Message Board Celebrity Of The Day (Part III) - GuyfromGermany- Page 47

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 2:17pm

Alrighty. I guess I'd better get started on the questions.
First, from our fabulous Foster.

1. Who is your favorite a) Actor and b) Actress currently gracing the Broadway stage? And why?

They happen to both be together in the same show, in fact: Ian McDiarmid and Cherry Jones. The first time I saw Cherry Jones was several years ago, in A Moon For The Misbegotten and have been a huge fan ever since. As for McDiarmid, I'm just so glad he's finally getting his due (and the ever-so-slight Star Wars geek in me doesn't hurt). Largely, however, my choosing them has to do with their current performances. There's not too many actors or actresses with whom I'd say I'm obsessed. Now -- if we were picking the ones I enjoy looking at the most, it would probably be a history boy.

2. What was your favorite part of growing up in Texas?

The joy I got from leaving? There were a lot of things to hate about Texas, one of which is currently sitting in the White House, but I did like being close to my family, and I did have a lot of wonderful friends there. And -- it's a good place to satisfy my weakness for Latino men.

3. If you could spend the day with any celebrity, past or present, dead or alive, who would it be?

Mae West. I had an odd fixation on her as a kid. In fact, when we had to pick someone to do a biography on in junior high, I picked her. It was a lot more interesting than all the Leonardo da Vinci and Abraham Lincoln bios I had to hear.

And to peach:
At Starbucks, I used to get a tall soy latte. Now that I'm on a bit of a diet, it's always a tall skim cappuccino. Sadly, the espresso brownie is also off the list for me now. However, the Mud Truck usually supplies my coffee needs during the day. My favorite ice cream is the darkest, richest chocolate you can find.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 2:31pm

Calvin,

If you were a car, what car would you be and why?

If you could have anyone over for dinner, who would it be and what would you serve them?

If we went out with you and your best friend, what story would he/she tell us about you while you went to the restroom for a few minutes?

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 2:32pm

Addy:

What brought you to BWW?
I was doing a Google search to try to find out what the heck Merle Louise and Edmund Lyndeck were up to these days (I've always been a huge Sweeney fan). One of the top search results happened to be an old "cast the Sweeney Todd movie" thread, and one of the entries was so downright laughable -- Charlotte Church as Johanna, Jude Law as Toby, John and Joan Cusack as Sweeney and Lovett, Keifer Sutherland as Judge Turpin and Josh Groban as Anthony -- I was hoooked. I lurked for about 7-8 months before finally joining.

Now for SweetQ, our own James Lipton on acid.

1. Would you rather be a nun or a prostitute?
My sex life cycles between both (and is now in a nun phase) -- but I'd a least get to wear my really queeney shirts as a hooker. So I'll say that.

2. In your house, what is the most 'sexual' thing you have?
Organic whipped cream? I could totally scratch off the "-ic" and have a cool new product.

3. Have you ever used an eraser for anything except erase?
I used to chew on them as a kid. Until I got braces and knocked them loose by chewing on a pencil end. Or maybe it was a pen.

4. What is the weirdest thing you learned in health class
That my health teacher's wife died by falling out of the car door while the health teacher was driving down the highway. His excuse was that he was swatting a mosquito and knocked her out of the car, and he somehow got off. This same teacher later got in trouble for telling a lunchlady that peanut butter made him horny. Remember, this was Texas. The health teacher also made us write down everything we ate for one day, and when we read ours out loud, he announced to the class that he thought I suffered from anorexia nervosa. Bastard.

5. Would you rather swim in the ocean with your best guy friend or your best girl friend?
Best guy friend, of course.

6. If your significant other jumped off a cruise ship- would you jump too?
Nope. I used to be a boy scout. The proper lifesaving method is: reach, throw, row, then go. So unless there were no life preservers or lifeboats to rescue him, me jumping in would not be necessary.

7. If your doorbell rang and you opened up to see a zebra, what would be the first thing you do- (except close the door)
I would congratulate the zebra on making it up the six flights of stairs. And I'd thank him for fixing my doorbell.

8. If you had to pick, would you rather smell gasoline or flatulence?
Gasoline. I'd rather risk cancer than gag.

9.Do you enjoy popping bubble wrap?
Only the really big kinds that you can stomp on.

10. If you were able to kill either Saddam Huessein or Osama Bin Laden- who would you choose?
Bin Laden -- the only one actually tied to Sept. 11.
Updated On: 6/26/06 at 02:32 PM

[ikmbway]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 2:47pm

I just have to say how much I love your answer to the doorbell question. That made me laugh.

