I got to watch work done for the filming of Glee.
Daughter is in a theater class whose teacher went to school with this Glee episode’s director, Eric Stoltz and executive producer, Dante Di Loreto. So it’s really who you know that gets you all the fun things. This was a theater field trip for a day.
We got to LA a little early so we went to the theater formerly known as “Kodak” and looked at the hand prints in front of the Grauman’s Chinese Theater. The Academy Awards are this coming Sunday so Vine was closed down and there were temporary structures being put up for the event. The red carpet was already put down in the theater itself so I can say I walked on the red carpet. OK, it was covered in plastic and popped periodically from some sort of bubble protection, but I DID walk on the red carpet. The red carpet that was outside the theater was rolled up and being moved by fork lifts. There was a lot of red carpet!
Glee is filmed at Paramount Studios even though it’s a Fox show. Glee rents space from Paramount.
We sat out side one of the studio rooms where they were rehearsing/filming. There were 2 cameras that we saw the live footage from. We couldn’t see in the studio, just what the camera focused on but we could hear the live dialog and music. A 5 minute segment was filmed and then there would be director notes, commenting, walk throughs, then another filming. This was repeated many, many times. In each “cut,” the cameras would focus on something different: a different angle, only one person, only feet.
We got to talk with 5 of the cast members. They were very nice and looked perfect.
We walked through all of the sets and settled into seats in the auditorium for a Q&A with the director and executive director. I’m a fan girl, I love Eric Stoltz. The kids were ready with a host of questions and the answers were informative about the entertaiment industry.
In the parking lot, I couldn’t find the exit, as I was driving around, we saw Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) in a purple and orange track suit. My van, full of girls, erupted in squeals. Daughter, embarrassed, tried to roll up the windows. Ms. Lynch smiled, put her shades on and walked quickly away.
A side observation of the day confirms that girls are different from boys. Yes, I know this is a known fact but when it’s illuminated so clearly, I must explain. Driving to and fro L.A., the girls Actually talked to each other! They conversed, giggled and engaged. Wow! Daughter commented that there’s never been so much interaction in the van. She confessed to the group that there could be whole car trips where no one would say anything. I thanked the girls for being girls. I enjoyed their energy.
This was no ordinary day!
Wow, what a day.