ZQC Meetup at NYC and with Zachary Quinto!

Zach and some ZQC-ers!

On 8th January 2011, a few of the ZQC-ers (Zachary Quinto Community members) met up in NYC to watch the "Angels in America" play at the Signature Theatre.

And they were lucky enough to get real close to the genuine Zachary Quinto biceps. ;)

Here's the report by Lindsay, one the fortunate ZQC-ers that weekend!!

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I hoped the rumor that Zachary Quinto might do “Angels in America” was false.

I lost many friends to AIDS in the 80’s. Watching the DVD of Angels took months and many tears. But if Zach Quinto was acting in Angels, it was an event of a lifetime that couldn’t be missed. Others at ZQC wanted to go too. They promised to scrape me off the Signature Theatre floor if need be.

We plotted and planned via Doodle, Facebook Events and Twitter. The first run sold out – was extended. Schnippie in Germany got tickets for January 8. She offered me one. SteffiGoosie also in Germany got a room at the Travel Inn near the Signature Theater and offered me space. Brit Shleezy promised I wouldn’t get left in the dust by fast walkers, this she gleefully rubbed in as being her “service to the elderly”. Hrumph. :-) New York, Zach and Angels, here I come!

You get to know folks online, right? So why not fly to New York and share a hotel room for four nights with folks you haven’t met in person, right? Yikes!! But this group is the ZQC – the community on Zachary Quinto’s website. Initially a lust fest around “he’s so hot” picspams, the community has matured into a supportive group in which members share their joys and sorrows. Zach is always the focus, but his example of kindness, graciousness and gratitude – and that of his web cat-herder Sean Akers – has set a similar tone for the community. With that background I was willing to risk sharing a room with people I knew only at a distance.

As I landed at LaGuardia on January 6.  ZQCer Wikkibird from Colorado, messaged warm welcomes from the hotel. She had already connected with others there –Ambra from Virginia, an ONTD member; Schnippie from Germany; my roommates Shleezy from England, with SteffieGoosie and Cherry from Germany.

They met me in the lobby – hugs all around! Except Shleezy, who was in bed recovering from her travels. Off the rest of us went to a diner around the corner, past the Signature Theatre where "Angels in America" was playing.

Strolling back to the hotel after dinner, we noticed that people were coming out of the theater. Aha! Might we be blessed with a Zach sighting? Sure enough, one of the last to come out was Zach. You can’t miss him. Those eyebrows stand out a mile away. How tall and lean and boyish he is! 

I ran up and introduced myself. I had sent a message via Neal that about a dozen ZQCers would be coming, some all the way from Germany and England. Yes, he’d gotten Neal’s message. He loped down the steps, extending his hand. “Hi, I’m Zach!” “Yes, we know,” Schnippie laughed. He chatted a while, asking if we’d see both parts Saturday and said he’d see us afterwards. What a very nice man!! We parted ways, our group giggling with excitement. For the next two hours everyone was tweeting and emailing about the experience. I returned to my room to torture Shleezy with what she had missed. *grin*

The next day was Friday. We played tourist, all in a group. SteffiGoosie and Cherry had navigated the train and subway from the airport and “groked” its mysteries better than any of us States-side folks. A late breakfast, then the tree at the Rockefeller Center, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Grand Central Station and the Natural History Museum. Whew!!

Then Saturday!!! We had tickets for both Part 1 and Part 2 of “Angels in America”. At the theater we met other ZQCers – kannbrown, sexyRN, I’mHavingAZachAttack, theentwife, Yvonne – am I missing others? What fun! Again hugs all around.

The play has been reviewed elsewhere, so I won’t go through it here. But I’ve got to rave a bit. It is an awesome play- awesomely written, awesomely acted, awesomely staged. All the actors were superb – imagine what fun Zach had exploring the play with such fellow pros! 

Biceps? I have to admit that I got so involved with the play that only a small part of me noticed biceps – only because I knew I’d have to report here. Yep, we got to see Zach’s biceps, complete with tattoo. In bed. Yum. We also got to see…ahem…other parts of Zach and ..ahem..all of Christian (“Pryor Walter”). The much anticipated “other parts of Zach” were part of a heart wrenching scene that had me in tears.

All those …viewings… were upstaged by the exquisite view of the whole shebang of Bill Heck (“Joe Pitt”). I’ll always be a true blue Zach fan, but I must admit that Bill Heck has a very pretty body! All of it. *blush*

After Part 2 that evening, Zach came out and mixed with us and the others waiting for him. There were so many of us - Zach admitted his energy was flagging - that I suggested a group photo – heck! a chance to snuggle up to him!! He confirmed that he’d be in Sundance both days other ZQCers had tickets and said he was sorry to disappoint them but promoting Before The Door’s film “Margin Call” was important. To our delight he later tweeted a special thanks to us for being there.

We loved Angels so much that we came back the next day to see part 2 again – turns out last minute seats are possible! We missed Zach after – he dashed out – so we headed back to the hotel. But here he was, heading down the street towards us. I stopped him, asking if he’d write a brief note to the ones who were coming to AiA when he was at Sundance. He liked that idea and took the time to write each a long note while he chatted with us.

He’d gotten the PumpkinGeek carve ZQC had sent him but didn’t realize it was from us. He’d gotten Ambra’s beautifully embroidered card, but didn’t realize it went with the pumpkin. He took a special photo with SteffiGoosie and Cherry. What a lovely, gracious man!

Poor guy must have been starving, yet he was so nice and considerate! We were all proud to be part of his community.

Now our excitement is over and it’s hard coming back to normal life and jobs. We do keep memories of Zachary up close and personal.

We’ve got new friends spread far and wide. We exchanged little souvenirs of our home towns. So as I unpack, I run across a rubber duck, a bag of peanuts and coffee, a lanyard, personalized postcards, a pin, a calendar, an angel and others – each reminding me of someone who shared with me an unforgettable experience. Looking at those has helped keep the experience alive. 

Shleezy said it best: “NY was amazing and I'd go back. Seeing Zach acting live - brilliant. But I don't think it would have been anywhere near as good without the people I met.”

I suspect this won’t be our only meetup – hmmm, Star Trek 2012 Premiere anyone??

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Credits:

Thanks to Lindsay Robinson for the pics and report

and Laura Stephens, Kerry Bryan for pics too!