My goodness another year closing!! It went super fast!! As some of you know, I've taken a bit of a break from the call "ACTION" on set! As I do miss it... I've begun a new journey of self discovery and earlier this year enrolled myself in the study of Metaphysics! I'm half way though my studies and have already become a certified Lunar Mystic (Following Cycles of the Moon/Rituals) and a certified Tarot Mystic (I'm an official Tarot Card Reader)!! At the end of my studies I will be a CMP.. a Certified Metaphysical Practitioner! I'm looking forward to sharing more as time carries forward! I'm really excited to share what I've learned!! I have always been one to want to help people and make them smile and this is exactly what I've been called to do! I have a new website in the works and more details to follow!!
As for film life... as I said I haven't been on set for about a year now! Crazy, feels like just yesterday I was on CSI !!
So... the cool thing about being in film is you never know when progress will happen!! This year showed just that.. the film I'm in , "Innocent Blood" was released on Hulu and Amazon Prime for your viewing please as well as "Odd Brodsky" was released on iTunes! If you'd like to see them, they are both amazing films!! Click my links below to see more! In TV land, I was on the Eric Andre Show (Season 4, Ep. 5) it aired Sept. 9th, 2016... and if you watched, you got to see my crazy dancing!! lol
In addition to that... in the modeling world, I became a Trading Card!! Yep, I'm Shannon Page from Blood Drive and you can get your hands on my trading card from the set called "Iron Dead Legends" !!
For my Tunes Tuesday... I've also taken a break from that.. I plan on doing them again at some point... but I was lucky enough to have gone on the "No Boundaries Radio Show" and perform yet again live on their radio station!! Thanks Jojo and William for that opportunity!!
Thanks to everyone who still continues to follow my work!! I sure appreciate all the love and support through the years... and as I'm taking a pause from acting/modeling now... please follow me on my new FaceBook: www.facebook.com/Bridget.M.Shoup and also my new Instagram Page: www.instagram.com/Bridget.M.Shoup
More to come soon with the release of my new web site in 2017!!
Thanks again and best wishes to everyone in 2017!!!!
Hey Guys...
I know it's been a while.. hope everyone is super!?
Well.. as you saw in the title... I'm a trading card!!!
As you saw my posts in the past about BloodDrive... Well... Shannon Paige (my character) is now a trading card in the Iron Dead Legends Trading Cards!!
WATCH THIS....
If your looking for a gift for the person w/everything?? Take a peek at this!!! Enjoy!!! :) Thanks so much for all your support!!! HUGS :)
A Special Thanks to Dennis Willman & IRON DEAD STUDIOS for this oppertunity to be a TRADING CARD!! Wahoo!! hehe! ;) #Comic#TradingCards
https://youtu.be/06gaBMawFk8
ORDER HERE: http://www.irondeadstudio.com/dead-shop
Wow.. it's amazing when things come to YOU!! It really means a lot!! :)
Wednesday Sept. 9th, 2015
So a friend of mine who I refer to as my Film Brother Chris, mentioned me to a Casting Director on a gig he had booked for Cartoon Network! They wanted to see my pictures so I decided to go ahead and send my pictures in to see what happens, I figured I had nothing to lose!
About 30 mins later I got a text back saying could you please send me a video of you dancing! lol I was like... ummm shit, why not! My Daughter helped me find some theme appropriate music and off I went! I sent it over and played the waiting game! I got contacted back asking for my measurements for the wardrobe department...and then I asked, does that mean I got the gig??? The Casting Director was like oh man.. YES ... sorry I thought I told you! I was now booked on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim Show"The Eric Andre Show" as a Cyber Goth for Season 4, Episode 5 !! YIPPIE!!! I was so excited!!
Thursday Sept. 10th, 2015
My Call time was 12:30 PM in North Hollywood at the Apache Studios! I was so excited since I had taken a little time off of acting!! My heart was racing as I was super excited about what the day would hold!! It was nice that my Film Brother and friend Chris Noel was there, we are film family and have worked together many of times!!