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 2:49pm

Cookie:

For my ideal meal, let's pretend I'm not on a diet for a second. Squash soup and marinated artichokes to start. For the main course, a nice, heavy fish -- swordfish or halibut -- with mango chutney. And then something very rich, very chocolate for dessert. My comfort food, however, are those evil little cheeseballs. Or Thin Mints.

papa, he's still here. I've found a way for Hobbes and I to live as one. After I told him bored I was when I had to read The Leviathan, of course.

http://www.zoobomb.org/albums/Dead-Baby-8/bacon_hill_tiger.jpeg

And DD:
If you were a car, what car would you be and why?
I would be a DeLorean. Because my parents had me fairly late in life (mom and dad were in their 40s and 50s respectively) my tastes have always run much older than I actually am.

If you could have anyone over for dinner, who would it be and what would you serve them?
Not counting the Bush/month-old potato salad answer, I would love to have Katharine Hepburn over and have the most undignified dish possible -- something she'd have to eat with her hands.

If we went out with you and your best friend, what story would he/she tell us about you while you went to the restroom for a few minutes?

She has so many. But she'd choose between two, both of which involve me drinking heavily. It'd either be the first time I went to a gay bar and ended up making out with a drag queen who turned out to be an actual woman (she was just really tall) or the time in Provincetown where I ended up lying in the street and wearing her pants.


Updated On: 6/26/06 at 02:49 PM

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 3:09pm

Hehe. Best answers in forever!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 3:45pm

Congratulations. Your responses made me laugh.

What was your first Broadway show? What was that experience like for you?

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 3:57pm

Congratulations, Calvin! What is your funniest/strangest experience of a workplace "gone awry"?

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 4:23pm

erm... Calvin... you missed my questions...

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 4:37pm

No, I got 'em DD. They're right under my responses to cookie. Unless you mean "missed" as in "the point," because that's entirely possible with me.

Dottie asked:
What was your first Broadway show? What was that experience like for you?

The Goodbye Girl, starring Martin Short and Bernadette Peters. Supposedly. Actually, Bernadette was out that night (side note: This began my "Nancy Hess" curse, as she filled in for Bernadette that night and also stood in for Ann Reinking when I saw Chicago several years later). Even so -- I was hooked, just by the whole New York experience. I knew then that this is where I wanted to live -- and this was in the last days where Times Square was still a little...dirty. I guess you could say that Broadway had me at goodbye. (Another side note: I despised Jerry Maguire)

WW asked:
What is your funniest/strangest experience of a workplace "gone awry"?

Once again, I have two. The first was when I worked at a chemical plant as a secretary/receptionist for extra money during the summer. One of the janitors accidentally threw away several boxes of environmental documents that the plant could not legally operate without. So, my boss sent me, his two secretaries, an intern and the janitor out to the dump to try to find that one trash bag amongst the thousands and thousands of bags there. To make matters worse, there had been some sort of festival the weekend before, so the entire dump smelled like fish heads and sun-dried beer. Somehow, we found the bag. One of the secretaries used it as an opportunity to tell the other secretary (a Jehovah's Witness) and the boss (a Hindu) that it was her Lord, not theirs, that led them to it. And the boss treated us to a seafood dinner of all things.

The other is less complicated, but at my first newspaper job, we had instant messaging capabilities within our news database program. One of my co-workers tried to send me a message calling our editor an ogress -- except she accidentally sent it to the editor. Oops!

[shameless]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 4:58pm

Congrats Calvin!

If you were recuperating in a hospital, who would you want in the bed next to you, excluding relatives?

What has given you the most pleasure in the last year?

What's something that we would be surprised to learn about you?

If your house were on fire, what would you grab on the way out?

If we asked an important person in your life to describe you, what would he or she say? How accurate would it be?

What’s something that you’ve never done, but have always wanted to try?

What’s the last great gift that you gave someone? And, that you were given?

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 5:01pm

*blushes*

Sorry... my bad... sorry! There's no real point... I especially like the making out with the drag queen story.

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 5:14pm

Ooh, shameless...those are some toughies. I'll have to think about those for a bit -- and I'll be back to answer them after the gym and dinner.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 5:37pm

What are your top five theatre experiences, Calvin?

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 5:47pm

"Now for SweetQ, our own James Lipton on acid."



CALVIN, your health class story was quite amusing.

P.S. Hopefully, you'll see a zebra at your door soon so your doorbell can be fixed

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 5:58pm

CAAAAALVIIIIIN!!!!

