Sitting next to a celebrity at a theater

Just curious to see if anyone has ever sat next to a celebrity at a Broadway theater and how they reacted to them? I sat behind Jerry Seinfeld and his wife last week at a show and didn't say anything or approach them because I didn't want to invade their privacy. I was pleasantly surprised to see that most everyone around me did the same thing.

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I sat next to Daniel Craig at SPRING AWAKENING last year. he had his arm in a sling. Nobody recognized him. It was right when Bond was coming out.

Poor Bill Paxton ("Big Love", "Twister", "Apollo 13" had the wildly unfortunate luck to sit right next to me at a Sunday matinee of "All My Sons" last November.

He was extraordinarily kind, good-humored and patient with me as he signed an autograph (he packs his own sharpie!) and then let me interrogate him about the upcoming season of "Big Love".

I only spoke with him before the show began and then we said a nice goodbye as we were leaving. At intermission he was talking to the folks to his left (relatives?)and I was busy chatting with the folks to my right.

Again, Mr. Paxton was not only handsome and charming, but VERY sweet and even asked me questions about how I thought of certain aspects of the show.

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1) On a plane once, Danny DevIto sat in the last row of first class. I sat in the first row of coach. Does that count?

2) Directly 2 rows behind me sat next to each other James Lipton and Dave Chapelle at PASSING STRANGE. That was awkward... People crowded them at intermission and especially after the show. Mostly Chapelle, who was very gracious.

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Sat the row in front of Cindy Crawford and her kids at WICKED.

They're hardly "celebrities" but I sat near Jerry Mitchell, Kevin McCollum, and someone else I can't remember at N2N at Second Stage.

There's a few more I can't remember off the top of my head.

This doesn't really count. But I sat in the same section of the orchestra as Stephen Sondheim at the first preview of NIGHT MUSIC. I was in the second row, and he was in the last row. I did start hyperventilating when I saw him close up.

Updated On: 12/18/09 at 11:40 PM

Sat near Anthony Rapp at Next to Normal (Second Stage version) and in the same row as Ben Brantley (if he counts) at Ragtime. The number of celebrities I've SEEN in theaters is kind of ridiculous - Emmy Rossum, Goldie Hawn, Katie Couric, David Duchovny, Al Pacino - but I wasn't really sitting near any of them.

I crossed the street next to Neil Patrick Harris once when I was GOING to a theater; does that count?

At the play November with Nathan Lane, I followed my normal habit of switching to an orchestra seat at intermission from my TDF mezz seat. Sat down next to an older white-haired man, tried to chat him up a bit--also as per my usual--and he wasn't very friendly at all. As I was leaving, someone else pointed out to me that I'd been sitting next to Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas; too funny, didn't even recognize him and he probably thought I was bothering him because he was a celebrity. Did then chat up Marlo in the aisle about the play, just for fun...until Joe Mantello walked up and comandeered her.

Come to think of it, I also met Oprah back in the early 80s when we were both journalists in Baltimore and she blew me off, too! Maybe I have bad luck with daytime talk show hosts Have gotten a smile and hello from Gloria Steinem and John Malkovich when each of them was sitting near me on different occasions.

But the most exciting had to be sitting a couple of seats away from Liam Neeson while watching Alan Bates and Frank Langella in Fortune's Fool...we were all in the second or third row and to be so close to all those amazing actors kind of blew me away!

Sat next to Ana Gasteyer at a performance of Spelling Bee. She was an absolutely delightful woman. I had a big bag (I was only in the city for the day and had done some shopping) and it fell over onto her feet, and to my absolute mortification the SNL sweatshirt I had just bought for one of my best friends birthdays tumbled out and she handed it back to me. I quickly explained, and she offered to sign it for my friend. I declined (it was a sweatshirt for petes sake! one she actually would wear and kill the autograph on) and asked if she'd sign a birthday card instead. We chatted a bit before and after the show after the autograph fiasco. Really pleasant woman.

ljay, I would have started hyperventilating knowing i was in the same room as the legendary Stephen Sondheim. that's awesome.

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I've never really sat next to a celebrity but I've seen a bunch of them in theaters...I've seen Joanna Gleason and Chris Sarandon at Company, Neil Simon at Next to Normal, and Stephen Sondheim at the last performance of the Sweeney Todd revival just off the top of my head.

I've sat either next to or directly in front of Stephen Sondheim and his...assistant 6 times.

His young....assistant...