WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
Here are what visitors to the 'Bea Arthur in the lime light' web site are saying about the show:

To read my own personal story of meeting Bea, click on personal experiences on the left.

I went to her show on September 9, 2001. She was appearing in Indy both Saturday and Sunday, but I only went on Sunday. I arrived at the stage door hours before the show. I went inside, and they offered no help whatsoever. They told me to talk to the security guards. I walked over there. This black guy (obviously not a Bea fan) wasn't any help either. He said that she wasn't there yet, but would be arriving. My sister and I had to go out to lunch with our grandmother, so we couldn't really stay and wait two hours (LOL). I had the clock ready to give to Bea if she were to show up. I was also well equipped with 8x10 glossies (2) of The Golden Girls and a blue Sharpie. He told me that he would put the clock in her dressing room.

We came back later, and I gave the guy the clock. I also was going to tip the guy for doing it (it only seemed reasonable; if he were going to help me, I should pay... some people are motivated by money??) He said, "Put that away [the money]!!" I thought it was sort of rude, and I apologized. I was so pissed because I thought I had made the security guard mad. He would be of less help (if that's possible) if he were hostile towards me.

I put a note on the clock with my address and a short message about how much I would like to see her outside the theatre. I forgot to mention that the security guard did say that Bea was seeing no one and that she hadn't signed for ANY ONE. This sort of discouraged me, but I kept optimistic.

I watched the show, it was very funny, and, then, it was over. I rushed to the door. We were going out a different exit. It was one that went through the back stage. I was behind my 74 year old grandma going down the stairway. My sister was way ahead of the rest of us. She is also a Bea fan. All of the sudden, Bea walked by us, and I was shocked. She didn't acknowledge anyone. I thought this was rude, but I kept in mind that this was because she was sick. I hurried down the steps, and I asked one of the security guards I had talked to earlier. He told me, "The exits that way." I thought, "What a jerk!" The people that work at these venues have no class whatsoever.

As I was exiting, I saw Bea walking down that hallway. That is an image that I will never forget. It was just like one of those goals that you can't grasp, but you want it so badly.

I went outside, and I was at the front of the line. The guards kept saying, "She's come" into their walkie talkies. A large line of people was starting to grow behind ( <- keyword) me. They all had their programs to sign, but I had 8x10s of her. By the way these people were talking about my photos, you would think that they had never seen an 8x10 before.

The car drove up. It drove away. It drove up again. Repeat. I didn't know what was going on. Then, Billy walked out. Stupid me should have talked to him about seeing Bea, but you don't think of those things when you are there. He got in the car. Then I heard them talking about picking Bea up at a different exit.

The worst happened next: it started raining. Well, raining doesn't quite explain it. It started POURING!!! I had never seen it pour like it did. My 8x10s got drenched. The inks on them started to smear (I couldn't understand why; they were AGFA photos). The rain was splashing from the pavement onto me. I was soaked. I looked like I had going swimming in my clothes. It is indescribable. You would have to have been there to understand completely. I knew that there was no way that Bea was going to come out and sign in this weather. We had to run to the car, and I was, of course, a little depressed.

The only thing I can find positive: If Bea would have come out and ignored me, it would have left a bad impression on me, and it would have crushed me.
It would have made me never watch The Golden Girls or Maude again. I would just have been too hurt if she were to ignore me. I might have seen a side of Bea that I wouldn't want to experience. Maybe it started pouring so I wouldn't see her. God works in mysterious ways.

That's my entire Bea Arthur story. I am sorry, but since it is so long, I don't have time to go back and edit it and correct any errors. I am sure you understand.

I hope you have enjoyed my novel. LOL

Sincerely,

Michael


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I went to NY with 3 of my friends, Greta who is my neighbor, lives across the street from me. She is a Spanish teacher. Her two friends who are also teachers, Maria teaches Spanish also and Elfie who teaches English. They all teach at high schools. It was an experience for them too. They know me and have said over and over again how much I look like Bea.