I feel terrible - this stupid job with no internet access!! You so deserve this honor - you are incredibly witty - as I've told you in person, when I see your name on a post I know I'm going to smile - at the very least.

I'll be back later tonight to read all your answers and stuff.

xoxo

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 9:40pm

Let me shameless's posers a shot while my rice is cooking.

If you were recuperating in a hospital, who would you want in the bed next to you, excluding relatives?
Oddly enough, my ex-boyfriend. We are never, never going to reconcile, and that's largely my decision. However, one of him main assets is his ability to be calming and soothing during a crisis. Just as long as he doesn't cook for me.

What has given you the most pleasure in the last year?
FINALLY moving to New York full-time after years in scary Texas of the cities of Almost New York in Connecticut and New Jerseyl

What's something that we would be surprised to learn about you?
That I'm semi-fluent in Italian (although I'm way out of practice right now).

If your house were on fire, what would you grab on the way out?
A shoebox that I have full of photos, letters and other memorabilia. Side note: I have no pets, and I live alone, so this is not an act of cruelty.

If we asked an important person in your life to describe you, what would he or she say? How accurate would it be?
I think you'd be surprised at the disparity of answers, as I'm very good at showing only certain aspects of myself to certain people. My parents would be fairly accurate, however. They know my artistic and creative side, as well as my slight bit of self-absorbtion and occasionally hot temper. But deep down, I'm not quite as evil as I can present myself. Now -- they would be completely wrong about how slutty I am. They think I'm an angel. Although my mom did catch a few hickies every once in a awhile.

What’s something that you’ve never done, but have always wanted to try?
Parasailing. It looks like to much fun!

What’s the last great gift that you gave someone? And, that you were given?
I'm great at picking out clothes for my family -- particularly my mother, so I'd have to say that it would be an outfit I got her last Christmas. If you're asking about romantic gifts -- uh, we'd have to go back awhile for that one. And my best recent gift was the set of show tickets they gave me.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 9:45pm

"Let me shameless's posers a shot while my rice is cooking."


So, Calvin, what do you do for a living?

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 9:49pm

So calvin...

How has being from the great city of Houston help you become the amazing person you are today!?

*wink wink*

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 10:12pm

Yay Calvin!
You're one smart fellow!

[NYadgal]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 11:38pm

I want to know how the rice turned out...

Wonderful answers, Calvin. I've enjoyed reading them all.

Cheers to you!

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 11:42pm

Let me catch up.

cookie asked:
What are your top five theatre experiences, Calvin?

Hmm. I'm assuming that we're talking about experiences on both sides of the fourth wall. So, in no particular order, here are ones that immediately come to mind.
1) The first time I saw a national tour of Les Mis. Trite, I know. But this was in the late 80s, when I was just a kid, and it was the first professional show I'd ever seen. It was what started the whole theatre time bomb in me.
2) My production of Forum. My absolute best experience ever on stage. I loved our entire cast and crew on that one, and I was incredibly sad when the run ended. It also was the first time I ever bled on stage.
3) A Moon For The Misbegotten. I mentioned this one before, but this was my introduction to Cherry Jones. And with Gabriel Byrne and Roy Dotrice -- what else could you want?
4) My production of Into The Woods. This was where I really learned the magic of a show jelling at the absolute last minute. I thought the production was going to be a disaster, but somehow, it came together at invited dress. And it made me a lot less stressed out when other shows seemed to be in the same shape.
5) Just the entire process of discovering Sondheim. If you notice, the two shows I mentioned doing above were his. There wasn't any particular show that hooked me. It was just a colpo di fulmine moment the first time I heard those pounding chords.

Mr. Smart-Ass asked:
So, Calvin, what do you do for a living?
I'm an editor. In that case, I decided the word "give" made the sentence too wordy, so it got the ax. Or axe. Whichever one is in the AP style book.

And my fellow Houstonian and History Boys admirer asked:
How has being from the great city of Houston help you become the amazing person you are today!?
It taught me the evils of James Baker, Tom DeLay and Dan Patrick; let me see a hell of a lot of shows with Richard White and Randy Rogel; gave me the great cruising spot known as Crossroads (that sadly is no more); let me experience hurricanes firsthand and gave me the right to walk outside on a 98-degree day here and honestly say, "Nah, it's not that hot."

eta: And Addy, the rice was delicious (because it was buried under my stir fry). Updated On: 6/26/06 at 11:42 PM

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 11:46pm

Mwah.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 6/26/06 at 11:47pm

C A L V I N !!!!

Congrats!

[DG]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 1:41am

You get a gold star, little boy - bravo!