MEETING JOHN!
(by Avril Bowles from England)

....Sun 18 June 2000 Washington DC.....

The night a dream came true.... We felt like film stars ourselves as our taxi drew up outside the impressive John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington DC on Sunday 18 June 2000 and a uniformed attendant opened the door and helped Melissa and I out on to a red carpet!!! The play was absolutely great...very witty, hilariously funny and yet, in keeping with today's tendency to make audiences scream with laughter and then wonder if they really should be, there were moments of discomfort and poignancy. I've always enjoyed Neil Simon's work and he didn't disappoint with his latest offering (which got great reviews in D.C.). We had seats in the front row towards the right hand side, and were closer to the stage than I would have believed possible! I knew John was the first to appear, and as we waited for the curtain to rise I felt the excitement mounting. It didn't seem possible that I was really going to see him in the flesh! Finally the curtain lifted and there he was!

He had his back to the audience as his character 'Claude Pichon' studied a painting on the wall, but he quickly turned around, resplendent in his tux, and the audience applauded enthusiastically. It was so exciting - this wasn't a movie or a TV show - he was actually there, live, right in front of me!! Honestly, when he walked across the stage to our side, he was so close I could have reached out and touched his black, zipped boots. Realistically, I knew there were five other actors on stage, but although they were all very good, I really only had eyes for John. He truly is a wonderful actor; every look, every gesture, every word is so expertly performed. Towards the end of the play, he is seated at the front of the stage facing the audience and Henry Winkler (who is excellent and with whom John shares the best lines in the play) comes out with a six word question to John, which is absolutely hilarious, but equally funny is John's reaction; there is no verbal response at all, but the look on his face as he slowly turns to face Henry, speaks more eloquently than dialogue ever could...if there had been dialogue it would have been "are you completely nuts?!" and the audience roared with laughter in the middle of what was actually a slightly uncomfortable scene, in which "confessions" are being made by all 6 characters. All too soon (because I could have sat watching John all night) it was over and the actors lined up to take their bows to a standing ovation - something I haven't seen in England for many years and I do go to the theatre quite often. Fate decreed that John was right in front of us on the far right hand side of the stage! And then something happened which has never, ever happened to me before, even though we usually sit in the front row...John looked right at me and gave me the sweetest smile. Truly, as we stood en masse applauding wildly, everyone was beaming; actors and audience alike, and suddenly John looked directly at me and gave me that wonderful smile that has melted so many hearts on screen. I couldn't believe it...he made direct eye contact with me, smiling and, I think, inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement of the applause. Then he clowned, typically, hugging and winding his leg around the actress who played his ex-wife, pretending to ravish her. Then the curtain came down and Dave, my husband, turned to me and said, "he smiled at you." I said, "he really did, didn't he?!" so I knew I hadn't imagined it. He had smiled at Dave too, which I thought was really nice. I bent to retrieve my programme which I'd dropped in my excitement, and promptly dropped it again. Eventually I had everything I came with and we made our way out of the auditorium (me grinning like an idiot). Melissa and I decided we really had to go around to the stage door and give it our best shot or we'd always regret it. The opportunity of seeing John in person ever again is unlikely to recur for me, let's be honest! It usually helps if you at least live in the same country ;-) There was a little group of women there when we arrived; of varying ages and apparently fans of "The Fonz" hoping to see Henry Winkler. They didn't, however, have much staying power because when they were told by someone inside that they might have to wait up to 30 minutes for the cast to come out, they left! I had very little hope of seeing John come through that door because I'd heard that he usually gets away very quickly from live theatre, but we decided we weren't going anywhere for a while. I'd slipped inside when the door opened and asked about the possibility of meeting John, trying to play on the security guy's sympathy by whining that I'd come all the way from England. He wasn't having any of it though; just told me the cast would all leave by that door, so out I went again, tail between my legs. 3 young 'Three's Company' fans arrived, eager to meet John; they were dressed in shorts and didn't look as if they'd been in the audience, but had come downtown anyway in the hope they might get lucky. After about 15 minutes the cast began to drift out. Melissa and Dave called out 'well done' to some of them and they responded with a 'thank you'. After a few more minutes someone looked out and I'm almost certain the person was checking to see how many people were waiting. I suspect if all the other "Fonz" fans had waited, Henry and John may have taken a different route out. Shortly after, the door opened again and Henry Winkler appeared. He looked over at us and Dave called out, "great play, Henry, we really enjoyed it" and to my surprise he came over and shook Dave's hand, thanking him and saying it was a pleasure to meet him! He turned to Melissa and I and said the same thing and he was really sweet and charming. Dave took a photo of him with Melissa and then suggested I have one too. He's really quite short