As it turns out, the play was really good. After the intermission, my mom finagles the usher into letting us sit in some empty front row seats (the house was only half full, and there were plenty of seats left empty in the orchestra). So there were under 6 feet away from famous people. I have no idea why that is exciting to me, but it was really cool to be that close to the actors. I mean come on, Jessica Lange was in "Tootsie"! And Christian Slater? "Heathers" and "Pump Up the Volume"! So he may be a little on the crazy side, grabbing women's asses in the early morning hours, but he was Clarence Worley for God's sake!
I digress... After the play we make our exit and see a small group hanging around the stage doors. We decide to join them to see if we can get a glimpse. All I really wanted was a picture for this site, but after 10 minutes, we decided to give it up and walked towards Times Square.
Times Square was busy so we turned down 44th street. On this street is the Belasco Theatre where Denzel Washington is starring in "Julius Caesar". My uncle, who works for Broadway.com took me to see it a couple of months back while it was in previews. Unlike "The Glass Menagerie" experience, seeing Denzel Washington did not make up for the torture of sitting in the tiniest seats ever installed in a theatre (I literally had bruises on my legs where the seat in front of me gouged into my shin). I honestly can't say if the play was good or bad as I had to go into a trance-like state to cut off the excruciating pain that these torture device seats were causing me.
Again, I digress... So here we are walking down the street toward the Belasco. There is a large crowd assembled outside the theatre. I figure they must be waiting to catch a glimpse of Denzel Washington come out of the stage door. Just as I though to my self that that will never happen, the crowd becomes animated and camera flashes start going off like crazy.
We rush to join the crowd and see that he is behind a barricade, signing autographs for people who were waiting in line. These people must have been to the show and were invited to wait in line for autographs. So we muscle are way up to the barricade and all I want to do is take a picture, again to add to this site, but his back is to us and all I have is my crappy camera phone, so I know he will have to be close if I want any clarity to the picture.
As the line for autographs is getting shorter, the anticipation grows. All of a sudden he moves to right in front of me and I manage to get two photos. My mom is trying to put a pen and paper in his hand when his manager says "Julius Caesar playbills only" as a general direction to the crowd.
So my mom, the ever resourceful one who is now directly in front of Denzel Washington says, "Would it be alright if I touch you?" to which he nods. He then adds with a grin, "That'll be fifty bucks!"
My mom replies, "It is worth it, I won't wash this hand ever again" to which he says in the definitive Denzel Washington voice, "I really hope you do!"
So not only did we get a chance to see Denzel Washington up close and personal, but my mom had a legitimate back and forth with the man. I on the other hand got the two photos posted below and a "Mom groping a strange man" story that I will be telling the grandkids!
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