Anyway, we went in by bus and went right to the area of the Booth theatre. Took some pictures of me which I will send to you outside under the posters of Bea. People on the other side of the street were stopped in their tracks watching us. It was bananas. LOL I went over the the side of the main entrance to the Booth theatre looking for the stage door as I am walking over to that area, some lady with her mother in a wheel chair is looking for a security guard to help her get her mother into the theatre. Her mother is looking at me and pointing the daughter asked me if I was Bea. I said no. LOL We located the back stage door and I went in.....this is BEFORE the show. (My girlfriends got online in the meantime). Soon as I went in the door there is a small office where there was a guy behind a desk, I proceeded to ask him if I could see Bea after the show. He told me Bea does NOT see anyone after the show. I told him I wrote her a note last w eek asking permission but that did not do any good either. I really did write her a note, included my home phone number so maybe I would get a message before saturday March 9th that it was okay for me to go backstage. So since I did not get anywhere with this guy I proceeded to go online to get into the theatre, it was about 1:40PM. My friends had already gotten inside. While I am waiting online for the show, people were looking at me, one guy came up to me and said "if anyone asks if you are Bea, tell them you are a Bea wanna be". I get to the ticket person, give my ticket and find my friends standing in a corner by the steps going to the mezzanine area. Greta tells me when they were online and she yelled over to me while I was going to the back door that they would meet me inside, some lady said to her "is that Bea Arthur"? She said no that is my girlfriend. LOL

Ok, so now the 4 of us proceed upstairs. Again.....people are "looking" at me. It was bananas. We get our seats, second row, great view, show was nice, enjoyed seeing Bea soooooo much.

Now the show is over....we all go outside, right over to the back stage door. There is a Lincoln Town car there waiting for Bea to come out. I was standing right in front of the front passenger door. I think the driver was outside at one point and I asked him if I could see Bea, he could not do anything. All of sudden...BILLY comes out....people applauded I got his picture and he walked directly towards me and Greta looking to pass us. I got him right in front of me, Great was holding his hand she said. I begged, pleaded, begged, pleaded to see Bea for a minute, a second, anything. I said to Billy......remember Jessica from Minneapolis, he shook his head yes. Then all of a sudden he said ok, we walked towards the back stage door and all I remember is he walked me into the hall there were about 4 or 5 people in that little hall (all waiting for Bea to come down) he said to them this is Jessica from Minneapolis it is okay take her to SEE BEA. So this guy said follow me. We started going up this narrow stairwell and he said you are Jessica from Minneapolis, I said NO I am Josie from New Jersey. I kept saying "I don't believe this". We reach the top of the stairs and now we walk a long narrow hall. He calls out Bea, her dressing room is at the end of the hall. Then she appeared. I was shaking. He said Bea this is Josie from New Jersey......she said Oh yes (I think that is what she said). I had a button of the Golden Girls with Me as her on my coat. I will send you a copy.

I told her it was a dream come true for me to meet her and she said she was glad to hear that. I asked her if I could take a picture with her and she said certainly. I gave the camera to the guy that brought me up to meet her and she put her arm around me and he took the picture. I thanked her for meeting me and went right back down stairs. When I opened the door facing the crowd they all started applauding. I really felt like BEA. I kept SCREAMING that I just took a picture with BEA ARTHUR. People were taking pictures of ME. Some lady went up to my girlfriend and told her she would sent me the pictures she took, if she had an address, so Greta gave her my address, she also lives in New Jersey. Anyway back to my story. People asked me if she was "nice"...I said yes. Finally the door opens and out comes BEA. People applauded she was so amazed at the crowd she put her right hand over her mouth. I caught that picture. She wa lked directly towards me and got in the car in the front seat. The window was dark I could not take another picture. The car took off and people again were coming up to me asking me about my encounter with Bea backstage. People kept remarking how much I look like her.

My friends were so excited for me....this was some experience.
Now I get home and sunday morning I run to Wal mart to have the pictures developed. Go pick them up and the picture of me and Bea is black, you can just about see the outline of my head and the light from her dressing table.

I have the urge to "write" to Billy Goldenberg, thank him for giving me the opportunity to meet Bea and tell him that the picture that I so very much wanted did not come out. Maybe before the show ends if he would arrange for me to meet her again, I would make the trip all the way into NY just to have a picture of me with her. However with my luck he won't answer me either.

:: I love this story. So sad about the picture not turning out. We all feel your pain! Click here to see the pics of Josie's that did turn out!


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Bea on Broadway 01.29.2002

Just got back from seeing Ms. Arthur's matinee show today - she was fabulous as always. It was nice walking up the street and seeing her picture on the marquee - I remember watching Maude religiously 25 or so years ago and never ever thought I would ever get to see her in person. To me going to her shows proved to be an emotional experience.

The show was still an hour and one half, even though she added a few things since I saw it last. She sang a song about New York and spoke some more about Angela Lansbury. The whole orchestra section was filled and was very receptive to her. You could feel the love pouring back and forth between her and the audience. At the end she did two curtain calls both times to standing ovations. Even though she was not feeling well, said she was getting over a very heavy chest cold, she still looked and sounded great. Being in the first row I did make eye contact with her a couple of times.

