Laurie Went Coconuts!

Someone up there was looking out for me because while I did have tickets for MC's "On Eagle's Wings" concert at Radio City Music Hall, I did not know he was going to make any appearances in town. Just by chance, I went by the theater to see his poster when I saw a tiny little sign in Coconuts across the street saying that he would be doing an autograph signing the day before the concert!

I started going ballistic right there on the street in New York, jumping up and down. Quickly, I bought a camera, thought about what I would wear, et cetera.

Less than 24 hours later, he was there, dressed in a gray suit, not a hair out of place, looking like he'd stepped off of the set of DYNASTY. I had been straining to think of what I would say to him when I got to the table. What do you say to your favorite performer when you know all of his recordings by heart and fantasize about him obsessively? "Gee, I really like your singing?" "You were a great Phantom." "Will you marry me?" Everything seemed to be completely ridiculous or mediocre.

As I got nearer and nearer to the table, taking pictures like a maniac, I heard some lady jokingly request for an oxygen tent after she had met him. My nerves started to act up. He had been signing for almost 45 minutes and my impression was that he was starting to get tired. When the moment arrived, the first thing he asked me was, "What is this name?" Apparently, he couldn't read the little sticky that some Coconuts rep had put on my CD. "Laurie," I said, leaning closer to him in my best impression of a femme fatale, sounding more like a deranged Marilyn Monroe wannabe. "L-A-U-R-I-E." I wanted to look up, connect with his face, but the hands got me. All I could do was stare at those hands as he signed my name.

"Welcome to New York," I said, having rehearsed this phrase over and over in line.

"Thank you," he said in his beautiful English accent. Alas, my five seconds of adrenaline overspill was over, and he then reached for my friend's CD next. I went to the side, taking more pictures.

All of a sudden, he started to smile with a big grin, pointing and saying something to my friend as she was walking away. "What on earth happened?" I wondered.

As we were walking out the store, I asked her, "What did he say to you?" "I don't know," she said. Apparently, she was so excited at meeting him the words didn't even register.

"He said something to you at the end."

"Oh, he said to be careful. The ink wasn't wet."

I saw her CD. "To blur, Michael Crawford." Apparently, she was so flustered that she picked it up the wrong way. Fortunately, she didn't seem to get too upset about the autograph. But we were both floating after that for some time.

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