![\"Christopher](\"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screen-Shot-2025-09-03-at-1.54.07-PM-e1757185849985.png\")
<\/a>Christopher McDonald and his wife at the Hamlet opening.<\/p><\/div>\n
6\/4\/25<\/strong> Happy Gilmore<\/em> and Hacks<\/em> actor, Christopher McDonald<\/strong>, at the opening night of the very odd Hamlet<\/em> at the Mark Taper Forum. Chris and I got on the elevator together after the show, (along with both of our guests and three other audience members, including at least one who was a pal of the director,) and as we descended, I could not hold myself back from observing out loud, \u201cWell, that\u2019s<\/em> two hours none of us are getting back.\u201d I\u2019m thrilled to say that Chris, and all<\/em> of them, actually, knowingly laughed really hard. It appeared that everyone was thrilled for someone else to say what they were all thinking. (You can still read my honest review right here: itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/theatre-hamlet<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Jay Leno. Photo by Todd Felderstein,\u00a0courtesy of the LAJFF, as is the one at the top of this article.<\/p><\/div>\n 6\/26\/25<\/strong> This was a fun one. At the Opening Night Gala for the LA Jewish Film Festival, I was sitting on a little bench in a sort-of hidden area of the lobby of the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, when who should enter through the side door but the honoree of the event, Jay Leno<\/strong>! I had seen him a few other times before, (including at Costco at the height of the pandemic, when he and his wife were the only two people not wearing masks!,) but he looked extra-tall (and thin) this<\/em> night. He was wearing a leather jacket and jeans and carrying a helmet, so I\u2019m assuming he rode a motorcycle over. (And that he does not know how to dress for a Gala<\/em>!!!) He looked right at me and said a quick, \u201cHello,\u201d which made me feel like I was the official welcoming committee!<\/p>\n So why was his Italian<\/em> self speaking at a Jewish<\/em>\u00a0event, you ask? Because he had a couple of lines in the movie that opened the festival, Midas Man<\/em>, in the role of\u2026Ed Sullivan! (Yes, his mis-casting is<\/em> as awful as you would imagine.) But he spoke before the screening, and it\u2019s a good thing he did because he let us know that the producers could not get rights to any appropriate songs, which explained the odd music choices in the film. If not for Jay\u2019s heads-up, my friend and I agreed that we would have been scratching our heads over the song in a movie about\u2026the Beatles\u2019 manager!<\/p>\n Vincent Rodriguez, Jr. at the & Juliet opening.<\/p><\/div>\n 8\/15\/25<\/strong> I spied two stars of bygone and very popular television series, at the Ahmanson theatre for the opening night of the incredible Broadway musical, & Juliet<\/em>. Both Ahmanson perennials, Rhoda<\/em>\u2019s Ray Buktenica<\/strong> and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend<\/em>\u2019s Vincent<\/strong> Rodriguez, Jr.<\/strong>, were standing in groups so close to each other in the side lobby at intermission that I thought they knew each other. It was great to see them both be so upbeat about the show, as everyone<\/em> was on Opening Night! And I\u2019m assuming, every<\/em> night! (Here\u2019s the link to my glowing review of the happy musical: itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/theatre-juliet<\/a>.)<\/p>\n 8\/16\/25 <\/strong>Singer Englebert Humperdinck<\/strong> in\u2026my neighborhood grocery store! He was confusedly using an ATM, but smiled when my friend, who was shocked to see him so close-up and personal, said, \u201cIt\u2019s you<\/em>!\u201d And, fyi\u2014he still has dark hair!<\/p>\n Ann-Margret, Pat Boone, and Nancy Kwan. Photo by RozWolfPR.<\/p><\/div>\n 8\/30\/25<\/strong> Very famous old school show biz icons Ann-Margret<\/strong>, Pat Boone<\/strong>, and Nancy Kwan<\/strong> in Beverly Hills showing up to the Writers Guild Theater to participate in the Cinecon Classic Film Festival. I showed Mr. X the pix of Ann-Margret, who still looks gorgeous, and he could not believe her age! She looks decades<\/em> younger, no lie. Even though I\u2019ve never met the legendary actress, I feel very close to her because during my time in the Laugh Factory Players improv troupe, whenever I\u2019d be asked to sing as someone famous, I did Bye Bye Birdie<\/em> as Ann\u2019s character, Kim MacAfee, in the beginning of that classic film. So I\u2019ve always privately thanked her for that because channeling her performance made my non-singing self sound good enough for the assignment.<\/p>\n 9\/12\/25<\/strong> Prolific stage and screen actor Obba Babatund\u00e9<\/strong> at the Wow Gifting Suite in the Universal Hilton. (Mr. X had just seen him on The Manchurian Candidate<\/em>, so we looked him up, and that man has one of the hugest credits lists that we have ever seen!) My friend and I rode down in the elevator with Obba after the event, and he was such a gentleman! Good to see that these days.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>