The Glenn Report

About 50 steps from the CM Residence is a nondescript little building with the words "The Colbert Report" written across the front. Ever heard of it? (Two weeks ago, I hadn't.) I've passed this building every day now for a month, and it was only today that I decided it might be fun to take a peek inside.

Sometimes I get lucky, and it turns out that today was one of those days for me.

Thanks to my good luck, I scored one last-minute ticket to a live taping of tonight's show. Then, thanks to the fact that I was a party of one, I got to sit in the VIP section on the front row (in the best seat in the house, I might add--the only one never blocked by a camera!). And thanks to my prime location, I got to give Stephen Colbert a high five as he ran onstage for the first time.

Woot, woot, WOOOOOOOO!

(Sorry. I'm still in cued-audience-response mode.)

Tonight's guest star was Gary Sinise, best known for his roles in CSI, Forrest Gump,and Apollo 13. I was amazed at how quickly the show went by; we were in and out in just over an hour, even though they had to stop the cameras three times. Watching Stephen (I can call him that now that we've high-fived, right?) break character and dissolve into laughter was like watching a live blooper reel. He seemed like a pretty nice, down-to-earth sort of guy. Before the show began and he donned his "character," the audience was allowed to ask him questions, and he was gracious and straightforward in his responses. And he was very patient with the swarm of hair-spraying, lint-removing staff members who descended during every commercial break. (If I were him, I would've swatted them away like flies.) When he garbled his sentences during the shooting, he turned to us and said, "My guys'll fix that up so the TV-watching public will never know I made a mistake. . .just so long as none of you blog." Well, guess who blogs, Mr. Colbert?

(Somehow, I don't think he'll mind.)

By the way, keep an eye on Colbert's running Colbert Super PAC joke; apparently, it could have some pretty serious political ramifications. He's actually going in front of the FED in DC tomorrow to testify and see if his request will be approved.

All this Colbert coverage isn't bad for a girl who, two weeks ago, walked past the standby line in front of the building, asked what the line was for, and thought she heard "The Kolob Rapport," right? (And yes, I had to google "The Kolob Rapport" before I ran across the actual Colbert Report and watched a couple of episodes online.) See how much I'm learning here in New York City? I'm becoming so cultured. Forget opera; I need exposure to pop culture. . .

Okay--on second thought, let's not forget opera entirely. I've got a plug for Janacek:

Last week, I attended the NY Phil's highly creative production of Janacek's opera, The Cunning Little Vixen. The music was fascinating, and the staging was sublime! The entire orchestra was seated onstage, but the players were half-hidden in a forest of giant sunflowers. As the lights came up on the orchestra and the overture began, an entire children's chorus crept onstage dressed as insects, frogs, and furry creatures. The costumes were colorful and exotic, and the children were very impressive both vocally and in terms of movement and acting. So were the lead singers (of course). With the exception of the minimalistic La Traviata that I saw at the Met last year, this may be the best, most effective opera I have ever seen. And it was funny too! The choice to perform the opera in English instead of in its original Czech made the experience very accessible.

In other musical news, auditions for the Broadway revival of Annie are finally coming to an end, and it's obvious that Charles has Annie on the brain. The other day as I sat in my little "office" (read "card table"), I heard Charles tinkering around at the piano in his studio. I momentarily stopped what I was doing and just sat there with a smile on my face. He was singing and playing all the songs from Annie! I thought to myself, "This is how a multi-million-dollar smash hit began--with a very unpretentious man trying out some tunes with his unpretentious voice on an unpretentious piano." The glossy Hollywood trim is just extra; the magic is in the art itself. Hearing Charles play Annie would be like watching Walt Disney replicate his first sketch of Mickey Mouse on a dirty napkin using a broken pencil. It would be like hearing a young Colbert tell his work buddies a political joke back when he worked installing insulation. . .

Okay, okay. I'm trying a little too hard to come full circle. :-)

I'm going to set aside any pretense of an underlying "theme" now and just tell you one last neat thing that happened to me this week:

As I was waiting to pay this week's rent at the CM Financial Office, I started chatting with the girl in front of me. I noticed that she looked very Ukrainian, but when I asked her where she was from, she said Montreal (her accent was sort of French). "I'm originally from Ukraine," she added. Bingo! We chatted happily in Russian until she got to the front of the line. I should make a list of all the Russian-speaking people I've met here in New York! It's almost uncanny.

I should probably share one quick non-event before signing off: I had tickets to go to the Yankees game yesterday, and I was very excited about it! Unfortunately, some commuter told me to get off at the wrong stop, and I ended up wandering around a less-than-safe area of Harlem for an hour before my phone died and I decided to just head home. Oh well.

Someday I'll see the Yankees, but in the meantime, I've seen Colbert, heard Janacek, and spoken with a girl from Ukraine. Not bad for a week in New York!