My trip to New York Thursday included attending the taping of the Anderson show and Harry Connick, Jr. on Broadway in the musical On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.
I took the subway up to the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle where the Anderson show is taped in the Allen Room on the 5th floor. This is the same room where I saw Sting and Trudie Styler in Twin Spirits. The huge room has a 30 foot wall of east facing windows overlooking Columbus Circle and Central Park. It's really magnificent. Before I got in line, I had a bowl of pumpkin roasted pepper soup at the Landmarc Restaurant on the 3rd floor.
After standing in line with about 200 other people, I rode the elevator to the 6th floor, where I went through a security check (complete with wand), a picture ID check, and signed a waiver form to have my likeness used "in perpetuity" for any reason whatsoever. That was a little disconcerting to think of where my face might end up someday....
I was seated (in the next to last row toward the right aisle) and the producer, Kevin, gave the audience an overview of what was going to happen. He instructed the audience to remove winter scarves, extra sweaters, etc. so that we looked "unseasonal." On this day, they taped different segments: Hope Solo, the soccer player who was eliminated from Dancing With The Stars via satellite (she mentioned how the show is heavily edited as much of her good relationship with her partner, Max, was not shown, but mainly the nasty comments and attitude); Daniel the Miracle Dog who escaped euthanasia (when they opened the door after administering the carbon monoxide he was still alive and wagging his tail), Chef Rocco DiSpirito who made low calorie cookies and brownies (the brownies made with black beans), and upcoming trends in fashion and beauty (laser eye treatments to remove the pigment of your eye which makes them blue) for 2012. During the taping Anderson changed clothes since the segments would be on 2 separate shows.
During the time between segments, when the stage was being reset or guests were setting up, Anderson came into the audience to answer questions. Unfortunately he spent the majority of his time in the front left section of the audience even though many in our section had our hands raised with questions. Honestly, I didn't feel the love where I was seated. In fact, Wednesday night I was contacted by phone by the Anderson staff and asked if I'd like to be included in his "Ask Anderson" segment. I was even asked to submit my question while on the phone. And the intern who called said she would find me in line to prep me for the segment. I wonder what happened.........
The Hope Solo segment airs Tuesday, November 22.
