THE VIEW

Two years ago, my best pal Jen Russo (AKA Kitty) moved to NYC. Her first job allowed her a lot of down time to do some exploring and "touristy" things and she sent off for tickets to several tv show tapings. Imagine her surprise 2 weeks ago when tickets to today's taping of THE VIEW arrived in her mailbox! Her sister, who loves that show, wasn't able to make the trip from Michigan, so I got to be her guest. WHAT FUN! We were both thrilled that Whoopi is now the moderator, as we looooove her and have met her before at her book signing. We met up early this morning to begin our day of fun, which turned out to be an adventure. (everything is with us) We thought the show taped in the same studio as Regis and Kelly, but it's in another one on 66th St., practically in the Hudson River! Finding this out 5 minutes before we needed to be in line, we caught a cab and took a $3 cab ride down several blocks. (what a happy cab driver...) The fun began immediately, as the security guard asked Kitty over and over if she was the redhead from One Life To Live. We assured him that she wasn't and made fun of him a little for watching soaps, then went to get in line. (I realize that I live in NY and should therefore say "on line" but the Southerner in me just can't do it.) I must mention here that people make some, uh, special wardrobe choices when they think they might be on TV. We'll just leave it at that. I, however, had a horrible hair day, but I blame the humidity.

The good folks at ABC know how to treat their guests. Yes, we had to stand for an hour before they let us in the studio, but it was worth it. A nice security man offered to get me a chair when he saw my baby belly, but I toughed it out. As we entered the studio, we were handed a bottle of juice and a bag of Keebler fudge stripe cookies (my all-time favorite). A nice lady showed us to our seats, on which were sassy "THE VIEW" canvas tote bags, ready to hold our loot from the show. And now my favorite part of the day--the lady noticed I was expecting and gave me a flyer inviting me back on Oct. 30 for a special "Mommy to be" taping!!! The audience will be all pregnant women and there will be, and I quote, "Suprises, fun giveaways and more!" The only bad thing is that Kitty can't go back with me. But you know they are going to give out some SWEET prizes! I've already confirmed my ticket. :)

On to the show... A guy named Tom was our Audience Pumper (or something) and he taught us the hand signals the crew would use for us to applaud, clap louder, cheer, shut up and stand up. We practiced those for a while, then the ladies came out and took their seats. The show ran very smoothly. I couldn't stop watching the stage managers and marveling at how different their job is from what we do in the theatre. I waved at Whoopi just before we began taping and she waved back (right at me, I'm sure). The first guest was Jack Cafferty of The Situation Room, which I've never actually watched. We all got free copies of his new book! He was actually pretty interesting and I was intrigued enough to read the book. Next came Marcia Gay Harden, who brought out her 3 year old twins in their Halloween costumes. Her son was Winnie the Pooh and her daughter was Tinkerbell. Adorable. She has a new movie coming out that looks pretty good. Then the creme de la creme: Annie Lennox was the musical guest!!!!! I have always thought Annie was a beautiul woman, but MAN is she gorgeous in person! And that voice! It was amazing to see her perform. They transformed the set quickly over a commercial break and used some really cool lighting effects to make it look like a concert setting. She was FANTASTIC! The baby went crazy when she started singing. (he/she loves music these days) Fortunately, they gave us free copies of her new CD, so we can listen at home! We were also awarded Sharper Image projection alarm clocks. They project the time on the ceiling or wall. A fifty dollar value, all ours just for being there.

It was such a fun time! After the taping, we perused the gift cart (it's not a shop, it's a cart), then had a lovely, liesurely lunch at Cafe Mozart. (if you go for lunch, get the Mozart Wrap. The smoked mozzerella makes it perfect!) It's so great sometimes to live in NY and have the opportunity to do cool, kind of unusual things like this. A big thanks to Kitty for bringing me along. I'll let you know how it goes on the 30th!!

PS: I have a lot more pictures of the set and such that I can email to anyone who wants to see them. They appear a little too small here.