#old globe

[slowburningechoes]

Robert Sean Leonard in a promo shoot for his return to The Old Globe in Pygmalion (2013) as “Professor Henry Higgins”.

[shakespearenews]

The Old Globe opens Shakespeare season with unconventional ‘All’s Well’

The outdoor production will take a fresh look at the rarely performed comedy about obsessive love

[alvadee]

And here's a short clip of Vic and Christopher Reeve together at the 1978 telethon for the rebuilding of the Old Globe! 😁

[flipjack]

“The Taming of the Shrew” production photos

[amphitritemists]

Can we just talk about how smooth Romeo was during his time with Juliet at the ball? This boy struts up to his crush and takes her hand and then asks if he can kiss her (level 50 confidence). When she's all like "Oh no thats not very virtuous sorry" He up and responds "Do saints have hands?" And Juliet replies "yeah" And Romeo says "Then f*** me gently with a chainsaw let lips do what hands do they pray ;) Please kiss me or I'll be one sad boy" But Juliet is still cute and hesitant like "Boy Im not very moved by your pleas" Then Romeo swoops in and is like "Then heck dont move cause Im just going to up and answer my prayers by kissing you like right now". Then he kisses her and its magical and then he's all like "wow that was wow that kiss just took away all my sins" And Juliet's all concerned like "Gees now i have all your sins thats not good take it back ;)" And Romeo is like "Oh no we cant have all that sin on your lips yeah no problem I'll take it back" And then this boy gets to kiss her again

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Robert Sean Leonard as “King Richard” in the Old Globe production of Richard II (2017).

I promise every thought I’m having is entirely appropriate…

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Betrayal Overview: Meeting RSL

After the show ended, I was able to slip out pretty quickly but waited for @occultbooks and @ridethecyanide before bombarding the information desk. We were the first people Robert saw when he came out of the stage door (super fast by the way - maybe 5 minutes if not less than that). He greeted us with such a warm “hello” after sitting his backpack and coffee down and making sure everything he needed was there.

He spoke to @ridethecyanide first and it was so heartwarming to see. She has been so dedicated to supporting him for longer than I’ve even been alive, so it was adorable to see his reactions to her stories. At first, he didn’t see her mom nearby and asked me if I could take a photo for them! I said I could, but mom was right there and ready to go anyways! So they took their adorable photo together!!!

I was next and tried my best not to bombard the poor man, but I still gave an overly enthusiastic “HI!” as I moved towards him. Robert said hello back and I started with the typical greeting of how wonderful he did in the show. Then I went in to explaining that I had a few things for him, a letter from @deadpoetwilson who couldn’t make it, one from me, and a collection of watercolors I had made for him. He looked stunned and pointed to them, “YOU did these?” I nodded and explained that they were all different theaters he had worked at. Robert picked them up and looked at the one of The Old Globe front and back, before responding with a high-pitched, “Whaaaaat?!”

Funnily enough, he said the director from his last play at The Old Globe (which he initially called the Old Goodman lol), Richard II, was here with her 7-year-old son. I said, “Oh, that was a choice!” Robert agreed almost laughing, “Oh - I know! You think he’s…? Nah, he’s a really tough kid.” Then he went on to say, “Anyways, I’ll have to show her this!”

I told them that the paintings were for him to keep and he went through each of them, naming the theatre, reading the back, and commenting on what plays happened when and where. I told him to blame anything inaccurate on the internet, I got all the info from the Playbill website!

He was so appreciative, saying, “This is so incredibly nice of you.” I accepted his thanks and said “you’re welcome” then went on to explain the floral piece I made. The iris was his birth flower (which he was surprised to learn) and that the others represented his wife and girls. He said that he would give that one to his youngest, Irene, which was beyond adorable.

