vanillalime (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
vanillalime) wrote2019-08-01 09:53 pm
vanillalime) wrote2019-08-01 09:53 pm
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LeeFest 2019, part 3: The Final Chapter
To re-fresh your memories, this a continuation of my Long Lost adventures with Lee -- see HERE for Part 2.
(The best thing about taking another month to finish this recap is re-living the night over and over again. :D)
LeeFest 2019 (continued)
Lee told a story about Yuko telling him that he had to "clean up his mouth" (stop swearing) when they were getting ready to have kids, and he was very diligent about it. Then when Lily was young, they were getting ready to go somewhere and Yuko realized that she'd forgotten something and said "Shit," which Lily promptly repeated. He thought that was funny -- that Yuko had broken the "no swearing" rule before he did. Then he mentioned how Lily had a friend who already said the word "dick," and she had also come home from school saying someone had said "fuck" and both Lee and Yuko were just devastated by that (he even said it made him cry). Then he laughed and said, "Of course, I’ve been saying that word since I was five."
Sue talked a little bit about the internship she had done in a prison while she was earning her degree in criminal justice, and Lee seemed really interested in that. I remember he asked her if any of the prison guards were corrupt like they’d been on Oz, and she confirmed how that was unfortunately true to life.
Somehow we got on the topic of sexual harassment, and I told Lee that I loved the story he once told about having to sign a sexual harassment disclaimer (or something like that) while he was making Oz, and how he had complained that "doing this show is nothing BUT sexual harassment." (I believe this was from one of the DVD commentaries he recorded.)
At some point, it came out that Sue and I were both there from Michigan, and Lee asked us if we had come to NYC together. We told him, no, that we had just met earlier that evening, although we’d "known" each other online for years. Then he asked about the hand-map of Michigan thing, and we laughed and talked about how people in Michigan really do use their hand as a map of the state, and Sue and I demonstrated this by showing him exactly where we live by holding up our hands and pointing to our palms:
Lee informed us that he has a cousin in Michigan "who lives in Grand… " and I thought for sure he was going to say "… Rapids," because it’s the second largest city in the state, but instead he said "… Ledge," and I about fell out of my chair, because Grand Ledge this small town not far from us. And Sue exclaimed, "That’s only 15 minutes from my house!" And my husband said, "We (our local high school) play them in hockey!"
I successfully resisted the urge to tell Lee that he could come stay with us if he’s ever in Michigan to visit his cousin. :D (Spoiler Alert: resisting urges is a common theme of the night. LOL)
Jessica told Lee she had seen him perform previously in the "Godfather IV" and "Screenplay by Stalin" stage readings, and I asked if there were any plans for future performances of Screenplay by Stalin. Unfortunately, he said no, that Tom was too busy working on his new show "City on a Hill." (Although, I just discovered yesterday that there is now going to be another reading of the play next week, although the cast has not yet been announced.) Lee also told us that he’s guest-starring on 3 episodes of City on a Hill — all of which have now aired.
I asked him if he was going to be in Season 2 of "The Purge," because his character had sort of had an ambiguous ending at the end of Season 1, but he said no, he wasn’t. He said he had taken that role as a favor to the showrunner, a guy he was friends with, but who subsequently left the show, although apparently he has been brought back again. Anne told him that while she watched him in "The Purge," she had to watch the show "like this" and she covered her eyes with her hands and looked through her fingers. We talked for a little bit about his many horror credits, and I said the best horror scene he’s done was the one when he got his head shredded in "No One Lives," and he said, "That’s the BEST?" And I replied, "Well, by best, I mean worst." LOL Lee said he thought Texas Chainsaw Massacre ranked up there, too.
Now, I had a mental laundry list of probably about 20 different questions that I wanted to ask him that night about his career and things he’s done, but obviously I knew I needed to be selective and pick and choose. And there was one burning topic in particular that I wanted him to address if nothing else: the infamous Oz Season 7 rumor that I uncovered a couple of years ago. I was sort of nervous about it, because the whole idea of the thing was just so incredible, but I REALLY WANTED TO KNOW IF IT WAS TRUE, and I think it was about this point in our conversation when I felt comfortable enough to go for broke…
So, I indicated to him that I was there representing the interests of the Oz fandom (it’s all for the peeps, see?) and told him that there was this really bizarre rumor about the show that I was hoping he could confirm or deny. And he got all excited, like, "Ooh, what could it be?" and then everyone else at the table got all excited, too, because I hadn’t mentioned to anyone ahead of time what I was going to ask him.
