture with him which was awesome.  I was glad I got to meet him.  He is a very funny guy and to watch him perform live was a great experience.  And to thinks if Jennifer Hudson hadn't canceled Brooke and I may have not of gone to see the show.

STEVEO-O from JACKASS

On June 8, 2011 Steve-O came to NYC to do a book signing of his book called Professional Idiot: A Memoir.  I think the title is perfect for his book.  For those who don't know Steve-O, he is a guy who stars on the show Jackass.  Basically he does insane things that most people would be out of their mind to do.

I got to the Barnes and Nobles where Steve-O would be book signing around 9am, just a few minutes after the store had opened.  So far no one had gotten on line and after I purchased my book I headed straight outside to get my spot in line.  Luckily I arrived 30 seconds before two people had also shown up to get online.  I was first on line.  This was the first book signing that I was the first person in line and I thought that was pretty awesome.  I had 3 hours to wait before the event would start so I just started to read his book.  At first I didn't think I would become interested in his book, but I actually did.  He as lead quite an interesting life so far.

Steve-O

When it was 5 minutes to 12pm I knew I had to get ready if I wanted to see Steve-O come out of his car into the store.  I learned to be ready at all times after going to Sugar Ray Lenord's book signing.  As I looked to see the line I noticed a lot more people had shown up.  The line went around the corner of the store.  I wasn't surprised that a lot of people showed up this late.  Usually a crowd starts to form when it gets closer to the event. Some reporters from VH1 were waiting for Steve-O's arrival too.  I got to stand right next to them.  I thought that was cool. Minutes later Steve-O arrived.  I was glad I got to get a picture of him because he didn't stop to take pictures he had to get in to the store.  This was when he would have to do a few interviews and a quick photo shoot.  Turns out this interview would last longer than I had expected.  We weren't allowed to line up inside until 12:20pm.

Still inside we had to wait another 20 minutes until the event would start.  He was still doing some interviews, so we had to be very quiet.  I would try and take a sneak peek of him doing his interview when ever the guard in front of me wasn't looking.  I found it to be cool.  He seemed very down to earth unlike a very insane guy.  What I found to be interesting is that in the interview he mentioned he almost didn't make it to the book signing because earlier that day he had gotten an injury during another interview.  I was thinking to myself "Are you serious.  This can't be real".  Really it shouldn't of been surprising because for one he does crazy stunts and in his book he talks about all  of the injuries he has received, and there are a lot of injuries.  Luckily he was okay and he was able to make to the event.

Steve-O and Me

After the interviews just minutes before we were told we could take pictures with him.  I kept saying "yay".  I was up to meet him and turns out I wasn't first because there were a few people who had to go before me.  I wasn't upset about it.  I was totally cool about it.  When it was my turn to meet him I got nervous.  I didn't know what to say.  Thankfully the person next to him told him that my shirt said Normal people Scare Me.  He said "That's awesome".  And I responded very softly "It's true".  I said it so low I don't think he heard me, but 10 seconds later he took a picture with me. I was glad I went to the event.  Book signings for me are like adrenaline rushes and I love going to them.  I also meet great people and I'm glad I get to go to these events. 

LEGENDARY SUGAR RAY LENORD

All boxing fans listen up.  Sugar Ray Lenord was in NYC signing his new book The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring.  I really enjoyed this book signing, even though there were no discussions or questions it was still pretty cool from the start to the end.

Sugar Ray Lenord

On June 7, 2011 I went to Sugar Ray Lenord's book signing event around 7am.  I was pretty tired because it was so early in the morning, or at least was for me.  I was the third person in line and I couldn't wait for Barnes and Nobles to open up at 9am so I could get the book.  I thought the book might be interesting because I'm not a big sports fan.  I still like to read about new things and boxing is one of them.  When the store opened I kept to myself in line and started to read the book.  I did this for about an hour and a half and then I decided to get some breakfast across the street.  The people on line were very kind and they weren't going to kick me out of the line if I left.  After I came back I went straight to reading again.  I was very interested in the book, and I hoped to get it finished by the time the book signing started.  Sadly I wouldn't be able to finish on time, but that doesn't matter.

Signed boxing glove

While reading the book I started getting tired, so I decided to take a break from reading.  I then decided to see how many people were on line, and by this time a few more people had gotten on line.  One person on line recognized me from one of the book signings I went to and he came over and we started to talk.  It wasn't a long conversation and when we were done he left and I went back to sitting.  When I was trying to stretch my legs I accidently kicked one of the guys on line on the back of his leg. I thought "My god I'm an idiot"  I then started to apologize.  I told him I didn't mean to I was just stretching.  He was cool about it.  What he did next was ask if I wanted to buy a boxing glove for a $1 to get signed.  I thought what the hell its a dollar and its something to get signed so I bought it from him.  I really liked the boxing glove because it gave me something to do.  Even though it was just one I put it on and started to pretend to be a boxer.  Yes I did get a few stares, but this is NYC everybody does crazy things there.  If you can go to NYC and not find anything interesting happening on the streets.  Then your not in the real NYC.

I started to talk more to the people in line.  The time was passing by very fast, and I didn't mind waiting.  I had my boxing glove to play with and the book and the people in line.  I even met a young boy about 5 years old who was going around to everyone in line and just talking to them.  He was very cute and I think he was very excited to meet Sugar Ray Lenord.  Finally it was 12pm just 30 minutes away from the book signing.  While I was sitting talking with the young boy, Sugar Ray Lenord came out of his car and into the Barnes and Nobles.  I was like come on couldn't of waited two more minutes so I could take a picture.  I wasn't really upset.  I just found it funny during the one moment I was not paying attention he shows up.   It wasn't to long after until we brought inside to wait for the book signing.  I was excited and I didn't know what I was going to say to him.  I knew nothing about boxing and about his career.  I figured maybe I would just wing it like I normally did.  Luckily this time I wouldn't have to.

Sugar Ray Lenord

Finally the signing had begun. I waited for 2 minutes until it was my turn to go up to him.  When I got up to meet him I was very nervous.  My mind went blank and I didn't know what to say.  He then looked up at me and said "Are those head phones for your music"?  I said "Yea".  Then he said " They look cool.  Who makes them".  I said this in a very chipper voice "Radio Shack".  He said "That's cool".  I said "Yea they are you should get a pair".  I then walked away because if I didn't the workers probably would of told me I had to leave and I didn't want that.

I couldn't believe what had happened and I was pretty excited that I got to meet him.  He was a very nice guy.  I enjoyed getting to meet him, and I'm glad I came to this book signing.