Einmalig.

In the center of the room, all those lovely cast members, letting down their hair after the performance.

All except one particular actor. I didn’t spot him during my first glance around the room, done casually (oh, who am I kidding?) as we placed our stuff on the piano, and headed over to the bar to have a glass of wine and then wander a little bit. After a couple of minutes, who comes out of one of the aforementioned doorways but Richard, accompanied by Annabel Capper. And he was moving quite purposefully — think Mr. Thornton striding through the mill yard — toward the doorway to the hall, where everyone was waiting. For a moment, just before he went out into the hall, the security guard laid a hand on his arm to try to get his attention. Richard merely shook his head, said something I wasn’t close enough to hear, and they both made their way out to see everyone.

And then the thought struck … what if he leaves immediately after having greeted everyone out there? The three of us seemed to have the same idea, so we had a mini-confab, and agreed (over Judi’s better judgement) to go out to the hall as well. We stood well behind and to the side of where Richard was signing and posing for pictures, just watching him meet with everyone waiting, being so gracious and genuinely happy to see all those who came. It was heartwarming to see his face light up whenever someone said “Thank you for tonight.” We watched for 10, maybe 15 minutes. I spoke with Annabel for a couple of minutes. She was thrilled that we all had come to see the program and that we enjoyed it. She is a very talented actress, having played several roles, ranging from young woman to much older woman, and was most convincing in all of them.

I also saw how everyone in the hall was well-mannered, being nice and helpful to each other. And it warmed my heart. I was so proud of our fan community. I heard the exchange with the guard where Richard said he was staying until everyone got their moment. What I didn’t see was how Perry got the security guard to get Richard to turn around to the three of us behind him. Guess I was too focused on how Richard managed to individualize each moment with a fan.

THAT grin ...
THAT grin …
Suddenly, there he was, facing us, interacting with Perry, a gorgeous smile on his face. (Have I said too much about his smile? Can’t help it. It’s too lovely not to mention.) If you haven’t read Perry’s account of her moment with him, check it out here (just past the cast photo). He was rather funny, insisting on signing her book with his pilfered pen. And he was adamant that Perry would be in the picture with him, pulling her against him as I took it, flashing that grin.

And then it was my turn. I asked him to sign my program, said thank you for the Signatureswonderful performance (his reply, “No. Thank you!”), and asked if I could have a photo taken with him. He smiled and said “Of course!” and put his arm around my shoulders. Then he kind of glanced down at me (I barely make it up to his shoulder), grinned, and tightened his hold, which pulled me against his side and I had to put my arm around his waist to steady myself.

And this is where it bulleted past surreal into unbelievable …

(*chuckle* Gotcha, didn’t I? You thought I was going to make you wait for more. *chuckle* I wouldn’t do that to you. Keep reading!)

So, he’s grinning and got his arm across my shoulders. My inner fangirl is screaming and hyperventilating. My outer mature adult is grinning like a madwoman. And we’re both staring at Perry. Who, at that moment, was attempting to work the camera in my phone. Richard was waiting, still smiling, glancing down at me. I was still smiling, glancing up at him and apologizing the whole time for the delay. He just kept smiling, at one point laughing, and held on until I finally said something like “That’s fine, thank you!” (I felt like I’d taken up too much of his time, and didn’t want to seem selfish. I felt bad for Perry, too. Been there, Perry. Please don’t worry about it!) Thanks to Judi, I did get a very lovely picture out of this. (Hubby even remarked how much he loves this photo!)

Day-um, you're tall!

It was Judi’s time by now, and she asked him to sign her program. I took a couple pictures of her and him, neither of them that great. I was shaky, and it transferred to the photo as well. (I’m sorry, Judi.)

After that, he turned to the others waiting in the hall. He never lost sight of those fans who’d waited so patiently. And the three of us stood for a little while, watching more of his interaction with the fans and with some of the other actors that joined him. Then, we went back into the party. I definitely needed another glass of wine!

I was pretty sure that he would leave once all the fans had their individual moments. So imagine my surprise when I saw him come back to the party. He walked over to the bar, picked up a glass of wine, and leaned against the bar chatting with the circle of people around him. I happened to glance over at him, and he was looking our way, a slightly quizzical look on his face. I wondered what he might be thinking.

As much as I would have loved to just go over and talk with him, the lessons my mother taught me about being polite held firm. He was engaged in a full-on conversation, and interrupting would have been downright rude. I certainly didn’t want to be remembered as the ‘rude fan.’ So, we mingled.

And what a wonderful time we had mingling! We talked to quite a few of the cast members, who were all so pumped from the evening’s success. We chatted for a bit with Dan Amboyer (Robert de Saint-Loupe), who told us how thrilled he was that we liked the show. And spoke for awhile with Natasha Andrews, who played Albertine. I think it was right around this time that Perry was ready to take her leave. She insisted that we stay. (Good, because I really wasn’t ready to leave!) We said good-night, and a huge thank you, and watched her leave.

I chanced another glance over to where Richard was still leaning on the bar, and he was still surrounded by folks. And this time, he was glancing back. Hmmmmm … nope, it would still be rude to interrupt. So off we went to mingle some more.

