#26: "Irreverent, surprisingly fearless, a total delight and a surprise!"

[Kareneh]

Greetings from......

Drumroll please......

Houston.

No New York for me this weekend, but that's alright. I can't let a good weekend of dog boarding got to waste, so it's sleep over party time with the eHP. I promise not to whine even once, just a little bit. I may need to drop by Dillard's on the way home tomorrow, though. I feel a new handbag coming on.

With all due apologizes from "stealing" the cup idea from the CH but really, I must have my cup again. It was my favorite peice of clack.

Cindilu2 changed it up a bit:

so the words are right on the picture... we were trying to come up with something for the other side of the cup -- and we did come up with something cute "Doing Clay since 2003" but then my cup wouldn't be anonymous and I really loved that about my cup and I want to take it back to work. And no I don't talk about Clay at this job. The job I Had at the time I lost my mind though..very funny..I knew and loved everyone there and vice versa and they kinda enjoyed me going through the change LOL. I so love that saying though..maybe for something else in the future.

back to bed!!

Hmmm, let's see. How about "Tying them on since 2003" or "All tied up since 2003" or "Tie it, you'll like it" or "Tie 'em, you'll like it" (Just a little free association here with the morning coffee) or ......I think I like "Tie 'em....You'll like it."

[HeidiHo]

I can pretty much relate Lucky...I've been checking other boards lately just to see if there are any clay breaking news...and I find that posts or posters that used to make my BP rise are just getting eye rolls from me...or even reading blogs of vile haters I just ignore them all. I think for me...what has made a difference is that Clay is doin so well right now. He is in a critically acclaimed broadway show and he is getting great feedback. He is working on an album that will be out this year...no need to worry about the guy....he is doing great. I do love posts about his antics with the other cast members..I think he is forming his own little family in NYC.

I think it's pretty obvious that I've been distancing myself from all boards for quite some time now. I don't really even need to discuss Clay with anyone - I just like to keep up with him cause I lurve him. None of the crap bothers me anymore. Spamalot brought me back more online.

Hell, I almost got blown away by a tornado the other night and the more I watch the news the luckier I realize I am. Life is short. Why would I waste my time getting upset or defending Clay when I can just sit back and enjoy the man? And get to squeeee everytime I read something good - like him and Rick joking around. Lord knows he clayverts everywhere he goes and seems pretty solid and grounded - able to take care of himself. It's all good. <g>

[wandacleo]

I've pretty much become indifferent to what people say in articles and blogs about Clay. I love to read the good comments, but I can easily ignore the bad ones. In the big picture, they don't amount to a rat's ass and won't affect Clay's career one way or another. I DO cringe when people inundate the authors with OTT comments and ranting about how wonderful Clay is because I think that is completely counterproductive.

There is much to celebrate.

[Cotton]

Hmmm, let's see. How about "Tying them on since 2003" or "All tied up since 2003" or "Tie it, you'll like it" or "Tie 'em, you'll like it" (Just a little free association here with the morning coffee) or ......I think I like "Tie 'em....You'll like it."

How about, "I'd tie 'em!!!"

[cha cha trusty]

or how about "the longer the better"

[Scarlett]

Some folks asked about concert clips I make, pls. scroll if you don't think this is relevant:

I have a very unique way of rendering my clips. I modified the program that I use, and I haven't shared it with anyone (with apologies to those who asked me for assistance/copies in the past). I wanted to be sure I could always tell whether or not a clip is mine, not that I've uploaded anything since the View cap last month.

I'm usually very helpful on all other techie issues and and would love to consult/offer opinions & advice.

Thanks!

[luckiest1]

Matinee reports via GBB at CH:

On the phone with Ficus who got a wild hair last night and droved to NY for a couple of shows! (gotta love Ficus)

Anyway, it's a couple of minutes before showtime and the floor's not full yet but she thinks it will be from the crowd waiting to get in. Hannah Waddinham is not performing for the matinee. She'll call back at intermission with a report.

On the phone with jojoct. Audience mostly NJU but definitely vocal and enjoying themselves. A man behind her is telling someone that Sir Robin was Clay. She's trying to hear what they think of him but right now they're arguing over whether he won or came in 2nd on AI *g*

When she saw it Thursday night, the scene where the knights are traveling the world (starts with slo-mo and ends up dancing) he was just so free and so loose and so into it.

Loves the balcony/guard scene at the beginning. He's speaking so very clearly now and she can understand everything he's saying.

On Thursday it was very obvious it was being circumspect when he raised his robe to sit on the piano bench.

She's been watching Tom and it appears his arm is better.

