I am beginning to think that Twitter appeals to the lazy guy in me. Instead of posting something here, I tweet it (@bastable) because that’s quicker and shorter. But so many of my activities are not being properly preserved except at the Library of Congress.

Last night, for example. I went to the opening party for the Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at the Plaza Hotel. I was helping my friend Ken Kleiber (of the beloved New York City cable show “That’s Kentertainment“) shoot red carpet interviews with the cast and creatives. One journalist acquaintance spotted me and asked who I was interviewing people for. No, no, I said. This time, I’m behind the camera.

And because I was behind the camera, I captured this moment which, for some reason, I find endearing and hilarious: Daniel Radcliffe, Mr. Harry Potter himself, meeting Liza Minnelli for the very first time. Since everyone else was embroiled in their own interviews with other cast members, I managed to capture the hug and the expression of absolute rapture on this kid’s face when he met her. The kid had just opened his own Broadway musical as an above-the-title lead, he’s facing an adoring squad of flashbulb-popping, ass-kissing entertainment journalists — and yet he nearly bites his tongue off with excitement at meeting Liza.

Here are some screen grabs of his delirious moment:

You can see a lot more pictures of Daniel’s giddy schoolboy fancrush on Ken’s website.

There were some other standout moments. Like when Neil Simon, for some reason, got onto the red carpet to give interviews (he didn’t write the show). To get him chatting, Ken asked if they had seen the show, and his wife sarcastically pipes in, “No, we were all dressed up and walking past the Plaza and saw there was a party, so we wandered in. What do you think?” Then, to my surprise, Neil told Ken that the show wasn’t the greatest thing he’d ever seen. Guys, if you’re going to crash the red carpet, at least play the media game nice.

It just confirms my theory: Like postage stamps, theatres should not be named after the living. With all due respect.

And then there was the moment that Michele Lee, who was the ingenue in the 1967 movie version, put down her glass of red wine to do an interview by the light of an iPad. (Strangely, the guys next to us in the line had no proper lights — they used an iPad set to a blank screen.) She snatched it up and said it was all part of her best advice for staying in show business: “Bring your own light!”

I shot this while I was shooting Daniel. Damn, he’s English. Having also covered the red carpet at the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I can attest that he gives more attention to the journalists on the red carpet than anyone else I’ve ever seen. He was there for more than an hour and I don’t think he even went to the party it was supposed to be a part of. He’s just an all-around mensch.

Here are Ken and me after the professional camera hogs left:

Sometimes New York is such a kick that I hate myself for the times I curse it.

Somewhere right about now, Daniel Radcliffe is probably playing Liza with a Z and agreeing with me.