Once we got inside the Apache Studio I was greeted by the Executive Producer Andrew Barchilon. He was so super sweet and welcoming! He visited in the makeup/hair room and had input as to how he wanted me to look for the scenes. I had never had such close interaction with an exec producer before!! He was just super down to earth and I felt I was making a new friend for sure!
The Make Up Artists were awesome!! Make up Artist Golden SunShyne gave me some pretty cool and bright hair extensions and wanted to go ahead and match my lipstick to the hair... so MUA Carmen Thomas custom mixed this electric blue lipstick! Fabulous!!
Getting Hair & Make Up Done
"The Eric Andre Show"
9/10/15
After Hair and Make Up ... off to Wardrobe I went!! I had brought a lot of clothes of my own....I figured they might want to use what I had. Sure enough... they decided to mix a few of the selections I had brought along.....and came up with a super cool look. They had given me black tights and green fishnets and some really cool light up rings to complete the look!! The rings were so cute... I got to wear these cute little white rats....and their noses lit up!! Then I also had a few blingly light up ones too!
I was READY!!
Playing a CyberGoth
for "The Eric Andre Show"
Season 4, Ep. 5
Off to set we go.... I danced the whole time... because you know... that's what we cyber goths do! lol. Eric Andre came over and introduced himself and thanked us for being there. It was pretty awesome that the whole 50+ crew working knew my name and would call out "Bella, move a bit to your left" etc. to get me in the right placement on set. Once in that spot... they marked it for me!! I felt pretty special too that the MUA would spend extra care making sure my hair & make up was on point!! MUA Kayti Pollor along with Carmen and Golden made sure that after we would cut..... my face wasn't a sweaty mess (remember non-stop dancing!!) They would come over and fix my lips and pat my face dry. Sure made me feel special! Thanks girls!
It was probably the hottest set I had ever worked on!! They had to cut the A/C and fans when we were filming b/c they didn't want things moving or the noise of it all. All the crew was super kind, one of the times we cut.....they came running over w/ the coldest ice water with straws included so we wouldn't mess up our lips!
Definitely the highlight of my day... was when I got to meet and work with Penn Jillette !!! I have been a fan of his work for so so many years!! I love magic .... and comedy and Penn & Teller have the right stuff!!! So it was pretty fucking awesome when I got to meet him. He was super nice and fun... he came right up... shook my hand and introduced himself. Not only that, but he actually raved around with us!! Awesomeness!! Not only did Penn rave w/us, but so did Eric. So much fun!! Working with Penn was definitely a dream come true for me!
CyberGoths
Inkerbella and Penn Jillette for "The Eric Andre Show"
Season 4, Ep.5
It was all and all an amazing day on set!! I loved every second of it!! It was great to meet and work with not only Chris again, but my new film family members: Mike Sielaff and Mark Belko !! Looking forward to seeing you all again sometime soon!!
The CyberGoths
"The Eric Andre Show" Season 4, Ep. 5
Belko, Inkerbella, Mike and Chris
Until then....we have some pictures.. good memories and the TV show we were apart of that will live in film history for the rest of forever!! I love that about film... it's always there... and TV is my favorite thing to do!! I'm hoping to work many more bad ass TV shows to come!!!
Thanks for all the support and hope you enjoy the show as much as I had making it!!
HUGS **Bella**
Make sure you head over to the Cartoon Network during their Adult Swim time and tune in on Sept. 9th to see me and my film family having a BLAST!! :)
EAST Coast 9 PM
WEST Coast 12 MidNight
SO YOU MISSED IT???
No worries...
Here is a link to see the show... I know your time is valuable... so to help you out... if you'd like to see the part I'm on it starts around 1:40. They only show me at the beginning of the show, in case your wondering! ;)
Wally came over to my house on Aug. 1st, 2016!! He is a collector and owner of one of my Grandpa Harry's inventions, The Chamberlin Organ. It was a splendid morning and into the afternoon as we shared stories! He told me of some cool shops he thought I'd like in LA that he took a gander at during his visit thus far here in Los Angeles. He also shared with us some of his favorite music and had it playing as background music during our visit. We talked about things from crazy foods we have tried, to music that inspires us, etc. He told me he moved to New York about 15 months ago from Australia! So he said he's adjusting to everything still... but said that NY def. feels like home now!