So suddenly, there was all this anticipation, and then Lee leaned toward me, putting his elbows on the table with his chin in hands, and he stared directly at me, looking something like this:
And I looked into those blue eyes and saw that smile, and suddenly I was overwhelmed by the whole LEE-ness of the moment, and… I completely lost it. My mind turned into a big black hole of Nothing. Seriously, you could have set my chair on fire, and I don’t think I’d have had any reaction. Mentally, I was just gone.
Then Lee sat up straight again and leaned back and the spell was sort of broken, but at this point I desperately wanted to say, "You know what? Just forget about it," because I didn’t think there was any chance that I’d be able to form a complete coherent sentence, let alone go into all the details of the rumor. But unfortunately, I’d already dug myself into a hole and everyone was looking at me, expecting something, so I knew I had to spit it out.
So, trying to do my best, I started up. "Was there ever a Season 7 of Oz that was filmed but never shown? One that Tom Fontana wasn’t involved with, but was produced instead by Method Man and Redman?" Lee didn't really give me any kind of immediate reaction, so then I tried to plow into the details, and of course, the more details I included, the more ridiculous the whole thing sounded. And I’m very much aware of it! So I kept trying to emphasize that I KNEW how ridiculous the whole thing sounded, before proceeding to give yet more details. (Showtime! Pay-per-view! Legal dispute! Bootleg copies on DVD!) And Lee just sat there, staring at me with his amazing Lee eyes as I prattled on and on.
So, finally, I get the gist of the story out there, and Lee repeats back to me, "A Season 7 of Oz produced by Method Man and Redman… ?" and he smiles. He smiled! And I thought, "Okay, either I have just proven myself to be The Bestest Oz Fan in the entire world by unearthing this Great Hidden Secret, or I have just made a gigantic fool of myself." And, as it turned out… it was the latter. Because Lee shook his head and said, "Yeah, none of that is true."
And I said, "Nooooo!" and crawled under the table. Or maybe I just buried my face in my hands. I don’t know. I’ve sort of blocked that part out.
And Lee began laughing, and I became very aware of the fact that he must think I’m crazy-pants (best case) or downright stupid (worst case) to have believed any of this rumor. So I tried to defend myself. "Why would someone make something like that up? If they were going to make something up, why not make it believable? Because the reason I kind of believed it, was because it was so unbelievable!"
I mentioned that the rumor specifically said that the reason why Tom didn’t kill off Beecher, O’Reily, and Alvarez at the end of the show was so that the characters would be available to use in subsequent episodes. And Lee said, "No, Tom didn’t kill us because he loved us." (Whether he meant the actors or the characters wasn’t clear — probably a combination of both.)
I figured at this point, I couldn’t make things worse. So then I explained how there was even more to the rumor: that supposedly there were several hours of additional footage shot after the ends of Seasons 2 and 4 that had also never been shown. I said that I remembered in particular that there was supposed to be a Murphy nude scene. And Lee looked confused and said, "Who?" And I clarified, "Robert Clohessy." And Lee shook is head emphatically and said, "No. He would never have done that."
Another dream, crushed.
Lee did perk up a bit, though, and said something like, "Well, actually there were 7 seasons," and my heart skipped a beat. Then he added, "because we filmed twice as many episodes for Season 4." And I was like, "I know that! That's not what I’m talking about." And then I decided to not talk about anything at all for a while.
Anyway, bottom line: my alleged big fandom discovery turned out to be a big fat nothing. :( (Ah, but I’ll always have Starwater.)
Other parts of the evening have since blurred together, but here are some additional random memories I have:
After we’d been there for about an hour, Lee motioned to the waiter, presumably to ask for the check, and I thought, "Wow, I can’t believe he’s spent all this time with us. This has been so amazing." Then when the waiter came to the table, Lee asked him instead for another round of drinks. And I got super excited, because I realized that he was going to stay there with us for at least the amount of time it would take to have another drink.
At some point, there was talk about how a previously planned LeeFest (at the Williamstown Theatre Festival) had to be cancelled because he’d gotten caught up in filming something, and he thought it was "The Purge." I then tried to correct him, telling him he’d been filming "Gone" instead (trust me, I remember it all very clearly). And Lee acted all confused. "What?" So I explained the timing of everything and how it had to be "Gone" that he’d been filming, and he just shook his head, saying "What?" again. So then I tried explaining slower and LOUDER, when Anne caught my eye, laughing, and said, "He’s giving you a hard time." Then Lee started laughing.
I’m certainly glad that Anne understands how Lee thinks, because talking to him can be confusing sometimes.
