ESS/NY/VT RECAP
Holy Crap.
I don't even know where to start. This weekend was absolutely amazing. It's overwhelming just thinking about it. It lived up to every expectation I ever had, and I just...I'm really sad it's over.
Okay, starting from the beginning:
I got to the airport at about 4 AM on Thursday morning, where I found out that my flight had been delayed by two hours. I was already extremely nervous because I hate flying and also to be traveling by myself for the first time, so I was bummed there would be even more time to just sit and anticipate instead of getting it over with. Luckily, a girl started talking to me, and we happened to be on the same flights. We basically hit it off right away. Her name is Angela, and she was just the sweetest. We ended up getting our seats changed on the flights so we could sit together, which I was SO grateful for, because she really helped me through the flights. I really feel like I must have good karma or something, because she was exactly what I needed. So thanks, Angela! :D Oh, I also found out that Angela loves gay boys, too, so we watched LuRe videos in the airport, of course. She thought they were very cute and was really interested in hearing about my trip to go see Eric.
Tunnel in the Detroit airport.
Angela!
So I finally got to Col's workplace in NYC and also met up with skippy9474 and Jenna. It was SO crazy and awesome to finally meet them all. To see them IRL after talking for at least five months. To hear Silke's cute German accent. To hug them! It was surreal. Jenna, Silke, and I went out into the city while we waited for Col to get off work. We went to Rockefeller Center where Silke "climbed the rock".
Silke wanted to go to Abercrombie because they don't have those in Germany. It was crazy. Three levels and all their employees look like models. There was a guy standing at the front, with no shirt on, taking pictures with the customers. So, of course we had to get a picture with him! I don't have the picture right now, hopefully I'll get it from Silke soon so I can post it.
Jenna and Silke!
Eventually we met up with Colleen. We went out to this nice Italian restaurant that was literally right around the corner from Times Square. Afterward we met up with my friend Joe from High school who now lives in NYC.
Col, Jenna, Silke.
Me and Joe.
Up on the red stairs. :) I really wanted to go on them while I was there.
Day 2:
We left Col's and took the train to Connecticut where we met up with meooowww and bijou16. Then we drove about 6 hours to North Hero, Vermont. I FINALLY got to meet my girl hiddenvixen22 when I got there! We made sure that we were roomies a couple months ago. She's so shy and quiet in person, which is something I never would have expected, but you just want to squish her! Anyways, there wasn't much time between when we arrived, and when the play started, so we were all rushing around to get ready.
Eventually it was THAT TIME! If you can believe this, I FORGOT MY TICKETS FOR THE PLAY AT HOME IN INDIANA. *facepalm* Luckily, it wasn't a big problem and they let me in anyway. :)
SO.
We're sitting on the bleachers waiting for the play to start and all of a sudden, across the field, we all turn and see ERIC SHEFFER STEVENS walking towards the tent that was set up for the actors. And OMG you guys, Silke and I were even fangirling the way he walks. He swings his arms real wide and he just looks...confident. Even though I'm sure he was nervous about us all being there. But yeah, we were dying a little and we only saw him for like 12 seconds from really far away. (Silke actually took a video of him walking across the park the next day. Heeee.)
The play started and I was really floored by Eric. Like, I knew he was a good actor, of course. But he really blew me away with his comedic timing. As sexyscholar pointed out in her recap, Eric is also a very physical actor. The best part of the play was a scene where he was sneaking around, trying to listen in on a conversation.
This is the stage. Imagine Eric up at the top of the platform on the left, taking a rope that was tied to one of those trees, and trying to swing across to the other platform. He missed (on purpose) and his body just swung around for a while until he hopped down. Later, on the other platform, he hung his head over the side, grabbed onto the rafters, and did a flip onto the ground.
*thud*
We were all laughing so much at this part that you could barely even hear what the other actors were saying. He was just THAT good! The whole play was just SO, SO good. Eric was perfect for the role. Jenny was great. The other actors were fab. *gush gush gush*
Next came the meet and greet at a bar called McKee's.
