From the minute I heard that Randy Harrison was doing a play in New York this spring, I made up my mind to go. When I went and who, if anyone, accompanied me was still up in the air. Other things were happening in my life around that time, namely my daughter’s graduation from college. After a small amount of negotiation, we decided on the weekend of May 10-11, 2002, for our trip. It was Mother’s Day weekend but what better way to spend it than traveling together?
I ordered tickets to the play and finally found a hotel that was reasonably close to the theater and reasonably close to what my budget would allow. Desiree, my daughter, was a bit leery about flying into any of the New York area airports so we decided to drive. We’ve taken legendary car trips in the past and I knew this would be another one of those.
After much ado about nothing (see, Desi? I can make Shakespeare referencesJ ), we left around 6pm on Wednesday, May 8. We drove about 700 miles, through SC, NC, VA, DC, MD, DE, PA, NJ and on to NY. We entered the Lincoln Tunnel off I-95 about 10:45am on Thursday, May 9. I knew that, when we exited the tunnel, we’d be in NY. I’ve driven in most of the major metropolitan areas in the US - Los Angeles, DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Houston, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Detroit - but I’d never driven in New York City. Thank ghod our hotel wasn’t far from where we exited the Lincoln Tunnel.
After a short, but scary drive through the theater district, we arrived at the parking garage down the street from our hotel. After a lengthy wait to check in, due to the fact that we were very early and the desk clerks were surly, we finally walked back down the street to fetch our suitcases from the car. I probably need to mention that we were staying on 32nd Street near Broadway, also known as Korean Way. Our hotel was one of the few buildings on the street with a sign in English. We were surrounded by Korean restaurants, Korean electronics stores, etc. It was a bit daunting at first, but we got used to it. What else could we do?
Our first outing on Thursday afternoon was a guided tour of Ground Zero, given by a retired NYPD officer named Gary Gorman. He worked there for 2 weeks after September 11 and he gave us a special perspective of what that tragedy had come to mean to the ordinary people of New York. He thanked us, on behalf of the people of New York, for coming back and for being there to support that great city. I tried to tell him how we felt, all the way down in SC, when we watched our televisions on 9/11 and the days after. The tour he gave us was incredible - it was raining off and on, and he drove up to get us in his car. He not only took us around the WTC site, but we also saw Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Little Italy and other places. He drove us over the Brooklyn Bridge, to a beautiful area known as Brooklyn Heights, where there’s a stunning sight of Manhattan from across the river.
After Gary drove us back to our hotel, we showered, changed clothes and headed out for the night. Times Square was only about 10 blocks away and we were going to walk as far as we could and get a taxi if we had to. Luckily, we didn’t need a taxi - we made it on foot and it was a beautiful walk. Desiree has wanted a tattoo for years but she can’t get one in SC (they’re illegal). We found a very nice tattoo parlor in Times Square and she finally got herself tattooed. The guy who did it was named Angel and they were playing Led Zeppelin music in the background, one of her favourite groups. Afterwards, we walked back up 42nd Street and ate dinner at Chili’s.
Our hotel was about 6 blocks from the Empire State Building, so that’s where we headed first thing on Friday morning. We got there at 9:15 and had to wait in line for about 15 minutes to get tickets to go to the Observatory. The waiting we had to do, and all the crowds we had to deal with, was worth it: the view was spectacular. We took lots of pictures.
When I told the cab driver that we wanted to go to Christopher Street park, I don’t think he knew what we were talking about. We were finally able to give him enough information about Christopher Street and the trip was short. Christopher Street park is across the street from the Stonewall, which we took pictures of. The park is featured in the movie ‘Jeffrey’ and I took Desiree’s picture posing with the Gay Lib statues that you can see in the movie. We walked around the Village for a while and sat for a while, watching the cute gay guys walk by. I have to say that, if I had to live in New York, I think this is the place I’d choose to live. The people were friendly and didn’t seem to have many of the manic tendencies I saw in other neighbourhoods. After a lovely, soothing afternoon in Greenwich Village, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our big night.
Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that I spazzed (that’s what Desiree calls it) on a regular basis both before and during the trip. But I think I saved my major spaz attacks for around 6pm on both Friday and Saturday nights. The theater was only a few blocks from our hotel, yet I insisted that we take a cab rather than walking. I’d rubbed blisters on my feet and I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to walk in the sandals I’d brought to wear. We knew very little about the street the theater was on, except there was a McDonald’s on the corner and there were several flower shops around. I readily admit that we left entirely too early to go to the theater, but I couldn’t wait any longer and Desiree humoured me.
When I saw the McDonald’s at the corner of 28th and 6th, I told the driver to let us off there. We walked down 28th Street and right by the theater on our first trip. The sign for the theater wasn’t on the sidewalk and the only evidence that there was a theater was a banner hanging high up on the building. We had to cross the street and look back to see it. Okay, so that little nondescript doorway was the one we had to go in, then up the stairs…
But not yet. It was barely 6:30 and I knew the box office wouldn’t open until at least 7. So we walked around, looking at the flowers in the various shops. After much discussion, Desiree convinced me that we should buy some flowers to give to Randy. Correction: *I* would buy the flowers and *she* would give them to him. After looking at every bouquet on the street, we decided on a small bunch of miniature calla lilies - very elegant looking. We walked up to the McDonald’s, where we sat at a window and watched the people walking by. We could spot every female who was on her way to the theater.