Audience is very, very crowded. Huge SRO crowd in the back. Lots of guys. Probably 70% guys.

On the phone with jojoct. 2nd half was very good. The Knights who say Ni added "Rehab" to the end of their name and said "go to rehab if I can get out to sing at the Grammys." Emily changed the diva song so that she's being replaced by Posh Spice instead of Britney Spears.

Clay's number was "excellent" and got BIG applause. Definitely NJU. A few people stood for Clay when he came out at the end but most waited and gave the full cast a standing O at the end.

[playbiller]

Well, I bring obscure blogs here and here alone because I am thrilled that not fans are finding Clay and, really, it doesn't matter if they get everything right, they just hve to care enough to blog and not slip in a million cracks.

I generally find it easier to be a fan because I have found my escape paths from the anger and angst. The nice thing to not is taht when someone starts angsting, people are pretty quick to cut it down.

The nice thing about Spamalot, is that people are not sitting around waiting for the album coming up with alternate plots, but actually reporting on a show Clay is in. It may not be thrilling, but it is preferable to what was before.

[ldyjocelyn]

Request please: could someone point me in the direction of the buy/sell Spamalot tickets at both Clayversity and The ClayBoard? kthnxbye.

[00lsee]

Drat.

I was waiting until the last minute to reply about tonight's dinner because I thought things MIGHT work out for me to go...but that just ain't gonna happen. Too many schedules to coordinate tonight, y'all.

Y'all have a good time and eat too much without me, okay? Looks like I'll be with my sister's family tonight.

[merrieeee]

{{{{00lsee}}}}

We'll miss you!

I'm sure you will have much more fun than we will. We really are just a boring lot!

[muskifest]

Hmmm, let's see. How about "Tying them on since 2003" or "All tied up since 2003" or "Tie it, you'll like it" or "Tie 'em, you'll like it" (Just a little free association here with the morning coffee) or ......I think I like "Tie 'em....You'll like it."

KarenEh....how about "Fit to be Tied" 'coss oh, baby, is he ever!

My original post about waiting for the reactions to that anonymous man's blog comments?---I'm only saying that I don't share some fans' reactions or indignation about anything less than laudatory about anything and everything that Clay says, does, thinks, or IS. It's just predictable to some degree that anything that isn't along the lines of "Clay is GREAT!" will elicit some "reasons" why the person who said those things is unreliable or irrelevant or stupid or mean or just plain wrong. I just question extremist views on either ends and all sides of an issue---especially a subjective one, like being a fan of someone certainly is.

Washed the doggie today. Now he's sleeping in the sun that's shining on the sofa and his black hair is shining and soft and he's pooped!

Oh...Alex's play is an Agatha Christie murder mystery! Cool

[ldyjocelyn]

Incredibly long, but incredibly funny and fangirly recap, from STPTeach at the CH (with help from jules):

REcap of Friday, Feb. 8, 2008 Spamalot show: stpjules style!

Wow!

You know there’s something to be said about going to a Clay event with someone who is as crazy about Clay as you are as opposed to someone who’s… not. We were both very aware of our “dates'” reactions as opposed to sitting back and letting it “flow” (tm stpteach.) Not that it wasn’t enjoyable because god yes it was. It’s just that all our excitement was “stuck inside” (tm jules.) This is our first chance to be fangirly because on the ride home we had to control ourselves for fear of being asked to walk home (even though jules was driving).

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!111!!! He was wonderful. There was definitely a difference from this performance to the performance on opening night. He was looser (no, not a loser! LOOOSER). He knew where to put the dice and which cup to grab and he danced his heart out. And even though we sat in the 8th row we heard “come to daddy” during the Camelot pram scene.

Ok, so let’s do this sequentially. *clears throat* We had very nice seats. Stpteach did good. 8th row center. WOW. It was such a different perspective for the both of us. Jules said she had trouble taking it all in and couldn’t stop staring at Clay. Even though she knows he couldn’t see into the audience she felt very uneasy gawking at him. It seemed as if he looked down right into the audience and could see us. Eeeep! Where as stpteach found it easier to look around and had to remind herself to look at clay during the show.

Mr. jules was trying to get info out of Jules but she wouldn’t tell him when Clay would be coming out. So when Clay popped his head out of that tower Jules kept her eye on mr. jules. He was smiling and didn’t take his eyes off of mr. aiken. (in a very straight man to man way). Of course the coconut scene was hysterical again. Stpteach says he had one arm extended up on the top of the corner of the window and the other was casually draped over the sill. He was so smooth and casual. Maybe it was where we were sitting but we both commented that it was sometimes difficult to hear the performers. Last time his voice boomed; maybe it was because we were sitting under the speakers…anyway.

