Thursday morning I was up somewhat early to get ready to head down to Chelsea to see Martha Stewart. It isn’t as if I could show up in tracksuit pants to the taping. As the audience confirmation email states –
Women: Dress to impress. Dressy and fun— a chic dress, dressy jeans, or trendy and fashionable outfits are suggested. Bright colors photograph best.
Recommended: Dress shoes/heels.
Men: Dress to impress. Polo- type shirts or a button- up shirt are best, with or without a blazer or jacket- it’s your call.
DO NOT WEAR: T-shirts, large printed logos on shirts or pants, white shirts, or wild prints. No hats, sleeveless tops, gym sneakers.
The thing with these tv show tapings is the waiting. The waiting. And more waiting. I joined the queue of women (with three or four older men who had been obviously, dragged along) and again more standing in the cold. Unlike the Daily Show, Martha allows cameras into the studio so I was hoping to get some better pictures of the studio than what I got last time. After going through security and getting my ticket, there was more waiting. Though, Martha caters! We got evian water and these delightfully fresh huge sugar cookies! The waiting area has plenty of chairs and around the room are photos that Martha has taken herself – photos of winter at her property, autumn photos and lovely scenic shots. Everything is so professional – a great coat check facility is provided that is so well organised and her staff are in control the whole time.
Basically the show would run like this –
Segment 1 – Letters to Martha – the perfect boiled egg and removing cabbage leaves for cabbage rolls
Segment 2 & 3 – Bill Bradley – AWESOME! A former New Jersey Senator and Presidential Candidate, Rhodes Scholar and former player for the Knicks. He was fantastic!
Segment 3 & 4 – Chef Jonathan Waxman – my kind of chef! He and Martha are old pals and he was just great! His roast chicken, mashed potatoes and spinach were truly mouth watering.
Segment 5 – Hand puppets with the the most ADORABLE little girl ever.
Segement 6 – In Case of Emergency (ICE) on the your mobile phone.
It was time to enter the studio and I really did nearly faint when they put me in the FRONT ROW! I got a lot of ohhs and ahhs when they were asking everyone who was from where and I yelled out “Australia”! They had me speak into the microphone where got a lot of responses of “Ohhh we love your accent!” Accents are strange because obviously it isn’t an accent for me, but for some reason, on this trip, a lot of people have been asking about it. I think I simply sound like I sound. So it is strange when it comes back at you when you don’t even think about it.
There were also a huge group of ladies with big hair, wearing pink who I thought were from somewhere in Alabama, but ended up being from Beaumont, Texas. (Hey, close enough?!) And there was a lady who was so proud of the fact she was from Des Moines, Iowa she kept shouting it aloud! For the puppet making segment I was no more than two metres away from Martha herself! Whoa! The show ran really well and the only difference to when I went to the Martha show last time was that as this one was not live, Martha stopped and restarted her introductions a couple of times. When it was time to demonstrate the ICE on the phone, she started and said “No – I don’t like this phone – lets use an iPhone!” Go Martha!
We got freebies as well! Oh yay! I then had to bolt out of the cosy studios into the the brisk NY afternoon to race up 8th to get to the TKTS booth to see if I could grab some tickets to Avenue Q. As Todd from Melbourne was also in NY we decided to see that play. I was anticipating another long wait in a queue but there was no-one there. Got the tickets and was able to head back to the Pod to escape the chill and relax a little before showtime.
Avenue Q was fantastic – I think just because it is so different. I won’t rehash the storyline but you can read about it via Wikipedia. We didn’t have time to grab something to eat beforehand so there was some tummy rumbles happening but it was just a really good show. We headed into Junior’s for a bite after the show – Matzo Ball soup to warm up and for me Mac Cheese. Nothing better than eating bright orange pasta at after 11pm! 😉 Then you wouldn’t believe who also decided to head to Junior’s? That huge group of ladies from Beaumont, Texas! In the whole of New York, we’re all in the same place.
Heading back to the hotel I had some strern words with a group of what seemed like ex-Frat guys thinking they were all that and could speak to me whatever way they wanted to, and then cracked it majorly with a cab driver who thought I was some dumb tourist who he tried to get a bigger fare out of. Last time I checked 54th didn’t come before 51st! It was way after 1am-ish when I finally crashed and guess what? Yes.. I had to be up early on Friday – but for a good reason!