It's a Small World. Full of Famous People.

Sometimes I just can't get over how small this world really is.  Or at least how small NYC is.  Okay, I know. NYC is HUGE.  But I think the fact that there are so many people here makes it small.  It's like, how can you not know people here when there are SO many of them.  Surely all of you know someone here (besides me).  Anyway, that brings me to my latest "small world" happening.  I started Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) for this year (I'm talking in school-years here).  More on BSF later.  Last week was my first week and I went to meet my small group and I sat down and looked up at the person sitting across from me and what do you know?  It's Mary Carmen, my sister's next-door-neighbor from freshman dorm in 1991!  Woah!  I remember the first time I met Mary Carmen when I was all of 15-years-old and my friend, Jessica, and I got to stay a night in the Baylor dorm.  Beth and some friends took us for dinner at El Chico and Mary Carmen came along.  She is the only friend of Beth's that I can remember being there at dinner.  I remember her because she was very eccentric and Jessica thought she was the coolest ever.  The last time I saw Mary Carmen was in 2003 at my sister's wedding.  I had heard she was living here and vice-versa, but it has been great to reconnect.

Okay, so the world is small.  It's also full of famous people!  Or at least people who know famous people.  Or people who are going to be famous!  I am none of those, but I like meeting anyone who falls into any of those categories.  Last night, my friend Katie and I went to see our friend Hillary do a Cabaret Showcase.  It was so much fun and Hillary was excellent (maybe she'll be famous)!  We're all in a new community group together (Oh, yeah...I quit my community group of 4 years and have a new one.  More on that later, too).  Hillary had invited a couple of other girls she knows from church who Katie and I met for the first time.  One of them is a lovely girl named Sarah Jane.  My conversation with Sarah Jane went something like this:

Me:  So what do you do here?
SJ:  I'm an actress.
(This is a very typical answer here.  Most of the time it means they WANT to be an actress, but haven't really found work yet.  Doesn't mean they aren't talented.  Just means there is a LOT of talent here).
Me:  Oh, do you like to do plays or musicals?
SJ: I've mostly done musicals.
Me:  Are you working on anything now?
SJ:  Yeah.  Promises?
Me:  You mean, like, "Promises, Promises" on Broadway?
SJ:  Uh, huh.
Me:  That's great!  What role are you?
SJ:  Oh, I'm just in the ensemble. 
Then, under her breath,
SJ:  And I fill in for the lead when she's not there.
Me:  You mean Kristin??  (as in Chenoweth, folks).
SJ:  Yes! 
Me: Wow!  That amazing!  So great.  Congratulations!  So, what else have you done?

And, it turns out this gal is legit.  But, very, very humble.  Not only is she filling in for Kristin Chenoweth now, she was also her Understudy for Wicked.  Oh, and also for The Apple Tree.  Yes, that's right, she's basically been Kristin's body double for the last 7 years.  Well, not that whole time.  There was the period where she was the Understudy for Sutton Foster in Shrek.  Simply, amazing.  It was so fun to hear her talk about what it is like to work with Sean Hayes and Kristin.  Sean?  Humble, very nice.  Kristin?  Self-absorbed.  But, sweet.  But, self-absorbed.  Oh, but so sweet.  But, so self-absorbed.  She said Kristin is a completely different person today from when she worked with her 4-years ago.  I asked if the fame had gone to her head.  And she said it wasn't that so much as you can tell she has been treated differently and she has gotten used to being treated that way.  Very interesting to hear these kinds of things first-hand.

Oh, and back to the small-world thing.  When I found out SJ went to school at CCM in Cincinnati, I quickly did the math in my head and realized she just might have been there at the same time as a guy I knew in high school.  Yep, turns out Sarah Jane was roommates with his little sister.

It's a small, small world!