He came out with his little triangle and you could tell he was really comfortable. It was very natural. He stood in the middle of the stage with Lancelot right in front of jules and she was drooling. They looked like they had a good camaraderie up there. Stpteach wants to know if Eric Idle was on drugs during the scene where Lancelot and Robin talk about joining up because Lancelot’s character does such a 180. Jules in a rare intellectual moment explains to the much wiser stpteach that this could be a paradoxical moment where the stereotypes are smashed in that Sir Robin comes off as the “fey” character going off to war to sing and dance and Lancelot is the macho killer guy who wants to go off to war to fight. Go figure, it’s the latter character who is gay.

So Clay came out with the other knights to do the Knights of the Round Table gig. It’s so funny seeing him up on that stage he looks so huge and life size. It’s very exciting. He looks good as a knight. (That’s jules talking, stpteach is looking puzzled while reading the last paragraph. She was getting us some coffee so I took the liberty of typing. *g* ) she’s a bossy piece of goods that stpteach, she’s watching me type and pointing, jeering….put that no THAT in parentheses and capitals. (She's driving me fucking crazy. This is me going crazy. She's going back and editing. Jules doesn't edit. oh god but I just capitalized jules (didn't there) she's wearing me down. damn it. i have to throw in some lower case and misspellings or I'm going to go crazy. she's freaking out right now. I loVE it! Hahahahah mis spellings and impropera grammara is making her nuts.) Parentheses not QUOTES. Now she has her arms crossed and says “do the damn recap yourself”. If she keeps going I’ll keep typing. She’s saying stop, please stop. * jules gets strangled *

(STPteach takes over the typing because she truly is a control freak. Heh.)

When the Knights of the Round table are finally introduced, and Clay does his little solo about being ‘the idol of his age’, the crowd reacted quite loudly – (as opposed to when he first appeared in the window as the guard; his appearance was met with absolute silence, almost as if no one realized it was him….which stpteach thinks is a good thing.) Jules thinks, as does stp, that the crowd’s reaction was not that of a ‘claymate’s’ reaction, but an honest reaction of the ‘nju’ crowd to realizing that he was indeed on that show.

When God appeared as ‘da feet’, to tell ‘em to go in quest of the grail, jules says that Clay played the scene more definitively as the ‘coward’ as opposed to his opening night when he may have used his own real sense of tentativeness as the inspiration for his delivery. (Jules is denying she said all that! Okay, stp is being her usual bossy, verbose self. Who the hell does she think she is? <g>)

Stpteach refuses to write jules’ recap on the difference jules observed in how Clay shat himself between last night and opening night. She’s off getting a bagel so we’ll just sneak it in. Jules thinks he was much more subtle on opening night. Stp thinks she’s crazy. Jules thinks he looked like he possibly really shat himself and was uncomfortable in his pants. (oh no she’s coming back with the bagel, wait she went to get more coffee) Anyway he’s really really cute. Only Clay can be cute crapping his pants.

The voice of sanity has returned, and stp has taken over the keyboard once again.

When the knights were climbing up and down the mountain during the Find Your Grail song, we thought Clay was particularly animated in his facial expressions and reactions to being askeered! It was great. Yeah. Really. He seemed so much more comfortable and aware of where he was in terms of blocking so that he wasn’t worried about where he was standing or watching his feet. DiscoClay was also outstanding! HorseridingStrobeClay was also wonderfully over the top, but so was every other character. It seemed to us that Christopher Seiber and Clay were having a great ol’ time connecting with one another and being silly. Jules also noted that Clay seemed to finally be dancing on his toes (that’s a good thing!) as opposed to dancing on those big ol’ sized 13 1/2 flat feet!)

The Camelot scene – Clay’s dancing was fantastic! He seems so much more relaxed and light on his feet. He was so much more secure in the blocking and caught the armor of the stripteasing Camelot showgirl – which was Lady of the Lake. He was chasing those hot mamas all around and he and Lancelot seemed to be having a good ol’ time chatting it up and getting into the scene. (Jules imagines – in her own fantasy world – that is exactly how Mr. Aiken would respond if he were to go to a strip joint….ahem.)

Next up was the French Guard scene. Stp admits to thinking it was a wee bit vulgar the first time she’d seen it, however, like Jules, this second time she was rolling in the aisles. It was funny. There was a little boy in the audience in front of us that Jules was able to see and she noticed a lot of the ‘sexual’ innuendo went over his head (thank goodness!) but when the guard spat out “I fart in your general direction” the kid was hysterical laughing (that was good, too!)