We talked about his children again, and he noted what a handful Kai can be compared to Lily. I told him that will all change someday, that having boys is easier when they get older. Then I motioned toward my husband and told Lee that we have three. "Three boys?" he asked. And I nodded and was like, "Yeahhhh." LOL Then he asked how old they were, and I told him, and then I told him how my youngest went through a big "Wayne’s World" phase a couple of years ago where he would watch that movie practically every week, and that I’d usually watch it with him because of Lee. Then my husband told Lee how our son still wears his official Wayne’s World hat all the time, and he also pointed out that the movie does a really good job of standing the test of time. Lee agreed and said, "Better than the second one." The he said that he and Lily had watched the movie together not too long ago. It was one of the few things he's done that was appropriate to show her so she could see what he did for a living.
I started feeling comfortable with talking again, so I brought up that there was another story I wanted ask him about, and everyone got excited because they thought it was going to be another crazy rumor. But then I clarified and said it wasn’t really a rumor, it was something Rita Moreno had actually said in an interview: how Tom Fontana had originally wanted the riot in Season 1 of Oz to begin with Lee in drag singing something from "West Side Story," but then he couldn’t get the rights to the song. (Thankfully, Jessica backed me up on this, saying she remembered that interview, too.) We talked about Tom putting him in drag so much, with Lee noting that he had already been in drag on Oz twice at that point. Lee said the song most likely was "A Boy Like That," and then he began to quietly talk-sing the song ("A boy like that who'd kill your brother // Forget that boy and find another"). I GOT LEE TO SING. Kind of. I told him he should do more roles that involved him singing, but he said something about knowing his limitations (which is him being totally modest because he is a great singer).
Eventually, the night drew to a close, and Lee said he needed to get going. He left our table to get the bill from the waiter, leaving his phone there on our table, turned upside down:
(photo credit to Sue)
Anne jokingly picked it up, saying we should see what was on it, and turned it over, only to discover that he had left it unlocked and on a screen showing his text messages. She quickly turned it back over, but when he came back we joked about how trusting he was to leave his phone with us like that.
Then it was picture time: he sat back down next to Anne and we took pictures of the two of them. Then we gathered for a group photo, which my husband took, and I was so thrilled to get this picture, because my one regret from the PaleyFest event was not getting a group photo of all the peeps who were there:
Then we all stood up, and I brazenly asked for a picture of just the two of us. He raised his eyebrow and whispered suggestively, "In front of your husband?" and OMG I nearly went comatose all over again.
As I moved to stand next to him, someone actually noticed how the color of our shirts matched, and I laughed and said, "We planned this!" Which is funny (to me), because I kind of did. For some reason, Lee decided to bend down so that we’d be at the same height, and my husband took a couple of close-up pictures:
... before stepping further back to take a couple more…
… and Lee groaned under his breath, "My thighs!" And then LEE'S THIGHS were all I could think about, and I got really flushtered, and I think that's when Anne snapped this picture of the two of us from the side, which ended up being my favorite photo of the night:
Then I took a couple of photos of Lee with just Sue, and then with just Jessica. When we were done, I pointed out my commemorative PaleyFest phone case to Lee, and he simply said, "Yeah, I saw," leaving out but heavily implying the "you weirdo" part. I quickly decided not to tell him about the PaleyFest coffee mug I’d also had made. (Not a joke.)
After Lee had gathered up his backpack and grabbed his bicycle seat, I noticed that he had forgotten the LeeFest card I'd given him, which was sitting on the table, covered up by a napkin. I wanted to point it out, but I didn’t want to make him feel bad about forgetting it, so I casually asked if he wanted an envelope for it. He made a face like "Oops!" and said "Yeah," and then we both reached for the card at the same time, and that’s when I knocked over Sue’s glass of leftover melting ice cubes onto the table, spilling water everywhere OMG.
Because obviously I hadn’t embarrassed myself enough that night. *facepalm*
BUT, with the speed of a gazelle, Lee picked the card up from the table and held it out away from me. I said I could dry it with a napkin, but he said, no, it was fine. I said, "See, that’s why I brought the envelopes, so they’d be protected!" And he replied, "You were protecting them from yourself!" And I was like, "I know!"
So, I handed him the envelope, and he put the card inside and placed it in his back pocket. And I thought about pointing out that the card would probably get bent back there, and that maybe he should put it in his backpack instead, but then I didn’t want him to think that I was being anal about it (which I was) or that I was checking out his ass (which I was), so I kept my mouth shut.
Lee then gave each of us a nice hug good-bye (my husband even got the combo handshake/bro-hug), and while I was hugging him back, I managed to say, "Thank you. So much. For everything."
