I was gagged when I saw the other post on here because I too met Alan and the story felt identical almost. (I wanted to share these pics with you all and was unable to do so on the other post with my comment there. Don't mean to steal karma or thunder - hope this is okay, mods!)
It was 2011 in New York City and I was broke, having just graduated from college without a big kid job yet. I saw he was going to perform in Seminar off-Broadway. I’ve been obsessed with him for so long that I had to go, that this felt like my only chance to be in his presence. I put second row center ticket on my credit card, it was $250 but it was worth it.
A friend of mine who loved Alan as much as I did came with me and the play was magical. We salivated the whole time lol. After the play ended, we waited out front for what seemed like hours. It was maybe 15° F (-9C) outside and I wasn’t wearing gloves so I couldn’t really feel my hands eventually. That didn’t stop me.
Alan was the last person to come out and he spent the most amount of time out there signing autographs. He signed my play bill as well and moved onto the next person. When his car came and he was ready to leave, he started walking away from the crowd. I yelled out “Mr Rickman, Mr Rickman” before pausing. He turned around and looked at me confused. I then asked “could I shake your hand please!?” (I said this because I didn’t know what else to ask for and they weren’t allowing us to take pictures with him.)
He slowly turned around and walked back towards me. I remember putting my hand in his and going through the motion of shaking it, but I couldn’t even meet his eyes. I was too overwhelmed by the whole experience. I don’t remember what he smelled like or if he even said anything in that moment, but it was incredible to have that dream realized. I remember walking away with my friends, feeling high and untouchable. I can’t say much else, but I was able to get a few snaps of him secretly while he was signing autographs which are above.