Not a great picture, but you can see the porch that was actually really cool to hang out on.
When we first got there, everyone was really nervous to go in. You had to walk up this ramp and Jenny Sheffer Stevens was standing right there, so we were all a little intimidated. But I was like "fuck it" and Silke and I just hurried inside. We were basically the first ones in and Eric was standing talking to some of his costars. So we went to the bar to get a drink. After a few minutes Eric saw Silke. He had met her at Soapfest, and knew she was coming, so when he saw her he was like, "Oh my gosh! How are you? Where's your husband?" and gave her a hug. Becky and I were just standing there smiling like loons while they talked. She asked him about the World Cup. He said he watched every game, that he would get up at 6 in the morning and turn it on and watch it with his kids. They don't have cable so he said they had to watch it with Spanish announcers, but the kids thought it was really cool, and they would run around the house screaming "GOOOOOOOOOAL!!". Yes, he really said it like that, and he raised his hands in the air when he did.
Then he turned and looked me right in the eyes (the guy is amazing with eye contact). He didn't say anything, just looked at me, so I was like, "Uhhh...hi, I'm Megan!" and shook his hand. He asked where I was from and I said Indiana. Silke told him I was the girl that she had him sign a picture for at Soapfest. He seemed to remember, and was like "Oh yeah! That's cool." Then he shook Becky's hand and asked where she was from as well. After that he said he was going to go get some pizza. I don't think he actually made it to the table to get food for like another half an hour because he kept stopping to talk to people.
We went out on the porch for a while because I was so nervous, my heart had been pounding the whole time I talked to him. When I got out there, one of the other actors, Collin, was outside smoking. I read in the playbill that he had also been on As The World Turns, so I asked him about it. He said that he had a role in the Parker/Liberty storyline. She was going out for some internship, and he was the guy who wanted to hire her. He told us a funny story about shooting on location, how they had made him change in a Starbucks, and once they started shooting, people came out and gave them shit for not having a permit to shoot there. He said that the guy who plays Parker (Mick Hazen) was a dick in real life. I thought that was pretty funny. He also said that he had tried out for the role of Zac (one of the Z Twins), but that they hired him for the other part instead. We had about a twenty minute conversation about what he "missed out on" with the Z Twin storyline. AKA - not much. He did say that in the script they gave him for Zac, it had him hitting on Noah, so he knew he would play a gay character (or so he thought).
Me and Collin.
Later on I talked to another one of the actors named Parrish. This guy was so awesome. He overheard me say that I was from Indiana and his jaw dropped. I was like "Dude, that's nothing, my friend Silke is from Germany!" He thought it was so cool that we had all come from so far away just to see Eric. Then he said, "I'm gay in real life, so it's great you guys are supporting his character! I told Eric that his character is a total power bottom. He insists he's a top, though." I started laughing so hard and was like, "Are you serious?!" He said yeah, and I told him that I thought Reid was versatile, though more often a top because of his aggressive personality. He said, "Yeah, exactly, a power bottom. Trust me, I've dated some." HAHAHAHAH. It was such a random, hilarious conversation. Parrish also said that he had been in another play with Eric about 6 years ago, and that he had a huge crush on him when they worked together. I was like "OMG HE'S SO HOT, RIGHT?!". He agreed. Haha.
Later I introduced him to Silke and then he overheard us talking about how we hadn't gotten pictures with Eric yet. He was like, "Well, come on then, I'll take you to get some!" I said no at first, because I didn't want to interrupt, but he pushed me over there. When we got to Eric he was already taking pictures, so I told Parrish that we should take one together. I was looking for someone to take the picture and Eric was like, "Yeah, take a picture with Parrish!" I said, "Well duh, I came to see him, obviously." I gave Eric my camera and the first picture he took, Parrish closed his eyes. Eric said, "You dumbass, you closed your eyes!" Then Parrish said, "You drunk ass, you moved the camera!" I loved it.