Everyone began heading toward the door, and I paused to gather my own stuff. Then I made the last-second decision to grab a paper beverage napkin from our table to keep as a souvenir. I quickly put it in my purse, and when I caught back up with the others, I double-checked to make sure I had put it in a place where it wouldn't get crushed. When Anne saw what I doing, I quietly mentioned to her what I'd done, and she nodded her head and laughed. I knew she’d understand.
As it turned out, Lee had left to go to the bathroom, and Jessica had offered to hold his bicycle seat for him while he was gone. So she's standing there, holding onto the metal shaft of the seat, and it looked really funny, like she was the Statue of Liberty or something. I think we were all riding a bit of a Lee-high and feeling rather giddy at this point, because we decided to pose for another group photo holding Lee's bicycle seat like it was a championship trophy. (I just love this photo.)
Lee came back from the bathroom and retrieved his seat, totally oblivious to what its significance was to us now. We all gradually made our way outside, where we stood on the sidewalk for a bit longer just chatting amongst ourselves. I remember Lee commenting about something and saying, "I feel weird" about it, and Sue reached over and squeezed his bicep and said, "You don’t feel weird to me!" And I thought, "SUE! You go, gurl!" and about died laughing. It was such a smooth move on her part!
Alas, all good things must come to an end. Two hours after greeting him outside the theater, we all said our final good-byes. Lee hugged us all again (giving me a grand total of 3 hugs for the night), and we all thanked him again before going our separate ways.
After we were out of earshot, my husband, a relatively impartial observer who was just basically going with the flow the whole evening, turned to me and said simply, "WOW, what an amazing guy."
And I think that pretty much sums it up. :-)
(The best thing about taking another month to finish this recap is re-living the night over and over again. :D)
LeeFest 2019 (continued)
Lee told a story about Yuko telling him that he had to "clean up his mouth" (stop swearing) when they were getting ready to have kids, and he was very diligent about it. Then when Lily was young, they were getting ready to go somewhere and Yuko realized that she'd forgotten something and said "Shit," which Lily promptly repeated. He thought that was funny -- that Yuko had broken the "no swearing" rule before he did. Then he mentioned how Lily had a friend who already said the word "dick," and she had also come home from school saying someone had said "fuck" and both Lee and Yuko were just devastated by that (he even said it made him cry). Then he laughed and said, "Of course, I’ve been saying that word since I was five."
Sue talked a little bit about the internship she had done in a prison while she was earning her degree in criminal justice, and Lee seemed really interested in that. I remember he asked her if any of the prison guards were corrupt like they’d been on Oz, and she confirmed how that was unfortunately true to life.
Somehow we got on the topic of sexual harassment, and I told Lee that I loved the story he once told about having to sign a sexual harassment disclaimer (or something like that) while he was making Oz, and how he had complained that "doing this show is nothing BUT sexual harassment." (I believe this was from one of the DVD commentaries he recorded.)
At some point, it came out that Sue and I were both there from Michigan, and Lee asked us if we had come to NYC together. We told him, no, that we had just met earlier that evening, although we’d "known" each other online for years. Then he asked about the hand-map of Michigan thing, and we laughed and talked about how people in Michigan really do use their hand as a map of the state, and Sue and I demonstrated this by showing him exactly where we live by holding up our hands and pointing to our palms:
Lee informed us that he has a cousin in Michigan "who lives in Grand… " and I thought for sure he was going to say "… Rapids," because it’s the second largest city in the state, but instead he said "… Ledge," and I about fell out of my chair, because Grand Ledge this small town not far from us. And Sue exclaimed, "That’s only 15 minutes from my house!" And my husband said, "We (our local high school) play them in hockey!"
I successfully resisted the urge to tell Lee that he could come stay with us if he’s ever in Michigan to visit his cousin. :D (Spoiler Alert: resisting urges is a common theme of the night. LOL)
Jessica told Lee she had seen him perform previously in the "Godfather IV" and "Screenplay by Stalin" stage readings, and I asked if there were any plans for future performances of Screenplay by Stalin. Unfortunately, he said no, that Tom was too busy working on his new show "City on a Hill." (Although, I just discovered yesterday that there is now going to be another reading of the play next week, although the cast has not yet been announced.) Lee also told us that he’s guest-starring on 3 episodes of City on a Hill — all of which have now aired.
I asked him if he was going to be in Season 2 of "The Purge," because his character had sort of had an ambiguous ending at the end of Season 1, but he said no, he wasn’t. He said he had taken that role as a favor to the showrunner, a guy he was friends with, but who subsequently left the show, although apparently he has been brought back again. Anne told him that while she watched him in "The Purge," she had to watch the show "like this" and she covered her eyes with her hands and looked through her fingers. We talked for a little bit about his many horror credits, and I said the best horror scene he’s done was the one when he got his head shredded in "No One Lives," and he said, "That’s the BEST?" And I replied, "Well, by best, I mean worst." LOL Lee said he thought Texas Chainsaw Massacre ranked up there, too.