Just like the last time, the wooden rabbit scene just kills jules. She can’t stop talking about the wooden Rabeeet and of course she truly thinks we are all rabbits in side! (see what stp has to deal with.)

When the knights were “running away” jules was very happy to see Clay “running”. You know how jules longs to see clay run on a treadmill and eat a salad, well she got to see the running. (can you tell who’s introspective and who’s just plain silly?) He was also, honestly, funny in slap-sticky sort of way… you could see he was really getting into the ‘chase’. He was running across the stage away from everyone and jules really enjoyed this much more than the rest of the world she is sure.

Intermission: The couple next to stpteach was there as spamalot fans. They seemed to be really enjoying this show (they’d first seen it in Albany.) Definitely not ‘clay’ fans, but seemed to be enjoying his performance as much as anyone elses. StpteachSon was also enjoying, though at that point he was reserving judgment about Clay’s performance. (Still don’t really know what he thought about Clay as a performer, but it usually takes the son about two weeks to actually have a meaningful conversation with his mother if it doesn’t involve money.)

Intermission ends – And the show begins with “The Bright Side of Life”… STP loves Patsy. I mean, really, loves Patsy. She was, much to the disappointment of STPteachSon, singing along with him. Anywhhoooo, after that, the ‘brave’ Sir Robin appears with his entourage of musicians, and his eyes were “ all sparkly” (t/m jules). It was great watching his facial expressions and demeanor change as the minstrels sang about the various debilitating injuries he’d suffer as a knight in battle – Funny, funny man! He is so very much an actor, singer, entertainer! We lurves him.

Jules left stpteach for a moment, so let me interject a comment or two about The Lady of the Lake. We had the understudy last night – what a difference between her performance and Hannah’s. It really was a noticeable difference in that Emily Hsu was just not up to snuff in comparison (though stp wonders if she’d ever be up to snuff.) The most notable physical difference is that Emily is so tiny compared to Hannah, and it just takes away from the comedic incongruency of seeing the very, very tall and buxom Hannah play against the rather small and diminutive King Arthur. Next, and foremost, was Emily’s lack of power in her singing. She simply didn’t have the oomph and comedic flair Hannah has. Stp thinks that Emily seemed to be playing it almost ‘too straight’ and it wasn’t until the second act that Emily seemed to finally let her hair down a little and go more for the character as opposed to trying to sing pretty. She was better the second half, but we were both underwhelmed.

Back at the ranch… Sir Robin comes running out with the minstrels following him. He’s really screaming and flailing his arms screaming “stop it stop it” poor dear. The Knights of Ni scene – was a ‘tribute’ to Amy Winehouse – Jules got it, and the old fart, stpteach, did not. Oh well.

Next was Clay’s big scene – His reaction to the directive of putting on a show was, we think, “Oh goody!” (as opposed to “Oh, yes!” from opening night.) It was cute. V. V. cute. He was fabulous. He was right in the middle of the stage and our seats just allowed Jules to look and stare and watch his big ol’ sparkly self dance and sing and rule the stage! He was appropriately flamboyantly lovely. (Yeah. That’s good English…that is Jules! But Stp agrees wholeheartedly!)

The dancing was strong – the piano playing we think was now synched with the orchestra; it seemed shorter to stp, but it could also just have been that we were sitting in a different place and ‘heard’ the orchestra more clearly. When he did his shimmy into the dance, he was so self-assured; he was into it man! It was good. He was spot on with the dancing and seemed to truly be leading the others – definitely more confident in his moves than opening night (and he was pretty damned good then, too!) The bottle dance – Jules noted that he sticks the legs out and really seems to hold the position, which is not easy to do. The audience was very receptive and he received a nice ovation. It’s a great number and deserves it (no matter who would be doing it, though of course, Clay does it really well.)

So the guard scene comes up and Clay is more drunk than ever but not obvious. Opening night stp thought he was more dense than drunk. He was very funny and the timing was great. Chris Seiber who plays the father is really funny!!! That whole scene is hysterical and stp wants to take home Tom. He really is fantastic and one of our faves. It’s amazing how many roles he plays throughout the entire show.

Next, is the search for some Jews. All they had to do was look in Row H and they’d find two of us, but nooooooooooo, they didn’t look that far! Ahem.

So stp is in the bathroom, jules here… so then comes the part where they run into Tim and the fierce bunny. Bring out the holy hand grenade. Brother Maynard was really funny and skipping a bit, naughty in our sight yes you know this part already. Nothing new. So in thy mercy they blow the mountain up. It’s seat C101 and it was great to hear new interpretations for what C101 could mean. The lady was really cute and low key. She even waved at the audience when she went back to her seat.

