The Goat Travelogues

(or what I remember from that whirlwind trip.....)

We've got Ildi's, Diana's, Sue's , Gio's, Ilona's and Carrie's so far.

And if you click here, there's a new account from Ilona, who came back to New York to see The Goat a record 7 times.  That deserves her own page! 

Others have also seen The Goat and/or met up with Bill.   One account has been added below from Robin, who saw the play twice!

Ildi's account

Hi Gang,

I'm very happy to say that the first Bill Fest in New York was an absolute success! I think I can call it a Bill Fest, since there were a whole group of us present, and we actually spent some time together before and after the EVENT.  

I was very excited about this meeting, not just because I was about to face my hero once again, but also because it was time to meet some of you face to face, and that was something I've been looking forward to for a long time. I was a bit nervous about it, but just like Gio said, when I finally met you guys, I felt like I've known you for a very long time. I truly enjoyed our time together, our walks, our talks, the gushings, the good laughs, you are really a bunch of fun women with class, and a great sense of humour.  

I guess everyone's going to tell their story, after all the 10 of us have seen things from 10 different angles, so here is mine in a nutshell. Which is kind of misleading, because this is going to be a wee bit long. But please bear with me. 

I arrived friday afternoon to the hotel where I met my roommates, Diana and Ilona, and we quickly warmed up to one another. Soon Liz, Juanita and Sue joined us, and we had a great chat in our room. Then we went out to dinner together, and checked out the theatre. I cannot describe the joy I felt as I saw the huge Goat poster and Bill's name up there, and we decided to take some pictures in front of the poster, even though we were freezing our butts off. It was darn cold that night, we were all posing there with our teeth chattering, but boy, did we ever have fun! Then we went back to our hotel, where some of us fainted to sleep after a long, tiring day. Ilona was pretty chipper, so we took another walk through Times Square, we checked out the theatre where Dave Letterman tapes his Late Night show. I got a real kick out of seeing that. :-)  

Next morning Diana, Ilona, Sue and myself went for a quick tour of the city. We checked out the Empire State Building - yeah, we went up, all the way up, and what a beautiful sight it was, although we managed to freeze our butts off once again. The air was just a tad too fresh up there, but we spent enough time to enjoy the awesome sight of the entire city all around us. Then we took a long walk on the famous Fifth Avenue, popped in to take a peek at the NY Public library for a few minutes, then went for lunch to a small restaurant, where I ate the best Pizza of my life. It's a pity I don't remember the name of the place, I'd go back on my next visit.  

After we had out tummy full, Sue headed back to the hotel, and the rest of us had an unforgettable visit to the NY Metropolitan Museum. 

We crammed a lot into that morning, and were a bit tired by the time we got back to the hotel, but there was no time to huff and puff, we had to get ready for THE MEETING. We got ourselves pretty, then went down to the lobby where the 6 of us were joined by Gio and Carrie, and just outside the hotel by Anne and her friend.  

We went to an italian restaurant for dinner, where Mary Anne (an ex list member, and contributor to the Fan Page) and her husband joined us, and we all ate and chatted as if we'd known each other forever. We were all very excited, couldn't wait to see the show and Our Guy! Since we finished dinner early, we went back to the hotel, and took lots of pictures of the whole group with the stuffed goat Liz got for Bill. Mary Anne's husband, Richard was incredible, he took pictures with everybody's camera, and became our unofficial photographer. His "services" proved to be invaluable later on, as he was not under the "Bill influence" like the rest of us, and was free to move around to take plenty of pictures of everyone.  

The show was incredibly bold, daring, and absolutely uninhibited, there were words and taboo topics flying around I never expected to hear in an R rated movie, let alone in a theatre. I absolutely loved everyone's performance, but obviously it was Bill who sent my heart thumping. We were sitting in the fifth row, and as Liz said, we could see every frown, every twitch of a muscle, and it felt incredible.

