I think I’ll just have this one as a pinned one, because so often in New York, you’ll spot a celebrity in just about anywhere. Sometimes I remember them.
Upper East Side, probably north of Bloomingdale’s, my mom and I were looking in a window of these old watches and clocks and suddenly, behind me, looking in the same window was Yoko Ono. My mom pretended to push me into her. I think that was in the 80s.
University Place and 8th Street. Lucas Hedges was walking across the crosswalk with a friend and he said, “That’s fantastic,” or something like that to his friend. He seemed genuinely excited.
Once at The Lincoln Center Theatre Bathroom and later in a theatre. Christopher Reeve. He was coming out of the bathroom as I was going in and boy was he tall. Like other actors, he stared and had an intense stare. The occasion was the famous production of Waiting For Godot starring Steve Martin, Robin Williams and F. Murray Abraham. Plus Bill Irwin and Lucas Haas. That was in 1988 at the Mitzi E. Newhous Theater which was a tiny tiny theatre and the run sold out immediately. But the audience was especially populated with the famous and probably half the seats in the theatre were house seats. Katherine Hepburn made her way down the steps with the help of her lover. The other time I saw Christopher Reeve was when he was also in the audience of a play. This was after his accident and he was in the wheelchair at the end of the row. When I went to the back to get a drink or something, he again stared. It was as if he remembered me. The other time I saw him was when he was onstage in Fifth of July. It was ironic that he played a character who had lost his legs and had prosthetic ones which were pretty useless. He was also a gay veteran in that play and I think he publicly stated that after a kiss between he and his lover, it took like 5 to 10 minutes to get the audience back. When I saw it, there were verbalized groans and yucks and one woman near me said, “Oh my God.” Later at the end of that performance I realized Lanford Wilson was sitting behind me. He had, for a while, been my hero.
But I don’t really like to talk to celebrities or go up to them for an autograph or anything. I get too flustered and act like an idiot.