By: Anna Birk, Copy Chief
Just as I knew it would, the phase in my New York journey has come where I find myself thinking, “I don’t want to leave. Ever!” It’s as if I long for the city, even though I’m actively watching it pass by from my apartment. I think some of the things I was originally nervous about are the same ones that I’ve come to love: the breeze of the subway as it jerks to a stop at any given station, the pigeons that fight outside of my bedroom window every morning.
I think that as the city warms up as well, the atmosphere completely changes, like someone sprayed serotonin in the air and it blanketed Manhattan. Even in the colder weather though, I’ve been able to find ample experiences to feed my audacious endeavors – several of which have been through my internship experience, starting with the Cyrano movie premier.
The screening/movie premier was something I had found out about no more than 24 hours prior to the start of the event. My boss looked at me and said, “Do you want to go to a movie premiere tomorrow?” Naturally, I said yes without hesitation. My role was to be the travel manager essentially; just making sure everything went smoothly and we went where we were supposed to go.
The event mirrored the beginning of a race; you wait, and wait, and build up anticipation and then suddenly you’re rushed in front of cameras, keeping an eye out to make sure everything goes smoothly.
I arrived at the event before Harnaaz Sandhu, Miss Universe 2021, and when her car pulled up, I was given a run-down of how the red carpet would go. We would walk up, wait to be ushered in front of the movie-poster backsplash, I’d sprint through the cameras to the other side of the carpet and watch and wait for Harnaaz to signal me to come receive her Miss Universe sash – in which case, I’d hurry back on the carpet again. We needed to take photos both with sash, and without, hence all the running around.
Before we even got the opportunity to go onto the carpet however, the leading actors and actresses arrived, halting the rest of the carpet. I think both Harnaaz and I were starstruck to see Peter Dinklage, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Haley Bennett and Director Joe Wright. After we finished our press appearance, we were able to interact with the other stars walking the carpet and the stars of the movie as well. I think Kelvin may have been more excited to see Harnaaz then either of us had anticipated – it was an adorable moment between the two of them.
After many photo ops and interactions with others inside, we were escorted to our seats and watched a short introduction by the cast and crew on stage before the film began. The film was amazing. I was enthralled by the musical adaptation of the age-old tale of Cyrano and his pining love for Roxanne. For anyone who doesn’t know the premise of the film, Cyrano, played by Peter Dinklage, is a man with a physical quality that he, himself deems “unlovable” … naturally he falls for his best friend, Roxanne, played by Haley Bennett. She falls for someone else, enter Kelvin Harrison Jr., who is nowhere near as silver-tongued as Cyrano. It’s a classic case of hopeless romantics and words unspoken.
The movie premier is just one of the many things that I cannot believe happened. I think it’s just miniscule experiences like that that have added up to make this job, and city, somewhere that is going to be impossible to leave. What other city can I take a 20-minute train ride after work to attend the Harry Styles, “Pleasing,” pop-up shop? And then ride 20 more minutes up to Central Park to bask in the sunlight on a rock? For dramatic effect, let’s say there are no other cities that offer the same qualities. I suppose that leaves New York as the greatest city on Earth. I stand by that.
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