It's funny how nervous I felt in the first minutes, it was almost like watching my kid perform at school. I sat there with a knot in my stomach, rooting for Bill to do well, to remember all his lines, to feel comfortable, and I was very proud of him for giving such a great performance. Cluck, cluck, cluck, Ildi the mother hen. I bet I wasn't the only one who felt that way though....:-)

Bill was great in the role, but I felt it took him a few minutes to warm up. The first ten minutes or so seemed a bit awkward to me, but then everything kind of smoothed out, and Bill threw himself into it with all he'd got.

After the show Tamara showed up, and she took us to the back stage entrance, where we waited for Bill excitedly. There were others there as well, and they got to him first when he came out. Then he turned to us, and looked genuinely glad to see us there. He was very tired (all the actors seemed drained after the emotionally challenging role), but he was a trooper, and spent about 20 minutes with us, talking to everybody. We all had our chance to say hi, shake his hand, some of us even got a hug, and he was very patient with all of us. He had a good laugh when we gave him the goat, and said mischievously: "Do you trust me with this goat?"

He was funny, kind, attentive, and darn it, as handsome as ever. I could not believe how young he still looked, and how although he had his hair cut shorter at the sides and the back, he still managed to get that rogue lock of hair hanging over his forehead.

He is a very beautiful man. But I said that before, didn't I? :-) 

So we all had our say, our chance to take pictures, then he had to go, and we followed him outside where a car was waiting for him. He got in, let the window down, and said good bye before he was whisked away.

After he was gone we all looked at each other, and some of us allowed a loud WHOO! to escape our lips :-), we were very happy that things worked out and we had the opportunity to chat with our hero a bit. We were glad to see Tamara too, she chatted with us also. She is a very nice lady, they really seemed to be made for one another.  

After all this excitement we headed to the bar Gio arranged to have a drink and some dessert, and we spent our time together rejoicing at the way things turned out. We filled ourselves with sweet stuff, talked a lot about Bill, then said good bye to the ones not staying with us at the hotel, and headed "home".  

Sunday morning Diana left early, and the 5 of us went out for a short walk again, then it was time to say good bye.  

So this is how it happened, or at least how I recall it. I had a wonderful time in New York, this was another adventure I will never forget. It will always make me smile to remember what it was like to see each other face to face for the first time, to walk the streets with our teeth chattering from the cold, to watch Bill act his heart out on stage, to stand there backstage, drinking his every word, and to lay in bed after the show, and talk about Bill until we giggled ourselves to sleep.  

Gang, it's been a pleasure sharing this incredible adventure with you, whether you were there with us in person, or you are just reading about it. I honestly can't see how it could've gone any better. I've come home with priceless memories, a big smile on my face, and the hope that one day we can do this again.

Thank you for everything..... :-)

Ildi

Diana's Account

Hi everyone!  A tired, but very happy List Mom here.

Ildi has just about covered everything, since she & I spent almost every minute together.  

Just a couple of impressions to add: during the play, a woman sitting behind Ildi, Ilona & I laughed very loudly throughout most of the play.  Now, the play was very funny in parts, but she laughed the loudest through parts that I found to be very tragic.  I think she was having a tough time dealing with some of the themes.  But that's live theatre, and I will forgive her for her uncomfortableness.  Even though we were all crammed into this lovely, intimate place, everyone was well behaved.

Meeting Bill: turns out I did NOT puke on his shoes, as I have always predicted would happen.    What struck me about him was his openness in discussing the process of doing a new play: how Albee was making changes here and there, doing a different ending, etc.    And Bill asked us OUR opinions of it.  He didn't treat us like dimwits; he seemed genuinely interested in our reactions and thoughts.  I only wish we could've been in a more relaxed setting (like over a cup of hot coffee) and had a bit of time to think through our answers. 

Anyway, he didn't patronize us, and for that, he has earned my undying, eternal respect.

My boys were so excited to receive the photograph he signed for them.  My oldest said, "He even spelled my name right!"

And my God, yes, he is so much more handsome in person. 

 But for me, this weekend was about seeing those of you I had already met in person again and meeting everyone I had not.   Ildi & Ilona, thanks for sharing a room with me.   Ildi was right: it was like seeing old and dear friends.  We just picked up from our chats on the computer, only this time we did it in a room face to face.  If I start on everyone, this post will be a mile long.  You'll hear from me soon.

