I went to NYC and saw Ellen!

[minnie56]

We got tickets to an 'Ellen Degeneres' show taping in NYC last week and it was such fun to see live!! Her guests were Billy Joel and Queen Latifah...

We arrived in NYC on Monday and left Thursday night...we were 7 all together and had a blast!!

I had forgotten how much fun that city is!! Now I want to go back

 

[mtblujeans]

I want to know what they tell the audience before they start filming the show. Do they tell you to stand up and dance when she enters and the music starts...what do they tell you.....what, what, what??

 

[minnie56]

Well..
They do get you very hyped to get out of your seat and dance long before she even gets out!

It's not as spontaneous as it all looks....they pick out those that are really moving and put them near the front of the audience..they also move those that are not as 'physically appealing' to seats further back. The studio held 400...291 were VIP's..friends or family of 'someone' and that only left 109 seats for the rest of us minions. The overflow went into the riff raff room. Ellen is very clearly instructed 'who is who' of any importance in the audience and plays up to those the most. We were split up and one of us (not me) danced momentarily with her but only as she was on her way to dance with her Producer's agent. I guess it was more orchestrated than I thought it would be but I'm not surprised either?

It was a really great show and time ....she was a bit weary as it was her last show but she really is sooo funny.

 

[mtblujeans]

I wondered how much she interacts with the audience, really, because they always seem so responsive. It sounds like you had a good time! Do you get to take pictures in the studio so you can have that memory?

 

[Nickunited]

I was at a taping earlier this year in L.A and it was cool - they get you up before the show and they always play really good music!

 

[mtblujeans]

Pictures? Anyone allowed to take pictures?

 

[minnie56]

Cameras are strictly forbidden!

 

[minnie56]

Had to be off too in case I suppose you took pictures with them or if it rang during the show too!! They searched everyone upon entering..

 

[mtblujeans]

Ewww...what if you had a camera or cell phone with you?? Did they take them away???

 

[minnie56]

We were told that they would take them away..but they didn't. They asked if you had a cell phone and to make sure it was turned off, but there were people walking through the audience ALL the time just watching everything..you really would have been dumb to try to pull a camera out!! It's also really cold in the studio so dancing is a must to keep warm!

 

[Crazoo]

Well..
They do get you very hyped to get out of your seat and dance long before she even gets out!

It's not as spontaneous as it all looks....they pick out those that are really moving and put them near the front of the audience..they also move those that are not as 'physically appealing' to seats further back. The studio held 400...291 were VIP's..friends or family of 'someone' and that only left 109 seats for the rest of us minions. The overflow went into the riff raff room. Ellen is very clearly instructed 'who is who' of any importance in the audience and plays up to those the most. We were split up and one of us (not me) danced momentarily with her but only as she was on her way to dance with her Producer's agent. I guess it was more orchestrated than I thought it would be but I'm not surprised either?

It was a really great show and time ....she was a bit weary as it was her last show but she really is sooo funny.

I'm not surprised they do that.

Thanks for the behind the scenes view.

 

[epcotfan]

That's awesome! I'd love to see Ellen in person. Especially in NYC. Years ago I got tickets to a Letterman taping and we too made a short NYC trip out of it.
How did you manage to snag the tickets? I hoping to get tickets to a Burbank taping in 2006.

 

[anewvance]

That's really cool, neat to hear the behind the scenes of it all. I am watching Ellen as we speak. I thought she taped her shows a bit in advance? She was just in NYC last week...

 

[minnie56]

Tape in advance a bit.
We were at Tuesdays taping (she actually taped two that day) and it was on TV Friday. I imagine she did today's towards the end of last week?? I am also watching it right now...

I applied online for tickets...had no idea if I would/could even go and truthfully, forgot about them and had really given up towards the end of the week prior to her NYC trip anyway..

But I got a call on the Thursday afternoon (which I thought was a friend playing a prank) that I had tickets to the following Tuesdays taping! Somehow, we pulled it all off and put together a very unexpected 4 day trip to New York City!

We were 5 travelling from Canada and met up with a friend and her daughter that live outside NYC that had been unable to get tickets but I managed to get? It was just luck of the draw...trust me..we had a great trip and perhaps all the more so because it was unplanned?

 

[mtblujeans]

I am glad you had a safe trip! Thanks for sharing your fun with us!!

 

[Snoopymom]

Thanks for sharing. We went to a Letterman show a few years ago and it was a neat experience, but honestly I was really disappointed. The camera was about 3 feet from his face, and even though we were in the second row, it was like the audience wasn't even there...well just to clap like crazy and freeze to death...very orchestrated and contrived, not funny or spontaneous like I had expected.

 

[mtblujeans]

So, doing a show really is just a job.....eh? Interesting to know. My kids have always wanted to go see a Leno show but we don't get to So. CA very often! I think they might be disappointed if we actually saw a show!