Spring Break
Meeting the (Italian) Zac Efron: Crowds go crazy at Rome premiere of 'HSM 3'
Libby Segal
Issue date: 11/14/08 Section: Entertainment
11/14/08 - Children screaming, moms creeping and grandmothers pushing. This was clearly the "High School Music 3" red carpet walk for the film's Italian premier.
I arrived at the Rome Film festival at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26, to watch the photo call for actor Cordin Bleu and actress Ashlee Tisdale.
When the photo call ended at noon, we left the cinema and saw people lined up along the red carpet. We assumed that someone would be coming out to walk the red carpet soon, so we asked a little girl who was waiting. She responded in Italian that she was waiting for Bleu and Tisdale to walk the red carpet at 4:30 p.m.. These kids were waiting for four and a half hours for their childhood idols.
So when I got to the red carpet at 3:30 for the 4:30 p.m. walk, I wasn't surprised at all. Crowds of children were waiting outside the red carpet in hopes of getting an autograph, a picture or at least a glimpse of their idols. I knew I wouldn't see anything from the side of the red carpet unless I started throwing some elbows at these kids (who were barely up to my waist), so I headed inside to wait by the entrance that they would enter through.
With a half hour to show time, the pre-red carpet events began. A choir of singers walked out onto the carpet wearing graduation gowns- which was appropriate considering the movie would be ending with a graduation scene. Following the choir, out came the Italian Zac Efron. And when I say the Italian Zac Efron-I mean the Italian Zac Efron. He sings Efron's songs from the HSM movies in Italian.
He was nearly the same height, thin and had the same shaggy hair going on; however, the voices were no match. Even so, the little girls surrounding me began screaming and shoving. As he finished singing a song, he made his way to walk into the auditorium. To my left stood a mom who seemed star-struck as she got her digital camera ready for Jacopo Sarno (a.k.a Mr. Italian Zac Efron).
Behind me, I had a pamphlet nearing my face and poking me, almost causing a paper cut to my eye. I looked back and I saw a grandma shoving and waving the pamphlet that was going to make me wear a patch over my eye for the rest of my life -and this was just for the Italian Efron.
I arrived at the Rome Film festival at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26, to watch the photo call for actor Cordin Bleu and actress Ashlee Tisdale.
When the photo call ended at noon, we left the cinema and saw people lined up along the red carpet. We assumed that someone would be coming out to walk the red carpet soon, so we asked a little girl who was waiting. She responded in Italian that she was waiting for Bleu and Tisdale to walk the red carpet at 4:30 p.m.. These kids were waiting for four and a half hours for their childhood idols.
So when I got to the red carpet at 3:30 for the 4:30 p.m. walk, I wasn't surprised at all. Crowds of children were waiting outside the red carpet in hopes of getting an autograph, a picture or at least a glimpse of their idols. I knew I wouldn't see anything from the side of the red carpet unless I started throwing some elbows at these kids (who were barely up to my waist), so I headed inside to wait by the entrance that they would enter through.
With a half hour to show time, the pre-red carpet events began. A choir of singers walked out onto the carpet wearing graduation gowns- which was appropriate considering the movie would be ending with a graduation scene. Following the choir, out came the Italian Zac Efron. And when I say the Italian Zac Efron-I mean the Italian Zac Efron. He sings Efron's songs from the HSM movies in Italian.
He was nearly the same height, thin and had the same shaggy hair going on; however, the voices were no match. Even so, the little girls surrounding me began screaming and shoving. As he finished singing a song, he made his way to walk into the auditorium. To my left stood a mom who seemed star-struck as she got her digital camera ready for Jacopo Sarno (a.k.a Mr. Italian Zac Efron).
Behind me, I had a pamphlet nearing my face and poking me, almost causing a paper cut to my eye. I looked back and I saw a grandma shoving and waving the pamphlet that was going to make me wear a patch over my eye for the rest of my life -and this was just for the Italian Efron.