So they found the grail. Geez I didn’t think it was possible.

So out comes Clay in the final scene. “Those freakin white pants hide nothing. I can’t see any brief or boxer short lines. The man needs a jock or something. Hold himself in place.” (tm stp). Jules wasn’t even looking :eyes to which stp says, “OH BULL!!!”

Stp loves the long note during this part. She loves to hear him sing damn it, even if it’s just snippets.

There were no standing O’s until the entire cast took a bow; then everyone stood and they began to sing the encore of “Always Look On the Bright Side of Life,” and damn if that boy did not get into that song! Chris Seiber and he were goofin’ around with one another, and then Clay was bopping around and singing the song. He was encouraging the clapping and looking directly out into the audience. Fun stuff! But, the really cute moment was when the curtain started coming down, Clay was doing his imitation of a Jack-in-the-Box and just happily jumping up and down in place. It was very noticeable because he was pretty center, and the only one doing it. It was really worth lots of laughs from jules and stp!

Okay – now for the real fun stuff – stp starts going out of the row and heads straight for the side exit, with jules and co. in tow. Guess where we end up? Right at the end of the gate – up front, close and personal. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

We’re on the right side of the stage door, so we expected Clay to start signing beginning with us, and he didn’t disappoint. But first, it was funny because as people (who were not cast members) came out, there was a contingency of PYTs at the other end who were screaming and eeeeeing for everyone! It was very cute and fun. Tom came out and unfortunately didn’t stop for autographs – stp plans on making it her mission to get his autograph next show! Lancelot came out, and bless Rick’s heart he stopped to sign autographs on the far side, but we all kept on calling him over and he’d said he be back. Then, guess who came out?

Be still our hearts – in all of his blond glory, makeup still on (his eyeliner lasted longer than ours ever could!) – Clay appeared (with Jerome). Apparently there was a bit of a surge behind the loverly jules, to which Mr. Aiken responded, “wait, wait, I have done this before.”

He then turned and started with the first person in front on the end – and that would be me! Stpteach! EEEEEEEE! I had him sign the spamalot ad from the NY Times, and he signed it right on his lil’ ol’ chest. <sigh> Okay, next in line was a woman who had his new tee-shirt that was on sale and he commented, “Oh, you came prepared!) He’d also signed the program my son held out to him; of course, he signed the back cover instead of the front, because STPSon, the comedian, thought it would be funny to give him that side to sign. Ahem. He didn’t get his sense of humor from his mother – that’s MrSTP all the way.

He signed others and signed Jules’ program, too. Then, someone next to her said “I’m from Florida,” another said, “I’m from Tennessee,” to which Clay replied, something to the effect, ‘I don’t know why people think that being from a certain place is going to make a difference….’ At that point he seemed thrown off, and as jules gaped with mouth wide open (and maybe a little drool dripping out the side o’ her mouth) he went to sign her program again. She said, unthinkingly, “You already did me, Clay.” <takes a moment t/m jude….down smutters!> He looked a little surprised; whether it was because of jules’ particular choice of words or because he was taken out of his routine, we’re not sure….we’d like to think it was the former. <grin>

He looked beautiful, but to stp he looked shorter…but not to jules. Maybe because jules is a foot shorter than stpteach (no, stpteach is not the jolly green giant, jules is simply a munchkin…<stp protects self from thrown objects>). Meanwhile, MrJules was taking photos and from the looks of it, did a mighty fine job. He’s a good man.

He signed his way down the line, and we didn’t move – no matter how many times StpSon wondered aloud if we weren’t done yet – the girls at the end continued to squeal. He tossed at least two programs into that group after signing; we’re not sure what that was all about, but there was much giggles and laughter coming from that end. Clay looked totally happy out there; he seemed to be enjoying himself. Perhaps the fact that Jerome remained close at his side added to that comfort, but he really seemed relaxed and comfortable. (We did miss the freckles – more pancake than we’d hoped. ;( )

Eventually, Rick made it back because we were calling him and even Clay helped by mimicking us and saying with a noticeable screechy tone.

Rick signed stpteach’s NY Times ad, and he seemed to notice that the ad was ‘different’ from the usual pieces offered for signature. (Clay did not. Oh well.)

Finally, Clay said his goodnights and we departed for the Julesmobile.

The entire ride home, for jules and stpteach, was, to say the least, frustratingly quiet. We both felt that we couldn’t really debrief and decompress properly because the gentlemen were seated in the back (Yeah, we took over the front…) and we didn’t want to skeer them more than we’d already.

