Hello! My name is Blair and I am excited to be a new guest blogger for EAD. I thought it might be best to introduce myself by letting you all in on the story of how my fiance and I met (from my POV). You can read his version of the story on our website: www.blairandjurgen.com
March 11th 2007: I love to go to the theatre. I love to go see good theatre. I love to see good theatre that I do not have to pay for. Well it was my lucky day because one of my favorite stage mangers gave me two comp tickets to a preview performance of Rabbit Hole at the Goodman Theatre. My good friend Jenn was to be my date for the evening as she too shares my desire to see good theatre for free. Halfway through the first act I was taken by the performance of a young, dark haired actor who I had never met or seen onstage before. I turned to Jenn and said, “Who is he? He is fantastic.” The entire production was deeply moving and I could not imagine leaving before I had a chance to profusely my stage manager for his generosity. While I waited for him to emerge from the underground of the Goodman, Jenn informed me that she needed to get some water. Alden found me, I thanked him profusely and I proceeded to wait patiently for Jenn to return victorious from her water seeking mission. This mission must have been fraught with peril because it took quite some time. I stood by the lobby door, taking in the theatergoers, when lo and behold the talented dark haired actor walked out of the stage door. Thus began the internal conflict which goes something like this:
“Should I say something?” (beat) “No that would be annoying.” (beat) “But don’t you love and appreciate it when people take the time to tell you how incredibly gifted an amazing you are?” “OF COURSE!” “Okay I am going to say something.”
I approached ever so graciously and said “Hi I just wanted to say you did a wonderful job.” We properly introduced ourselves and I told him how much I enjoyed the show. He then invited me to see him in a production of Huck Finn he was doing during the day. As I am not one to turn down a free ticket I accepted, only to discover it was closing week and I already had plans to go to NYC. “Well, I’m sure there will be many more Huck Finn’s” he said (there may have been a tear in his eye, I am not sure) and I said goodbye.
Ten days later I was packing to leave on a trip to Germany when I came across one of the reviews for Rabbit Hole. It spoke favorably about the entire production and in particular Jürgen’s performance. I began to wonder how I might be able to congratulate him on his well-earned critical praise. Might he be on Facebook? I did a quick search and there he was. I penned an eloquent, charming and downright delightful message, pressed “send” and was off to the airport.
By the time I had weathered the eight-hour plane ride a new message had appeared in my inbox, which began our two-week pen-pal stint as I gallivanted throughout Germany. On my final day I received a message asking if I would be interested in seeing a show with him (at the Goodman of all places) the night I got back. I decided it would be a good excuse to fight my nagging jet lag and accepted his offer. I got in late, fought through customs, dropped off my suitcases, attempted to deal with my hair, and met him at the theatre yet again. After the show we grabbed a late dinner and despite my nagging headache and now having been awake for more than twenty-four hours I managed to have a great time.
One can never imagine how two free tickets can change one’s life, but there you go.