Caterers to the stars, Larry and Barb Munroe of Rock & Soul Caterers in Florida have dealt with all sorts of outlandish backstage requests from singers and celebrities on tour — ranging from shelled pistachios to a bald and toothless hooker! Here, exclusively for ENQUIRER readers, Larry, who has been in the food business since 1995, tells what the rich and famous are really like behind the scenes. — PHILIP SMITH
BRITNEY SPEARS
“We met her when she was just starting out. “She did a show and afterward she was sitting outside eating inside a fenced-in area, and all these young girls were going nuts trying to climb the fence to get to her.
“This one little girl begged me to get a photo of Britney. She handed me her camera and I said, ‘Let me try.’ I went over to Britney and I said, ‘Excuse me, but if you’re through eating, there’s a nice little girl who would like to have a picture of you. Do you mind if I take your picture?’
“She said, ‘I can do better than that.’ She got up and walked over to the fence and stood right next to the little girl and said, ‘O.K., take our picture.'” I did. You should have seen the look on that little girl’s face. She was ecstatic. I can see why Britney’s fans love her.”
CHER
“I met her when she came to Florida to do a show and she stayed at a Miami mansion belonging to Gianni Versace, the fashion designer who was later murdered.”
She’s the greatest lady you’ll ever meet. She’s so down to earth.
“Versace had a gym in his mansion and Cher was in there every morning lifting weights.
“It’s no wonder she’s in such great shape. After working out she’d come into the kitchen. We’d ask her if we could get her anything. She always said, ‘No, I can get myself something.'”
One time she showed me a tattoo on her hip she was having removed. She said she was tired of it.
“When she finished her show and was leaving, my wife and I were cleaning up in the kitchen and her chauffeur came in and said, ‘Cher won’t leave until she’s seen you.'”
I was afraid maybe we’d done something wrong. We went outside and she was standing next to her limo.
“She grabbed hold of me, gave me a big kiss on the cheek and she said, ‘I want to thank you for your excellent service.’ And she gave me a $300 tip. What a lady.”
COURTNEY LOVE
“We were warned ahead of time about her. We were told to watch out because she can be real nasty.
“So we were kind of walking around on egg shells, but when she’d done her show, she was as nice as pie to everyone. I asked her if she’d autograph some photos and she said, ‘Sure.’ She was so easygoing. I guess you never know.”
BARRY MANILOW
“We did three one-night shows with him and each night he wanted a big bowl of pistachio nuts in his dressing room. But, they had to be shelled.
“So each night I had to spend 45 minutes to an hour shelling all these pistachio nuts for him. I did that on all three nights. I guess when you’re a big star you can get people to do things like that for you.
“But he never ate one.”
THE ROCK GROUP ‘BARENAKED LADIES’
“I’d never heard of them, so when I saw the contract I thought, ‘Wow, what are we getting here?’ I had visions of all these naked ladies wandering around.
“I was kind of disappointed when the guys showed up. But I asked the lead singer, ‘I’m curious . . . how you got the name for the band?’
“He said when he was young he used to go through his mother’s Victoria’s Secret catalog and he’d say, ‘Look at all these bare naked ladies,’ and he remembered that when they were thinking of a name for their group.”
KENNY ROGERS
“He ordered fresh salmon for himself, and chicken parmesan for the rest of his crew. But he didn’t touch the salmon. As soon as he saw the chicken he ate that.
“He called me and my wife over and asked, ‘Did you people make this yourself?’ We told him we did. He said, ‘It’s excellent! I wish I had the recipe for my chicken restaurants.’
“We took it as a big compliment because he’s got all these Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurants.”
GEORGE CARLIN
“He’s so much fun to be around. But, boy, does he swear a lot. It’s like every other word is the F-word. He’s a trip.
“Just outside his dressing room was a pay phone. I guess he didn’t know I was there because when he got to the pay phone he put his finger in the little change tray to check to see if there was any change.
“He must have felt me staring at him because he suddenly whirled around and when he saw me he gave a nervous little laugh and said, ‘Hey, you never know.'”
CYNDI LAUPER
“All I can say about her is that she’s a loudmouthed pain in the neck.
“After she’d performed, she was waiting for her limo to pick her up and she was yelling and screaming, ‘This is the worst f—ing food I ever ate!’
“We’d never had a complaint before and that night we served like 250 people including Cher and Julio Iglesias. No one complained — except her.
“I think she was mad because she only had third billing and she wanted to take it out on someone. So she picked on us. What a jerk.”
TV’s JUDGE MATHIS
“He came to Florida to emcee a gospel show. He was very nice and thanked us for the food and I said, ‘Excuse me, but all my friends at The American Legion watch your show every day and we’re all big fans. We’d love to have an autographed photo of you.’
“He said he didn’t have one on him, but he pulled out his cell phone, and he called an aide and said, ‘I’m going back onstage in 11 minutes. I want a picture of me back here in 9 minutes.’
“A guy showed up with the photo and the judge signed it. I can see why people don’t mess with him on his show. He’s obviously a guy used to giving orders.”
SHOCK ROCKER MARILYN MANSON
“Before stars show up, we get a document from their managers spelling out what food and drink they want in their dressing room. I was reading down the list of things Marilyn Manson wanted and I came to this item that said he wanted a baldheaded hooker with no teeth.
“My eyes just about popped out of my head. I thought, ‘My God, how am I ever going to find a baldheaded hooker with no teeth?’
“So I called up his manager and he burst out laughing. He said it was a joke. But, they always made the request in the hope that one day, someone would get a bald-headed hooker with no teeth. They want to see the look on the face of Marilyn Manson when he sees her.”