I felt oh so super lucky that he was curious about my music too! I had mentioned to him about my Modeling/Acting and Music. He was wondering how I sounded and asked to see one of my videos? I said, Well.. I can do better than that! I can play live for you, if you'd like!? He said, Sure! He wanted to hear one of my original songs... so I picked to play for him my 1st song I ever wrote called "Happy You." As I played, he was tapping his toes and getting into the beat (which was super cool!) I finished the song and he said... "Wow, You can really sing... you have such a sweet and pure voice, great job!" So yea.... Gotye likes my song!! :) I felt so super lucky to have had such an opportunity to play for him and get his feedback!! That meant the world to me coming from someone as established as himself, The Grammy Winner and all that He is!
Let me just tell you... if you ever get a chance to meet Wally.... he's amazing!! Super down to earth... happy and sweet guy. You instantly get a good upbeat vibe from him and he resinates happiness. You can tell he loves what he does! He's super chill and I instantly felt like he was a friend that I've known for a long time.
Thanks for spending some time with us Wally... my family feels super lucky to have met you and know we will be in touch as time goes on! Thanks for being so awesome!! Best of luck on your projects!!
P.S. I did mention to him that I did a cover of his song... he took note that he would check it out later... but incase you'd like to see my cover... take a peek below....
Happy !!! Hope you enjoy by the super amazing !!! :) Thanks for requesting this one JoJo!!! :) I was able to play this one LIVE on the "No Boundaries Radio Show" back in June 2016... and Host JoJo Crockett requested this one..... if you missed me performing this song LIVE.... you can watch my behind the scenes video linked in this one!!! ENJOY!!! HUGS **Bella** http://inkerbella.wix.com/inkerbella
So it was a warm sunny California day in Los Angeles, July 17th, 2016... I was on my way with my side-kick Kelsey to goto the filming of seasons 13 "So You Think You Can Dance: Next Generation" and we happened to stop into Erewhon which happens to be on the corner before getting to the CBS studios lot. All of a sudden I spot CHARLIE HUNNAM!! I was like, wait a second... do my eyes deceive me?? Nope, it was really fucking HUNN-HIM!!! I couldn't believe it! I told my Daughter, "look... that's Charlie Hunnam, remember... Jax from Sons of Anarchy?" She said, "oh yea... wow, cool!!" I've been a fan for a LONG while and absolutely loved him in SOA!
Well that wasn't good enough for me... next thing I knew, my feet were taking me right up to him. My Daughter had kept walking and talking to me to realize... I didn't answer, she turned around and saw me already talking to him. She quickly came back over! I tried not to be too fan-girlish...
I said, "Hi, how are you? Is there anyway I could get a picture with you?" He smiled super BIG and said (in his cute British accent), "Of Course!" I handed my phone to Kelsey and while I waited for her to take the picture, stuff started coming out of my mouth.. things like.. "Oh your so tall, and look so nice!" He smiled, lightly laughed and said "Thank You." So we took the picture and then I started to shake his hand and said, "My name is Inkerbella, it's super nice to meet you!" He said, "Well Hi, I'm Charlie." (melting me again w/ that voice) I continued to tell him "I'm an Actress and it would be so super cool to work with you someday!" He said, "Ok Inkerbella, I'll keep an eye out for you!" I then said "Thank you, have a good day!"
It would be amazing to work with him!! Back when SOA was filming, I really wanted to book on that show... but wasn't meant to be. The future is always just around the bend, I always say.. never say never, b/c you never know!! He's def. one of those actors I'd love to work with someday! Until then, I have this picture to look at. As soon as we left him, we ran over to the restroom and I nearly melted!! I kept saying to Kelsey, "did that just happen?" lol. I was shaking and my legs felt like jello!! I told her... now I know how YOU felt last year when we got you the Meet and Greet tickets for her favorite band R5! She said, "Yep!"
