Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 6, 1993 TAG: 9309060035
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When their idol arrived in Roanoke on Sunday, they screamed. And they screamed. And they screamed.
Joey Lawrence did a double take at the crowd of more than 700 - mostly teen-age girls.
"You guys are unbelievable," he shouted over the din. He could barely be heard despite the microphone. He shook his head in amazement as he took a seat where he would sign his name more times than he says "Whoa" in a season of "Blossom" episodes.
The 17-year-old heartthrob of the television sit-com was visiting the Star City Roller Skating Center on Hershberger Road courtesy of K92 radio before going to Starland Skating Rink in Lynchburg. Lawrence plays Joey Russo, the none-too-bright brother of Mayim Bialik's title character. He launched a singing career earlier this year and had a Top 10 hit with "Nothin' My Love Can't Fix."
His fans were lined around the edge of the entire rink and were ushered from right to left to get his autograph. He signed photographs of himself until they ran out, then signed posters of himself until they ran out, then signed pieces of white paper. Girls had brought magazine pictures of him to sign. He autographed skates, an arm cast, a pair of shorts on the wearer and a pile of paper-clipped pages of the words to his songs.
Deanna Musselman, 17, had neatly written out the words on lined notebook paper. She has followed his career since she saw him on the TV series "Gimme A Break," in which he starred for five years. When she heard he was coming to town, she said, "I'm not doing anything that day. I've got to meet him."
And she did.
To Lawrence's left, a group of girls were going crazy. The girls, ages 12 to 16, were piled behind a line of tables blocking the area where Lawrence was sitting.
They screamed and hollered his name. They sang, waved and jumped up and down. They yelled, "We love you, Joey." Lawrence glanced up, grinned, waved and winked at them. The group went wild.
Lawrence bounced and sang along to the music. He had taken off his black leather jacket to reveal a black T-shirt. He wore jeans with his trademark checkered shirt tied around his hips.
"Oooh, he looks so good," Susan McCullul, 14, said. "He's the best singer in the world."
Twelve-year-old T.J. Hudson's face was red from shouting. "I thought I was gonna faint" when he walked into the center, she said breathlessly. When she got his signature, T.J. touched him with her left hand and swore she would never wash her hand again.
What makes this teen hunk such a hunk? The group lists his hair, his smile and even his behind. Renee Atkins, 11, summed it up, "Well, he's gorgeous."
Not surprisingly, Lawrence has no objections whatsoever to this idolization. He considers himself the luckiest guy in the world and likes the teen-hunk image.
"It's cool to have that label, 'cause I am a teen," he said with a grin. The overwhelming reaction of his fans to his work was, "That just blows me away."
This is the fourth season for the TV series, and Lawrence's character will graduate from high school. He is "still into the girl thing and still a virgin," Lawrence said, but the show will have a few surprises.
He's not like his character at all, he said. "We're pretty opposite." Joey Russo is a "babbling, chick-crazy guy into sports." Joey Lawrence is more serious-minded and career-oriented, he said.
He is glad the show deals with real issues while making people laugh, he said, and this year it will tackle gang violence and violence in schools.
Lawrence is working on a second album - he writes most of his own songs - and hopes to tour the country next summer. There's even talk of a movie deal sometime in the future, he said.
Tina Burcham, 11, was somewhere on the other side of the rink in line for an autograph, said her mother, Joan, who was snapping pictures of Lawrence. They had driven from Galax to see him. Tina has at least 300 pictures of her idol on the walls of her bedroom, said her aunt, Jean Fink.
Meanwhile, crouched a few feet away from the teen star were Donna VanCamp and her 5-year-old daughter, Haley. They had a great view of Lawrence, but VanCamp was more in hiding from the crowd than in awe. Haley had gotten knocked down by a teen-age boy while she was standing in line. Her mother had cradled her for almost 30 minutes while she cried.
But this is what her daughter had wanted for her birthday last week. "She loves his tapes, and we have to watch `Blossom' every Monday night," VanCamp said. "She was squealing when he came in the door." Haley was too shy to comment.
"I'm going to sit here and hopefully get out of here safely," her mother said. "I think I'm getting too old for this."
by CNB