Later,
Diana

Sue's Account

Hi, gang!

Well, I made it home last night at 10PM with a sore fanny from sitting in airports and cramped airplanes all day yesterday and sore legs from walking all over New York for two days.  The soreness in both parts of my body become non-existent, however, every time I remember one of my memories from this trip.  To simply say that I had the best time of my life doesn't describe it.  It simply doesn't convey the emotion that I felt while there and what I feel right now as I write this.  Liz, Juanita, Ildi, Ilona and Gio - I'm crying again.  Darn it all!

I saw New York for the first time in my life and fell in love with it irrevocably.   The city is so alive!  The smells of vendors on street corners cooking honey roasted nuts or hot dogs.  The taxi cabs and horns honking.  The lights.   The sidewalks filled with people day and night, kind people who stop and take pictures on our cameras so we could be in the pictures with our friends.  The buildings and cathedrals.   The magnificent Empire State Building and it's view of New York from the top.   Oh, my God, the lights and the sounds and the life of the city!  These things will live with me forever.

I met nine other women from this list.  No, that's wrong.  I've already met you all through emails.  I knew you before I left for New York.  It's more correct to say that I saw you face to face for the first time, all but one of you (Ildi I had seen before), and shared an experience with you that was so incredible it made me cry Sunday morning and makes me cry now.   You ladies, too, have become loves that are irrevocable.

I saw my first Broadway play.  It's something I have wanted to do all my life, and now I have done it.  It was an awesome, exciting experience to see the limos in the streets dropping off elegant people, to hear people talking about other plays and about Edward Albee, to be in an audience of people being affected (laughing or crying) by something going on in front of your eyes.

I saw Bill Pullman doing what I love him the most for - acting, stepping out of his Bill Pullman persona into the character of someone else, and making me believe that he is that other person.   He is an incredible actor.  Gio has already told you all that she, Ilona and I went to see the play again on Sunday.  She has also told you that it was so much more tragic during that performance.  (I think that was the word she used.  If she didn't, I'm sure you get the point.)  At the conclusion of the play on Saturday night, someone asked me as we were leaving the theater (it might have been Gio or Juanita: I can't remember) what I thought about the play, and I answered, "That was the funniest, saddest thing I have ever seen in my life."  A man ahead of me stopped in the aisle, turned around, and said, "That is exactly what it was."  But at the Sunday performance Martin, the character Bill played, was so destroyed by the end of the play he was having a nervous breakdown.   It was so intense.  I cried so badly at the second performance that Ilona kept rubbing my arm to comfort me.   It was horribly tragic.  But it wasn't just the destroyed man that I cried at: it was the destroyed woman (his wife) and the son who has had to watch it and be an innocent victim of it, the family that was destroyed, the love and purity that was killed in all of them.  If someone had asked me then what I thought, I wouldn't have been able to talk.

And I saw Bill and his wife again in person.  He is as incredible a person as he is an actor.  I just simply love Bill and his wife with all my heart for the kind of people they are ... gracious, generous, elegant, down to earth, kind, and beautiful.  I wish I was like them, and I wish more people on this earth were like them.I did give him the book from all of you and told him it was from all of you.  

I made a card to go with it and wanted to share it with you, but I couldn't upload the darn thing to post to the list.  I'll figure out some way to do it so you can all see it.    I wrote a poem-verse for it and put a goat on it.  It was very cute if I do say so myself.

Sue 

Carrie's Account

If someone had told me six months ago that I would spend the weekend before midterms in New York City with nine list members, seeing Bill Pullman in a Broadway play, and meeting with him afterwards, I would have surely thought them crazy. After all, meetings with that man were reserved only for lucky gals like Liz, Juanita, and Ildi who had the means to make it possible. Surely Bill would never do anything convenient for me like being on Broadway. But there I was, in the city of my birth, seeing that spectacular man on stage, the main character in yet another wacky Edward Albee play.

