Friends! I just got back from the coolest trip I’ve been on since I went to CinemaCon in Las Vegas almost two years ago. It’s been about five years, but I finally headed back to New York to visit one of my oldest friends. And this time I told her we were going to see as many celebrities that we can muster in three days – we succeeded!
I flew in Thursday morning, and we packed the day with lots of fun stuff, while squeezing food in along the way. We started with going to the AOL Build Series studio located near NYU, to catch some FREE live interviews with Alfonso Ribeiro and then Jameela Jamil. Alfonso’s centered on the upcoming 30th year of AFV which has been the host of for the past several years. Jameela Jamil was there mainly to promote the final season of The Good Place, her upcoming hosting gig on The Misery Index, and her recent activism charges. I was afforded the opportunity to ask a question during Jameela’s interview, so that was pretty freaking exciting! Check it out, along with other awesome interviews here.
Immediately after those two interviews, we inhaled some food on our way to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which I was lucky enough to get tickets for. After waiting in line for a couple hours, we found out that they would be filming Thursday and Friday’s episodes that night! That means double the guests and monologues and musical acts, and it was awesome! We were sat on the floor and had a great view of the entire set. Stephen’s guests included Bernie Sanders and Patricia Heaton, and we got a performance by Alabama Shakes’ front woman, Brittany Howard, with her new solo effort. His monologues were filmed back-to-back and were tremendously funny! The band was loud and energetic, and it was fun to see the inner workings of how the show gets put together. You can catch the full episodes we were a part of on 9/26 and 9/27 here.
Friday was almost as packed as Thursday! We started off the day with another AOL Build Series interview featuring Antonio Banderas, which was amazing. I was so close to an icon, and the interview centered on Pride and Glory, an upcoming film by a director who was responsible for one of my favorite films, The Skin I Live In! A short while after that, we headed over to The Met to check out an exhibit currently running, Play It Loud: The Instruments of Rock & Roll. The exhibit featured instruments from rock stars new and old, and ironically the exhibit was in conjunction with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! Very cool, and it was really neat to see such an extremely large crowd of people enjoying it. The day was finished up with one of two Broadway plays, Seawall/a Life featuring Tom Sturridge and Jake Gyllenhaal. The play was deeply moving, telling two stories relating to life and death in very different ways. I loved it.
Saturday, albeit a bit slower, was still amazing! We started off the day getting a tour of NBC Studios! Two guides led us through a handful of sets and we got a behind the scenes glimpse at how all the magic is put together. First up was a stop at Lester Holt’s studio where he does his segment, along with any breaking news broadcasts. It was cool to see how small the actual space was, and also how technologically advanced it was. Next up was walking by the SNL studio! Sadly, we couldn’t go in because they were still busy constructing the sets for that night’s episode! We did get to hear the SNL band practice, which was pretty neat. The final stop was Jimmy Fallon’s hallway, where there were some questionable rooms, such as the “Shroom Room”…unclear what’s in there. We saw the Grammy that The Roots won back in the day, the infamous “Muppet Pipes,” and Jimmy’s actual studio! Our tour group even got to film our own mini Tonight Show!
The final big thing we did was watch Charlie Cox, Zawe Ashton, and Tom Hiddleston in the play, Betrayal. Similar to Seawall/a Life, the set was very limited, and those actors I listed were basically the only ones involved. It recounted a destroyed marriage, moving back in time to discover the initial betrayal of a wife and a best friend. It was quite intense! And our seats were pretty awesome for this one, if I do say so myself. Sadly, neither of these plays were followed by a signing, but just to be in the same atmosphere as these actors was an incredible experience! If you’re headed to New York or live there and want to catch a good play, sadly, Seawall/a Life just closed this past Sunday, but you can still catch Betrayal!
Overall, this trip was a blast, and I’m so thankful for my friend for indulging me and my ridiculous ideas! I feel like I made the most out of my visit, and I can’t wait to go back!