I arrived at the theater a little before 12:45 and as I was standing there a limo arrived and out popped Bea! There were a few of us there and she did sign one autograph but was running late and went inside - she walked past me and smiled. She was not in her stage makeup at that point but she still looked good! She did leave by the stage door at the end of the show, but did not sign autographs as she was going back to the hotel to rest before her evening performance. She did stop, however to talk with a fan who was in a wheelchair - which turned out be an emotional experience. Again she walked right by me and as there was a few of us there, we clapped for her and she acknowledged us.

The next time I go (Feb 10) it will be a Sunday matinee with no show that evening or on Monday, so maybe she will sign autographs. The other two times I go are on Saturday nights which might be a little harder to get to her. I am not too concerned about getting another autograph since I have two already; what I really want to do is to tell her how much her characters (especially Maude) influenced me while I was growing up!

Am glad I went as it was a nice mid-week break since spending that hour or so with her is like being back with an old friend - she is such a great lady!

Maribeth

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Another Bill who met Bea at her Indianapolis show wrote this:

Kevin,

First, let me say I enjoy your site...very informative and fun at the same time.

I attended the Indianapolis show back in September, and it was wonderful. I've been a fan of Bea Arthur for so long. I'm 25, so I'm not familiar with anything before Maude, and even that I saw via reruns as a child, but it was still nonetheless excellent entertainment.

The very day I found out she was performing here in Indianapolis, I bought my tickets, I was determined to see her live...no matter what. Then I read in a local nightlife paper that she was also hosting a charity show afterwards. Well, when I called they weren't selling advance tickets anymore and I just figured it wasn't meant to be.

The show was wonderful. Even though I was unfamiliar with most of the numbers from her earlier years, I still found them very entertaining and almost considered them "new material" after watching the Golden Girls up to 3 times a day (love that Lifetime!) for the last 10+ years! She looked great, sounded great and seemed to be really enjoying herself up on stage...definitely looked like she felt at home. I don't think I stopped smiling through the whole performance...except to laugh til I cried.

As my partner and I were leaving the show I just had a feeling, that I HAD to at least try to go to the charity thing. Just before we turned that one turn too many I told him to turn back and find an ATM..."we're gonna meet Bea!"

Here is where I must disagree with my fellow admirers from Indy who wrote to you earlier.

It was a small room, a small crowd and a very small beverage selection...but still a somewhat intimate setting. Ms Arthur entered the room and started making her rounds. She stopped many times to talk to fans who all claimed to be her biggest and most loyal. When she passed us, I heard her mumble to her friend "let's get up to the bar" (little did she know what DIDN'T lie ahead). She was being mobbed a bit and asked if anyone else wanted to get into a particular group shot and I said "I do!" and jumped in behind her.

Then it was time to go all out...I had to talk to her. Everyone was calling her Bea. I know that's her name and she probably doesn't mind...but it still seemed a bit rude to me. I finally managed to tap her shoulder and softly mutter out "Ms. Arthur, excuse me...Ms. Arthur..." to which she did respond.

I didn't say I was her biggest fan, though I am right up there. I told her how wonderful the show was, better than I expected...truly wonderful. Then it hit me I was talking to her and I made a small gasp, I think. It really felt like she could tell I was nervous and very sincere. Then I told her it was wonderful to meet her, to which she replied it was wonderful to met me as well.

Then, some queen (sorry, but it truly is the best word to use...LOL) grabbed her attention and she turned away, but didn't let go of my hand and I wasn't sure if she was going to come back. After about a minute, I guess I gave up and gave a little squeeze and let go.

After that, someone offered to get her something to drink (again, almost hollering "Bea") to which our favorite comedienne replied "...no, don't bother...there's nothing up there dear..." WONDERFUL! After that she left, probably about 15 minutes from when she first entered.

A great experience, I'm trying to see if I can get to one of the New York shows...I hope so. Once just wasn't enough.

I hope this wasn't too long winded. Just wanted to set the scene.

Thanks...and keep the site going, love it!

Bill

:: Great story Bill! Click here to see the pics he sent!


