The Official Raúl E. Esparza "Spread the Love" Thread, part two- Page 188

[keen on kean]

Posted: 4/25/07 at 9:42am

New tangent for this thread - why does Raul look like a totally different person in every picture? I have never seen someone who photographs so uniquely!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/25/07 at 9:47am

Not only does he look totally different, he has a fun new personality for every picture as well!

"Multitudes of Amys" amuses me far more than it should.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 4/25/07 at 10:00am

I can't imagine why, skittles.

He does look completely different in every picture. As much as I love him, sometimes I think he takes more bad pictures than good.

I have so much to do today, but I can't really start it until 11, so basically this afternoon is going to be totally hellish.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/25/07 at 10:40am

Awww, I love that picture. Emma is such a great kid.

I have those memory board things on the walls in my dorm, with like a zillion pictures on it from about the past five years of my life. There's a picture of me and my best friend with Raul from when he did The Normal Heart (old school!), and most people can never figure out that he's the same person as the guy in a few other pictures floating around up there.

Updated On: 4/25/07 at 10:40 AM

[keen on kean]

Posted: 4/25/07 at 12:52pm

Many years ago I met a member of a European ballet company, and he was probably the most physically handsome man I have ever met. In person and on stage he would literally take your breath away. And I never saw any picture that captured what he looked like, or more than even a fraction of it. Raul seems to have the same effect - every once in a while a photograph has a glimmer of something. What a great quality for an actor to have, though.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/25/07 at 1:35pm

Aw.



And yeah, he's definitely about ten times more handsome in person.

[rula bean2]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 6:50pm

Hi everyone!

I just returned from NYC and am now officially a Raúl Esparza fanatic. Oh. My. God.

Saw "Company" last Tuesday the 17th and loved, loved, loved it. The entire show was great, but Raúl.......forget about it. I am his forever. The voice, the eyes, the charisma, ahh......... (And his HANDS. How beautiful are they??) Afterwards they were auctioning off his kazoo and I was in a bidding war with someone in the mezzanine, but eventually I had to admit defeat. He was so cute, jumping up and down every time the bid was raised. Heh.

Anyway, I waited around the stage door for a while, but there was just one couple there and since I was in town alone my shyness got the better of me and I left before he came out (I am much more outgoing when I have a friend with me). Agh.........curse my infernal shyness!!

Of course, the next day (Wed.) I hustled down to the Barrymore to get tix for another show. I was just about to go in the doors when a black town car pulled up and guess who hopped out? Yes, 'twas him. It would have been such a good opportunity to speak to him, but unfortunately (for me) he was chatting on his cell phone (looking slightly annoyed), so I didn't interrupt. But it was cool to see him anyway. Sweet jebus, is he a cutie.

Wed. night I was seeing "A Moon for the Misbegotten" and instead of concentrating on the play I kept thinking of Raúl right across the street and how I knew I was gonna regret it if I didn't speak to him at least once. So afterwards I went over to the Barrymore's stage door and forced myself to wait. Lawdy, I really needed a buffer with me-----I was so keyed up and nervous I almost bolted. Finally he comes out and briefly speaks to a guy who was also waiting there and when they were finished I had an opening and approached him and asked for a picture with him. I said something kinda corny----that I felt privileged to have seen him on stage (it's true!). He was so gracious and there was something very sweet and a little shy about his manner that was really appealing. Honestly, I was so flustered that it's all mostly a blur. All I remember is him making a little joke about him wearing his glasses. Then I thanked him and got out of there. (Oh yeah---he was wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt.)

Saw the show again Friday night and loved it even more. Now that I'm back home I can't stop thinking about it. Or him. Seriously, I will be seeing him in anything and everything I can now. He's incredible (but you all already knew that). I'm just sorry it took me so long to discover him. Sorry for the long ramble!

[antiandrewx]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 7:06pm

Aw, that's cute. I'm glad you enjoyed the show and got to meet Raul. At first I was a little nervous about meeting him, but I'm glad I did.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 7:09pm

Hi, and welcome!

How much did the kazoo end up going for? The fact that they're auctioning them off amuses me. I'm really shy, too, but he's generally pretty approachable; I'm glad you decided to brave your nerves and that you liked the show!