Now, I had a mental laundry list of probably about 20 different questions that I wanted to ask him that night about his career and things he’s done, but obviously I knew I needed to be selective and pick and choose. And there was one burning topic in particular that I wanted him to address if nothing else: the infamous Oz Season 7 rumor that I uncovered a couple of years ago. I was sort of nervous about it, because the whole idea of the thing was just so incredible, but I REALLY WANTED TO KNOW IF IT WAS TRUE, and I think it was about this point in our conversation when I felt comfortable enough to go for broke…
So, I indicated to him that I was there representing the interests of the Oz fandom (it’s all for the peeps, see?) and told him that there was this really bizarre rumor about the show that I was hoping he could confirm or deny. And he got all excited, like, "Ooh, what could it be?" and then everyone else at the table got all excited, too, because I hadn’t mentioned to anyone ahead of time what I was going to ask him.
So suddenly, there was all this anticipation, and then Lee leaned toward me, putting his elbows on the table with his chin in hands, and he stared directly at me, looking something like this:
And I looked into those blue eyes and saw that smile, and suddenly I was overwhelmed by the whole LEE-ness of the moment, and… I completely lost it. My mind turned into a big black hole of Nothing. Seriously, you could have set my chair on fire, and I don’t think I’d have had any reaction. Mentally, I was just gone.
Then Lee sat up straight again and leaned back and the spell was sort of broken, but at this point I desperately wanted to say, "You know what? Just forget about it," because I didn’t think there was any chance that I’d be able to form a complete coherent sentence, let alone go into all the details of the rumor. But unfortunately, I’d already dug myself into a hole and everyone was looking at me, expecting something, so I knew I had to spit it out.
So, trying to do my best, I started up. "Was there ever a Season 7 of Oz that was filmed but never shown? One that Tom Fontana wasn’t involved with, but was produced instead by Method Man and Redman?" Lee didn't really give me any kind of immediate reaction, so then I tried to plow into the details, and of course, the more details I included, the more ridiculous the whole thing sounded. And I’m very much aware of it! So I kept trying to emphasize that I KNEW how ridiculous the whole thing sounded, before proceeding to give yet more details. (Showtime! Pay-per-view! Legal dispute! Bootleg copies on DVD!) And Lee just sat there, staring at me with his amazing Lee eyes as I prattled on and on.
So, finally, I get the gist of the story out there, and Lee repeats back to me, "A Season 7 of Oz produced by Method Man and Redman… ?" and he smiles. He smiled! And I thought, "Okay, either I have just proven myself to be The Bestest Oz Fan in the entire world by unearthing this Great Hidden Secret, or I have just made a gigantic fool of myself." And, as it turned out… it was the latter. Because Lee shook his head and said, "Yeah, none of that is true."
And I said, "Nooooo!" and crawled under the table. Or maybe I just buried my face in my hands. I don’t know. I’ve sort of blocked that part out.
And Lee began laughing, and I became very aware of the fact that he must think I’m crazy-pants (best case) or downright stupid (worst case) to have believed any of this rumor. So I tried to defend myself. "Why would someone make something like that up? If they were going to make something up, why not make it believable? Because the reason I kind of believed it, was because it was so unbelievable!"
I mentioned that the rumor specifically said that the reason why Tom didn’t kill off Beecher, O’Reily, and Alvarez at the end of the show was so that the characters would be available to use in subsequent episodes. And Lee said, "No, Tom didn’t kill us because he loved us." (Whether he meant the actors or the characters wasn’t clear — probably a combination of both.)
I figured at this point, I couldn’t make things worse. So then I explained how there was even more to the rumor: that supposedly there were several hours of additional footage shot after the ends of Seasons 2 and 4 that had also never been shown. I said that I remembered in particular that there was supposed to be a Murphy nude scene. And Lee looked confused and said, "Who?" And I clarified, "Robert Clohessy." And Lee shook is head emphatically and said, "No. He would never have done that."
Another dream, crushed.
Lee did perk up a bit, though, and said something like, "Well, actually there were 7 seasons," and my heart skipped a beat. Then he added, "because we filmed twice as many episodes for Season 4." And I was like, "I know that! That's not what I’m talking about." And then I decided to not talk about anything at all for a while.
Anyway, bottom line: my alleged big fandom discovery turned out to be a big fat nothing. :( (Ah, but I’ll always have Starwater.)