I could have stayed and chatted with Charlie forever, I felt super lucky to have had these few minutes with him. He is certainly the sweetest guy in show biz!! See you next time, and I for one am excited for his new movie "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" due out in 2017!!
Thanks Charlie for taking a few minutes out of your day to chat with me!!
So ... I was lucky yet again... I was able to snag up some "SYTYCD" tickets that are ever popular! :)
Here is our little adventure!!
We got tickets for "So You Think You Can Dance: Next Generation" Season 13!! Top Ten & The All Stars !! We got our tickets for Sunday, July 17th, 2016. The tickets said it was for the ensemble dance. No one really knows what that means... below I will explain if you land these tickets!
Our check in time was 11am. We of course got to CBS Studios about an hour before that time. It was nice to get to go back to the CBS lot, as we had been there in March 2016 for "Dancing With The Stars"!! We stood in line, not for long at all! They checked us in and then we entered the lot. There was a bit more waiting as they have a tight security check... as they did w/ DWTS! Once you get pass that hub-bub, you wait a bit longer under a covered area w/benches. It all went super fast, the fastest filming experience for me thus far! I believe we got into the set/stage area around 12 noon.
It was crazy how little this place really was!! They say TV adds pounds, but man they sure can fake how small or large a location/stage really is. You don't realize this stuff till your there! They told us that today, they booked 200 people for the ensemble dance. They said normally (during the live shows) this stage houses 400 people. Once we were all seated... they explained to us that since this is the next generation and they are kids....they are only allowed to work so many hours a day/week. They said the number they would be performing for us (a Bollywood dance) was not only the 1st time they had ever done a dance of that style on SYTYCD, but that the kids only had 4 hours to learn it!! They only practiced once before we got there!! They came out and introduced all the kids and their coaches (past winner of SYTYCD). Man the kids had a TON of energy!! Like for real!! After they all said their Hellos... it was time to get to business!! They started filming the number and WOWZERS they were good!! Especially knowing they only had 4 hours to learn it!!! I was super impressed!! It was amazing when they lit up the stage and dimmed all the lights in the seating area... for a min. I felt like I was flying amongst the stars... so cool!! They did it yet again for us b/c it was so cool the first time around!! They killed it both times!! After they did that, they said Thanks for coming!!
So cool to know WE were a few of the screaming voices you'll hear!! :)
I was so shocked that it was already over!!! I wanted to see more!! Normally when you come to these things you have to devote your whole day to it! It was really fun!! They ended up validating our tickets so we could come back the next day Monday July 18th, 2016 to be apart of the LIVE show filming. Sadly, Kelsey and I couldn't make it back b/c we both had work that day. We were happy to have gotten the experience to see these amazing performers!! We of course already have our favorites picked... so best wishes to everyone on this season!! You are all amazing dancers!! After we got home, I posted the few pictures we had... and since Kelsey is a dancer.. people thought she was on the show this season! I said, nope... not this time.. but someday!
So.. to break it down if you ever get ensemble tickets for SYTYCD and you wonder that the heck that means....
1. Get there at least an hour before check in time (the earlier the closer to the stage you will sit)
2. Ensemble dance basically means the 1st dance of the live shows they perform (kids and coaches) That's all you will see!
3. They DO NOT ALLOW CELL PHONES... if you bring them in, they will make you turn them off, and then check them in. The line afterwards to pick them back up takes time.
4. They make you go through metal detectors and will check your bags/purses.
5. We were there for about an hour. On the ticket it said it would be from 11:00-12:30 pm and they were on the money w/the time. We were out of there by 12:30 PM.
6. Bring your clapping hands and smiling faces and have a blast!!
Happy Happy #TunesTuesday !!! Hope you enjoy this sweet little #song that brought back so many memories for me #PearlyShells !! :) Thanks to my Cousin Kathy for requesting a #Hawiian#Song
In Case you missed it last week....
