Friday, February 25, 2011

Artist Date, Week 24 ~ Attended The Oprah Show


I finally made it to Chicago and to the Oprah Show.  :-)  I had tickets for Wednesday, February 23rd, the morning taping.  We had to be there between 7:00am and 7:30am, but we were in line by 6:30 and there were about 120 people there before us.  The staff at Harpo are very friendly and helpful, and they made check-in smooth and easy.  They started calling us to the studio in groups around 8:15.  We had good seats, right in the center directly facing the stage.  A friend of my sister got pulled from our group and they sat her down right in front of the stage.  She was so close to Oprah, she later described the bunions on her feet to us in great detail.  lol

Oprah came in around 9:15 and talked for about 10 minutes before the taping began.  The show was about fugitive mom Susan LeFevre, a.k.a Marie Walsh, a woman with the help of her grandfather escaped from jail in Michigan when she was around 20 years old, and was on the lam for 30+ years before being arrested. Her husband and her three kids didn't know she had been convicted of a crime and had escaped from jail until she was arrested in front of her San Diego home.  The interview lasted just over an hour, and when they took breaks for commercials they were quite short and not as long as the commercials breaks on TV.

After the taping was over, Oprah stayed on stage for just over 30 minutes talking to the audience, taking questions, and even posed for a picture with a woman and her three daughters.  She told us some very funny stories about the first time she smoked pot, how she thought Elizabeth Taylor was a real bitch the first time she interviewed her.   She talked about her dogs, and showed us pictures.  She also took a few pictures on stage for the June issue of O Magazine.  She said she will have her own show on the OWN network starting in September which will a weekly show, and with no audience.

I wanted to go the Oprah Show for the Oprah Experience and that is exactly what I got.  I was really blown away by how long she spent with the audience.  She didn't walk off the stage until about 11:10.   I wasn't as concerned with who her guest was, or what the topic was about.  I have heard she does not always spend any time with the audience...depending on her schedule, or who she has on.  I read on the Oprah message boards people who attended the second taping on Wednesday said Oprah did not stick around after the show.  So I feel lucky we had as much time as we did with her.  Our show won't air until April 7th, so I have to wait until then to see if my face made it on TV. lol  After the show we had a nice breakfast, and then went to the Oprah Store.  I bought a T-shirt and a coffee mug which I already used this morning.  

Oprah and her staff are going to LA today for the After Oscar show on Monday, then they have a month off.  Once they return there will only be 35 shows left to tape.  The Oprah Show goes off the air the last week of May.  :-(   Now I can scratch seeing an Oprah Show off my Bucket List. 



While in Chicago I did some touristy things.  I attended a play at the Steppenwolf Theater called, Sonnets for an Old Century.  The play takes place in a waiting room for the afterlife.  It was very good.



The next night we went to Second City.  They had a 'best of' show for their 50th anniversary.  It was hilarious. I kept the program with all the actors names, so I can see which ones become big stars some day.  I have been to Second City many times and I have seen so many of them make it big.


The next day I spent downtown.  I went to the Art Institute and saw their new Modern wing, then had a great dinner on Michigan Avenue.  Came home early to rest up for Oprah the next day.

I am now home, but I came home with a cold.  I always seem to catch a cold when I am in Chicago.   I needed to get out in the fresh air today, so I went over to the Fountain Hills Art Fair.  I'm staying in all weekend, and just plan on watching the Oscars on Sunday.

A little of what you fancy does you good.
MARIE LLOYD

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Artist Date, Week 23 ~ The Dixie Swim Club


Last Sunday I went for the first time up to the Cactus Shadows Fine Arts Center in northern Scottsdale to see the Dixie Swim Club.  I liked what I heard, but I didn't hear much.  I had a last row seat on the far right side, and I have terrible hearing when it comes to high pitch voices and accents.  So I only heard some of the dialogue.  The theater was even larger than I expected, and the actors did not have any microphones on them or hanging over them, so I missed a lot of the dialogue.  The audience was laughing a lot...I only wish I could have heard what they were laughing about.  Next time I go there, I will make sure I have a front row seat.


The great thing about getting
older is that you don't lose all
the other ages you've been.
MADELEINE L'ENGLE

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Artist Date, Week 22 ~ Bye Bye Birdie


I'm on a roll when it comes to seeing plays.  This week was no exception, and I went to see by myself Bye Bye Birdie at the Desert Stages Theater in Scottsdale on Super Bowl Sunday.  I have never seen this musical before, nor did I have any clue what it was about either. 

The musical was very entertaining, and the cast was excellent.  I've never been in the larger theater at Desert Stages before, so I had no idea I could actually trip the cast with my feet...they were that close to the people sitting in the front rows.

This was the first year we didn't have a Super Bowl Party to attend.  So I came home and watched about 20 minutes of the game with hubby, then the half time show, and that was enough for me.  Football season is now officially over, and there is only hockey and basketball for my hubby to watch.


I'm just getting around to blogging about my Artist Date which was on February 6th because I spent most of my week working on polishing up and improving the 10-minute play I wrote in my play writing class.  I sent it out to three different 10-Minute Play Festivals so far.  Maybe I will have beginner's luck and a Festival will pick my play to perform.  It can't hurt that my Planet Forecast for this week said, "Transiting Venus Trine Natal Pluto:  You're likely to develop a flair for fashion, and you definitely have the panache to pursue a theatrical career or try anything else that is related to the performing arts."  Hey, I'm open to all the help I can get - even when it comes to the sun, moon, stars and planets aligning in my favor. 


Ideas have come from
the strangest places.
JOYCE CAROL OATES

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Artist Date, Week 21 - Seeing Oprah in Chicago - NOT



I had a really GREAT Artist Date planned this week.  My sister who lives in Chicago got tickets to see Oprah on Thursday, February 3rd.  I had planned on coming in the afternoon of February 1st, but the Blizzard of 2011 had other plans for me.  :-)   I was actually on the airplane, and we left the terminal, the flight attendants were preparing for departure - then the captain comes on and says we are having problems with the engines and we need to be towed back to the terminal.  We wait, then wait some more.  Finally, the captain comes on again and says by the time we fix the problem we will have missed our opportunity to get to Chicago before the blizzard hits.  My sis was a little disappointed, but my hubby was happy. He wasn't too thrilled I was going to Chicago during a blizzard.  He was to say the least, a little nervous about my being there during the Storm of the Century.


Luckily, my dear sweet sister got our Oprah Show tickets changed to later in the month.  So I am still coming Chicago, and you better be kinder to me this time.  :-)  I wonder what I missed today at the Oprah taping.  I was teasing my sister that if Oprah decided to take her audience somewhere wonderful, and she gave up her chance to go, and wait for me later this month - she will be really pissed off.  (lol)  Or I like to think, the taping we will attend later this month will be way better than the one we missed today, so the Blizzard of 2011 did us a favor.  Thank you - thank you very much.

Anyway, my only Aritst Date this week was still lovely.  I went to the MIM this past Sunday to see the Yound Sounds of Arizona play.  The two groups were sensational.  When I was a kid almost everyone played a musical instrument - it was just what you did.  Today, it is rare to find kids playing musical instruments, they only want to play sports.  I found it refreshing to see these very young and talented kids.  Hopefully more kids will be encouraged to play an instrument. 




Any disaster you can survive is an
improvement in your character,
your stature, and your life. 
What a privilege!
JOSEPH CAMPBELL