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Hello Kevin,

sorry I have not gotten back to you sooner. this whole national crisis took me for a loop. Well, we went to Indy to see Bea. First of all they split our room up with the girls. We were supposed to have a nice suite, but some other people stayed longer than expected and we ended up with 2 rooms on opposite ends of the hotel. We went to the show. Had a buffet style meal in the egyptian rm at the murat. My partner Brad was having a smoke on the outside when Bea arrived via a black lincoln town car. She got out of the front seat. a guard walked her to the door......approximately 45 minutes to curtain. She didn't say hi/boo to anyone. She arrived on stage-------standing ovation. She covered many things that our age catagory wasn't able to relate to.....three penny opera----the days when she first started out. No mention of Lucille Ball, Carrol O'Conner, Betty White......etc. She did mention Angie............Langsbury. Many gay people were in the crowd with partners/friends. It was nice that she mentioned some gay items......including jokes. Immediately following she was to attend a benefit across the street for $25. My partner and my friend Dave made it over on time...........I had to wait for the girls to relieve themselves before we could get there. While running across the street I was not sure what entrance to use. I went one way and the girls the other. I got to the front desk of the building the event was in. I asked the gentleman.....where is the Bea Arthur event........he said "Through that door". I went to the door and it was locked. He said...."well just Knock". which I did. Someone opened the door. It was a small room. Brad stood directly in front of where I came in. As I looked to the left......Ms. Arthur was making her way through a small crowd. Brad told me she just arrived as he arrived. She came in, said absolutely nothing to anyone. A few guys stood next to her and had some pics taken and she continued through the room. In the 3 minutes that transpired from Brad's arrival to when I got there.....Bea made her way through without a word......and was gone before I even finished saying hi to Brad. That was it!!!! The girls arrived minutes later...not even getting a glance. Next day after breakfast at Le Peeps, we decided to run to the Murat for Beas arrival for the afternoon show. We just arrived and her car pulled up. We had to run to the front of the building. The big security guard yelled......"Stay there"......before we got across the front drive of the Murat. We walked through and Ms. Arthur got out of the Lincoln. As we tried to snap a couple pics she said....."don't take any pics.....I look a mess....not being made up". We did snap a couple and she looked pretty good for 78. Attached are a couple of our trip. We never did get her to autograph any of the record albums we brought or anything. I will try to get them signed anyway...............hope to run into you soon in Chitown.

Bill and Brad

:: Thanks guys! Click here to see the pics they sent!


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:: From Allison on August 6th, 2001; to see her pictures click here.

Dear all bea fans,

On July 26th 2001 I had the chance to attend Bea Arthur 's new show up in Nyack Ny . The show was great I loved it . But the best part of the night was that I got to meet Mrs. Arthur . After the show me and my dad waited by the stage door where Mrs. Arthur comes out. And then she come out and I went up to her and told her that I love to watch her on the Golden Girls and she said "oh God" and then I asked her to sign my show program and I asked her to also take some pictures with me and she said "sure " . So we took the pictures and then I said thank you and I told her that I will se her next year in Ny City ,

I have wanted to meet Mrs Arthur for a long time and I finally got my chance . Mrs Arthur is a very nice lady and a great actress

I loved the show!

- Allison


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:: From Andrew on July 7th, 2001:

Kevin,

OK now I know how you felt! I got to meet here! Oh where do I start. It was magical. Surreal. I'm on Cloud 9! First off the show kicked ass! I mean anybody who says it was OK or bad is out of there mind. I admit it is for her fans mainly but, she is brilliant, classy, funny, witty, passionate, heart wrenching, bawdy and down right legendary! She was right on target. And I loved her outfit. Blue shimmery jacket. I was able to get some articles and a photo of she and I. I even mentioned you.

So here is how it all happened. I did what you said. I scoped out the theatre. The people that worked there were unfriendly so it took a little extra work on my part to figure everything out.The stage door was hidden. And the dressing room was somehow even more impossible to get to. But, I saw a limo that I was sure was Bea's. So Mike and I waited and followed the limo to the side ally. We though, "OK this is it! Its Bea's limo. And it must be parked by the hidden stage door" We were set. Come hell or high water we would meet her! So, the limo driver gets out of the limo opens the door and guess what? Two older people get in it! How could this be? Well, we were totally disgusted. We were sure it was Be Arthur's limo. How could this happen? Then as if an angel had heard our cry, out of nowhere comes BEA! It was like she just appeared(actually she came out the hidden stage door but, I like to think God made her appear!) The wind was blowing really bad but we stopped here and got a picture with here. We told her we had drove two hrs to see her on account that we were celebrating our anniversary. We told here that we were seeing the show that night and wed be in the front row. She grabbed our arms firmly and said in that voice,"Good, Good oh I hope you will like it". We bid her farewell, and snapped a few more shots as she got into the Towncar with Nathan, her assistant. It had happened we met Bea Arthur. Mission Accomplished. You cant get any better than this....Or so we thought!

