We scoped out the venue before grabbing lunch at Qdoba. The entire conversation at lunch was about Megan Hilty, the Broadway and TV star we were seeing in concert. My parents and I reminisced about the last time we got to see Megan. I had snuck in the stage door and I spent about ten minutes with her and her husband, Brian. My parents, though, had never met Megan.
On the way to downtown Cincinnati, I messaged Megan’s husband, Brian, asking if he was going to be there because I had a birthday present for him. “I’m actually not gonna be there today. If you want, you can just give it to Meg! I trust her with it. That’s very sweet of you, pal.” We continued talking about where I would find her and he thanked me again.
We drove around all of downtown Cincinnati, admiring the edgy street art. Finally, we parked our car and began walking around the building in search of the stage door. Just as we were turning the corner, a red van approached and slowed down a few yards before us. It was a peculiar place to stop. A car door opened and a leg extended out. At the end of the leg was a 3 inch boot.
"That's Megan," my dad said, jokingly. Then, a wave of curled blonde hair followed. I held my breath and waited for the head to turn, secretly hoping it was her, but preparing for it not to be. After all, it was only an hour before the concert, didn't she need to be at a sound check or something? She turned and indeed it was Meg. "Can I take a picture?" I asked, excitedly.
"Are you Bailey?" she asked, and I'm not sure if I said yes or nodded because I was so amazed that she knew me, but I did something to indicate that, yes, I was Bailey.
The stage doorman opened the door and said, "Hey how about you take the picture inside, it's so cold outside!" We stepped into a dim hallway and my mom fumbled around in her purse for her phone to take the photo. I then handed Megan the dove chocolates we had driven across Cincinnati to get and the guitar picks for Brian that I had painted on the snow day before.
"Wow! Thank you so much! Enjoy the show!" She said, before being whisked into her dressing room.
We walked out the door and continued winding around the side of the building. “It’s so funny, you see her on the TV and then she’s right there in front of you,” my dad remarked.
“She’s so little,” exclaimed my mom, “and then when she turned and said, ‘Are you Bailey?’ That was the best thing ever.”
“I know, Bay, you always say that you tweet her and Brian and that you thought she knew who you were last time. She actually knew you,” my dad said.
“That was so cool!” I gushed.
When we arrived at the front of the building, I climbed the steps and posed for a picture underneath the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra sign. The tall glass doors opened up into a huge marble palace. The lobby was filled with people all waiting to see Megan and excitement bubbled in my stomach knowing that I had just talked to the person that everyone wanted to see. And that she knew who I was, that would never get old.
Off of the lobby was a room with velvet walls that housed the bathrooms and the escalators. We floated up to the next floor on the smooth rolling stairs. The ushers let us go inside the mezzanine, a steep middle level of chairs. Next, we ventured up to the top balcony. From the balcony’s railing, I spotted our seats. The second row, on the aisle, right in front of the microphone stand.
We wound back downstairs and I went to the bathroom to make sure my hair was still perfect. Then, my mom and I found our seats. The first three rows were filled with teenage girls. Megan was beginning to cultivate a fan base. At her concert just eight months ago, I had been the only person at the stage door and all of the attendees had been over the age of fifty.
After sitting down, I tweeted Megan and asked her if she would sign after the concert. She tweeted me back and said, “Of course! Thanks for coming! See you after the show!”
My dad joined us in our seats and the lights went down. First, the orchestra played an overture and the conductor announced Megan. I leaned forward in my seat and I could see Megan waiting in the wings. She walked out in a stunning black dress and sang her Smash signature, “They Just Keep Moving the Line.” She continued for three more songs then went backstage again and the orchestra played one more song. At intermission, we walked around and looked at the pictures of all of the conductors and enjoyed a chocolate toffee bar. The lights flickered and we returned to our premium seats. Megan came out in a shimmery blue keyhole dress and showed off her soprano voice by singing “I Could Have Danced All Night”. I studied the way she shaped her mouth when she sang the operatic high notes. The final song of that set was “Second Hand White Baby Grand,” a beautiful song about the broken childhood of Marilyn Monroe. She exited again and the orchestra played some different musical medleys while Megan made her final costume change. She entered in a beige showstopper drenched in tiny diamonds and said, “Now I just want to address the first three rows for a moment. I want to apologize for you guys for blinding you with my sparkly dress for the rest of the show.”
The show ended after an encore performance of “Popular” from Wicked and then all three encores of “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend.”
After the show, I headed to the stage door again and was greeted by a mob of people waiting to see her. The security guard told us he'd never seen this huge of a group of people before and that making a line would be the best way to get her autograph. I ended up third in line and some of the girls asked if I was the one who she tweeted. I felt mildly famous for a moment.
We waited for a long time, watching all of the musicians come out. One of them looked at the group and joked, “I just can’t even believe that you’re all here for me, but I will be unable to sign today.”
After a while, some people who looked important started coming out and whispering into the security guard's ear. “They’re nervous that you’re all going to swarm her when she comes out. They are uncomfortable with all of you being out here without there being any barriers,” the security guard explained to us after the people returned inside.
Her dresses began coming and the anticipation was building. Finally, Megan walked out the door, causing an eruption of applause. She was carrying a big bag and everyone quieted to hear what she would say. "Don't worry, I'll sign and take pictures with everyone, I just need to put this in my car first!"
The whole crowd fizzled with anticipation. Megan returned to the crowd and the guard directed her to the front of the line. The two girls ahead of me took pictures and had their CD's signed.
When it was my turn, her face shone a tiny spark of familiarity. She smiled and signed my program and my 9 to 5 folder and then we took another picture together. Before I left she pulled me into a hug and thanked me again for the gifts. Her hug was not at all contrived and I watched her for a couple minutes and she hugged no one else.
We got into the car and I started looking on Twitter for other people’s pictures with her. I compared them with mine and I smiled noticing how she looked more comfortable in mine than in anyone else’s.
