It was October 12, 1996, and my mom and I were going to see Al in "Hughie," his latest play. We had tickets for the 2 o'clock matinee on that windy Saturday; the time went by so slowly before we were actually seated in the theatre.
Turned out we had third row seats! Of course, any seat in Circle in the Square Theatre was good - there were only eight rows in the whole place. The play started ten minutes late, and those ten minutes were the longest ten minutes in my life. But then the lights dimmed, and I knew I was in for a treat.
Let me set the story for you. The play, written by Eugene O'Neill, took place in 1928 in Manhattan. On the left of the stage was an old hotel desk with the clerk (Paul Benedict) sitting behind it and a huge clock looming over his shoulders. Two chairs were scattered in the hotel lobby, each on different sides of the stage. It looked like a pretty gloomy place.
Then in sauntered Al - playing a drunk Erie Smith. He was garbed in a tacky yellow suit and an old beat-up hat, and he was getting over the death of the former hotel clerk and his best friend, Hughie. The whole play was basically a monologue for Pacino - Erie tells the disinterested clerk about what a great friend Hughie was.
I know that may sound like a dismal setting, but the play was great. Al was fantastic; his character reminded me of his Colonel in "Scent of a Woman" if you will. This play was more of a comedy than a drama, and Al is an expert at delivering jokes. He was truly a pro.
The play ended way too soon - it was only a little over an hour. The two actors took their bows and left the stage. Mom and I got up and walked out the front lobby. That's when I saw everyone lined up behind a row of barricades leading to the sidewalk. Then I knew that Al was going to be giving out autographs!
I got in my little spot next to the blue barriers and took out a poster from the play that I had just bought. As we waited for twenty minutes, my mom kept telling me, "Oh, ya gotta say 'Hoo-ah' to him! It's his line!" (That's Pacino's memorable saying from "Scent of a Woman" if you didn't know.) I really didn't want to - I didn't want to get embarrassed. Besides, he probably heard stuff like that a hundred times a day - he didn't need one more person telling him.
Anyway, Al comes out after a while dressed in a nice black suit with small white vertical lines down it. He's got a long black coat over the suit and tortoise-shell sunglasses on. Then he started moving from person to person - giving autographs, talking to fans, even giving female admirers pecks on the cheek. He was going around so fast; it was kind of a surprise because he'd just played a sluggish, staggering drunk in the theatre. I was amazed at how much energy he had.
Then he came to me. I smiled, but I didn't say a word. I was too stunned. He nicely signed my poster and started moving on to the next person. That's when I mumbled "Hoo-ah." I said it so softly I could barely hear it myself. Then I heard an echo, and the voice sounded so familiar. I looked up and who else was speaking to me but Al Pacino himself!
My jaw just dropped. I was totally surprised that he had even heard me. Two or three hundred people were there screaming for him to come give them an autograph, and out of all that ruckus he heard one little girl say "Hoo-ah." Well he just smiled and said something like, "Yeah, I say it automatically whenever I hear it" but I'm not really sure because I was already going into shock.
Another couple minutes of signing autographs, and then it was time for Al to go, so he jumped into a little Toyota UV and got driven off. He was everything I had hoped he'd be. I mean he was an Oscar-winning superstar who had starred in movies like "The Godfather" and "Heat," but he still had time to pay attention to all his fans. He could not have been a nicer guy and more of a gentleman than he was that day.
For the rest of the night I was stunned - I couldn't eat or smile - it just seemed like a dream. I'm sure Al doesn't remember me at all, but that day is something I will never forget for the rest of my life. The "Hughie" poster is framed and hanging on my wall at this very minute.
Have you had your own personal experience with Al Pacino? Mail it to me and I'll try to post it!
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