Other parts of the evening have since blurred together, but here are some additional random memories I have:
- Lee said that Yuko still works as an art therapist at a prison for the criminally insane (a job she’s had for quite a while now, I think)
- He mentioned getting hurt years ago on a job and how he’d had to apply for Workers’ Compensation and what a mess it was, and Jessica jokingly(?) suggested that his injury was due to Meloni getting too rough during the wrestling scenes on Oz
- He still remembers
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pride_of_erin coming all the way from Australia for LeeFest 2008 - He showed us a photo on his phone of an unusual, pretty bird that he’d taken on the sidewalk outside his home (I think this was in response to a discussion of Anne’s birding hobby)
- We talked about portrait mode on iPhones and how it makes everyone a great photographer
- There was a discussion about the movie "Awakenings" with Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams
- Sue mentioned how she’d been to Beecher’s Handmade Cheese for lunch, and Lee made a remark about how dirty the name sounded (in a porny way)
- There was a mention of the cancellation of Meloni’s show "Happy!" and Lee made a sad face and ran a finger down his cheek in imitation of a teardrop falling from his eye
- Lee told the story of exchanging texts with JK Simmons after he won his Academy Award ("I can’t believe I licked the boots of an Oscar winner" // "If memory serves, you also shit in the face of an Oscar winner")
- At one point, Lee shuffled around in his seat and accidentally kicked me under the table, and I had to refrain from saying, "It’s okay! Kick me again!" LOL
- Although Lee had ordered the appetizers for everyone to share, none of us were hungry and he pretty much ate them all himself. As he was finishing them off, I twice saw him lick the knife he'd used for the hummus. And it was sharp! (Although, given the length of Lee's tongue, it's entirely possible that the knife was in more danger than his tongue.)
After we’d been there for about an hour, Lee motioned to the waiter, presumably to ask for the check, and I thought, "Wow, I can’t believe he’s spent all this time with us. This has been so amazing." Then when the waiter came to the table, Lee asked him instead for another round of drinks. And I got super excited, because I realized that he was going to stay there with us for at least the amount of time it would take to have another drink.
At some point, there was talk about how a previously planned LeeFest (at the Williamstown Theatre Festival) had to be cancelled because he’d gotten caught up in filming something, and he thought it was "The Purge." I then tried to correct him, telling him he’d been filming "Gone" instead (trust me, I remember it all very clearly). And Lee acted all confused. "What?" So I explained the timing of everything and how it had to be "Gone" that he’d been filming, and he just shook his head, saying "What?" again. So then I tried explaining slower and LOUDER, when Anne caught my eye, laughing, and said, "He’s giving you a hard time." Then Lee started laughing.
I’m certainly glad that Anne understands how Lee thinks, because talking to him can be confusing sometimes.
We talked about his children again, and he noted what a handful Kai can be compared to Lily. I told him that will all change someday, that having boys is easier when they get older. Then I motioned toward my husband and told Lee that we have three. "Three boys?" he asked. And I nodded and was like, "Yeahhhh." LOL Then he asked how old they were, and I told him, and then I told him how my youngest went through a big "Wayne’s World" phase a couple of years ago where he would watch that movie practically every week, and that I’d usually watch it with him because of Lee. Then my husband told Lee how our son still wears his official Wayne’s World hat all the time, and he also pointed out that the movie does a really good job of standing the test of time. Lee agreed and said, "Better than the second one." The he said that he and Lily had watched the movie together not too long ago. It was one of the few things he's done that was appropriate to show her so she could see what he did for a living.
I started feeling comfortable with talking again, so I brought up that there was another story I wanted ask him about, and everyone got excited because they thought it was going to be another crazy rumor. But then I clarified and said it wasn’t really a rumor, it was something Rita Moreno had actually said in an interview: how Tom Fontana had originally wanted the riot in Season 1 of Oz to begin with Lee in drag singing something from "West Side Story," but then he couldn’t get the rights to the song. (Thankfully, Jessica backed me up on this, saying she remembered that interview, too.) We talked about Tom putting him in drag so much, with Lee noting that he had already been in drag on Oz twice at that point. Lee said the song most likely was "A Boy Like That," and then he began to quietly talk-sing the song ("A boy like that who'd kill your brother // Forget that boy and find another"). I GOT LEE TO SING. Kind of. I told him he should do more roles that involved him singing, but he said something about knowing his limitations (which is him being totally modest because he is a great singer).
Eventually, the night drew to a close, and Lee said he needed to get going. He left our table to get the bill from the waiter, leaving his phone there on our table, turned upside down:
(photo credit to Sue)
Anne jokingly picked it up, saying we should see what was on it, and turned it over, only to discover that he had left it unlocked and on a screen showing his text messages. She quickly turned it back over, but when he came back we joked about how trusting he was to leave his phone with us like that.
Then it was picture time: he sat back down next to Anne and we took pictures of the two of them. Then we gathered for a group photo, which my husband took, and I was so thrilled to get this picture, because my one regret from the PaleyFest event was not getting a group photo of all the peeps who were there:
Then we all stood up, and I brazenly asked for a picture of just the two of us. He raised his eyebrow and whispered suggestively, "In front of your husband?" and OMG I nearly went comatose all over again.
As I moved to stand next to him, someone actually noticed how the color of our shirts matched, and I laughed and said, "We planned this!" Which is funny (to me), because I kind of did. For some reason, Lee decided to bend down so that we’d be at the same height, and my husband took a couple of close-up pictures:
... before stepping further back to take a couple more…
… and Lee groaned under his breath, "My thighs!" And then LEE'S THIGHS were all I could think about, and I got really flushtered, and I think that's when Anne snapped this picture of the two of us from the side, which ended up being my favorite photo of the night:
Then I took a couple of photos of Lee with just Sue, and then with just Jessica. When we were done, I pointed out my commemorative PaleyFest phone case to Lee, and he simply said, "Yeah, I saw," leaving out but heavily implying the "you weirdo" part. I quickly decided not to tell him about the PaleyFest coffee mug I’d also had made. (Not a joke.)
After Lee had gathered up his backpack and grabbed his bicycle seat, I noticed that he had forgotten the LeeFest card I'd given him, which was sitting on the table, covered up by a napkin. I wanted to point it out, but I didn’t want to make him feel bad about forgetting it, so I casually asked if he wanted an envelope for it. He made a face like "Oops!" and said "Yeah," and then we both reached for the card at the same time, and that’s when I knocked over Sue’s glass of leftover melting ice cubes onto the table, spilling water everywhere OMG.
Because obviously I hadn’t embarrassed myself enough that night. *facepalm*
BUT, with the speed of a gazelle, Lee picked the card up from the table and held it out away from me. I said I could dry it with a napkin, but he said, no, it was fine. I said, "See, that’s why I brought the envelopes, so they’d be protected!" And he replied, "You were protecting them from yourself!" And I was like, "I know!"
So, I handed him the envelope, and he put the card inside and placed it in his back pocket. And I thought about pointing out that the card would probably get bent back there, and that maybe he should put it in his backpack instead, but then I didn’t want him to think that I was being anal about it (which I was) or that I was checking out his ass (which I was), so I kept my mouth shut.
Lee then gave each of us a nice hug good-bye (my husband even got the combo handshake/bro-hug), and while I was hugging him back, I managed to say, "Thank you. So much. For everything."
Everyone began heading toward the door, and I paused to gather my own stuff. Then I made the last-second decision to grab a paper beverage napkin from our table to keep as a souvenir. I quickly put it in my purse, and when I caught back up with the others, I double-checked to make sure I had put it in a place where it wouldn't get crushed. When Anne saw what I doing, I quietly mentioned to her what I'd done, and she nodded her head and laughed. I knew she’d understand.
As it turned out, Lee had left to go to the bathroom, and Jessica had offered to hold his bicycle seat for him while he was gone. So she's standing there, holding onto the metal shaft of the seat, and it looked really funny, like she was the Statue of Liberty or something. I think we were all riding a bit of a Lee-high and feeling rather giddy at this point, because we decided to pose for another group photo holding Lee's bicycle seat like it was a championship trophy. (I just love this photo.)
Lee came back from the bathroom and retrieved his seat, totally oblivious to what its significance was to us now. We all gradually made our way outside, where we stood on the sidewalk for a bit longer just chatting amongst ourselves. I remember Lee commenting about something and saying, "I feel weird" about it, and Sue reached over and squeezed his bicep and said, "You don’t feel weird to me!" And I thought, "SUE! You go, gurl!" and about died laughing. It was such a smooth move on her part!
Alas, all good things must come to an end. Two hours after greeting him outside the theater, we all said our final good-byes. Lee hugged us all again (giving me a grand total of 3 hugs for the night), and we all thanked him again before going our separate ways.
After we were out of earshot, my husband, a relatively impartial observer who was just basically going with the flow the whole evening, turned to me and said simply, "WOW, what an amazing guy."
And I think that pretty much sums it up. :-)
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The part about the rumor was hilarious, and also, I could imagine Lee in the way you described him and how cute he was, when he looking at you like that.