Then Robert asked me, “What is your incredible name?” I told him and he spelled it right on his first guess, which impressed me! We chatted for a bit about where I was from. He went on to say “thank you” again and told me I was “very, very, talented”. He continued to say, “This is so incredibly moving… how?… I-I-I don’t know what to say!” I explained to him that I wanted to give him some art since he has given us so much amazing work himself. Robert shared that it was “very nice of me to say that” and that it wasn’t something that he always feels as the person doing the work, most times. He doesn’t feel famous. He says he goes to do these jobs, then goes back home to NJ to do things like cycling, and he doesn’t know what he does or how people like it, so this “is awesome”. I went on to share that I think the does an amazing job and many people do.

Then, he was so excited to find his new cards he bought! They are old school portraits but with animals. They were so adorable! He said he got them since he hated how dark the programs were to sign on top of. Robert spoke to another small group of people who were personal friends of Ian’s while I selected my card. He raved about how wonderful Ian was (saying he’s worked with many talented actors, but no one as great as Ian) and how appreciative he was that they made time to tell him how much they liked his performance as well.

When he came back to me, he smiled so big when he saw I’d picked out the golden retriever in a purple sweater. “Awww! You picked the dog!” He took a second to think before writing something inside. He explained the story behind the quote he steals from LMM. He said that they waited in line with all the other patrons (mostly 14-year-old girls, he pointed out) and that he was going to be so upset if LMM didn’t meet his daughter, since she had picked out her outfit for him and everything.😅 Thankfully, of course, he did. Robert said that he felt it was “only fitting, in this case” to write down the quote for ME as well. It was very sweet.

Then, he handed me the card and went in for a FULL hug! It was so unexpected that when he moved at first, I thought, “Is this really happening?! WHAT?!” And it was. It was a very sincere and warm hug, he said “thank you” again and reiterated how much it meant to him. He happily agreed to take a photo with me and took a moment to shift to chat with someone else who slipped between myself and @occultbooks.

@ridethecyanide and I fangirled together for a moment (with our poor mothers being so supportive of us) and took a few pictures together with our RSL “spoils” as she called them. She left and I hung back to make sure @occultbooks had someone documenting their meeting with Robert, too!

It was such a sweet (and hilarious) interaction. If you haven’t seen this post, you HAVE to check it out (and their profile in general)! I can’t believe I got to be there to see that moment and other parts of their sweet exchange, it was so touching. I was beyond happy for @occultbooks! Honestly teared up watching them hug ngl… it was precious and emotional.

Also, during their interaction, I got to chat with Erica Schmidt, the director of The Old Globe’s Richard II that RSL had mentioned to me earlier, and her son. She stood beside me and saw my DPS book and said, “Oh throwback! Dead Poet’s!” I quickly said, “Yes! I love it!” before realizing who she was when I saw the young boy with her. I then said, “You must be Erica! Robert just talked about you, I did a painting of the Globe!” She responded with an interested, “Oh?!”. Robert even brought her son into the interaction with @occultbooks, having him pick out his card based on which one matched his appearance most - I think he made a great choice! I didn’t get to see if Robert showed Erica the painting, but I hope he did and that she liked it, too!

Overall, it was a night beyond anything I ever dreamed of. RSL was so respectful, compassionate, patient, and humble. I didn’t think I could admire him more, but I absolutely do! He is so kind. I could not have asked for a better interaction for myself and my two lovely friends!!!!!

So thankful to my mother, Dana, Dylan, & @deadpoetwilson for being so wonderfully supportive and affirming I didn’t imagine this whole thing.

Find my review of the play here!

Videos from our interaction:

Robert’s first reactions to the paintings I made.

Joking about a past director bringing her young son to the show.

Expressing his gratitude and speaking on what it feels like to be famous.

[slowburningechoes]

Watercolor Pieces (by me!) for RSL

These are the paintings that I was able to gift Robert after Saturday’s performance of Betrayal.

Theaters from top to bottom (left to right): The Old Globe, The Lyceum, Lincoln Center, Neil Simon, Schoenfeld, and Regent’s Park Open Air.

The last painting includes his birth flower (burgundy colored iris) and four other flowers to represent his wife and girls. The hibiscus represents Gabby, then the violets, poppies, and roses to represent his daughters.