At a little after 7, we decided to walk down to the theater. We went upstairs and got in line for the box office. After we got our tickets (row G, seats 11 and 12), we went out into the outer lobby to sit and wait for the house to open.
It was almost 8 before they opened the house but the seats filled quickly. Hope, the house manager, announced that, if anyone left, they couldn’t be re-seated until the intermission. There was a very good reason for this: One of the doors in the restaurant led to the lobby and we walked across part of the stage when we entered and exited the theater. I think every seat was filled at a few minutes past 8 and the lights were lowered.
My review of the play is posted elsewhere on this page but, suffice to say, Desiree and I loved it. Everyone was great, especially Randy, of course. Afterwards, we walked back out to the outer lobby to await Randy’s appearance. We only had to wait a few minutes when I spotted him coming down the hallway toward where our little group was congregated. He had a huge smile on his face and I got the feeling that he enjoyed the attention, even if it meant dealing with some minor annoyances. Desiree saw him just after I did and spoke to him first. She gave him the flowers and he asked, "For me?" As if we were saving them for someone else who was *really* important. Desi told him that we were huge fans and that we’d driven all the way from SC just to see him. He was very impressed and thanked us for coming. She got my program signed in silver paint pen. I never really said anything to him, preferring to stand back and watch him being totally adorable. He’s more beautiful in person than he is on tv, if that’s possible. He was just about Desi’s height - 5’9" - and he doesn’t look as skinny as Justin looks sometimes. His skin looks almost porcelain and his hands are very delicate-looking. I didn’t get a good look at his eyes but Desi said they weren’t as clearly blue as they look on tv. Even though he looks very young (although the longer hair makes him look a little older) he didn’t seem boyish, like Justin does. He has a air of maturity and confidence that is stunning in someone of his age. His constant smile and good nature in the face of some less-than-diplomatic fans is a tribute to his upbringing. His thanks to everyone for coming rang true and he genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself.
After all too short a time, we had to leave the theater. As I glanced back at Randy, the last thing I saw was that gorgeous smile.
Saturday was going to be another busy day. We took a cab to 59th Street at the Plaza Hotel. We were early for our tour, so we headed over to FAO Schwartz to look around. Afterwards, we took pictures of the Plaza and Trump Tower until the tour bus picked us up. We went on a 3-hour tour through Manhattan, to different locations featured on ‘Sex and the City’, one of Desi’s favourite shows. She was the star of the tour, actually, because she answered all the S&TC trivia questions correctly, except one. It was a silly way to spend 3 hours but we had a really good time. Then we took a 30-minute ride through Central Park in one of the horse-drawn carriages. Our driver’s name was Sal; he was born in Italy but he’d lived most of his life in the city and he was an excellent tour guide.
After more pictures, we took another cab to Times Square to have a late lunch at the ESPN Zone and buy souvenirs at a neat little store on 42nd Street. Another stroll down Broadway to our hotel and it was time to get dressed and go back to that tiny little theater on 28th Street.
Despite my intention to not get there as early on Saturday night, we found ourselves sitting in the same seats at the McDonald’s as the night before, watching the people go by. I got some money out of the ATM machine in McDonald’s where Randy had gotten money out a couple of weeks before. I was hoping the receipt would say Actor’s Credit Union, but it didn’t. Another short walk down to the theater so we could stand around and wait some more.
Our tickets were closer than on Friday night; we were on Row C, seats 5 and 7, but part of the scenery blocked us from being able to see Randy when he worked behind the bar, which he did a number of times. It was good to have the perspective of both sides of the theater and both close and not-so-close. The audience didn’t seem to be ‘into’ the play as much as Friday but we enjoyed ourselves just as much.
After the play, we moved to our familiar place in the outer lobby and waited. There were more people than there had been on Friday, but they seemed to be better behaved. When Randy came out, he didn’t seem nearly as animated as he’d been on Friday night. He was just as sweet and polite, but I thought he seemed tired. Considering that he’d already done a matinee, then dealt with one group of fans and he’d just finished his second performance of the day, I would have understood if he’d hurried by, but he didn’t. He smilingly signed and posed for pictures. Once again, Desiree had a brief chat with him and took my picture with him. Needless to say, that will remain a treasured souvenir from our trip for a long time.
After Randy left the building, Desi and I made our way back up to 6th Street to get a cab back to the hotel. We stopped in the hotel bar to have a drink in celebration of our highly successful trip to NY. We drove out of the parking garage at 9am on Sunday morning, heading south. A mere 12 hours later, we were back in SC, with little to show for our trip, except undeveloped photos, credit card bills and memories. Lots of memories.
I’m already looking forward to going back to NY next spring to see Randy’s Broadway debut.