[obsessedjb]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 7:49pm

I'm listening to "Being Alive" right now and thinking that by this time next week I'll be in the Barrymore. So excited.


great story rula! I can totally relate to all of that. It was so exhilarating/nerve wracking waiting for and meeting him.
Updated On: 4/27/07 at 07:49 PM

[rula bean2]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 8:31pm

Thanks for the welcome! I have found my tribe :)

The kazoo went for $245 the night I was bidding on it. What I really wanted to do, though, was go backstage and meet the cast. The other night I went it sold for $450. At one point Raul was trying to up the bidding turning around and lifting up his jacket, wiggling his butt. Cute.

Enjoy the show obsessedjb----I envy you. Sometimes the anticipation of seeing a show is just so.......enjoyable.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 9:50pm

Hi! Aww, that's such a cute story. The first time I met him, I was so nervous and my aunt kind of had to force me into it because I wanted to shy away at the last second -- but he was wonderful.

I hope you have a great time at Company, jb.

[misschung]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 10:13pm

I get so nervous meeting people too, I can so understand that. Especially Raul! I want to meet him - hopefully soon!

Is he usually ok at the Company stage door about pictures/autographs?

[Broadwaywest2]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 10:24pm

Hello,

I am writing a letter to Raul. Has anyone done this in the past?And if you ask for a response, like a pic or autograph or something does he return? Also how long do you think he takes?
When I saw Company back in April. I drew a pic/caricature of him and when he saw it, he seemed really impressed by it and said that he was gonna put it up on his mirror. I would just like to write hime to see if he kept. I love this dude as well. Ever since I saw him in Tick Tick Boom like 6 or 7 years ago. He's just amazing.

[antiandrewx]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 10:26pm

misschung, Raul has been nothing but nice the 4 times that I have stagedoored for Company. He's always happy to talk pictures, sign things, and just chat for a bit. A very nice, warm guy.

[misschung]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 10:33pm

I love tick tick boom!
thanks for the stagedoor info - hopefully I can see the show soon. I am running out of ticket money, lol

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/27/07 at 10:43pm

I've heard he's generally good about responding to fanmail, although this is a really busy time of year, so he might be a bit slower.

He's fine about pictures and autographs. I've only ever had one less-than pleasant experience with him, but it happens. Other than that, I've been lucky to have several great conversations with him about his work. He's almost always very sweet. He's a nice guy.

Updated On: 4/27/07 at 10:43 PM

[keen on kean]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 2:08pm

Has anyone else seen the movie "Find Me Guilty"? Am I the only person to not know until I watched it that Raul is in it? Not a big part but a crucial one and he is extraordinarily effective in it. I haven't seen a Lumet film in ages - every part is beuatifully drawn, even characters that only have a few lines.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 2:12pm

I rented it when it was first released on DVD, because I was really curious to see how Raul's acting worked on film, and I could not get through the whole thing, because so many of the scenes were courtroom scenes. It felt redundant, and I was so bored. I should try it again, though. I feel really dumb for being bored during it, but I have a bad attention span with regard to movies in general. I thought Raul was fantastic; I wasn't sure how he'd be on film because he's so theatrical, but I was really, really impressed.

Updated On: 4/29/07 at 02:12 PM

[keen on kean]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 2:29pm

If you only watch for Raul, the problem is that he is in the beginning and the end! I did scene selection but since I couldn't understand his last scene in the courtroom, I ended up watching the whole thing. I'm a lawyer so the courtroom stuff (much of which came from the actual trial transcript) was meat and potatoes to me!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/29/07 at 2:32pm

Yeah, he just has those two scenes. While I have to admit that the first thing I did was skip around until I found him, I figured while I had it, I might as well watch the whole thing. I like that stuff, too, and I really liked that much of it was the actual transcript, but for some reason it dragged for me. But again, not a movie person by any means.

Oh, totally a separate topic, but in the most recent Broadway Beat video that's posted on BWW, there's a clip of Raul singing Morning Glow from Seth's Broadway 101.

Posted: 4/30/07 at 1:19pm

For those who haven't seen it, there's a picture of him on GettyImages at the Legally Blonde premiere.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 1:24pm

I don't even know why, but I find it absolutely hysterical that he's one of the people who hopped on the "wear pink to Legally Blonde's opening!!!!" bandwagon. Super.

Updated On: 4/30/07 at 01:24 PM

[keen on kean]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 2:48pm

Nice photos. Does he ever relax? He finishes his Sunday show and goes out?!?

[misschung]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 2:52pm

well, I think that is his way of relaxing