A Highly Satisfactory Star Sighting

My boss, who is straight, is also a big show-tune queen. So when he visited me in New York last night I took him and some other colleagues out to dinner and then to Marie's Crisis for a round of Broadway show-tune belting.

Shortly after we arrived, the girl depicted in the above poster walked in with her mother. She had the starring little-girl-bitch role in one of my favorite all-time movies, Camp.

Needless to say, I was smitten.

Normally I don't talk to famous people in public, partly out of respect for their privacy, but mostly because I would feel like some gawky, stalkerish fan or something. But in this case I decided to approach her because she's not really famous enough to be annoyed by that sort of thing yet. Camp is the only film she's done, and I don't think it enjoyed any sort of prolonged theatrical release outside neighborhoods teeming with gay men, divas and other drama queens. Although the film does show up on the cable channels quite often - and I always make a stop there when surfing, of course.

Anyway, I figured since she's not really that famous she probably appreciates a certain amount of public adoration. Not to mention the fact that she showed up at a show-tunes piano bar frequented by gay men. I mean, helloooo! Craving attention much?

I debated with my colleagues (none of whom knew who she was) as to whether I should approach her - and they all urged me on, telling me I'd regret it forever if I let this one-in-a-lifetime chance pass me by. So I waited until we were ready to leave, and then I made my move.

"Hi! I didn't want to leave without coming over to say hello. You are the girl from that movie, aren't you?"

Ok, it was kind of dumb sounding, but I'm no expert at pickup lines or anything. At least not pickup lines for girly quasi-movie stars.

"No, I'm afraid I'm not. What movie are you talking about?" She was TOTALLY playing me. I liked it.

"Camp! You are the girl from Camp. I know you are. I really enjoyed your performance."

She smiled sheepishly, and then her mother broke in.

"Yes, it is her. She is very talented, isn't she?"

"Yes! I love that movie! I watch it all the time when I see it in the cable tv listings. I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your performance."

Giggle.

She really is cute, even if she played a total bitch . My God, I'm so predictable.

"Anyway, I just wanted to stop over before I left. My name is Tom." I offered my hand, which she shook.

"Thank you, nice to meet you!" She wasn't about to offer her name in return. And by the way, I am not mentioning her name in this post because I don't need her Googling to see what a dork I am.

All in all, this was a highly satisfactory star sighting. And not at all meaningless.