So, here we sit, just about three hours later in Panera Bread, countless numbers of coffee, and great conversation with a couple who we convinced to go see Spamalot (and not even because of Clay!)

The end. (Now, cut those sighs of relief out…y’all wanted a recap. Go figure you’d get War & Peace!)

she added this in the CH main thread:

However, I did want to add one small tidbit with respect to a NJU opinion - my 22-year-old son's. Keep in mind, when I'd told StpSon about going to the show I intro'd the idea by telling him I had some 'good news and some bad news'. The bad news - he was going to see Clay.' When he'd stopped rolling his eyes, I told him, 'the good news is he was going to see him in Spamalot.' That made him smile. So, while he'd told me last night he really enjoyed the show and particularly the role of King Arthur, it wasn't until this morning that I'd finally asked him specifically about what he'd thought of Clay's performance. I thought it was interesting in that he said he didn't consider it 'stunt casting' as he thought Clay was good in the role. *His* problem was that he couldn't stop thinking of him as 'clay' in the role, as opposed to the other actors. He thinks it's probably because he knew of Clay as opposed to not knowing the other actors. It wasn't that he didn't play the role well, it's just that StpSon was too aware that it was Clay Aiken playing the role. I'd told him that I understood; I was all too aware of Clay on his opening night performance. I couldn't take my eyes off of him that night. Last night, however, I actually found myself having to almost remind myself to look specifically at Clay - I was too busy watching the entire play (and sitting 8th row center really allowed me to do that!!) All in all, a hella night and I can't wait to do it all over again in a couple of weeks. *g*

[bottlecap]

Some stagedoor pics from today's matinee show posted by butterflyshine at CV:

He's CUTE! Love the green hoodie.

[saltwaterdog]

I'm totally out of the loup on the stage door stuff. I just haven't had time to keep up with this thread or many recaps. Does Clay sign autographs for just those in front or do they go through in a line or what? Sorry if this has been answered a thousand times.

GoodNESS, those green hoody pictures are purdy!

[luckiest1]

Mmmmmmmmmmm, yummy pics. Love the green on him. Love the sideburns, love the long hair. 4 more weeks till I go to NYC!

ETA: Was anyone else completely charmed with AI Rewind tonight? That's the first time I've ever seen the Motown performance in context, and man, did he deliver. He must have been scared out of his mind, but like the judge's mentioned, he seemed so full of confidence.

Simon's tongue bath to Corey made me want to puke. Heh, but that's my usual reaction when it comes to Simon.

[Ansamcw]

I'm totally out of the loup on the stage door stuff. I just haven't had time to keep up with this thread or many recaps. Does Clay sign autographs for just those in front or do they go through in a line or what? Sorry if this has been answered a thousand times.

GoodNESS, those green hoody pictures are purdy!

from what I saw on the videos...there is a barricade that is a semi circle in front of the stage door..I guess people are just against the barricade and they simply sign the things they can reach. So not everyone can get an autograph.

[FearofH2O]

I'm totally out of the loup on the stage door stuff. I just haven't had time to keep up with this thread or many recaps. Does Clay sign autographs for just those in front or do they go through in a line or what? Sorry if this has been answered a thousand times.

GoodNESS, those green hoody pictures are purdy!

During the week the crowd is smaller than on the weekends so just about everyone gets something signed. After the show you just line up along the movable railing that they put up in the alley. It's about fifty feet long. If you hold your item up he will reach over the first row to get it and sign. It's those long arms.

[playbiller]

heh, I mised rewind, I missed a lot of everything tonight. I would start watching a movie and fll aslleep before the end.I have received autographs from Clay on Tuesday and wednesday, not any other night.

[ausdon]

'cindilu2' date='Feb 9 2008, 10:42 PM' post='62157'

Every day I read the boards I realize more and more that I don't really have a place on them any more. Not caring for random critiques (and sometimes outright slams) of Clay and saying so (here, not in 'hysterical' posts and emails to people I don't give a rats ass about) has somehow become a bad thing. If not bad, then held in some weird form of disdain. I feel like I'm in an alternate universe most of the time. It's okay to 'defend' the bloggers and 'journalists' et al, but not Clay. Well okay then. I give up.

Hey Cindilu I think you're at the right board here to voice your opinions and get either agreement or respectful disagreement which is what we all deserve and what makes it interesting to read and participate in. I find it a great escape from RL to hear opinions on something that is not life-or -death, or going to be the ruination of my children ,or some one else (even Clay).

Which is the mark of civilised, intelligent, right thinking women of immpeccable taste in entertainment who are probably very attractive also..............