I saw the lovely woman who had been singing both before the show started and just before the second act started, Bonnie Mulligan. So I stopped to chat with her, and tell her that I found her renditions of the songs really delightful. We had the most enlightening conversation with Hall Hunsinger, who portrayed Charlus (the ‘baron’ in the brothel scene). He was interesting, sharing with us bits and pieces of the four-day rehearsal process, and all the changes that had occurred, right up until that morning. When I remarked that the performance was really well done, and that we’d enjoyed quite a lot, his face lit up. We spoke at length with Peter Clemens (Marcel) and found out that this was his first time in New York. He’d just come from London, and was on his way back to be in a show (I forget which one he said).

Right about then, I stopped at the bar for another glass of wine. (It was a delicious cabernet sauvignon. I wish I could remember the label!) The crowd around Richard had thinned. Judi and I sat on one of the seats near where Richard was standing, and discussed what we wanted to do. By now, we were both kind of feeling the effect of the long day combined with all the excitement of the evening, and came up with an exit strategy. A final glance over to where he was confirmed that there was only one person with him now … and dammit, he caught us glancing over again. I swear there was a tiny grin on his face. There was only one thing left to do … face the music.

So we walked over to him, and got a questioning glance from the tall, lovely lady standing next to him. I think she could tell I was a fan, because when we looked at each other, she smiled. I extended my hand to Richard and said something like, “Hi. I’m Zan. I just wanted to say thank you for this evening. I really enjoyed the performance.” (Or something like that.) I’m pretty sure I mumbled something else too, but I don’t really remember. See, he took my offered hand, held it firmly but gently in his large and just-a-tad-rough hand, smiled that dazzling smile at me in a way that lit up his face and eyes, and said in that perfect voice of his, “Thank you for being here.” And I’m pretty sure he said something else as he released my hand, but I don’t remember. Because it was right about then my inner fangirl swooned and did a magnificent thud that drowned out everything else. I’m sincerely surprised that I was still vertical. I honestly don’t remember what Judi said to him.

I do remember something else being said, because we didn’t just turn and run and walk away. I think we said good-night. Maybe.

And with that, we gathered our things, and made our way to the hall. And remembered that our coats were in the coat check room. Which had closed 20 minutes after the show. It was now nearly two hours after the show. Oh. My.

Sooooooo, I screwed on my best smile, made my way back to the Gallery door, and tried to open it just enough to see the security guard. (Yeah, the same one who said no pictures. And who got Richard to turn around for us.) As I peeked in, several sets of eyes turned my way. Including a certain someone’s. And he was grinning. SIGH, so much for stealth. I motioned to the guard and he came over. I swear I heard him say, “Uh huh.” You know, in THAT tone. But he was a very nice man and went to get the only person who could help us from the party. She was an absolute doll, brushing aside our apologies for dragging her away. She got our coats for us, and wouldn’t hear of us leaving a tip for her kindness. She even waved and said good-night as we left the hall.

Judi and I made our way down the couple of blocks to our hotel. Where we sat up for another hour or so pinching ourselves, because … well, whodathunk?

And so ends this memorable adventure … at least the actual event. This is one that will stay with me for a long, long time.

—–

Danke für's Rüberholen, Nimue!

Ich finde diese ganzen Berichte so toll! Vor allem weil sie bei der Beschreibung von Richard alle gleich sind, egal wie unterschiedlich die Leute sind, die die Berichte verfasst haben.

Zan murmured that he’d glanced our way a few times, so I glanced over – only to meet a pair of blue eyes. He’d catch us looking; we’d catch him looking. There was nothing hostile or negative in his glances. Suddenly, he’d turn his head and regard us with open curiosity. This was a bit disconcerting. I’m a watcher; I watch other people. I wasn’t used to being observed by others, especially by somebody like him. Good grief. He continued looking our way the rest of the evening, even after we established ourselves as polite, sociable and nuisance-free. What was he thinking?

As the crowd thinned, Zan and I needed an exit strategy. It would have been quite obvious to him that we’d chatted up everybody but him. Seeing only one person left with RA, Zan suggested we congratulate RA and leave. Ah, perfect! His head swung towards us expectantly. As she said her compliments and thanks, he lit up like a Christmas tree. His almost “oh gosh” reaction so tickled me that I looked at his lady friend; her eyes twinkled too. He turned to me, eyes still gleaming, and shook my hand. I think I murmured agreement as his glow nearly blotted everything out. My goodness. He turned to his friend, still beaming and we exited. Later I wondered if he wasn’t lit up by wine, but from the warmth of his smile and handshake, I think he appreciated us.

ArmitageAgonistes ‏@perry3220

@clementspeter Why/ Loved you as Marcel in #TheProustScreenplay #Pinter/PROUST #92Y. Did you know there is video on YouTube?

14:03 - 22. Jan. 2014


Antwort an @perry3220 @clementspeter

Peter Clements ‏@clementspeter 53 Min.

@perry3220 Thank you! Must be all that work on time... Not seen video. I think 92Y will release full recording on their web archive, though.