Here is my behind the scenes video of my inker-view (Interview) and LIVE music playing just for you!!! Enjoy all the silly faces I make... OH BOY!! lol
Thanks a million to everyone who tuned in LIVE last Wednesday June 22nd, 2016. Your support means the world to me!!
Enjoy this
I'm so super excited to announce this ... Please Join Me NEXT WEDNESDAY 6/22 5 PM-PST/ 8 PM-EST. I will be playing LIVE on the No Boundaries Radio Show with Joanne JoJo Crockett and William Maltese !!! Tune in to Para X Radio !! See ya then!! :)
Happy #TunesTuesday !!! Time to "Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones!! This is a special requested song going out to my awesome Hubby!! Hope you all enjoy it!! HUGS :)
My #TunesTuesday song for this week is "Road Trippin'" by one of my favorite bands Red Hot Chili Peppers!! I don't know about you, but I'm soooooo ready to go Road Trippin' !!! ;)
"Get A Job" Finally Hit the Theatre's and On Demand March 25th, 2016 !!!
I was able to On Demand it so I'm going to share a little bit about my experience working on this film! "Get A Job" Is a CBS Film about life after college and the struggles on finding a job!
Let me take you BACK... All the Way BACK........ to 2012
March 13th, 2012!!
Yep... that was the day I was hired to film some back ground work on the film "Get A Job"!!
I was so super thrilled when I found out the cast who were involved!! I especially looked forward to working with Bryan Cranston as I have been a fan of his work back in the day "Malcolm in the Middle" and current for that time "Breaking Bad." I arrived to set bright and early 5 AM in Pasadena, CA. I was so excited and when I arrived... I immediately made a new friend, Matt. It's always nice to meet new people on set and see old "film family" members, as I like to call the people I have worked with many times.
So when you go on set to these things.... the hair and makeup people and wardrobe stylist meet up with you and go over what they want you to wear! After that, it's a lot of sitting and waiting till they call for you. In that time, you really get to know people and build friendships and I always enjoy that time. I look forward to actually working on set and having the excitement of the hustle and bustle surrounding me!
Robert is apart of my film family, we have worked together a lot!
I got called in quite a bit to be used on set!! I'm always so happy when that happens!! My role is a coffee shop patron. We went into this old building that was, I believe normally a bar. I wish I would have written this sooner b/c now I don't remember the name of the actual location we were filming at exactly. It was really cool inside and for the film, they made it look more of a hip coffee shop. There were cool pictures hanging on the wall.... the bar or counter area was so pretty with blueish green stones all over it, lovely! They had me all over that coffee shop!! At first, they had me along the bar area... they gave me an Apple MacBook (they were sponsored by Apple) to "play"on to look like I was busy working on something.... and gave me some bright pink head phones to match my hair... you know the ones that have the puffy ear coverings. Of course, I had some coffee (empty coffee mug) and bread too that I needed to use during tapings, gotta keep things looking legit. I then was moved over to a table in the middle of the coffee shop where 2 guys were sitting. During our cuts, I would chat with them.... turned out, I was sitting with the films' writers Kyle Pennekamp and Scott Turpel!! They thought it was be fun to make a cameo appearance in their own film, which heck... why the fuck not!! :) It was cool to talk to them and find out their process. The AD moved me yet again... this time to the 1st table next to the door. Turns out... that is the scene they ended up using! I was happy to see you can actually see me, I feel so lucky!! When you work BG, sometimes your scenes get left on the cutting room floor... but as it turns out, mine was kept!!! Yippie!!
Still Shot of the film "Get A Job"
I spy someone with Pink & Black Hair... Yep... That's ME! :)
Premiered March 25th, 2016
One of the highlights of the day.... was working with Bryan Cranston!! He is a crack up in person!!! Oh my goodness, I remember filming this scene and he would say something super funny.... we were all supposed to be serious, and here he is they yell, "Action" and Bryan is making some type of funny joke... which of course makes the whole room bust up!! Then we had to collect ourselves again... and do another take. It was awesome!! He's great and lights up a room!! I feel so lucky to have worked with him!! There is one part in the movie where he yells kind of loudly.... they had asked me to give him a dirty look... sadly, that didn't make the final movie... But, at least I have the memory of it!
