From Fi...(April 8, 1998)
It was BC/EFA week the night I saw the show (which actually exceeded my expectations), so Martin was one of the people collecting, complete with a little red bucket. I gave him five bucks, undoubtedly the largest contribution I've ever made to a charitable organisation, and he gave me a little pin that says "Titanic: Ship of Dreams--Support BC/EFA." He also gave my friend Jane a pin, even though she hadn't donated anything. Oh well. I was really nervous. My voice went up an octave. And for some reason I kept staring at my shoes. They were black and white Sketchers knockoffs. I think I asked him if I could take a picture with him, because it eventually happened. In the picture I have the stupidest expression on my face. He was very nice about it, of course. But I can't really remember what he said, or what I said, because I was high on adrenaline.
From Mallory...(July 13, 1998)
After I saw Titanic (which RULED), I was outside the stage door when I saw Martin signing some autographs and talking to a few fans. So, on a bet, I had to approach him by myself and get his autograph and a picture. So I went up to him, handed him the pen and my programme, and told him that I thought he was really cool that night, because I could think of nothing more I could say that wouldn't cause him to get a restraining order. (just kidding.) He signed his name on the programme, then asked my name, which called for some quick thinking and a rather regretted "Ummm...." before I could reply. (I'm way too starstruck, you know....) So he handed me the programme, and I thanked him, and he started to leave, so the WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL Cynthia called out to him, asking if we could get a picture, so he came back and I got two with him. He was really nice about all of it.
From Joanna...(March 27th, June 24th, July 15th, August 15th....)
The first time I talked to Martin was in March, after I saw the show twice. He was really sweet and he's a great actor. While I was talking to him, Clarke Thorell came out, and anyone that knows me knows that to stop Clarke and continue talking to Martin and getting a picture and autograph means that Martin is a great actor and I almost sacrificed a lot just to talk to him. I got the chance to talk to him after my 4th time seeing it, when my friend wanted to meet him. I mentioned that I was coming back in about three weeks,
so he said that he's going on vacation starting on July 16th for a few weeks, but when I said that I was coming on the 15th he said, "Well than I should be there." On July 15th I went up to him to tell him to have a good time on vacation and before I even opened my mouth he said "Hey, you did come today, I was wondering if you caught today's show." So he remembered me. On August 15th, at Brian d'Arcy James' last he gave the sweetest speech. He was all flustered for words and he was getting all choked up. He is one of the sweetest men, and also one of the most talented. He's one of the few people
that I have seen all 7 times I've seen the show and I don't think that I'd want to see an understudy for Bride. When he leaves the show (which won't be for a while, I hope), it will be one of the saddest performances.
From Lindsay (February 5, 1999)
(This is an account of a concert Martin did in Oradell, NJ, and previously posted on the In Every Age mailing list)
Let's all play the "How Much Does Lindsay Love Martin" game. First off, I went with two friends of mine, Susan and Debra, neither of whom had heard of Martin before, except tidbits from me. Susan wanted to see Josie de Guzman (Sarah on the Guys & Dolls CD), and Debra was interested in the dancers from the NYC Ballet. Besides those I already mentioned, the other performers were Steve Barton, Loni Ackerman, Felicity LaFortune, and David Shire.
We got good seats (second row aisle) so I had a fabulous view of Martin the whole time. Yay! Well, they all did "I Have Dreamed" as an opening number, and he had a nice little solo... and a VERY nice suit. My friends both immediately thought he was cute. The next number he came out for was "Love in a New Tempo" -- sung to the tune of one of those John Philip Sousa marches! It was SO adorable!!! "The march of unrequited love... yadda yadda... you better give in, you better give in, because this song is getting long!" And he was all jumping around the stage and stuff... it was way too cute. You
just had to be there. And hey... I didn't know he could DANCE too, for heaven's sake. He's too cool.
They did "The Proposal/The Night Was Alive" -- surprise surprise, right? They started off with some woman saying something melodramatic about a ship sailing to its icy destiny in 1912, and I was thinking that it was giving people a very cheezy impression of the show, especially when the fog machine started going. But it was GREAT!!! Steve did Barrett's part, and he was decent. He shouldn't have tried to do the accent though, because to put it bluntly, it
did NOT work. And he messed up the words too, but what can you do? They did a shortened version of the dialogue before the song... you know, Barrett coming in while Bride's tapping away... oh yeah, and the set consisted of a stool and a microphone on a stand. Martin tapped on the mike handle for the dit-dit parts and pretended he had the headphones on. He was SO in character, it was great! What else is there to say about that number? Everyone here knows it, I daresay. :-) He came back for another ensemble number called "One
Step" from Starting Here, Starting Now that they did in honor of David Shire, and then...
... intermission. Debra and Susan were trying to keep me under control, and we were wandering around the lobby, when I just stopped dead in my tracks. Deb was like "What?" I gestured to the other end of the room, but she apparently couldn't see anything, and Sus goes, "Hey, it's your guy!" (She's blunt -- this is the same girl who, when we went backstage at Scarlet Pimpernel, yelled out, "Omigod, it's DOUG!") He was talking with a bunch of people who were apparently leaving, and so we politely waited out of the way till he was done. He started toward the "backstage" area again, and I was
like "Um, excuse me!" He looked at me for a sec and then said, "We've met, haven't we. Stage door at Titanic a few weeks ago, right?"
