Morning Coffee-2nd Cup-My Oprah Experience
“Theresa, how do I get tickets to see the Oprah Showâ€, I said to the producer on the phone.
She responded, “Sherri, don’t worry about it I will take care of it. You can get the maximum of 4 tickets. How many do you want?†“I will take 3 tickets Theresa.†Two of my friends, Amy and Suzanne said they would go. I was going to make this a combination business and fun trip flying from NYC to Chicago in 2005. After the show I would meet with one of the producers and speak to her regarding one of my clients. Being a publicist, I work with all of these national shows, and I’d never been to Oprah’s Show, admired her from a distance, so I was excited about seeing her in person. I emailed the producer giving her the names of the people coming to the show and she told me that she had booked us for the Program B Show on Tuesday, March 23rd. She said it was going to be a fun show, but she couldn’t tell me what it was in case they decided to change the show at the last minute.
We arrived at the studio, one hour ahead of time and there was already a line outside the studio waiting to get in. It was a beautiful, sunny Chicago day, and Amy and Suzanne and I were full of excitement. We then began moving inside and I said “Oh My God — Security, security, security. The security guard then said to me“ If I decided to leave my coat on, you aren’t allowed to take it off in the studio†Okay, moving along we were ushered to the lady who would check our names off of the guest list. She looked up at me and said “you’re not on it.†The lady scrambled around, told us to stand off to the side, and we waited and waited, and she motioned us to come back to her. She said “you’re on a list for March 3lst.†“Apparently that was the fun show we had been originally scheduled for †telling Suzanne and Amy. “This doesn’t feel good to me†I said. Another line, we pass through a metal detector, then my fanny pack was searched. They took out my cell phone, business cards and said “ pick up the contents after the show.â€
We then go upstairs to wait until it is time to go into the studio. I found a seat, and I am wondering to myself “what the hell am I doing here? This isn’t fun.â€
We finally hear over the loud speaker, that they will call out a series of numbers that they had given us to get into the studio, and we’re to wait until we hear our numbers called. I feel like I’m with cattle and I hear my number called and I walk in with Suzanne and Amy. Fortunately I was taken to a seat in front of the stage where Oprah would be interviewing, and Suzanne and Amy were taken to 2 seats on the side of the show. They then announce that the show is going to be of a serious nature.
I wave to Suzanne and Amy, and I begin dancing in my seat to the music that’s being played on the speaker system, trying to loosen the grip of anxiety building within me. We wait. We wait. Finally Oprah comes out. Begins interviewing for the first segment, which was on sexual abuse. “Some fun show†I say to myself. During the break, Oprah hardly spoke two words to the guests, didn’t speak to the audience, and when the show was over, didn’t say goodbye to us or thank us for being there. I told Suzanne and Amy “I will meet you on the side of the building, because I’m going to see the producer for a short time.†I went into another building and asked for the producer. Her assistant came down, and with an icy voice said that her boss could not come down to meet me.†Again, wondering “what the hell am I doing here.†Suzanne and Amy finally came around and met me l5 mins later. I said good-bye to the assistant and thanked her, and looked at Suzanne and Amy and said “I’m depressed, let’s go have a great lunch.†Chicago is known for its great food. Thank goodness we found a delicious restaurant.
That evening we went to a famous blues club and had a blast. They had some heavy duty blues singers, great soul food, and we had great company. The blues club was dark, funky, had a bicycle and a pool table in the back and lots of room to use either one. Checkered table cloths, great barbecue chicken, collared greens, and garlic smothered mash potatoes. The music flowed through my body, and I could feel all of the tension of the day move through me and I was happy. It had been a long, tiring day, but listening to the blues music put a big smile on my face, and my body rocked back and forth. I looked over to my friends, they were smiling, and we looked at one another and gave each other the thumbs up sign.
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January 25th, 2011 at 4:52 am
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