April 1, 2001
Well, you know how I said that March 17 was the greatest day of my life? I take it back. That day had one of the greatest moments of my life. I’d honestly have to say that April 1, 2001 was the greatest day of my life (so far, let’s remember that!!)
Jamie told me that she would go with me to the Sunday matinee since I was actually able to get to NY that day. We made plans to meet in Penn Station at 10, so there’d be enough time to get to the theater for tix. Understand, Daylight Savings Time (Spring Forward) was that night, so I only got 3 hours of sleep when I could have gotten 4. Oh what I do for Alan, hehe. I kept waking up every hour too, having nightmares. Those past couple of days…oh man. I was freaking out SO much!! Plus I got a bit of a stress cold, but got over it by Saturday night, thank god. Don’t ask me why…I was pretty nervous b/c the list sent out press release news that Alan was going to be at the opening of something on 45th St. at 6 pm on Sunday. Well, the matinee ends at 4:40!! I didn’t want to be brushed over. I figured, just my luck, ya know? Was there a force preventing me from seeing him?!?!?! However, I had another Scottish omen the previous night. I stopped by Giant at 10 pm to grab something, and a middle aged man in a kilt walked past me and out into the night. No, seriously. He didn’t even go to a car. He just walked right off. That was freaky.
So, I got up at 6 am, left at 7, but not before falling down part of my stairs. Damn, my butt hurt. I drove to Trenton, singing to my Cabaret sndtrk for most of the way. My train was at 8:15. This was the first time I ever took a train by myself, and to NY nonetheless! (thank you Jack, I love you and had such a wonderful day *hugs*) Of course, some dude bummed money off of me. Oy. I hate public transportation (makes me kinda sick), and I refuse to drive inside NY itself. This is why I split an hour in the car, hour and 15 min on the train. I ended up reading for school (I did bring the Fear book, Dawn- HEHE!), but then stopped as we entered scenic N Jersey ghettos. Got off the train, found my way up, and then realized I didn’t know which newsstand to meet Jamie at!! So, I kinda wandered, and on my way back to the first one, she was there! Just remember-- Penn Station is on 34th and …7th, I believe.
We walked in the drizzle to the theater, and the dude knew exactly which tix she wanted! I took a bunch of Cabaret flyers with Gina Gershon (hehe), and we kept walking. We ended up going to the Barnes and Noble up past 60th. Nice Alan nostalgia, hehe. No Alan mags though, *sniff*. Then we headed back down, looked for the DFL poster (damn place was closed), she got hit on by someone, and then we got something to eat across from the theater. Can I just say that everywhere we went uptown, there was a nice sized poster for Spy Kids?! Damn! Alan followed us everywhere, hehe. I wanted to see my other friend Jamie since she was right across the street at The Lion King, but didn’t realize that her show started at 1. Hi Jam! She sat by Ethan Hawke, woohoo! Anywho, we got in the theater, the ushers knew Jamie by name, checked out the lounge, and went to our upper box seats. Funny, the volunteer usher was amazed at how many times she’s seen the show and asked why we both were seeing it a lot. In perfect unison: “Alan Cumming.” She replied, “I thought so.” Are we that obvious?!?! ;-)
The seats were awesome b/c you have a way closer view and you can lean on the banister. Plus, no one else was in our box. The only thing that sucked is that there was view obstruction during the elevator scene and when the actors were tilted on certain angles stage left. Meaning I saw the back of his head during a couple kisses :-( Oh who cares, I saw it all the first time!!! The play started, and I came to realize how much I dislike Jennifer Ehle’s performance. I’m sure she’s lovely, as with her other acting, but she’s just so…brash and has a mouth running on warp speed in this!!! It’s like, See, I memorized all my lines and want to deliver it in the same annoying manner as Jane Horrocks did in the London Cabaret!!! Well, no, Jennifer did make me laugh sometimes, and the melodramatic accent was often quite fitting. She just needs to stop bellowing…yell, not roar! **Rooar!!!** :-) I enjoyed Dominic West even more during this show. Dominic has some fabulous legs, yes he does! He just…rocked, you know? He really seems comfortable, which is g*rrr*eat. And of course, there’s Alan…he wasn’t as bouncy during this performance. In fact, he was mega dramatic. Don’t get me wrong, he was a total trip, but he was super passionate. When he yelled in the first scene, I saw a vein pop out of his bright red face. Oh yes, the view was just splendid. Alan dropped a piece of food and spilled some water, making a cute little “ooh!” sound during the final scene of the 1st Act though. This made it a bit awkward during the next minute for him. Aww, he handled it well though. It was divine seeing him say “I want to make love to you badly” and then somersaulting straight towards me! Weee. His zebra shoes are so cool. I think I really hung off the banister. Banged my head again :-) During intermission, Jamie told me she had a really good feeling about today, and that she’s always been right so far. I jumped around like a fool in the box, causing practically the whole mezzanine section to stare at me. I didn’t care, I was going to see Alan!!!!!!! Hopefully….
So, the show ended, and everything was just fab. It’s so funny to see the look of relief on Alan’s face. Dominic did the Broadway Cares speech (aw), and I finally donated something. They were trying to hawk signed Stagebills for $20 towards that charity, but I’d rather have the real thing if I can, ya know? No more eBay autos for ME!!!! We turned around, plowed through the crowd, and out the row of orchestra stage doors. A few people were there. It was nice out though! It was totally dry and the sun was peeking out, even at 4:45. Some people ended up leaving after 20 minutes. One guy told us that Jennifer Ehle left out the front, which was nice and all, but not our goal!!!! Jamie pointed out Alan’s car and driver which was farther up the street from us, meaning he’d have to go through us to get there. We ended up talking to this one girl that was not much of an Alan or Cabaret fan. I think we scared her to death though, after spouting our knowledge of where he was going that night, and singing and quoting from his movies. I was so nervous that I either had to pee or do that!! My giddiness quotient was at an all time high. 40 minutes passed, and my hands were ready to fall off from the slight wind. They were exposed b/c I had my Out magazine rolled up in one hand and my camera in the other. Then, through the stage door, I saw Carmine the hot bodyguard’s head pop out. A few others walked out, and then Alan walked out.
CONTINUE
DFL
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RETURN TO MY HOMAGE TO ALAN CUMMING