My Day at the Herberger Theater

Okay, I am SO dating myself, but this is a funny story. My mom and I went to a play at the Arizona Theater Company today. The play starred Marlo Thomas who is best known as an actress for her role in the TV show THAT GIRL. She is currently the spokesperson for St. Jude's Children's Hospital so some of you may have heard of her that way. She is also married to Phil Donahue who (if you don't know) was the talk show person who basically started that format waaaay before Oprah. Anyway after the show the actors come on stage in a Q and A session about the play. So we really enjoyed that. Another actor in the play was Don Murray who was in my favorite show in the 80's, Knots Landing. He starred with Marilyn Monroe in the movie Bus Stop years ago. It was cool to see them. During the Q and A someone spoke to Marlo asking if she was really crying at the end. She answered in a way where you could tell she was taken aback and she said yes and that she was saddened that she hadn't been able to portray that. I think she misunderstood what he was saying and I felt bad that she took it that way. I think the guy was asking if she (as the character) was really crying or pretending to in front of the other characters. So it ended soon after and I went over to the stage manager and expressed this and asked her to share my interpretation with Marlo. She understood what I was saying and said that was probably the case and she would let her know. So I left hoping that she would tell her. I REALLY just felt so bad for Marlo as a person. It was weird to see that she really seemed sad about that comment. So we walk outside and as I look to my right, there stands Phil Donahue. I nudge mom and as we walk right by him he looks up and I smiled and waved (He waved back) but kept walking. Then I surprised myself with what I did next. I thought...the stage manager MIGHT remember to tell Marlo but I KNEW Phil would for sure. So I turned around with mom on my heels and headed back to him. I said, "Pardon me but could I just comment on something?" He must have said or nodded yes because I went on to ask if he had been in to hear the after talk. He said no he hadn't been able to and so I went on to explain the whole thing. He listened VERY intently (the seasoned talk show host he is) and he said that someone had mentioned something about that to him. He asked us if Marlo seemed upset and we said yes and went on to explain. I had been talking just fine when I realized that he was listening to me so carefully and all of the sudden my mouth got so dry and I got this huge lump in my throat, I thought I would choke. I then told him that I was nervous to talk to him but I kept right on going. Mom added a few things and we said we just hoped he would tell his wife that she was wonderful in the part and we had such a great time at the play. He said he would tell her. And that was that! He was soooo nice. We finally walked away and I kept saying, "I can't believe I did that!" We got in the stairwell for the parking garage and mom and I were just cracking up and I could hardly catch my breath! Mom commented, "He looked really handsome!" LOL! I think we were both caught up in the moment! What a fun memory to have with my mom!

Phil and Marlo (Internet Photo)

Don Murray seems like a sweet man.