[Couch Tomato]

sleep is good for you Play. Hope you're feeling better.

[saltwaterdog]

from what I saw on the videos...there is a barricade that is a semi circle in front of the stage door..I guess people are just against the barricade and they simply sign the things they can reach. So not everyone can get an autograph.

During the week the crowd is smaller than on the weekends so just about everyone gets something signed. After the show you just line up along the movable railing that they put up in the alley. It's about fifty feet long. If you hold your item up he will reach over the first row to get it and sign. It's those long arms.

Thank you so much!

[Claygasm]

I'm baaack!

Actually I have been back since 9:30pm, but I got on the phone with my lurker friend who I went to today's matinee with. I think she deserves a gold star for being a determined Clay fan today! See, this was her first Spamalot. She lives in Albany and we had it all planned out - taking trains that arrived close together, meeting at the "big board" in Penn station etc. Well, I am waiting for my train around 9:30 this morning when I hear Clay singing "Touch". Of course its my cell phone (when else would I hear Clay singing "Touch"?). Its my friend. Apparently there was a water main break somewhere and the trains were being delayed. At this point we figured she would just be late, but shortly after I got on my train, I got another call. Her train had been cancelled! There was another an hour later but they were saying that would be delayed too. Apparently they were having to reroute the trains and they would end up at Grand Central instead of Penn station - eta unknown.

Now we're trying to come up with alternatives to get her there. Luckily I had the tickets, but I hadn't counted on going by myself and she was soooo looking forward to this. Anyway, she lives not far from the Albany train station so she thought she would go back home and check into the Metro North line than runs from Poughkeepsie, which is a good hour and a half from her. She gets home only to discover the only one that would get her to NY in time leaves at 11:30. It is now 10:30. I jokingly tell her she could always drive. She is terrified at the very thought, but she Mapquests it - just to see how long it would take and how complicated it would be. It doesn't sound tooooooo awful, but neither of us know about where to park, so she tries calling the theater. All she gets is a busy signal. Finally she decides she really doesn't want to drive, especially not knowing about parking, so her only chance is to take that 11:00am Amtrak train and HOPE it get there sometime before intermission. I tell her I will leave her ticket at the box office and ask her to call me when she has an eta. We both keep our fingers crossed hoping that somehow she will still make it.

On a whim, I call another friend just to tell her the story. See, my lurker friend was amazingly calm and this other friend - well, she would be dead of a heart attack if this had happened to her, so I thought she would appreciate the story. When I tell her that one reason my friend didn't want to drive was not knowing where to park, she tells me there is parking right across Shubert Alley! I quickly said I would call her back, that I was calling my lurker friend to tell her - in case that would make a difference. So I call her. She is not yet at the train station. I tell her that driving is probably the only way she stands a chance of making it but of course she will have to go back to her apartment to print out the directions. Lo and behold, she had printed out the directions AND the reverse directions and brought them with her! She said at the time she wasn't even sure why because she had no intention of driving. But when I told her the parking was right there and it was her only chance of making the show, she drove right past the train station and headed on to NYC! Now you have to understand, to the uninitiated, NYC can be a scary place to drive. I know I did it once and have no desire to do it again! She was VERY nervous, but this was Clay!

I arrived at Penn station as scheduled and now had all this time to kill by myself. I called my friend to see where she was. She had passed a sign that said NYC was 58 miles away about 10 minutes before and it was about 12:20, so we felt she would probably make it. So I walked up to the theater and looked around to see if anyone I knew was there (I was looking for Karen Eh, but alas she wasn't there!). I then called muski but got her voice mail, so I left her a message - and then found that my cell phone battery was about gone! I knew my friend would be calling at some point, so I turned it off for awhile - missing muski's return call (sorry about that!). I also missed a call from my friend. She had just gone through the Lincoln Tunnel at it was only 1:24pm! She was going to make it! We hoped. I called her and told her exactly where to turn and what to look for and waited, looking for her car to turn on 44th Street. And I waited. And I looked. The crowd started filing into the theater. And no car. At 1:45 I called her with what was left of my battery. She wasn't far but the traffic was slow. Finally she reached the corner of 8th Ave. and 44th Street. All she had to do was make a right hand turn and she would be home free. But there were people blocking her way! Lots of people. I told her to mow them down, but she didn't seem to want to do that! Finally she turned. I see her car and wave and then glance at my watch. It 1:50! I point out the parking. She turns in. They make her open her trunk! Don't they understand she has a date with her boyfriend????? The line to get in is long so I yell at her that I will get in line. A couple of minutes later she joins me in line. We get into the theater at 1:56! She made it!

