HERstory

March 11th 2007: I love to go to the theatre. I love to go see good theatre. I love to see good theatre that I do not have to pay for. Well it was my lucky day because one of my favorite stage mangers of all time, Alden, gave me two comp tickets to a preview performance of Rabbit Hole at the Goodman Theatre. My good friend Jenn was to be my date for the evening as she too shares my desire to see good theatre for free. It is important to note that I do pay to see theatre quite often as well and I think we all should be patrons of the arts by attending and paying to see it. I just appreciate a good comp ticket more than you will ever know. That is not the point. The point is that halfway through the first act I was taken by the performance of a young, dark haired actor who I had never met or seen onstage before. It must also be noted that I am a wildly popular individual. That statement is debatable. Regardless, at intermission I turned to Jenn and said, “who is he? He is fantastic.” I enjoyed the second act as much if not more than the first and was incredibly moved by the entire production. I could not imagine leaving before I had a chance to profusely thank Alden for his generosity. While I waited for him to emerge from the underground of the Goodman, Jenn informed me that she needed to get some water. Alden found me, I thanked him profusely and I proceeded to wait patiently for Jenn to return victorious from her water seeking mission. This mission must have been fraught with peril because it took quite some time. I stood by the lobby door, taking in the theatergoers, and probably twirling my hair (which I had spent many hours straightening that afternoon on a whim) when lo and behold the talented dark haired actor walked out of the stage door. Thus began the internal conflict which goes something like this:

“Should I say something?” (beat) “No that would be annoying.” (beat) “But don’t you love an appreciate it when people take the time to tell you how incredibly gifted an amazing you are?” “OF COURSE!” “Okay I am going to say something.”

I approached ever so graciously and said “Hi I just wanted to say you did a wonderful job.” No sooner had the words left my mouth than his friend passed him a cell phone. I quickly ducked to leave but he implored me to stay and “hold on just one minute.” Let it be known this waiting period lasted longer than a minute. What was I to do? I turned to his friend, Kareem, who I had seen in a show just a week before. A show I actually paid for by the way. I proceeded to laud him with praise, as he too is a very talented actor. After playing the six-degrees of separation theatre game with Kareem, who I did not know, I turned to Jürgen and quietly said, “don’t want to bother you, great job…” Jenn had now returned from her quest and it was time to leave. Well he quickly got off the phone, we properly introduced ourselves and I told him how much I enjoyed the show. He then invited me to see him in a production of Huck Finn he was doing during the day. As I am not one to turn down a free ticket I accepted, only to discover it was closing week and I already had plans to go to NYC. “Well, I’m sure there will be many more Huck Finn’s” he said (there may have been a tear in his eye, I am not sure) and I said goodbye.

Ten days later I was packing to leave on a trip to Germany when I came across one of the reviews for Rabbit Hole. It spoke favorably about the entire production and in particular Jürgen’s performance. I began to wonder how I might be able to congratulate him on his well-earned critical praise. Might he be on facebook? I did a quick search and there he was. I penned an eloquent, charming and downright delightful message, pressed “send” and was off to the airport.

By the time weathered the eight-hour plane ride a new message had appeared in my inbox, which began our two-week pen-pal stint as I gallivanted throughout Germany. On my final day I received a message asking if I would be interested in seeing a show with him (at the Goodman of all places) the night I got back. I decided it would be a good excuse to fight my nagging jet lag and accepted his offer. I got in late, fought through customs, dropped off my suitcases, attempted to deal with my curly hair, and met him at the theatre yet again. After the show we grabbed a late dinner and despite my nagging headache and now having been awake for more than twenty-four hours I managed to have a great time.

One can never imagine how two free tickets can change one's life, but there you go.

A series of folks should be thanked for this meeting: First Adam Belcuore for even thinking to call either of us in for an audition. Bill Brown and Steve Scott for deciding to cast us in their productions which led to us both working with Alden. Of course Alden for giving me the tickets and Jenn Rhoads for her inability to return quickly from simple water fountain trip. It takes a village.