Things have been especially quiet around this blog for the past month, and that’s because I’ve spent 3 of the past 4 weeks working 12+ hour days on back-to-back-to-back award shows in New York City. It’s been equal parts exhausting and exhilarating.

A brief overview before diving into photos: I first worked on the Peabody Awards (as script supervisor), then the CFDA Fashion Awards (also as script supervisor), and finally the Tony Awards (as a PA).

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75th ANNIVERSARY PEABODY AWARDS

The Peabody Awards recognize storytelling that matters — stories that engage viewers as citizens as well as consumers. To quote from their website, “The Peabody Awards spotlight instances of how electronic media can teach, expand our horizons, defend the public interest, or encourage empathy with others.” Instead of following the typical awards show format of naming nominees and then picking a winner, the Peabodys simply announce the top 30 programs that have received a Peabody Award that year. There are no surprises on show night and each winner has ample time to prepare their acceptance speech. Recipients this year included Transparent, Master of None, Unreal, Mr. Robot, Black-ish, Jessica Jones, Wolf Hall, The Jinx, and more. Individual awards went to Jon Stewart, Stanley Nelson, and David Letterman.

This year’s ceremony was held at Cipriani Wall Street and hosted by Keegan-Michael Key. He introduced all 30 winners, and was actively involved in writing and tweaking his material. Here we are below, with his writer Elise, in a shot captured by photographer Randy Shropshire. (Shout-out to head writers Virginia Heffernan and Michael Albo.)

My job is to format and maintain the script, issue revisions, coordinate with teleprompter, and make sure everyone is (literally) on the same page. While I held a somewhat similar position for years on Young & Restless, it was my first time doing this specific job on an award show.

Here are some photos of the venue the morning of the show:

And I snapped this shortly before the dinner started:

During the live show I was backstage with teleprompter. Many of the winners had already submitted their acceptance speeches; during the show many stopped by to practice reading them with one teleprompter operator (“pre-read”) while the main prompter op continued to scroll script for the live show. At times it was quiet and other times there was a fluster of activity: Steve Martin came over to punch up his introduction of David Letterman for the final award of the evening. Master of None’s Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang stopped to dictate their prepared remarks to prompter, reading off their iPhones. Shonda Rhimes came by to practice her introduction of Peabody’s “75 Years of Entertainment” package.

Since I don’t have photos of the stage or recipients during the broadcast, here are some I’ve found on-line to paint a clearer picture of the evening. All photo sources are linked below each collage.

[above images via 1, 2, 3]

[above images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

[above images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Following the awards, we returned to the production office to pack up our belongings and go home. I paused to snap this photo overlooking the main ballroom:

It was a joy to work with my friend Sabrina, production supervisor for the Peabody Awards. She kept me sane and patiently answered all my questions about script supervisor duties.

THE CFDA FASHION AWARDS

Next up — the CFDA Fashion Awards! That stands for Council of Fashion Designers of America and I hadn’t heard of it until a few weeks ago. It ended up being one of the most glamorous events I’ve ever been a part of.

We spent the first three days working out of The Weinstein Co. in Tribeca. That was a trip because they produce such high-profile projects — I was sitting in their office when news broke that The Weinstein Co. will produce the upcoming In the Heights movie.

The script / host read-through happened at the CFDA office. Adam and Sabrina posed with the CFDA logo in reception, joking that we fit right in with our Banana Republic clothes.

This show took place at the Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center (on 34th St. right near Penn Station). Here is the space on our first day on-site, before its transformation:

And here’s a shot from two days later:

Michael C. Hall rehearses “Changes” in a tribute to David Bowie (he starred in Bowie’s off-Broadway musical Lazarus earlier this year).

View from the stage on show day:

Hours before the show, tables are set and final touches made:

We grab a quick bite to eat as the red carpet is installed outside the ballroom. I spy a photo opportunity…

May I present the 2016 CFDA Fashion Awards script team: Alexis, me, Sabrina, and Adam:

In addition to sharing production supervisor duties, Sabrina was the show caller and Adam was the associate show caller. They cued all elements during the telecast — multiple video screens, entrances and exits, light and audio cues. It was really impressive to watch all these elements move under their calm and focused direction. (And as their friend, I was super proud.)

Dress rehearsal happened late in the afternoon…

… and hours later, doors opened for the main event:

The show was hosted by Joel McHale. He was very congenial, and he punched up some of the host material alongside his co-writers. His opening monologue was well-received by the crowd. Below on the right, he poses with Alexis, our script PA.

[above image via]

Just like at the Peabody Awards, I was positioned backstage next to teleprompter with our writers and producers. Presenters came backstage before their category for pre-read (to practice reading lines off the teleprompter), and then we’d make script tweaks as requested — presenters included Heidi Klum, Riley Keough, Abbi Jacobson & Ilana Glazer, Lena Dunham & Jenny Lyons, Ansel Elgort & Karlie Kloss, Alexander Skarsgard, and Claire Danes.