I knew it was going to be a great night. I met Gio on the train heading into the city and we were talking like we were old friends in a matter of minutes. Gio and I live fifteen minutes away from each other but we would have never known that were it not for Bill.

We manuevered our pay past the slow tourists down Broadway to the restaurant where we met up with the rest of the gang, had some yummy City food, took a tiring amount of pictures on the couch of the Best Western, and headed for the show.

The show. The show was amazing. That’s the word I keep coming up with. You know, a movie critic by the name of James Agee once refused to review Roberto Rossellini’s film, “Rome: Open City” because no words could do it justice. That’s how I feel about “The Goat.” Go see it. Then you’ll know. Amazing.

Oh, and we met Bill Pullman. Wow. Bill is the nicest man I’ve ever met. Ever. How am I ever going to take any other man seriously now?  And Tamara? The sweetest woman I’ve ever met. Wow. I just want to hang out with these people, have them over for dinner. No wonder everyone on this list is so nice. We chose a nice guy to idolize.

And I truly believe that. What other explanation is there for that fact that the woman I met that weekend were the nicest, most hospitable, kind, personable, and funny women I’ve ever met? This meeting in NYC was six years coming for me and I’ll never forget it.   I only hope to see you all again sometime. Bill brought us together, but I think the time we had in New York should make us want to stay together. I can only tell you all how much I enjoyed spending time with you and how much I truly love you all.

I met Pullmanities. I met Pullman. All instead of studying for midterms. And I’ve never made a smarter choice.

Gio's Account

It is 2:30am and I just got back from "the Goat", more on that later. May I first say how honored I am to be a member of this group. You are all so wonderful (no that is not the gin talking...) This was the first time that I met some of you face to face and I have to say it was as if I has known you my whole life. It was such a pleasure to have been with and met you all. You certainly indulged me in a "short NY walk" across to a nice bar - not a great place - but a nice place. Thanks to you all for that - 'specially Sue.

 Now on to the show- it was great! I absolutely loved it - I recommend it to anyone who may be coming to NY - I am going to buy tickets tomorrow for April - if I can get them. You must see this play - I loved it!!! It has TONY written all over it. For the writing, best actor and best actress. Mercedes Ruhle is incredible. Bill Pullman is so great in displaying the many layers of this play and the character, by the end of the play you are weeping with him - right, Juanita? It was so funny, turning to sad - but I don't know if that is truly the correct word, sad... It was heart wrenching to see the last act - he was a soul in torment. His performance, everyone's performance was great. I wish I had the words to tell you all the feelings that this play and these performances evoke - but I can not find them. My only hope is that someone else who attended may be able to.  

Bill Pullman has got to be one of the nicest men alive. He is so f'in' nice - and that is about all I can say. Words cannot express the warmth and sincerity that embody him. We have picked a real winner being part of this group. He was so gracious and really happy to see us all. Those whom he had met and those who he was meeting for the first time. Not to mention how really good looking he is. Imagine, he walks out from the stage door and is immediately surrounded by fans (not us - we hang back and wait our turn). Then he turns to us and all of a sudden you are in a world that is Bill.... it is warm, happy, generous and fun. It was magnificent. He is so freakin' nice. Oh and here's the real kicker - so is his wife!!! Tamara is so sweet. I think she was as happy to see us as he was. They make a beautiful couple, as I am sure they have been told over the 15 or so years that they have been together.

 This was one great experience, I am glad that I was able to share it with those who were here at the theater and all of you through the wonders of modern technology.  

Now I must say goodnight - I'm going back to the city tomorrow morning. Ildi will have pictures very soon.  

Gio

Ilona's Account

The first what I heard of Bill in the play was “What?”. You probably think that’s nothing special, but I’ve always liked the way he says “what”. When he appeared on stage everything around me disappeared. I only saw him. Okay, I can faintly remember that there were three actors more, and a goat, but you know, I wanted to see every movement, every expression on his face, and we sat so near to the stage, that you had the feeling you had only to reach out your hands and you could touch him.  I knew before that he is a great actor, but this performance was indescribable. I suffered with him during the play, even though it was awful what he had done, and I feared he would break down at the end.  

