The Morning After The Oscars

Published by Bobby Laurie | 0 comments

The Oscars are over. The red carpet has been rolled up, the oversized statues put back in storage and the stage is dark, but I was lucky enough to see it all before that happened.

I was lucky enough to receive two tickets to the LIVE with Kelly After Oscars show on Monday the 27th. I had also received an additional two tickets for my Assistant Patti, but she wasn’t able to attend. But see everyone, she DOES get things, even if she claims she doesn’t on our reality show, Savvy Stews.

I flew to New York on Thursday the 23rd arriving at 10pm, to attend a rehearsal dinner for a wedding on the 24th, then the actual wedding on the 25th. The wedding ended at midnight, I stayed up all night with my Mom, headed to JFK at 3:30am Sunday morning, few to Los Angeles arriving at 10:30am, took a nap, watched the awards, then took another nap, finally waking up at 12:15am to get ready for the show.

We left my apartment at 1:25am, arriving at the audience staging area at The Hollywood Bowl at 1:40am to see about 500 people already in line checking in and awaiting transportation to the Kodak Theater.

Now, the only thing I needed to claim my tickets and get badged for the event was my photo ID and can you believe, I forgot it at home! I was

about ready to cry. All of this flying and sleeplessness and we weren’t going to get in. Luckily, my CrewID was in my car from the flight in earlier the day before and it worked to get our tickets. Once we cleared the checkin line, we got in another line for transportation.

We boarded one of about 20 buses around 2:40am and sat in the parking lot until about 3:40am when we were finally underway to the theater. Through that time, though, there had to be an additional 2500 people checkedin, and awaiting bus transportation. The audience holds 3200 people.

We got off the buses and headed inside to get stuck in line at security (hmm, sound familiar?) About 40 minutes in line, we made it into the theater and took our seats, 12 rows from the stage at 5am. But, not before Mom & I were interviewed by ABC7 Los Angeles about our experience that morning.

Being seated in the same theater as the Oscars really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me and my mom. We looked around and were just in awe of the size of the theater, the sets, and the whole experience.

The show started at 6am (live in New York and on the East Coast at 9am) with a performance from Cirque du Soleil’s “Iris” which was stunning since one of the performers were literally flying right over out seats. Then, Kelly and Neil Patrick Harris made their grand entrance from theater seats coming down from above the set.

The first star and award winner to grace to stage (which I was personally overjoyed to see in person) was Octavia Spencer, Best Supporting Actress. She was quite overwhelmed by the reception the audience gave her as she walked onto the stage. She seems so genuine and down to earth, definitely someone that everyone can relate to.

We were also able to see the Best Actor award winner Jean Djardin. It appeared to us that he had was wearing an ear piece, might possibly being an interpreter, to ease his American interview.

The show also starred Issac Mizrahi, Maria Meniunos, and a taped package from Kelly back stage at the show.

The overall experience was astounding. Kelly is quite personable, down to earth and friendly. After interviewing Octavia, she turned to the audience once Octavia left the stage and said “Did that just happen?” She also conversed with people from the crowed answering questions and such, she even invited a tap-dance teacher up onto the stage post Jean Djardin’s segment to teach Neil how to tap dance.

Once the live show ended, Kelly & Neil chatted with the crowed and posed for photos with Slim Fast winners. At one point the audience started changing “Mark, Mark, Mark!” and wanted Kelly’s husband Mark Consuelos to appear on stage. In the middle of posing for a photo Kelly told her staff to “Go get him.” She definitely wanted to please her fans. A few moments later a very post-party-hungover Mark came out and waved to everyone.

I’m grateful for the experience to attend the Oscars the day after Hollywood’s biggest night. Even more so that I got to spend it with my Mother.

   

Additional Photos: