Made for Broadway

February 22, 2010 - The BEST longest day of my life!

I got up at about 3:20am. My flight was at 7am out of Flint. There had been a Winter Storm warning for Michigan from 4am until 7pm. I had tried to change my flight to the 21st, but there was nothing available. When I woke up, it had already snowed and was STILL snowing. I loke dup the flights and they were on time, however, the winter advisory said that the storm was expected to be worse during the morning comute hours. Great. Right when my flight left for DETROIT which was ALSO under a storm warning. I was so scared I wasn't going to make it! I arrived at the airport at about 5:40am. It was STILL snowing, and I could see planes covered in snow, but my flight still said it was on time.

We all got on the plane at 6:45am. They shut the airplane doors at 7:14am and it seemed like we were going to actually make it. At 7:30 they announced the de-icer had run out of fluid and we were going to have to wait to get more. We were officially delayed. We didn't actually start leaving Flint until 7:45am. This was NOT good since I had a connecting flight in Detroit 8:40am. We landed at 8:20am and I was ready to run. But then we had to sit there and wait for the stupid ramp. And my flight was literally all the way across the airport. I tried to run but carrying my bags it was hard. It was already 8:40, but I kept heading to the gate (as did several other people). We finally made it to the gate at about 8:46am and were told the plane was gone. We were then told we had to go to the other end of the concourse to get a replacement flight. We took the shuttle thankfully, so I could rest. The running did NOT agree with me. I go thtere and was offered a 1pm flight but I knew there was an earlier flight since one of my friends was going to be on it. I searched for another and got on the 10am flight. I walked over and met up with Regina near the new gate and finally relaxed. The pilots were delayed so we didn't actually leave until 10:45am but we FINALLY were on our way. We finally arrived after noon.

Gina and I took a taxi to our hotel, the Loews Regency, which was the same location as the show (which was held at Feinsteins at the Regency). We dropped our stuff off and went to get last minute things done before the show. The other two girls, Emmie and Sherry, were already in NYC and were shopping. After our shopping, we all got ready and headed down to the threatre at 6:00pm. There was a long line that went all the way outside. We decided to just sit and wait in the warm lobby. We saw some people we knew an took some pictures then headed inside. We were seated against a back wall, but the theatre was so small we were actually pretty close! The pic to the left shows our view. The blue stuff on the left is where the stage was. Before dinner I sent a Twitpic of me hold a breadstick in my mouth and said "I'm waiting @joeymcintyre!" ha ha! For dinner I had the Pumpkin Ravioli and a nice pretty blue drink called a La Mystique. Yummy!

The show started at 8:00pm. The host came out and introduced Sutton Foster. She came out and I realized we had been on the elevator with her earlier in the day! She looked so young! I thought she was just at the hotel for a wedding or something. Sutton = AMAZING! What a gift! See her if you can! She seems to be able to do anything and everything with her voice! She sang some BEAUTIFUL songs. She sang one called "I couldn't love you any more (than I do now)." I hope to find that song somewhere on the web so I can download it. WONDERFUL!

Then Joe came out. When he came out he said "Where are the breadsticks?" We weren't sure if he saw my Twitpic or not. It was pretty funny either way CONSIDERING the picture! LOL! He was wearing the leather jacket and tie again. (Someone needs a new wardrobe. ;) ) I forgot exactly what he called it, but he basically did a 'Joe's life performing' show. It was just him and a piano. He started with 'LOVE' and during the second round when he sang "L is for the way you look tonight" he was using his arms to spell the word, like with YMCA! It was so funny! Then he sang "Gary, Indiana", apparently the song he sang to get into NKOTB? Hard to believe THAT! He sang the 'necking version' of 'I'd Do Anything' from Oliver, a song he sang when he was 6 with his 16 year old sister. He also sang an acoustic version of Please Don't Go Girl. He brought out two of his castmates from Tick Tick Boom, and they sang 'Louder Than Words'. That was HANDS DOWN my favorite song of the night. Gave me chills and made me want to weep from its beauty. Basically turned me into a sap. Then he sang 'As Long As You Love Me' fro Wicked with Natacia. He also sang an awesome verson of Wyclef Jean's 'Grateful' which he tweaked to be about him. It was so cool! Joe is just so creative and amazing! He ended with 'Give My Regards to Broadway'. GREAT show!!! I love Joe's pop career, but after seeing him at the Cabaret it made me realize that he was MADE for Broadway. He's so much better able to show off his voice! He is capable of belting out notes! I never knew that before! With the pop songs he sings, he never gets the opportunity to do that, but he sure does with Broadway tunes. Whether it be 'As Long As Your Mine' or 'Gary, Indiana', that man's voice gave me CHILLS!

After the first show ended, we darted upstairs to do last minute primping before our meet and greet before the second show. Meanwhile, Joe sends this tweet: "@joeymcintyre: For all those who came to first show, I will see you after the second show!!! That was a blast!!! Xoxo" What??? Really??? That man is amazing. We headed downstairs, chatted with some friends, Steph and Bobbi, and then sat at our table at about 10p. We weren't front row like we were told we would be, but we had a table right in the walkway where Joe came in from! We had a drink, this time mine was green, and tried to calm down, but THAT was NOT easy. At about 10:40p, they came to get us and took us thru the kitchen to a room set up for pics. Joe and Sutton were there.

I walked up to Joe and he said "Hi" and smiled as if he recognized me. I said "Do you know who I am?" He said, "Yeah, you're the RocksicleLover." I said, "Yeah! I'm Heather." He repeated y name then gave me a hug. He then looked me up and down and said "Your dress..." Then he looked at all of us. "You all look very nice." I think I said "thank you". I was just so stunned that Joey McIntyre had given me a compliment (AND had looked me up and down) that I kinda blanked out for a second. I then handed him the MSU book I had for Griffin and Rhys and said "I meant to give you this in Michigan." He looked at it and said "Hey! Michigan?!?! Sutton knows about that!" I turned and looked at Sutton and asked if she was from MI and she said yes. I asked where from and she said "Troy". Then Joe said "Troy? That's why he's a Trojan" and he pointed to Sparty on the MSU book. "It all fits together." Ummmm... ok. I said, "Uhh, Trojan? He's a SPARTAN! And MSU is not in Troy, its in East Lansing." Ah, Joe. At least you're pretty. ;) I went over and chatted with Sutton. I told her how amazing she was the first show and she said "You're going to the second show too? WOW!" I had to ask her how old she was and she said "34". "What? Really? I would have NEVER guessed that! You look so much younger! Like 20!" She laughed and looked at Joe and said "I really like her!" LOL! We all got together and took a couple of group photos. On our way out, we saw Sherry standing in line still and realized she had somehow missed being in our group! We decided to stay with her and take pictures of just her and Joe since she missed out with us. She got some great pics with him! :)

We headed back to our seats and the show started very shortly after we sat down. It was once again amazing. When Joe came out, I stuck my hand out and his cold hand grabbed mine. I was surprised to was so cold... and unfortunately that probably meant mine felt hot and sweaty. Great. Sorry Joe! Joe was funny and stunning again on stage. I taped 'Louder Than Words' since it had moved me SO much the first show. I just wanted to be able to listen to it again. At one point, Joe took a drink of his martini and made a face. Sherry yelled "Too strong?" and Joe looked right at me and said "What?" I tried pointing at her but he just looked at me. I was so embarrassed that I ducked my head and wouldn't look at him. Nice. I'm such an idiot. After the lack of response, he said something like "'Too strong?' Uh no." On his way out, I again held out my hand and he grabbed it then he touched me on the shoulder.

After the show ended, we worked on taking care of our bill (they kinda screwed it up). I went into the lobby to go to the restroom. When I got back Joe was back in the dining room taking pictures with people. He finished up there and headed to the lobby where he took pics with every person who waited in line. SO SWEET!!! It took a long time. We decided to get in the back of the line since we had already talked to him once. But we definitely wanted some one-on-one pics with him before we left. By the time we got up there, it was 12:30am and I think everyone was getting a little bit more tired. I went over, stood next to him and realized I could see the top of his head. As we posed I said "Oh my God, I'm taller than you right now." He said "No, that's GOOD" and I said "Ugh. I'm mammoth tall." I took Emmie's camera then and TRIED REALLY HARD to take their picture but the flash wouldn't go off. I'm sorry Emmie! Joe finished up with his pics with everyone then said goodbye at about 1:15am. We headed upstairs and went to bed... in the same hotel that Joey Mac MIGHT have been sleeping naked in.... ;)