The New York Times: The Great Sheldon Cooper

Ok. Ok. So Newsies was my favorite part of my trip. That's evident by the 20 pictures I took of the sign in Times Square and the fact that my Google search has consisted of different combos of "Jeremy Jordan" "Newsies" "Newsies Tour" etc, since I got back last week.

But the second coolest thing I did was hands down standing outside the stage guy to meet this fella.

You know him as half of the popular couple Shamy, the lyricist and composer of "Soft Kitty, Happy Kitty" and the World of Warcraft Hero Sheldor of Azeroth.........

That's right. AN and I met Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

Well, technically it was Jim Parsons. But that's semantics, right?

AN wanted to see Jim Parsons in Harvey like I wanted to see Newsies. That was HER reason for going to New York. That was the reason she and I talked on that fateful Wednesday night and decided that a trip was necessary. She'd seen on Live with Regis and Kelly that he was going to be staring in the adaptation of "Harvey" this summer, and she knew she had to be there. We made sure the schedules worked for the Newsies run and the limited engagement of Harvey, and we set our courses toward NYC.

AN's aunt and two of Auntie J's good friends went to New York City  just a few days before we did and when the production was over, they decided to go to the stage door and wait to meet the star of the show. They all said he was super nice and happily signed programs and pictures for everyone. And that alone made AN and I super excited because if he was nice to them then he'd be nice to us, right?

Jim Parson's and Harvey was going to be our only stage door experience. I'd already told AN no one famous was going to be in Newsies for us to fawn over (but little did I know about the way Jeremy Jordan would literally have charisma wafting from his pores) so Jim Parsons was going to be my first official New York meet and greet. And I was pumped.

But not as pumped as AN.

Do you remember this post? That's AN's artwork. She's extremely talented and her artwork is pretty unique. Yes, there are fakes and imitators out there, but hers is quality letter art and each picture has a unique story behind it. Well, when AN realized that she was going to potentially, probably meet Jim Parsons, she whipped up one of her creations to give to him. There in black and white tones, AN had the amazing forsight to spell out Sheldon Cooper's most famous word of all.......

Bazinga.

If I had a picture of the piece, I would include it here. It really was quite lovely and it included a sweet little note telling Mr. Jim how wonderful he was and how much she appreciated his work.

On our second evening there, AN and I go to the famous Studio 54 to see Sheldon Jim's play. Let me quickly interrupt here. Studio 54 is a gorgeous theater. It was so much better than the Newsies Theater from the previous night and I was completely impressed. The architecture was ridiculous.

The play was very funny, although I have to say it wasn't my favorite. Jim Parson's is an incredible actor and proved that he can act the heck out of anything given to him, but I struggled with the story of the imaginary bunny. I think I would have liked it a lot more if Jack Kelly hadn't come to life right in front of me the night before, but whatev. I'll know next time to schedule the play BEFORE the life changing musical.

So after the play, we head out to the stage door where we cement ourselves against the medal fence outside the door. Jim will make his way down the fence, the security guard says, and will sign autographs for those behind the fence. AN and I are safely in those parameters, but this meat-head of a guy and his woman friend are not. You know the dude I'm talking about.....tight polo shirt, too tan, looks like he thinks his money and muscles will get him everything he wants in life.

He has this floozy looking girl with him, and they keep telling the security guard that they are just standing there......although those of us behind the gate all know they are just trying to have close access to Mr. Parsons.

To the security guys everlasting credit, he decided to break the gate up to further block the man's position. Meaning, he took the gate, moved it from a straight line that Jim would go down and sign to an L-shaped barrier.

Here. Let me draw you a map.

So I'm at that purple corner.....where once fence turned into the bottom of the L. And I thought to myself, "I'm so thankful that he did that so Mr. 80's Thug won't get to meet him!"

AN is beside herself at this point. She's standing there giddy with her artwork and can hardly contain her post-show jubilation.

You can see her artwork in her hands. It really was extremely pretty.

And then he came out, signing autographs with such a big grin and one of the most gracious spirits. He really did seem like this super sweet guy you would really want to be friends with. (Well, at least that's what I gathered in the few minutes I spent with him.)

And then.....he approached me and AN. He graciously took her picture and made several sweet comments about it. And as I'm attempting to video tape the whole thing, I start to fall where the fences are joined together in the L shape. And that's when I tripped in front of Jim Parsons. And he completely notices and says, "Oh please don't fall."

People, it was a moment.

Don't believe me? Here's the video to prove it!

From New York, New York!

Specatular, right?

I also got to meet Jessica Hecht.....or better known in my mental yearbook as Susan, Ben's stepmother and Ross's ex-wives new wife from "Friends." I'm one step closer to meeting a Friend in real life! Like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon but better!

If you are in New York, go see Harvey. But if you can't see the show, at least go to the stage door and meet the awesome Jim Parsons. It was a fun night. And Jim, if you have AN's artwork hanging up, give us a call! There are two girls in Alabama who would love to be your friend!