Several major fashion designers were singled out with special awards — Alexa Chung presented to Imran Amed, Calvin Klein presented to Donna Karan, Anna Wintour presented to Alessandro Michele, Michael Kors presented to Norma Kamali, and Diane von Furstenberg presented the Style Icon Award to none other than Beyoncé. (The day I found out I’d be in the same room as Beyoncé was a good day.) You can read her full acceptance speech here — it’s quite moving, as she talks about her grandmother’s job as a seamstress, and how in the early days of Destiny’s Child her mom was pounding on the door of every major designer, but none of them would “dress four black country curvy girls.” Tonight they all bowed down to Queen B.

There were a number of extremely well-produced video packages, including a cold open short called “The Messenger” by Sarah Jones, in which the actress plays multiple roles opposite practically every famous fashion designer in the city. I highly recommend checking out this video:

Last but not least, there were two tributes to fashion-forward artists we lost this past year. First, Tilda Swinton read a moving letter to her friend David Bowie, and then Michael C. Hall came out to sing while models wearing Bowie-inspired looks strutted the stage. And later on Jennifer Hudson closed out the night with a tribute to Price, singing a medley of three of his songs.

If you’d like a more detailed review of the show, check out this official CFDA blog recap.

Since I don’t have any personal photos taken during the actual show, here is a compilation of images from professional photographers to round out this post. All photo sources are linked below each collage.

[above images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

[above images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ]

[above images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

This show was my favorite award show to work on to date, something I would not have predicted going into this given that I’m hardly a fashionista. But everyone involved was friendly, organized, communicative — and that made my role as script supervisor go very smoothly.

THE 70th ANNUAL TONY AWARDS

Now onto my favorite TV event of the year, regardless of whether or not I’m actually working on it — the Tony Awards!

Since Radio City Music Hall was already booked this year, the ceremony took place at the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side. I snapped this pic of the empty theater just four days before the show, as Jerry Seinfeld had played there the previous night and we had to clear everything out of the space.

And here’s the stage three days before the live show, as the cast of Hamilton came in to rehearse their numbers. (I totally geeked out.)

While I spent most of my time sitting at the credentials table and checking everyone’s government-issued photo IDs, I did drive this cargo van to Secaucus, New Jersey one day to pick up duvetine at Rose Brand for the art department. Thankfully I didn’t hit anyone, and no one hit me!

I snapped this photo around 6:30am on show day:

“The Board” provides a color-coded visual display of every act’s order — the presenters, award categories, musical numbers, host bits, bumpers, and commercials. This makes it easier to see where everything is located, and to move items around before the show is locked into place (but the show is never truly locked, as things can change mid-show).

This year, in a nod to Hamilton’s popular #Ham4Ham shows outside their stage door, the Tonys brought out all of the performing casts to sing a snippet from past Broadway hits since this was, after all, the 70th Annual Tony Awards. It was a nice way to honor that milestone.

These are called bumpers — they are separate from the main show inside the theater, and they take us out to commercial. The first bumper featured the nominees for Best Score: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Steve Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Edie Brickell, Sara Bareilles, and Glenn Slater. I snapped this shot during the dress rehearsal… and it makes me smile every time I look at it. In particular I get a kick out of Sir Webber on the tambourine. (I totally geeked out the first time I saw him during School of Rock’s rehearsals. And I geek out anytime I see Lin. Also worth noting: as part of working the credentials table, I put a wristband on Sara Bareilles when she was there for Waitress.)

Back inside the theater, Tony queen Audra McDonald leads the star-studded cast of Shuffle Along. Did you know that following the Tonys dress rehearsal (10a-1p on show day), most of these casts must return to their show’s theater for a matinee performance? And then they have maybe 30-60 minutes to get red carpet ready for the Tonys, and then they change again to perform during the show. This is a marathon day for cast members. One other tidbit: excluding nominated actors, the rest of the cast gets ready at their show’s home theater, takes a bus to the Beacon Theater to perform on the Tonys, and then takes a bus back to their show’s home theater. This is necessary because unlike at Radio City Music Hall, there simply isn’t enough space for the casts to stay at the Beacon Theater during the live show. So unless they are a nominated / principal cast member (or in Hamilton), they can’t stay and watch the show they’ve just performed in. To the credit of everyone involved — on the individual shows and those coordinating for the Tony Awards — everything runs super smoothly.

During dress rehearsal, many of the presenters show up, and we use stand-ins for anyone who can’t be there. There are also stand-ins for all the nominees. Here’s how it goes down: the presenter opens the envelope to call out a winner “for this rehearsal only” (chosen at random by the script department) and a stand-in moves up to give an improvised acceptance speech so that the camera guys and directing team can practice what that sequence will look like. Below, Carole King rehearses her presentation for Best Score.

Worth name-dropping: Oprah showed up to rehearse her presentation of The Color Purple, and she walked mere feet in front of me. This means within a 6-day span, I’ve been feet away from both Beyoncé and Oprah. (!!!)

