STAR STRUCK?
Not really. Though I occasionally succumb to some rambunctious stomach flutterings.
There I was awaiting curtain up for THE NEWS, a 1985 new Broadway musical created by Paul Schierhorn and starring Jeff Conaway and Anthony Crivello. This Georgian style, modest-sized (597 seat) HELEN HAYES THEATRE resides on 44th Street in New York (NYC). To be accurate this is the second HELEN HAYES THEATRE; the first building was one of three theatres razed to make way for the current Marquis Hotel, a matter of quite the controversy at the time. But I digress.
In the row directly in front of me sat Michelle Lee and Loni Anderson. To me the former was a true Broadway star known for SEESAW (and also TV fame with KNOTS LANDING). Loni herself achieved her stardom in the TV hit WKRP IN CINCINNATI and – this is so important – as a buxom pin-up girl ????. My mind began to explore possible reasons they could be attending this show. Was this a lunch date between friends who then take in a show?
Ah-hah! It occurred to me Loni Anderson was dating movie star Burt Reynolds…and this production of THE NEWS transferred from Jacksonville, Florida’s BURT REYNOLDS DINNER THEATRE. Mystery solved.
Regardless of what some of my friends may say, I do have some class. So, I didn’t interrupt their private conversation. Nor did I shove a piece of paper forward, urging them to provide autographs while fawning over them all the while. I just enjoyed the show while suffering in silence.
If nothing else I can tell my friends about it some lazy afternoon!
Looking Back Is Looking Forward…Snapshots of People, Performances et cetera (etc.) about the Way We Were