Mike and I proceeded to go check out the theatre and see where our seats were. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a small older man coming down the escalator. I thought for a minute it was Billy Goldenberg but then could remember what he looked like. So I said oh fuck it! IM gonna take a chance here! I said Billy, is your name Billy? And he said, "Yes IM Billy." So we got to talking and I told him how we just met Bea real quick in the alley. And how we were down there for our anniversary. So he invited us to come back after the show and visit with Bea in her dressing room privately! Can you believe it. How lucky. It was an act of GOD! Billy asked us back to see her privately! NO WAY!!!!!

So the show ends and we go back to see her. She is sitting in a chair and autographing a "Mame" album for another guys. We approach her and are introduced as friends of Billy's. Mike tells her about the alley way picture we took with her earlier and her hair blowing in the wind. She says," Why is it that people always want a picture of me when I look shitty" We all laughed and then proceeded to tell her we loved the show, we love her work she is awesome...blah blah. We then take the picture. We tell her all about how we are here for our anniversary and how we met in a bar and one of the first conversations we talked about was her. Well, she just loved that. She said in that sarcastic tone"Oh god you talked about me. Why?" But then she chuckled and signed two autographs and put "Bea Arthur Happy" I'm still trying to figure out if she means like, Be Happy or perhaps Happy Anniversary." We talked a bit more about her bringing the show to NYC and we chatted with Billy about some music stuff. then I mentioned you Kevin and your web site. She didn't remember you exactly "She said Oh God only knows he is probably a lovely person but, I met so many people and IM bad with timing." Hell, I cant even program a VCR. I can get it to rewind and fast forward, My kids make fun of me for not knowing what a web site is but, it all just boggles my mind". I'm thinking. She just rocks. Totally down to earth. A hip Mama! We wrapped it all up and we gave her a hug and told her good luck with the tour and that we hoped to see her on Broadway. All in all it was about a 10 min period we spent with her. It was an experience I will never ever forget. We also ended up getting to go out to brunch the next day with Billy. It happened that another couple that we befriended knew him very well, and they invited us, Bea was t come too but, she was ill with a cold! I was really hoping I could have said I had brunch with Bea Arthur but, my 10 min of heaven was plenty.

As soon as I get the film developed I will send the pics and the clippings to you! I'm sure this email is really long and has spelling and typing errors but I'm still in a daze! Please forgive me!

Bea Happy
Andrew


:: Great story from another huge Bea fan! Thanks for sharing Andrew... and to anybody else that has seen Bea's show and/or met her... email me your story to share with the world! To see his pictures click here.


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:: Here is a fantastic story of a guy who met Bea in August when Bea appeared at the A Different Light Bookstore in San Francisco.

Kevin,

Well, I did get to meet her briefly in San Francisco.

Bea was making a personal appearance at A Different Light Book bookstore on Castro Street in San Francisco a few days before her show opened up here at the Alcazar Theatre.

I had already bought my ticket when I noticed something on the advertisement for her personal appearance. The appearance was supposed to be Bea judging a Golden Girls look-alike contest, then signing posters for people who had tickets to her show.

I've always liked Bea Arthur, and even fooled around a little making her the subject of a couple of art projects on the computer. One was a satirical movie poster for my idea of the perfect sequel to There's Something About Mary - it would be There's Something About Bea, with Ben Stiller falling for Bea after Mary dumps him.

I also made a fake dollar bill in Photoshop with Bea's portrait in place of Washington.

Well, I'd done these years ago, but decided to print them out, frame the movie poster (8 1/2 by 11 inches) and print a couple of "Bea Bucks" and take them to her at the bookstore.

The place was packed. Tons of people. I could hardly see anything because of all the people, and Bea sat with Jan Wahl, a local news program person who does these film reviews and often complains about how there are no good roles for strong women - so she LOVED Bea since Bea is so gruff and forthright.

After the show, Bea had to wait for her car to come pick her up again. She was in the back of the store meeting with the staff, and there were still most of the crowd in the store wanting to meet her. I think she was a little scared the crowd hadn't left. She looked out at all of them and said "What am I - fuckin' Oprah Winfrey?"

