My Broadway Debut Opposite Carrie Fisher

It started with a short trip to do fieldwork in NYC with a grad student who studies "New Media". (This is why I enjoy Geography: it allows me to study just about anything). And what's NYC without Broadway? To celebrate completing part of the fieldwork, we saw a few Broadway plays--one of which was Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher's one woman show based on her recent book (and life).

Reviews for the show were very good, so we were expecting a good time. We also heard she was interactive with the audience...It was, I must say, an excellent, interesting, silly, and bawdy performance. I am now vehemently and ardently a Carrie Fisher fan--and not just because of how good a time we had, but because of her as a person. For those who don't know, Carrie Fisher = Princess Leia in Star Wars so, amongst talking about other interesting times in her life, she also spent time discussing her Star Wars past--how she unknowingly made a commitment to stay in her 23-year-old physique, for example. Donning a Princess Leia wig, she discussed the popularity of her 23-year-old metal bikini-clad character...and how people have become very, umm, creative when it comes to reproducing the Princess Leia likeness (which apparently, George Lucas has the rights to, and for which she received no compensation...)

Because this phenomena likely stems from the male psyche, she asked for a male volunteer to come on stage and check out a life-size statue to her Star Wars likeness. When no hands went up immediately, I shouted loudly. And thus it began...

Once onstage, she greeted me with an innocent "stage kiss" and asked my name. I said, "whatever you want it to be..." and to her rolling eyes, I quickly recovered with, "Case". "Chase?" she said.To which I responded, "No. Case. Like a six-pack. Only better." She laughed (she got a kick out of it because she was once an alcoholic and had a grest sense of humor). After some banter, just so I could understand what it was like to be Princess Leia, she asked if I would be willing to see what it was like to be Princess Leia. As she presented my Leia wig, I bowed before her, as if to receive an award. We chatted some more on stage, me playing the role of the bashful fan, her the confident and strong leading lady.

I closed the first act, reading from a script, with the closing line--after explaining to the audience I would be in the lobby at intermission signing autographs--"...And may the intermission be with you--always". I was rewarded with a quick romp on Miss Fisher's couch as the curtain fell. We chatted backstage for a while, took some photos, and then sealed our goodbye with another smooch...What a woman!

But that wasn't all...the second act began with a quick note on the "amazing" properties of the cannabis plant, after which she invited me to the stage for a "special" gift--accompanied by a nice farewell kiss. The gift is of a rather personal nature, and I only show it to a select few. But it has to be seen to be believed!

So there it is: my Broadway debut starring opposite Carrie Fisher. Complete with kissing! (Apologies for the graininess and small size of this video. It was taken with a 2010 cell phone, in the dark, from the back of the Theater).

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