and I apologised for being much taller than him, but he said he was enjoying it! It was lovely talking to Henry but I was keeping a wary eye on that stage door, and suddenly it happened; the door opened and John came out! The immaculate tuxedo, brilliant white shirt and bow tie had been replaced with black jeans and a black shirt over a dark blue t-shirt and he was wearing a dark coloured baseball cap and carrying a bag. It was now or never. I had to act quickly or the moment would be lost forever. (I'd already written to him at the theatre and hoped he might remember my name if he'd received the letter). I shot over to him and said: "John, I'm Avril...I wrote to you...I've come over from England to see the play." I almost lost my drift though when, before I'd got out my little speech, he smiled sweetly and said: "Hello...I saw you in the audience ." I was completely stunned! Then he evidently made the connection either with my name and the website or possibly the letter, I'm not sure which, but he suddenly dropped his bag on the floor, took both my hands in his, and said: "Oh my God it's good to meet you," and he pulled me into a huge, l-o-n-g hug, paid me a lovely and totally unexpected compliment, to which I managed to murmur "thank you" against his shoulder and said how wonderful it was to meet him. As he released me, Dave was ready with the camera and John whipped off his cap and leaned very close to me (as you'll see from the photo, we're cheek to cheek :-) for a great photo. Henry appeared and he said, "oh, you know her then?!" To this, John apparently said something like "go away, she's mine", which I can't remember hearing myself, but Dave told me! Then Henry pointed to Dave and said, "this is her husband, you know!" and John made some jokey remark about not worrying about husbands or something like that. Then it was Melissa's turn. She asked him if he knew that the current re-runs in the US of "Hearts Afire" the episodes often did not have the original music in them and John replied that he had watched the Friday morning episode and had noticed that himself. He was as upset as Melissa about it and confirmed her suspicions that it was all to do with how much the TV network paid for the series and whether they had paid for the right to broadcast the music. It seems in most cases the answer was no, they hadn't. She also told him about her detailed and comprehensive "Hearts Afire" episode guide and he was interested to hear about that. I added that it could be accessed from my website and he joked that he really must get a computer :-) Henry came over and asked what they were talking about. John said: "Nothing you'd watch..."Hearts Afire". And Henry, quick as ever replied, "who was in that then?" and we all laughed. Their friendship is obvious and it was lovely to hear this kind of teasing between them. Henry had brought over some things for John to sign and it was fun seeing him write that signature I know so well now (there were a couple of ladies standing around who seemed to just want to collect celebrity autographs). When he'd finished signing, John turned to the 3 "Three's Company" fans and had a chat with them. I heard them saying they loved him as 'Jack Tripper' and that they'd always wanted to meet him. John was very gracious, thanking them and signing autographs for them. Then he turned to Dave, who said how much we had enjoyed the play and John thanked him very much and shook his hand. He asked us how long we were in Washington and we told him we were moving on to Williamsburg on Tuesday; John said we would love Williamsburg (and we did). Then, unbelievably, John returned his attention to me. He hugged me again, saying: "I'm so happy to meet you at last," and I replied, "it's fantastic to meet you...thank you so much." Then he said, "my daughter wrote you, didn't she?" So he definitely did remember the wonderfully spontaneous and friendly message he'd dictated to his daughter Carly who had found my website one day in April 1999. He went on to tell us that Carly had just been accepted at Vassar because she had done so well in her exams; I think one subject he mentioned was French Literature but I can't be certain. We said he must be so proud of her and he agreed he was, mentioning his other kids, the two boys, actor Jason, Tyler and of course his little daughter Stella who was 2 in September 2000. I think he noticed Henry waiting for him by a taxi so he started to say goodbye and I asked if I could just take one more photo. Of course he obliged, whipping off his cap again and adopting a saluting pose. Do you know it's strange, but I really had no idea he was doing that until I got the photo back! I had thought it was a regular, smiling shot! Weird how one's memory can have such odd gaps in an exciting, thrilling few moments in time :-) Then he really did say goodbye, thanking us and of course we were thanking him for his time and trouble and then he was gone. He and Henry roared off into the night to who knows where? We speculated on them going to dinner together somewhere and wondering if they would talk about us (however briefly!!). We made our way to 'Foggy Bottom' Metro station.

Nothing would be worse than meeting your favourite actor/celeb and finding they are not as nice as you'd expected, but the way John treated us simply made Melissa and I admire and respect him even more; he was adorable; charming, friendly, attentive and so open. There wasn't the slightest trace of vanity or ego, or as if he was doing us a favour. He seemed genuinely delighted to meet us, and he gave Melissa and I a memory to cherish for the rest of our lives. Dave was impressed too, I know. He's never met anyone famous before, and however much he plays it down, I think he was pleased that his first encounter with two TV/movie stars as well-known as John and Henry, was such a pleasant one.

I hope I've managed to bring you a little of the magic of that night.

THE END