Long story short, I got in line, gradually made my way up to her, and told her I'd been an admirer of hers for as long as I could remember (I'm 32) and she thanked me. I handed her the folder with the printed dollars and the movie poster in the frame. She opened the folder, and got her pen ready and said "What do you want me to write on this?" and I just sort of stammered out that I didn't want anything, I'd made them for her. She looked closely at one and realized she was on the dollar bill and said "Well, I've never seen anything like this!"

She grabbed me around the neck with one arm and gave me a hug, then grabbed my hand and said thanks. She was really nice and very pretty and really strong.

I left, and got outside into the fresh air again, realizing I was sweating after being crammed into that hot little store.

Bea's car pulled up and she made her way out and got inside with tons of people still standing around watching her.

It was then I realized that the only things she had brought out with her and her assistant or friend had brought was her purse, and the folder and framed picture. No one else had brought her anything, not even flowers.

I don't know if she still has the movie poster or the Bea Bucks, but I'll remember my one chance to meet her and the enjoyment I got when I saw her show later that week.

Steven Kyle Weller
San Francisco, CA

:: Thanks Steve for the descriptive email... that's what I like to see!


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:: This one is from a friend, who I went with to the Chicago shows, after she got back from seeing Bea for the 3rd time in St. Louis

September 22nd, 2001

Kevin, it truly was my dream come true!!!!! And I have wanted to meet Bea for sooooo long now!

Oh, the whole thing was an experience I'll never forget as long as I live!

I saw her on opening night in St. Louis on Friday and the show was just awesome, Bea was awesome.

I knew she would say something about the tragedy on September 11 and she sure did. In fact, it was the very first thing she talked about. As she was talking about it, she became extremely emotional and just about broke down crying and then said and I quote "LIFE HAS TO GO ON". But she then cheered up and said "so please, if something strikes you funny, laugh and if you wanna cry, that's ok too." Just love her attitude!!

Then she went into her leg of lamb recipe as usual. It was my third time seeing her show, fourth time seeing her and I really think this was her very best show yet. I had absolutely no complaints. (I don't understand why some people do.) Oh but Bea was so great and she looked absolutely beautiful. She's so amazing.

Anyway, before the show even started, I was bugging this security guy about Bea and he told me that he'd seen her arrive before I got there and that she looked tired and she was not happy about being brought in a cab and not in a Lincoln Town Car (as she prefers.)

A few minutes later, I saw Bea's wonderful pianist Billy Goldenberg who was walking down the back stairs out into the parking lot. I thought ok this is my big chance! So I went up to him and shook his hand and we talked for a few minutes.

He was without a doubt the nicest, sweetest guy in the world. Bea is right, he IS devine!!! I told him I'd seen Bea's show twice in Chicago but that I hadn't met her yet and it would be my dream come true. He was like "awww"! He said he would take me to meet Bea right now (before the show) but she doesn't really like meeting people beforehand. But he said after the show, I would be his guest and he would take me in to meet Bea!!!! I'm thinking this guy is the best!! So my dreams finally came true. After the show I hung around the back waiting to get the ok from the security guy from Billy to let me in. We were then escorted in and then Billy showed me into to Bea's dressing room. I just couldn't believe it! I saw Bea....she looked beautiful. And I was thinking this has to be a dream!! Then after the group before us cleared out and it was just Bea, me, my mom, and Billy, I was introduced to the one and only BEA ARTHUR! Oh. Bea was so very sweet and so very gracious. She even complemented my mom in that voice of hers and said "you look more like her sister than her mom"! She couldn't get over it! She thought we were sisters! Bea was so wonderful. I told her how much I loved the show and that I'd seen it twice before in Chicago and she said "oh the show has changed since then" then asked me "which did you like better?" I told her I liked this one the best which I really did. (She made 'The Man In The Moon' her final song.) I then asked her if I could get a picture with her and she didn't mind at all. I then told her that I wished I had a program for her to sign but I forgot them at my seat. She seemed sorry for me that I didn't have one and she was really trying hard to figure out where we could find one. Some nice man came in and handed her one and she signed it and she even....without me asking.....put four X's on it and she told me they were little kisses. I'm tellin' you this woman is the sweetest!!!! I talked with her a couple minutes more then I realized I just HAD to ask her for a hug. I asked her if she wouldn't mind and she said something like "well, no!" She was really flattered. I could tell she really LOVED all the affection! And I was on cloud nine. I then said goodbye to her and I love you. And I don't know how many times I told her "this is a dream come true." IT WAS!!!! I felt soooooo lucky.

LONG LIVE BEA!

Jessica

:: To see Jessica's pictures, click here!


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