Tallyhead Caitie files this report from Rainn Wilson’s fundraiser show at the Kelso Theatre Pub in Longview, Washington.
Saturday, November 17: It’s a typical rainy Washington evening and I’m huddled inside a tiny cafe attached to the local theatre pub, anxiously awaiting the night’s guest of honor. Surrounded by about fifty fellow Office fanatics, I can feel my pulse begin to race when the moment we’ve all been waiting for arrives: Dwight Schrute himself pulls up in a silver Volvo, flanked by theatre staff and security.
That’s right, I’m proud to announce that I was one of the lucky few to attend Rainn Wilson’s fundraiser event, “An Evening with Rainn Wilson,” in Kelso, WA, benefiting local theatre company, Longview Stageworks. Rainn, a Washington native, has ties to this southern Washington area through his wife, whose parents still reside in the area.
During the pre-show meet and greet in the Backstage Cafe, Rainn graciously signed bobblehead after bobblehead and posed for countless photos with his adoring fans. He even chatted on the phone to one of my friends in Texas who couldn’t be there for a good two minutes!
Directly after the meet and greet, my fellow partygoers and I joined 300 other Rainn-loving North westerners for his over two-hour show where dazzled us with his comedic genius and down-to-earth personality.
I worked my way to the front row where I asked a lovely couple if the seat next to them was saved. They gladly offered the seat to me, but warned that it may actually end up being taken by an acquaintance. The seat was indeed reserved, by none other than Rainn’s wife, Holiday Reinhorn.
Little did I know that the couple I had been chatting with were close family friends of the Wilson’s’ and had been designated babysitters for their son Walter, who had been sitting right next to me the whole time. I found a new seat in the same row next to another wonderful couple who were also friends of Rainn’s in-laws.
As I waited for the show to begin I quickly realized that I was surrounded by friends and family on all sides; the woman who owns the cabin where Rainn and Holiday were married was seated directly behind me, Holiday and her mother Mary to my left, etc.
Rainn himself was spectacular. He charmed the audience by poking fun at the locals, showing the episode ‘Branch Wars’ in its entirety (he was going to show an unaired episode, but due to the strike, there aren’t any), offering a sneak peak at the never before seen season four gag reel, and an extensive Q&A session where he gave his thoughts on everything from the writers strike to which bear he thinks is best. (The black bear, of course.)
After the show, Rainn made himself available for photos and autographs, all for a price benefiting Longview Stageworks. Meeting Rainn has made my love for The Office and its cast skyrocket even higher (if that’s possible) and I’m so pleased to be a supporter of anything Rainn is involved in; he is truly a delight!
Related link: Dwight’s big night
Tipster: Sara
Cool! Wish i was there! When are they going to do something in the bay area?!
I love the actors on The Office. You can tell they really do love there fans and will do almost anything for them. I love that!
oh man! That is only about 2 hours from where I live. Sounded like fun, Caitie!
Rainn is awesome. I’m so happy you got to meet him!
I ride the Amtrak train from Seattle to Portland a lot. The train makes a stop in Kelso, and from the station it looks like a charming little town. That’s very cool that Rainn would do a benefit there.
I love hearing stories about how wonderfully generous and approachable the cast of The Office is! It makes me love them – and the show – even more. So thank you for sharing your story, Caitie. It’s always disheartening when you support a show or a celebrity with your time, interest, and money only to find out they’re not very nice people in real life. (P.S. I, too, had an encounter with Rainn where I met him in person in a very one-on-one setting, no other fans or crowds around, and he graciously took a moment to chat with me and pose for a photo. The picture is on my desk at work and I always remember how his few minutes of kindness and time totally made my day!)
What a great night! He seems like an amazing person…as do all of our favorite Office members :)
And Charlotte07…I second that! I’ll be here in SF waiting patiently ;)
I’m happy to hear it turned out well. I really wanted to go, but I just couldn’t get away. I was watching some clips of it on youtube, where he was talking about the surrounding areas and I thought it was funny hearing him talk about places that I know!!!! He talked about the cousin lovers up the Toutle River..LOL.
I was there too, it was a really good show. The Office is my favorite show, and Dwight is my favorite character so when I heard that Rainn Wilson was coming to town (and only a few blocks from my house), I was psyched. I went to the pre show thing too. Rainn was really nice, and signed my Schrute Buck and took a couple pictures with me (the first one I had my eyes closed.) I got kind of shy so I didn’t really end up saying anything to him though. His level of familiarity with the area kind of surprised me though, he put it to good use during the show making jokes at our expense, with several references to meth, and people being kind of stupid.
Also there is another article that is with Rainn from a few days before the fundraiser that you can find here. Rainn apparently corrected an article misquote under the article in the comment section, funny.
I was also at the show in Kelso last Saturday. Rainn was so funny and put on an awesome show.. I’m so glad I went and I wouldn’t have even known about it if not for officetally. I was so estatic to get a bobblehead signed and picture with him after the show. It was an amazing experience!
I was there too, Rainn was really nice/funny. Definitely an even bigger fan after meeting him.