Exiting With the
*STARS*
One quick move made all the difference, Friday night!! Yep, I was
trained by the best how not to get thrown out of some place and I used every
trick in the book, Friday night, as they tried to push the crowd out the
back. I had my eye on another exit, and, oh, did it make all the
difference!!!
My good friend Debb and I have gone to many shows, and have wanted to hang
out with the band so I used all the resources I had accumulated. As they were
ushering people out the back, I started to move sideways.
One usher
said, "You have to go, ma'am."
"Well I am supposed to meet the limo at the
post office. Isn't that the quickest exit?" I asked, holding my breath,
hoping he would give me a break.
"Yeah sure, go ahead."
Inside, I was so
excited! Yes, one down, and about three more ushers to go. I was trying to
get the others to follow me, and, luckily, Laura did. In an effort to stall, I
used the next trick, which is to always talk to the techy, roadie or audio
guy and since he was right there, why not? I had to wait for Laura to
come down and the other ushers to head up, still pushing people back.
Now, since I am in the TV field, I did what any other PBS overnight
operations engineer would do....I played dumb.
"So what do you record
the shows on is it beta cam or umatic?"
This made me ill, but with a lack
of anything else to say to the poor guy, I thought he would like to feel
important.
"Oh, everything is Digital now," he replied, and all I am thinking
is,
"...Duh, like yeah."
So we finished up, Laura was with me, and at this
point, all the ushers were at the back. We got a great view, and said "Hello"
to Charles Keating, who will be returning to Another World for its sendoff.
Even though I am not a fan of the show, I know that when we lose a 35 year-old
soap, we all lose something.
So, we were standing still in the studio, and we could see JJ (Jonathan Jackson), Richard
and Candice (his brother and sister), who is beautiful by the way, in the corner, kind of
backstage. I think I lost count of how many times I annoyed Laura by
asking her if she got a good picture!
We finally made our way out to the area outside where the stars had
entered for the E! preshow. I turned to talk to Laura, and she was not
there...too busy taking a picture of Linda Dano. So, you think I would
have known this was a sign..let's just say Laura and I fell right into
the pot of gold and got lucky....LITERALLY!!!
So, we ended up inside the barricades, and couldn't cross the street to
get to the post office where the limo was to pick us up, unless we
fought hordes of people. So, we decided to stay where we were, and if
we saw the limo and the rest of the gang, we would make a mad dash for it.
Laura and I were standing there, and what happened next? She said,
"There ar some AMC people!" And, of course, since I am a AMC fan, as well
I said, "Oh my, that is Michael Lowry, Jake on AMC." He was all I
saw, and he was so gorgeous!! They started down to the other end, I guess
to catch their limos. Thinking what a fluke this was, I said something
like, "Well at least we got to see someone."
Was I ever understating!! As I soon discovered, not 5 seconds later, the
whole OLTL cast came out. As I stood there with my mouth hung
open..feeling overwhelmed, I was hit by a wonderful sight. Kale Brown,
Sam on OLTL, was talking on a cell phone with A. Martinez right by his side.
Now Mr. Martinez was with the OLTL cast, so could the rumors of him being
cast as Cord true??? Would this not be the best?? Then he and Marcy
Walker could do crossovers!! Sorry, Santa Barbara flashback folks..you
know the 80's -- rough era!!!
I even got to say, "A. it is so good to see
you" and he flashed that handsome smile, "When do we get to see you on
another soap?"
"Well, we will have to wait and see..I don't know," he
replied, and then turned and followed the others to the other exit.
There seemed to be a mix-up of where everyone should be. They were
all switching back and forth coming out the wrong way and having to walk
back. Oh, well, all the better for Laura and me, since I was thinking
it in no way could get better..all of a sudden one of the most
incredible works God ever put on this earth appeared!! Here walking down
the street was Cameron Mathison, Ryan of AMC. He is so amazing to look
at,so talent and just one of the sweetest guys period. If you ever get a
chance to meet him, please do -- you won't be disappointed. I called his
name, and got a sweet smile and a wave back. I kept saying to Laura, "How did
we fall into this?" But we both decided we weren't moving -- we could keep
an eye out for the limo and still star search...only we didn't have
to. They were practically falling in our lap!!
So, yet another goody, the lovely Sarah Aldrich and Lisa Ann Hadley of Port
Charles, who play Courtney and Julie, came by and posed with some girls.
I then
said to the actress who plays Julie, "It is so nice not to see you pregnant."
She turned around and smiled and she
said "yeah!"
" I bet that has got to be such a pain to carry around all
that padding."
She shook her head totally agreeing and we said good night
to one another.
So, I was there thinking that has to be it...WRONG!! So
glad I didn't move, because from the other side, where everyone was headed, came
no other than John Ingle, Edward Quartermaine himself!!
Every one was shaking his hand, which I did also.
"We are all so happy for you John. Congratulations!"
"Oh thank you,
thank you. We are very lucky actors, indeed!!"
And off he and his lovely
wife went...but right behind him was the lovely Nancy Lee Grahn. We
quickly shook hands and said, "Congratulations." I got a nice smile and
she was off, too. Let me tell you some of these women are really thin.
When I shook Nancy's hand, it was like there was nothing there. It was the
equivalent of shaking three fingers, only. Now I know why I didn't go
into acting..I like food and it likes me!!
So that is it...WRONG AGAIN!! Laura noticed they were putting up
barricades, again, to make a pathway, once more. So we moved, quick like
bunny rabbits, to the barricade and me -- being pushy me -- got right up
front in the corner. . . and what do we see for all our trouble? OH
YES..we got LUCKY and a whole lot more. Try the cast of GH!! This falls
in the heading Right Place at the Right Time!!
First out was Brad Maule, who was waving at everyone... but the rest
of the cast stayed in the little lobby and waited -- for what we weren't
sure. Then amini bus pulled up, and as it was getting situated, I saw
Stuart Damon with his Emmy and gave him a big smile and 2 thumbs up. I
got a big smile in return with only one thumb up.
This I totally understood..you'd probably have to pry that statue out of his
cold
dead hands!!
And Laura kept saying there's Tony Geary and ..there's Jonathan!!! I was
frozen at this point, because I have never been this Lucky or fortunate
in my life! So, now I totally understand what my friend Kelly meant when she
said hearing JJ yell "Thank you
for the Flowers" from his car at SSW
seemed like it was in Slow Motion. Because the minute those doors opened
all I saw was JJ. And, now I am not losing it, I think he recognized me
from SSW. I swear, he looked right at me, since he was a little past me
at this point, and had to turn slightly around and look back. He looked
back, looked right at me and waved, and everything froze...I swear we
made eye contact and I remember waving right back. I am not talking a
simple wave..no, I mean the arm straight out -- no bent elbow just arm
straight out in my direction. At that moment, time stood still and I saw
how handsome he looked and a million things went through my head faster
than the speed of sound.
We then stood there flirting with every cop in sight, trying to bribe
them to find out where the GH party was. One of the girls there said they heard
possibly Tribeca Grill. So we waited, but no one else showed. We met a lot of
great people, and, in a lot of ways, these moments after the Emmy ceremony may
have been more memorable, since it was on a more personal level. Well, next
year, we'll know better what to do..next year -- what am I
saying??
Story by Karen
by Karen