After dress rehearsal, I pop outside on a break with my awesome co-worker Megan (we both worked on The Wiz Live but only really got to know each other during the Tonys, as we both love theater). Thanks for snapping these shots, Megan!

Red roses for the red carpet:

A glimpse backstage about three hours before show time… can you spot the Tony Award?

Out on Amsterdam Ave., props and set pieces for all of the performances are lined up under a secured tent for easy access to the stage. Again, at Radio City these would have all been backstage… but at the Beacon everyone had to get creative. Below are the racks of butter, flour, and sugar for Waitress’s performance, along with the piano that Sara Bareilles plays on-stage.

Are you red carpet ready?

And soon it’s time for the actual show. We’re given strict instructions that unless we have a specific task in the theater or backstage, we must stay in the production office. The space is simply too small for non-essential staff. My shift ends at 9pm, so I hang out and watch with the script department. Maybe someday I’ll get to work with them? It was fun to hear their commentary and enjoy the show alongside them.

As for the actual show, it’s my favorite broadcast in years. Huge shout-out to James Corden for making a tough job seem effortless — he breezed through the opening number, singing lines from famous Broadway shows of the last 50+ years. I tear up towards the end of that number when he brings out 20 children of various genders, races, and shapes who during a cut-away swap places with all of this year’s nominated actors and actress in a musical — as if to show, “This could be you!”

Also, I need to tell you that the young lad who played James Corden as a child (below left) is named Angelo Pizza. That is his actual name. And he is adorable.

[above images via 1, 2]

One thing the viewing audience at home did not see was James Corden pulling up random celebrities to perform spontaneous karaoke. “Jake Gyllenhaal, I can tell by the way you’re avoiding all eye contact that you really want to come up here,” James said before grabbing Jake and Sean Hayes to sing ‘A Whole New World’ from Aladdin.

[above image via]

I think this calls for a video clip:

James also pulled up Zachary Levi and Andrew Rannells to sing “Mamma Mia.” And then Jeff Daniels to sing “The Hills Are Alive” from The Sound of Music. I bet you can find all of these on-line because so many people in the audience had their phones out to record these commercial break sing-a-longs.

Other stand-out moments: For the first time ever, all acting winners for a musical are people of color — Daveed Diggs, Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., and Renee Elise Goldsberry. All extremely well-deserving. And Lin-Manuel Miranda’s sonnet acceptance speech for winning Best Score, which paid tribute to the victims of that morning’s tragedy in Orlando: “Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love” (you can purchase a t-shirt here, with all proceeds going to Florida’s LGBTQ community — it’s currently sold out but they’ll have more soon).

[above images via 1, 2]

This is the part where I remind people that I’ve been a big fan of Lin’s since In the Heights, and even saw him perform an early song from Hamilton at a small club in LA back in 2010 when he was in town starring in Heights at the Pantages Theater. And now the whole world knows how talented he is.

As I mentioned, I watched the live telecast from the production office on the second floor of the Beacon Hotel. There’s a window looking out over the stage below where each cast sings during the bumpers to commercial.

Here is the cast of She Loves Me singing the title number from Cabaret:

Following the show, I attended the big after party at The Plaza Hotel. I was EXHAUSTED (and had an 8am call time the next day to wrap the show) but I couldn’t turn this down. Of course it was awesome. This is the main solarium on the first floor:

And here’s more tables, with the the band and dance floor in the back:

Wall of ombré roses and the Tony logo, perfect for a photo op:

On the lower level, the Plaza Food Hall was open to all guests. Every high-end food stall offered free tapas-style portions into the wee hours of the night. Drinks were flowing. I sampled so many delicious plates — fresh mini donuts, dumplings, sushi tacos, pasta, lobster rolls, and more. Guests could go nuts at the frozen yogurt place. I ate sushi next to Josh Groban. Passed by several Tony winners and nominees. Told James Corden he did a great job (everyone else was bugging him for selfies). It was crazy — this Playbill article has more party details. Some of the big shows (like Hamilton) had their own after parties, but this event at the Plaza is the big one, and I saw Daveed Diggs (winner tonight for Hamilton) arriving on my way out.

I ended up sitting for awhile with the seat filler producers, and we quickly discovered that we have a mutual friend at Young & Restless. Small world!

I finally took my camera out towards the end of the night (by then the crowd had thinned) to get a few shots. These photos don’t do it justice — there are maybe two dozen food stalls and many of them are tucked away so one photo doesn’t capture how opulent this party was.

A few quick food shots…

This mini lobster roll from Luke’s Lobster was SO GOOD:

And that wraps up a pretty magical night.

I have no idea what my future holds with the Tony Awards. This time next year maybe I’ll be watching in PJs from my couch. But I will always think back on this whole night with such gratitude — I was next to “the room where it happens” when Hamilton swept most of the awards. I watched Andrew Lloyd Webber play the tambourine. And I witnessed my favorite awards show come together with a group of pretty great people.

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If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! Hope you’ve enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at three recent awards shows. I promise to get back to travel soon. I’ve got lots more to share about Spain, Portugal, and Central America!