Me and Parrish.
Then Parrish took a picture of Eric and I...
AKJFKLDJKDKDJFSKJDKL OMG YOU GUYS! HE'S SO FLIPPIN HOT IN PERSON AND SOOO NICE AND HE WAS TOUCHING ME, OKAY??! *ded*
Silke and I also took pictures with Jenny. She was very sweet. She was talking to Silke about how she thought it was so cool her husband had bought her tickets to Soapfest and that Eric would never do that for her.
Silke and I went back over to the bar where Eric was sitting after this. He was signing things for people, so we were going to wait to take a picture with him. It was taking a long time, so we just sat down beside him. I had set my drink down in front of him when we took the first picture, so I reached in front of him to grab it and said, "That's my drink." and he said, "Well, I wasn't drinking it!" I so wish I had said something about him being notorious for drinking other peoples drinks, but my mind was kind of mush.
Silke took pictures of me sitting by him. I felt like a creeper. LOL. (But oh well, more pictures of Eric = fine by me)
We finally had a chance to take a picture with him together after a while.
After this picture was taken, Eric pointed at the tattoo on my chest and said, "what's that?" I told him it was my heartbeat. Then I also showed him the one on my wrist of the Morten's Salt Girl. He was like, "Oh my god, Morten's right?" I said yeah. He thought they were cool, which made me all giddy. I asked Eric if he had plans to do any interviews after the show was over. He said yes, that he had a few lined up, one of them being Michael Fairman. I said that was great, because MF is a great interviewer. He said, "Yeah, people have said they want to know what I think about the ending." Well, yeah, duh Eric! Haha. Then I told him that a lot of us were surprised with how easy he got off with Nelson Branco. He asked why, and I said, "Because he's notorious for asking inappropriate questions." He was like, "Ohhh, he did." I was confused and said I hadn't noticed any. Eric said that he did ask him questions like that, but he just didn't answer them. I said that was cool, because a lot of people just try to dance around the question without giving a real answer. He said, "If he asked me something like that, I would just say 'yeah, I don't really have anything to say about that' but he was actually really cool. We had a good time hanging out together."
He had to go off after that to take more pictures and stuff. The only other time I talked to him that night was when I said goodbye and he GAVE ME A HUG!
Day 3:
We went to see the play again the next day. It was even better the second time. Eric and the rest of the cast were completely on their game. We had heard there might be a meet and greet after the show, but the person who ran the event said no because there wasn't enough light. Silke was really bummed because she came so far and really wanted to say goodbye. So after the show, he was helping to clean up, and even though we weren't really supposed to, I grabbed her hand and drug her over to him. He smiled really big and hugged me first. (FYI, whenever he hugs you, when he pulls back, he looks you right in the eyes for a few seconds. And then...you fucking melt.) He hugged Silke and Becky, and asked us all when we were leaving. We said the next day, and he said he hoped we had safe trips back. We flailed and freaked out more the second day after talking to him for some reason.
He was really just everything that you would expect him to be. He was tired and sick, but he took the time to talk to every person and he was completely gracious. He joked with all of us and was personable. He gives you real, genuine hugs and really pays attention to you when you talk. I just...if I didn't fangirl him before, I sure as hell would now!
Random VT pics:
MONA THE SUPER-MOD!!!
There is literally nothing in Vermont.
Day 4&5:
The rest of the trip was spent in NYC. We went out to eat at John's Pizzeria when we got back Sunday night, and Monday was spent in Central Park.
I was SO sad to leave. Especially having to leave Silke, Becky, and Colleen. Those girls made my weekend everything I could have ever hoped for. I miss them like mad.
SO.....
Who's hoping Eric goes to Soapfest next year?????
*raises hand*
:D
P.S. Huge props to sexyscholar for helping me out with the coding on this thing. I'm still kind of an lj n00b, so thanks, Mona!
P.P.S. Make sure you donate in support of Doctors Without Borders in honor of Eric! http://www.firstgiving.com/ericshefferstevens