When we were waiting behind the stage to see Bill I expected he would come in with this special shy smile on his face. But instead he came in like a whirlwind, self-confident and proud to play on Broadway, and not at all tired after two performances on that day.  You could see at once that he was pleased that so many fans were waiting for him. What then followed was like a dream. I had the feeling that it were only a few minutes, and was very surprised when someone said we had 20 minutes together with Bill. I don’t have words to describe him. I had the feeling that a real big movie star stood in front of me, and I felt like a small ant. But he was so nice, he had kind words for everyone, he made jokes, and he wanted to know our opinion about the play. I forgot everything I wanted to say; I hardly heard what the people said.

He is the most impressive and nicest person I have ever met, and I won’t forget this meeting for the rest of my life.

It’s unnecessary to say that this was probably the happiest time of my life. All who were together with me in New York do know that already. It was so wonderful to meet all these wonderful girls from the list.

We came from different countries but we all have something in common: our love for Bill, and it’s wonderful to share this with dear friends. 

Mary Anne's Account

Here is my account of meeting Bill and seeing the play.  The trip to New York was absolutely wonderful.  I was very happy to meet everyone and sorry I was only able to come for dinner and the evening because it was all lots of fun.

“The Goat” itself is a thrilling play because it’s hard to imagine where it’s going to go and the journey is all at once funny, painful, ridiculous and emotionally and psychologically searing. The performances are all superb and passionately done.   Bill does a very rich, subtle,complicated performance that builds to a great crescendo.  At one very intense moment for his character, I saw real tears in his eyes.

For those who haven’t seen the play or might not, it’s interesting to note that except for the first few minutes, Bill’s character Martin is onstage through the whole play.  The play runs 1hr.50min. with no intermission.  As an actor myself, I know that with a little nerves at the beginning and those lights on you, your throat gets bone dry.  I wonder where Bill’s water is hidden and how he finds it during the black-outs. I have found though that it is possible to do amazing things in spite of a black-out.   This play is so intense that he must be totally drained at the end of it.

After the play, we waited in the alley beside the theater.  My husband, Richard, was along and quite a few of us gave him our cameras to get pictures of our meeting with Bill.  When Bill came out, there was a big reaction from the crowd. And, yes, it’s true, he is even more handsome and charismatic in person.  He was a very striking and dramatic figure, tall, angular and impressive. He was wearing a black shirt, tan pants and a black overcoat.  Each of us had a chance to speak to him and he was warm, involved and gracious with each of us. He signed lots of pictures and programs.  When I met him, I identified myself as one of the people who write for the web-site. He told me that he always refers publicity people to the web-site because we have the facts straight, don’t get things wrong,and know things other sources don’t.

Bill was interested to know what we thought of “The Goat”.  I asked him how the previews were going and he said they were still tightening the play, seeing what worked and doing different things with the ending.  It will be a different play by the time of the opening.  He suggested that we might want to come back and see the official opening version.   He like being part of the process of creating a new work.

Bill’s wife Tamara was at the play on Saturday too.  She is a lovely blond with beautiful eyes. She and Bill look like they belong together.

Dear Liz

  I wanted to write you and thank you for the great advise. My husband and I did go see "The Goat."Not only was Bill great in it ,I actually loved the play.So much so ,that we left New York to go to Maine for the rest of our trip, and ended up two days later coming back to New York and seeing it again. I was amazed at how nice Bill was. The first show we didn't think his acting was anything great but enjoyed it. The second performance he was amazing! Very different. It was his 100th show and they were celebrating. Each time though he came and shook hands,took pictures, and signed Playbills for everyone. He was so kind.My husband tried to get a picture of me with him but he couldn't figure out the flash.If it turns out I will send it along. Most people in acting don't thrill me much because of their attitudes. How refreshing he was. Oh and how handsome ! Thank you again. My husband and I loved New York so much we are  now seeing if we can find work no more then an hour away. We would love to live in New York city itself but it is so expensive.

              Thank you again.

               Robin                         

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