Saw Some Celebrities This Week — Page 2

Today I ran in to Norbert Leo Butz at my local CVS. He lives in my town! Of course I complimented him "I loved The Last 5 years, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, etc" but I tried not to seem like a stalker. He was very nice about it.

Haha Emcee.

I haven't literally walked into any actors in the city, although walking past them/NEARLY walking into them seems to be pretty frequent. And I generally don't say hello to them or anything.

I nearly walked into Megan Hilty going up 8th avenue as I was digging my cell phone out of my bag.
walked past Hunter Foster
Sarah Saltzberg
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Kate Wetherhead
Mandy Gonzalez (the ONE exception to the above. I talked to her for a bit)
Terrence Mann

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The other time we just collided in a doorway at Seth's Chatterbox. It worked out, since I was actually on my way in to find him so I could ask him something.

Hey, that works.

The time I saw Jesse Tyler Ferguson, I was on my way to a dance class, but I had stopped at the deli on the way there to get a bottle of water. I couldn't tell who it was at first, even though they looked really familiar. So, I turned my head to look, and somehow managed to trip. He saw. It wasn't until then that I realized who it was.

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I sent this as a private message but felt like sharing.
"Well you know Di, the same can be sad about Television actors, if you don't watch their show then how can they be a celebrity. I think that Broadway celebrities are just like television or lesser known movie people who aren't high profile. The same person who you may not think is a celebrity may be one to others. If you don't watch 24 you wouldn't have a clue as to who Carlos Bernard is but in many circles he would be considered a celebrity simply because he is on a tv show. my point is that just because an actor has made their name from a Broadway show alone does not give you or anyone the right to say if they are a "celebrity" or not. Celebrity does not mean movie star it just means someone or something that one celebrates and to Myron if Frenchie Davis is a celebrity then you cannot discount that."

I've Brad Garrett twice in the last week. It's weird. I saw him randomly walking around on Madison and then saw him leaving his hotel.

I live on the UWS and see quite a few celebs.
I used to see Chris Meloni *HOT* at the gym all the time. Haven't seen him in a while.
See Kevin Bacon and family all the time.
Saw Madonna once on the street with her hubby. That was cool.
Just today I saw both Regis and Kelly. And Sarah Jessica Parker on my way to work (in the village) She was with her son. cute kid.
As far as broadway people...sat next to Julia Murney on the subway the other day. See Norm Lewis, Brian D'arcy James, and Matt Cavenaugh (spelling) at the gym.
See All My Children stars all the time. Cameron Mathison....can we say.....SO HOT. damn. Anyways.....it's fun, to see these people, but you realise they are just people.

I see celebrities out and about fairly regularly, but most recently Frances McDormand and her Coen brother husband getting on a plane behind me, and both of them again a couple of nights ago walking out behind me at the NYFF.

I'm going to have to go out on a limb here and agree that Broadway personalities are NOT celebrities.

Save for name dropping, last weekend I saw a production out of town with two rather large Broadway names. I happen to know one of them and went out afterwards with her and a few members of the cast. Firstly, it amazed me that there were so many people fawning over her at the stage door (since we weren't in Manhattan), but they were mostly college theatre students, so it made sense they knew who she was.

The minute we left the alley, not one eye turned to look at her that hadn't been in that theatre. At the restaurant there wasn't a trace of recognition. She was able to enjoy herself without fear that some random person was going to interrupt her meal hounding her with compliments and begging to take a picture.


Do you think SJP can sit down anywhere to eat without at least ONE person in the restaurant noticably POINTING at her the entire time?


That right there is the major difference. These personalities may be important to us because we value theatre and their talents, but it's almost like a tightly knit neighborhood. No one knows whats going on inside of our picket fences except us.



That said, there are obviously different levels of celebrity. Granted in todays society more people are going to know who Britney Spears is over Haley Mills (who I actually DID run into on the street when I was living in the UWS-- actually walked RIGHT into her). Of course, that doesn't make Haley any less of a celebrity. Most people do know who she is.

As far as the T.V. argument goes, try telling me the majority of people who DON'T watch T.V. can even COMPARE to the majority of people in the world who have no interest in theatre and can't honestly name one musical sans CATS, POTO, HAIRSPRAY, RENT, or WICKED?

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Wow. I have so few celebrity stories. I walked past Jay Reiss once, he was fussing with his cell phone. A few blocks later I walked past Deborah Craig. I walked outside of a restaurant and saw Denis O'Hare buying something at a newsstand. Of course these people are all celebrities to me but when I got back to Pittsburgh and told my friends about all of this they were like "Uhm... okay."

Celebrity is in the eye of the beholder, I guess. A few minutes after we walked past Jay I turned to my parents and said "That's Jay Reiss!! He's so funny!" My dad replied, "Why didn't you say something?" "...That would be weird." He shrugged. "Why? He's just a guy."

Nobody's going to know who my astrochemical physics professor is, even if seeing him walk down the street makes students giddy. (Totally hypothetical.)

But with people who are actors, there IS some level of celebrity -- because you can see it even in a forum like this. You can be excited and share your excitement and people will know what you're talking about and care. I don't think it's "wrong" to call theatre actors celebrities -- there are different levels. I think it's a flexible notion.

There's also a major difference between saying you saw someone so you can brag and saying it just because you're genuinely excited. I remember a thread a few weeks back where someone posted how excited he was just to have randomly seen Anthony Rapp somewhere. Genuine sentiments of "that's so cool!"

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Yeah Emcee, but then there were some people sticking their nose up saying, "So what? I see Broadway actors all the time!"

So if this thread was labeled, "Saw some Broadway actors/personalities this week!" it would make all the more sense.

But to people on a Broadway message board, a leading actor in a Broadway musical IS considered a celebrity. I wouldn't start a thread on the main board here talking about how I saw Robert Thompson on campus last week. I'd start it on a TV message board where people would know who he was and agree with his celebrity status.

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Updated On: 9/30/05 at 12:03 PM

And just for argument's sake, American Heritage Dictionary of the English language says this about celebrityhood:

"Synonyms: celebrity, hero, luminary, name, notable, personage

These nouns refer to a widely known person: a social celebrity; the heroes of science; a theatrical luminary; a big name in sports; a notable of the concert stage; a personage in the field of philosophy."

Someone can be considered a celebrity in his or her field without needing to compare with Britney Spears's status.

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Updated On: 9/30/05 at 12:47 PM