Just another random day in my new NYC life...
Lauren (with whom I went to Marvin Hamlisch's funeral earlier this week) asked me if I would like to come to watch a taping of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon yesterday. A few of her relatives are in town, including her mother Kathy (Queenie.) Queenie just happens to be my biggest fan from DC, and Lauren thought it would be nice if I could come over and surprise her at the show. As the day unfolded, however, it was I who received the biggest surprise of all!
I went to bed as soon as I got home so I could catch a few hours of sleep, knowing that I would be awake during my new "sleep time." Upon waking, I walked over to NBC studios to wait for them at Magnolia Bakery. I arrived a few minutes early, so I walked to a nearby Pret to grab a sandwich and gulp down a cup of coffee for reasons of alertness.
Arriving a few minutes ahead of them, I waited until Queenie walked by and squeezed her arm as she passed. Needless to say, surprise #1 was a big hit! :)
We entered the studio lobby, and once we finally figured out where we needed to be (and NARROWLY escaping expulsion by the powers that be because we were more than 4 people,) we were informed that there were dance auditions for the show that day. The accompanying yells of, "You should audition!" were rather hard to ignore, so after some coaxing and a promise from Aunt Peg that she would audition as well, I made my way to the line. Peg came a few minutes later, and we kept each other company until it was time to go downstairs for the audition.
The audition was one person at a time, and I got to watch the young man in front of me. We were told initially that we would be "taking instruction." The instruction was, "Give us some of your best dance moves. Just a couple of seconds."
WHAT? Oh boy... "That isn't taking instruction," I lamely joked. Ok... Pas de bourre, single turn, split! That oughtta seal my fate as the lamest audition of the day. I was certain they were looking for funny people.
Peg auditioned directly after me, and had a brain freeze. I think it was my split that threw her, but I know that if she had chosen to bust out her moves, she would have stolen the show!!! They herded us back upstairs to await our fate. 10 of us (ME!) were rapidly chosen, and asked to sign release forms.
The next 45 minutes were a blur of activity. So much so that I can only remember 2 of my 4 teammate's names off-hand. We were split into teams, whisked into an elevator and taken to the costume/photo area. My team was designated yellow, and as we were picking our clothing and dressing we were asked to think of a name. After the obvious banana and lemon choices were discarded, we chose "Caution Crue (creative spelling thanks to the producers of the show.)"
We were then taken to a room with a camera in it to choreograph and practice our dance, moved to a hallway with a mirror, taken to the performance space to practice microphone hand-offs, back upstairs for more rehearsal and finally to the performance space for the performance. Almost no time to get nervous at all!
Well, we kiiiiiiiiinda rocked. Caution Crue vs Thunder Coalition:
Whole episode available for a limited time:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/392125#s-p1-so-i0
Clip available for...?:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/392082
Well, needless to say, Caution Crue WON! And we got $300 gift certificates for J. Crew! And endless notoriety and fame!!! Well, I can dream...
After the show, and walking MANY blocks in the wrong direction (I blame exhaustion and lack of food!!!) we finally ended up at Pam Real Thai on 49th and 9th. Highly recommended and delicious.
Many many thanks to my companions for the day, and to everyone who watched the show JUST because I was on. I am honored and humbled that so many would take time for me. LOVE...
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