Andrea and I started talking about going to the show several years ago. But pregnancies and babies sort of put it all on hold. Earlier this year, Stacy brought up the idea of trying to go and she and Gina tried to get tickets. That never panned out. Ellen went on break over the summer and I was determined to try to get tickets as soon as they were making them available again.
So once I remembered to look in September, they were already pretty booked up and the earliest I could get tickets for was November 11th. You can get a max of four tickets and you can only attend once per year (season?). I put my name in to request the tickets. THE NEXT DAY I received a call from the Ellen show confirming my request and saying we would have guaranteed seats. I was to receive a packet of information two weeks prior to the taping.
So we waited.
Everyone was so excited. We wondered who we would see. What would the gifts be that we might receive? Would we be able to handle the excitement?!?!?
The day came. We met at my house and had a nice lunch. We had to be at the check-in point no later than 3:30pm. We hit the road at 1:00pm and arrived at 2:00pm. We learned that the audience was still waiting to go in for the taping of the first show and we were scheduled to see the second show. They asked us to come back at 3:30. We took a walk to a coffee shop and made our way back just before 3:00. We checked in and were asked to take a seat until they opened the line at 3:00. Once they opened the line, we jumped in to await our numbers.
I'd say we got some pretty good numbers...
They state that the numbers don't really have any bearing on where you sit. They kind of "cast" you for seating. But you can't deny that the sooner you get in the studio, the more chance there is of getting good seats.
After receiving the numbers, you take a seat again and wait for an hour. You get to view the episode that is airing that day that you are missing by attending the taping. Ricky Martin was on and apparently I still have a bit of a leftover crush on him. I was so bummed we didn't get to see him live.
Here we are waiting and watching the show.
Me, Andrea, Stacy and GinaAt about 4:30 or so, we get in line by number. Then they take groupings across the street over to the studio. There we briefly waited in a sort of hallway with benches. From there they move us into the "Riff Raff Room". This is just outside the studio where audience members that didn't make it into the studio can sit on couches to watch the show on monitors. This is also where Ellen's gift shop is. I did a little shopping and picked up some fun items for Jim, Josh and me.
From there we were finally brought into the studio. By the time we came in, there was maybe one fourth of the audience already filled. As we wondered where we would sit, we got called down the steps and taken right to the FRONT ROW!!! WHHAATTT???? How cool is that????? We just about died! How exciting!!!
It was probably about 5:15 by this point and we spent the next 45 minutes dancing, and laughing and being entertained by the warm-up guy and audience dancing. A producer came to our front row and said "You are the first people Ellen will see, so lots of energy!" Cool!
It is the weirdest feeling to have all these cameras in your face which you have to assume are filming all the time. Who knows what will ever be aired.
The show started pretty promptly at 6:00. It tapes just like it airs. We saw Indian acrobatic dancers, Halle Barry and Josh Groban performed. I am a big Josh Groban fan and from where we were sitting, you could not be any closer to him. I was in awe.
The show wrapped and we went back to the Riff Raff Room. We found a photo booth that we jumped in and took some fun pictures.
As we walked out, we were given our gift/prize of the Josh Groban CD. The show aired on Monday, November 15th. All four of us could be seen through different shots in the first 5-10 minutes, but never again. She actually didn't have as much audience-involved stuff that day, so there just wasn't a lot of the audience shown.
All told it was a really great day and a wonderful lifetime memory. We couldn't wait to turn on our cell phones and share our experiences with our loved ones.
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