Regarding Meloni, they are friends, right? I never watched Happy!, I'm not sure I will like it, but someday I'll try.
Great pictures, and I loved the ending with your husband :)
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I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed my ramblings! Thanks for letting me know.
It's hard to explain the full force of Lee's charms (although I tried, obviously :D), but that moment when he smiled and looked at me with his undivided attention was just mind-blowing. I actually consider that brief moment to be the highlight of the night for me.
Yes, Lee and Meloni are still very good friends! As a matter of fact, a couple of weeks after we were there, Meloni and his daughter came to watch a Long Lost performance. Meloni took a selfie and posted it to Instagram:
"Happy!" is definitely not for everyone. I wanted to like it a lot more than I did. I watched Season 2 more out of a sense of obligation, and I still have yet to watch the last 3 episodes. Although I do appreciate how Meloni took a chance doing something so risky and original.
Once again, thank you for your kind words!
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"Giddiness" is an understatement! I'm so proud of myself for not melting into a giant puddle of goo (although I came dangerously close a couple of times :D). Lee is just so incredibly gracious-- what he did for us went far above and beyond what I'd expected.
Thank you for your kind comment! :-)
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And Lee began laughing, and I became very aware of the fact that he must think I’m crazy-pants (best case)
Nah, just a dedicated fan. I think he got a kick out of it.
So then I tried explaining slower and LOUDER, when Anne caught my eye, laughing, and said, "He’s giving you a hard time." Then Lee started laughing.
LOL. He does love to tease us, doesn't he?
He showed us a photo on his phone of an unusual, pretty bird that he’d taken on the sidewalk outside his home (I think this was in response to a discussion of Anne’s birding hobby)
How is it possible I have no recollection of this?! My two favorite things - Lee & Birding - and I don't remember?! I'm sitting here shocked. Did I say what kind of bird it was?
And he replied, "You were protecting them from yourself!" And I was like, "I know!"
I'm sitting here giggling myself silly!
So she's standing there, holding onto the metal shaft of the seat, and it looked really funny, like she was the Statue of Liberty or something. I
This description is even funnier than the actual incident. LOL
After we were out of earshot, my husband, a relatively impartial observer who was just basically going with the flow the whole evening, turned to me and said simply, "WOW, what an amazing guy."
He is very astute and pretty amazing guy himself. :)
I had a blast reading and re-living the events of the night. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
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It makes me very happy to know that you enjoyed reading this, considering how much enjoyment your own recaps have given me over the years. I'm glad I could return the favor!
Luckily, I wrote down my immediate memories the day after the play, often just random bits as they occurred to me. I would have forgotten so much if I hadn't done that. (And Ron was very little help. His sole contribution was "Tell them about the time I called his character an asshole!" LOL)
I *hope* Lee was amused by my ramblings about the S7 rumor. I will choose to remember it that way. :D
I thought it was odd that you didn't include the bird moment in your own write-up. You were definitely "there" in the moment, as I remember you looking at the photo and saying, "Oh, that's a something-something." (I don't remember exactly what it was.) Only the power of Lee could you make you forget a moment like that, I guess!
I'm having a blast re-living this, too! Whenever I've needed a pick-me-up these last couple of years, I'd re-read my Paleyfest recap, and it would always put a smile back on my face. And now I have another one to add to the list. I can't imagine having 17 years worth of Leecaps to look back on. :-)
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Wow what a great guy Lee is. Lucky, lucky you. great recap.
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And weird is an understatement when it comes to "Happy!" I liked the first season more than the second, when things got TOO weird, at least for me. But, yeah, seeing the AoL is always a good thing, regards of the circumstances!
(And sorry for the late reply-- I left for vacation the day after I posted this, and I'm just now catching up on things.)
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(And sorry for the late reply-- I left for vacation the day after I posted this, and I'm just now catching up on things.)
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I was between you and Lee so I had a ringside seat to the whole Season 7 discussion!
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Oh, no! Because that would be an amazing memory to have! I know that *I* was impressed (and jealous!).
I can't believe now that I ever believed any of that rumor. I am usually very skeptical about stuff like that. I swear! I guess I just wanted so badly for it to be true, that my better judgment abandoned me. I hope that Lee at least was entertained by
methe discussion and found the whole thing amusing.(And sorry for the late reply-- I left for vacation the day after I posted this, and I'm just now catching up on things.)
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(And sorry for the late reply-- I left for vacation the day after I posted this, and I'm just now catching up on things
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Yeah, he’s the cutest Dad.🥰
It’s ok, don’t worry about replying late. I figured you got busy. It is summer, after all! At least one of us is enjoying some vacation time.