She conquered her fear of driving into NYC - or at least pushed it aside - to get to Clay. It was shear determination and grit! Yet just another example of nothing gets between a Clay fan and her man!

Oh yeah. The play. I just love this play! It is so silly, clever, funny. The entire cast seems to be having such a good time up there. And Clay? I watched him this time and kept thinking that he was soooooo CUTE!!!! To be honest, I didn't see any dramatic differences between today and opening night. He seemed a little more sure of his dancing, although the fierce concentration was still there for the bottle dance. He was making more expressive faces throughout, but I honestly did not think he had improved that much. Of course, I didn't think he needed to improve that much. I have to tell you, this is not a role that I think requires great acting ability. This ain't Shakespeare! But it does require good comic timing, a good sense of comedy and the ability to work as part of an ensemble. None of those things are a cake walk and I think he does them all very well. I am not convinced Clay could do a dramatic role well. Perhaps he could. I just haven't seen anything that tells me he is a good actor. I also haven't seen anything that tells me he's not. But as if I didn't already know, I have seen that when it comes to comedy, especially comedy of this type, he definitely is in his element. My friend and I both agreed that this role was made for him! Obviously Mike Nichols knew that from his interactions with Clay - and he was right. I am sure some will prefer DHP as Sir Robin. But his Sir Robin is different - as it should be - and if they do prefer him, then I think its just that - a preference. Just like some prefer Clay's hair blonde and then there are others who don't...

I don't think Clay will set Broadway on fire with this performance. I don't think anyone will be thinking Tony. But he really is good in this role. And he really works well with the rest of this very talented cast. I personally hope to see him on Broadway again because I think he has a real knack for live theater.

I love this show and I love Clay in it. You cannot help but leave this show with a smile on your face!

We did do the stage door. FAR fewer people than opening night. But we stopped to buy merchandise so we were about 3 deep back. He looked CUTE in his warm-up type pants and green hoodie (although I do not like the blonde hair! It blends in too much with his skin tone...). My friend shoved her arm with program in hand through and got his autograph. Mine will have to wait for another day. He kept chattering about how sloppy his signature has become. He seemed to be chatting the whole way up and down the line. At one point someone opened the stage door a bit and said something to Jerome and he said they would be right in. Clay finished and left and no one else came out, so I thought maybe they were having notes or something.

We went over to Juniors for a bite to eat before I left to walk back to Penn station and my friend left to find her way out of the city (which I think terrified her more than coming in!). But she got home safely (and before me!) and I feel confident in saying she would do it again in a heartbeat - if she had to!

It was a fun day. Cannot wait to do it again!

ETA1: I meant to comment on Emily Hsu who subbed as the Lady of the Lake. I really liked her. She does a slightly more subtle Lady, but I rather like it. Her voice is lovely, although not as strong as Hannah's, but there were things about her Lady I actually preferred over Hannah's Lady. I don't think the role suffers at all with her in it.

ETA2: Oooo! My next post will be my 3000th! Do I get a party or anything????

[Couch Tomato]

ETA2: Oooo! My next post will be my 3000th! Do I get a party or anything????

Yay for forging ahead ..both of you!! I'm glad you had fun CG. As for youir friend..I definitely understand. San Francisco isn't a place I drive. In fact before Ansa came here I've driven in SF all of 3 or 4 times and I've lived her almost my whole life. So yay for your friend for doing that drive. Anyway, you are a lucky duck getting to see Clay at various points along the way in this. I can not wait to see him in April.

As for your 3000th post...congratulations!! Do we have a mod in charge of parties heee.

[muskifest]

Yeay, CG! Great story! Say hi to your Albany buddy for me :F_05BL17blowkiss: I enjoyed reading your opinions about the differences between Clay's performance now from opening night. It really is individual perception, isn't it? I have no doubt he's becoming more and more comfortable with the role, so that in itself would create a different effect, I would think. I'm just happy that he's having so much fun.

And it was also interesting to read your take on the Lady of the Lake understudy. Most of what I've read really makes it sound as though she can't even begin to fill Hannah's shoes (never mind her bra ) and that the whole vibe is gone.

I'm sure she's different and I'd venture to say that it would be difficult to match Hannah's powerful voice, but it's good to hear that Emily brings some things of her own to the role. It's a hard job----understudy. In a way, anyone is an understudy to an actor who is your favorite in a certain role, you know? Die hard DHP fans might never be able to "accept" Clay or anyone else in the part of Sir Robin, no matter how good he or others might be...same with Time Curry fans and Sara Ramirez fans, etc.

Sorry I missed your call, though! But you KNOW I don't get cell phone reception inside my house!