Needless to say, I was overjoyed. "Yeah, I was the one who said 'I love you!'" He obviously remembered that, and laughed that cute laugh he does a lot. We chatted for a little bit, I introduced him to Deb and Sus, and all of a sudden he interrupted me, stuck out his hand, and said, "I'm Martin, by the way... who are you?" Me: "I'm Lindsay... and I know you're Martin. That's why I'm here!" He found that amusing... and you know how when you're talking to him, he touches your arm occasionally? He did that a lot -- it was sweet.
But after a minute or so, he said something to the effect of, "I'm not really supposed to be out here -- I just came out to say goodbye to some friends --so I'd better get back in there before they come after me." (Again, not a quote... just something to that effect.) But this IS a quote: "Maybe I'll see you after the show!" And this is another quote: "I didn't know they were gonna put FOG in that number!"
I wandered back to my seat with one of those way-too-big grins on my face. By now, Deb and Sus both think I'm nuts, although they freely admit that he's SOOO sweet and REALLY cute. Both thoughts to which I heartily agree.
The first song he did in the second act was "If I Loved You"... and it was mixed with Loni Ackerman singing "What You Don't Know About Women" -- an odd combo, I admit, but it was really great the way they did it!! Like an act, with the guy trying to get the girl and the girl going "pshaw" at him, and he doesn't even realize till the end that he ain't gettin' nowhere with her. So after the last note there was this long pause in which they looked at each other, her with a raised eyebrow and him with a puppy-dog look... and then
they just turned away and walk off into opposite wings. It was SOOO funny. I could be heard yelling "Yeah Skeets!" Just because I felt like it.
His next, and last, solo song was the BEST. For anyone who has ever heard the song "There But For You Go I" -- you have NEVER heard it like this. Ever. It was completely beyond words... you could never tell he had a voice like that just by listening to Titanic! I cheered SO loud after that one... and just when the cheering died down and he was ready to leave the stage, Deb and Sus took it upon themselves to start the cheer up again! It was so funny... he just sort of stopped, took a few steps back downstage, and bowed again, all
the while suspiciously checking out the audience....
Ah, but wait, he was in yet another! For all you Sondheim fans, it was "Getting Married Today" from Company, and Martin played Paul. I was thinking, "No! It's wrong! My name is NOT AMY!!!" Again, totally in character the entire time -- it was TOO great! And for the finale number, they all did "I Could Have Danced All Night" in which everyone had solos... and everyone was really rocking out. ESPECIALLY Martin! Spin-jumps are just way too fun to watch. Ahh yes, and during one of those exceptionally wonderful spin-jumps,
the white rose that was pinned onto his lapel flew off. After the show, as people were leaving, I went and picked it up.
There were a few people waiting at the "stage door" -- but who cares about them. "Hey Lindsay!" says our Martin, and I proceed to tell him that I was almost crying during "There But For You Go I"... and he asked me if we were the ones yelling after the song was over. We admitted that we were, and he said, "That was cute." Me: "And you dropped this!" I held up the rose. He gave me the SWEETEST smile and said, "Aw, keep it!" Internally drooling, I just said, "Oh thanks!" (A gorgeous white rose is now sitting in the middle
of my dresser, not far from the Second-Proposal-Picture of me and Doug Sills.) Again we chatted for a while... he said he had indeed gotten my letter... and he mentioned the name of the show he was going to be doing next... and like the idiot that I am, I can now not remember the name. Arg. But it's a straight play, and I think it is indeed going to be in New York. Oh yes... and at the request of a few people (um, Fiona... Mandy...) I said something to the effect of "On behalf of all the online Titanic fanatics, we all think you're really great and we're going to miss you so much!" And he responded
with... you guessed it... "That's so sweet!" Well, my ride was sort of waiting for me, so I sort of had to go... but wow. He's so fabulous. Um, yeah, understatement.
Thus concludeth the "How Much Does Lindsay Love Martin" game. It was fun, wasn't it.
From Amy...(November 26, 2001)
My story starts way back in February when I first saw Bells are Ringing in Stamford, CT (I live in Fairfield, CT) before it went to Broadway. I thought that Martin did a fabulous job and he was very funny! (Even though I was seeing it for Marc Kudisch :) So, I decided to see it in NYC last May. Or was it June? Any way, I was in the second row, which is absolutely fascinating because the actors and actresses look at you...and at the end when they were taking their bows, Marc winked at me! I thought I was going to pass out! When it was all over, we went to the stage exit to catch them all leaving. When Martin came out, he was talking to my Mom for a while, then I talked to him myself about what he was doing next. He wasn't sure, but he was real polite. (After I was done talking to him, Marc came out! He was soooo friendly! He waited till the whole crowd was gone till he left. I was the last one to meet him, so I got to talk to him without feeling guilty of getting everyone else behind me angry :)
From Jessica...(June 13, 2005)
Hi. I was at your site about Martin Moran, and I have a "fan experience" to share with you. First off, I'd just like to say that Marty is my Grandmother's best friends' son. Very confusing, but it's quite nice to know that I am somehow sort-of related to him.
Anyway, I went to his book reading in Boston of "The Tricky Part." He talked for about an hour, and I bought the book, and he autographed it for me. I went with my grandmother, mother, and aunt, and we had a nice chat with him beforehand. He said that he remembered me when I was 5, the last time he saw me. I'm now 15, so it's quite a span of time. He is the nicest man I think I've ever met. His book reading was very interesting, and he kept my attention, which is quite hard for most people. He was enthusiastic, fun, and entertaining, which is hard, considering the topic of which he was talking about. I just thought I should share this "fan experience" with you.