Thursday, March 22, 2012

A Wish Come True

Marisa's been pushing the limit on requests for special events. A few months ago she requested to see the show The Fantastics.

"Why do you want to see that particular show?" I had asked.

"Aaron Carter is in it!" was her quick reply.

I'm not too up on all the young celebrities, so I asked who he was.

"Oh, he's a singer and the younger brother of Nick Carter from Backstreet Boys."

Okay, so at least her urgency to see this show made more sense to me.

Shoshana, Marisa's older sister, purchased tickets for the four of us. Marisa was delighted!

"I have to get Aaron Carter's autograph!" she announced in an extra exuberant voice when she heard that we were actually going to see the show.

Oh no, I thought. She's going to be so disappointed when we don't hang out at the back door to the theater waiting in freezing temperatures for the stars to exit.

 "It would really be so hard to wait in crowds of people for an autograph. Who knows how long that will take?" I said.

"I don't care," was her quick response. She was so determined.

The special day had arrived. Delight and excitement was written all over Marisa's face. We arrived at the theater 30 minutes early. The Snapple Theater in NYC is a small theater. We were able to sit and wait in the lobby till the audience was able to enter. As we sat, Marisa grew more and more excited about the event and was talking about waiting for Aaron Carter's autograph after the performance. We kept telling her it was going to be difficult. Not willing to accept that, Marisa took the initiative to ask an usher how she could get an autograph. The usher told her that the stars would come out to the lobby to sign autographs after the show. Marisa was delighted and the rest of us were finally put at ease.

Wow, what a break! I thought.

The Fantastics turned out to be a very enjoyable show for all of us. At the end, we filed out in to the lobby to wait with other young people eager for an autograph.

Then the performers started to come out and Marisa waited second in line. She not only got Aaron Carter's autograph, but a hug and 2 pictures as well. She was thrilled! She also was able to ask other stars in the show for their autograph. So with much satisfaction we left the theater, happy that Marisa was able to have her wish come true.

Two days later, while Marisa was at work talking about her experience, she mentioned that she always wanted to see Big Time Rush. They actually performed at Radio City Music Hall the day that we saw The Fantasticks. Then Marisa found out that Big Time Rush was going to perform in August at Jones Beach Theater. Jones Beach Theater has a capacity of 15,000 seats with an additional 5000 general admission lawn seats.  Later that day, Marisa asked if we could attend.  Since this was a group that Marisa's been talking about for a couple of years, we considered it, and thought it would be fun to attend a performance at a summer outdoor theater. Then we decided to purchase tickets!

Marisa was so excited to hear the news, but there was just one problem!

"I'll need to get their autographs!"

"This time it won't be quite so easy to do," I said.

Will Marisa's wish come true, or will the size of the amphitheatre soften her desire when the time comes?

On a more positive note, this could turn out to be a good lesson in realistic expectations, a subject for another post in August.