It was last Saturday, April 10, 2011, when I was more prepared than I've ever been before. It was the premiere of the movie Rio and I had 7 paintings that I took with me to get signed. I got to the Chinese Theatre at 10:30am to grab my favorite spot on the sidewalk. It was a beautiful day and I was ready to wait for hours.
I had paintings of Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, Will I Am, Tracy Morgan, Jane Lynch and Jamie Foxx, although he had already signed his a couple months earlier at the Tonight Show. Soon after I arrived, I had heard a buzz on the street that Johnny Depp was going to make a surprise appearance even though he wasn't in the movie.
I immediately called Connie to see if she had left the house yet because it just so happened that I had a half completed Johnny Depp painting hanging on her wall. It turned out that she had already left her house and was on her way down to the premiere and I told her we'll just try to get Depp at a future premiere. I had 6 paintings and that was sure be enough to keep me more than busy.
There were only about 20 people there, mostly regular autograph seekers, by 11:30. I was busy answering questions of the people that were passing by; "What's going on here today?"... "What stars are going to be here?"... "What time is the event?"
The crowd was growing at an unusually slow pace and the few of us that had gathered were hoping they would start the event now because we were sure to our stuff signed.
Hunter, Connie's son called me and said they were on their way back home to get the Depp painting since they were still in their neighborhood. They got to the theatre at about 12:30. The crowd was still very small and there was plenty of room for Connie and Hunter when they arrived. They were just getting out there cameras when a group of about 6 or 7 Japanese students recognized me. One of the students said, "Hey, I know you!" I assumed I knew where he knew me from and he said, "I've seen you on TV in Japan!"
These students were all so nice, friendly and polite. I gave each of them a starpaintershow business card and told them to "friend" me on facebook. One of the guys handed me my card back and wanted me to autograph it for him. How funny is that? The autograph seeker signs an autograph! Yuki was the only girl in the group of students. She was as nice as the rest of them and I showed her my portfolio with most of my older paintings in it.. I really need to update that book and get my newer paintings in it.
It was now close to 2:00 and the first car was just arriving. I was so excited, surely I'd get most, if not ALL of these paintings signed. When the first SUV pulled up, I saw the disaster that was going to ruin the whole day. The premiere-event-planning company for the first time ever had built a solid wall for the backdrop that the stars were going to take their pics against. This wall was about 100 to 150 feet long and it was set up on the sidewalk blocking our view of the courtyard of the theatre. When the first car arrived, one of the security guards had the driver stop their vehicle right next to the wall so the car and the wall completely blocked our view from seeing who was getting out of the limos. Now add the normal Sunday afternoon traffic, including about a billion busses stopping in front of the parked limos, and we were sunk.
Limos and SUV's continued to pull up, unload their passengers and we were constantly being blocked by the traffic, the limo and the wall.. and there was nothing we could do about it. This wall was genius for the security guards needs. For a split second, Will I Am looked across the street at me through the traffic as i was waving my painting at him but he was then blocked out by another bus stopping in the traffic. When the bus finally moved, Will had disappeared behind that wall.
Anne Hathaway arrived and just waved from across the street and it was clear that she had no intention of crossing Hollywood Blvd. to sign anything. I never saw George Lopez, he was obviously one that was completely blocked out by the all the obstacles. Jane Lynch never showed up and Jamie Foxx was the only celebrity to cross the street and sign things for his fans. He was signing everything that they were waving at him. He signed this portrait that I had of him at the Tonight Show on Jan 5, but he signed it from in his limo and we never got any clear footage that it was actually him signing it so I brought the painting with me here to see if he'd sign the same painting again. He was making his way toward me, signing things, and when he was a couple feet away, he saw that this painting was the same one that he signed a few months earlier so he quit signing at that point and just walked down the street, "high fiving" people's hands that were outstretched.
That story about Depp showing up turned out to be just a rumor.
The afterparty was at the Roosevelt Hotel, kiddy-corner from the theatre. The premiere started around 2:00 and that gave us until about 3:30 when the stars would leave the theatre and make their way to the party across the street. I heard from someone on the street that Will I Am was already inside the Roosevelt, he must have got in his limo and drove across the street because. Jessie Eisenberg walked across the street with his entourage but kept his hands in his pockets and kept his head down as they all walked down the sidewalk. He didn't sign a thing.
I had thought about leaving several times figuring that I missed everyone and the day turned out to be a total blowout. I had no reason to hurry home so I continued to wait.. and wait. It was somewhere between 4:30 and 5:00 when Tracy Morgan appeared in the crowd. He was late getting out of the theatre and he was still on the other side of the street signing things for the fans. I was hoping that he wouldn't be getting tired of all the signing he was doing. There always comes a time when they get "signed out" and they just say, "That's it, I'm done!"
The light turned green and he crossed Hollywood Blvd. I was clearly in his path and he'd have to walk right past me to get to the door of the Roosevelt and now I was just hoping for the best. The light at Orange Ave. turned green and he was crossing the street, walking right toward me. I held my portrait of him up over my head and his pointed at it and said, "Did you paint that?" in his great Tracy Morgan voice. I told him I did and I asked him if he'd sign it for me. He stepped up on the curb, took the painting and signed it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvnyCXS9VVU
Tracy Morgan saved the day. If it wasn't for him, the day would have been a total waste.
Thank you Tracy Morgan. Also thanks to LACURLS 93 for getting the footage of Tracy signing.