Another cool thing, was we took a break for lunch! When you work on set they really do take good care of you. The craft services were awesome and for lunch we had the option of either Fish or Chicken that they would cook on the BBQ right as you ordered it. They also had many many sides and of course desserts as well. Now, normally... well... a lot of the time. Big named actors don't hang around with all of us BG actors. Bryan was the exception though! He totally hung out... was talking to us, was totally down to earth! I like that... makes me like him even that much more! He was even so kind as to let us snap a snap shot of him! Thanks Bryan for being so super amazing!! I really hope to work with you again sometime!
Bryan Cranston
on set of "Get A Job"
March 13, 2012
So... that brings us up to speed... to March 25th, 2016. So a little over 4 years since the filming of "Get A Job" it FINALLY has been released!!! We all started to wonder if this day was ever going to come!? Luckily, it did! I was able to On Demand it and watched the whole film. I thought it was a great film with some witty humor in it! I went ahead and took a clip of the movie so you will see the scene I'm in!
CLICK TO WATCH!!
As I enjoyed this film... I must give a WARNING .... This Film is NOT for my Little Bella Bears!!
WARNING:
This film is rated R
The following will be seen in this film:
~Nudity
~Drugs
~Sexual Content
~Language
WATCH "Get A Job" !!!
Hope you enjoyed my little story and clip!! Even though I did BG work on this film.... it means the world to me! Little parts, BG parts, Big parts with speaking parts... are all the same to me!! I enjoy each time I'm on set and get to participate in my life long dream of entertaining people. I'm looking forward to doing more soon!!
My goodness.. I still can't believe I was at the Premiere of DTWS Season 22!!!
I figured I'd share my adventure with you .... b/c getting tickets to go... well it's like winning the lottery!!!
So I have watched DWTS for a few years now. I wasn't all that into it until a few years ago when one of my Daughter's favorite band members Riker Lynch of R5 was on! We got totally obsessed with the show then... watched it faithfully each week as well as voting for our favorites!! I figured, man it would be awesome if I could get tickets to go!! So..... I did some research and found out how to get tickets. I had to be put on a waiting list b/c the show is so popular that getting tickets is like winning the lottery!!
Sure enough, I had been on the waiting list for 2 years now!! FINALLY on Thursday Mar. 17th, 2016 I got the magical email that said.. CONGRATS... You have the opportunity for tickets! Now the thing of it is.. you gotta JUMP ON IT FAST!! They only offer very few tickets to go. Once they are gone, they are GONE! So.. I texted my Daughter who was in school at the time and asked her if she wanted to ditch work with me and go to DWTS on Monday?! She wasn't getting back to me as she was in school! I knew they would go fast and so I jumped right on it and reserved my tickets!! The max amount you can get is 4... so I got all 4. My Daughter got back to me... and of course said YES... and then I was able to respond... ok.. I GOT THEM!! :) I was at my office job at the time and was ready to BURST at the seams!! I FINALLY GOT THEM!!!! Wow.. after waiting 2 years, I was starting to wonder if I ever would be lucky enough to get them??
The date I picked worked out great since Monday March 21st was the 1st day of my Daughter's spring break and bonus... the PREMIERE!! !! She is trying for perfect attendance at school especially this year b/c they are giving away a 2016 Chevy car... so far so good.. she is now 1 out of 300 students in her whole school with perfect attendance for the school year. Fingers crossed!!
So with my 4 tickets I had 2 extras. I had to invite my Mom b/c she has been a fan way longer than I have. I ended up FaceTiming her to tell her the news b/c I wanted to see her face when I told her. I asked her, "So, What are you doing Monday, b/c if your busy... you will want to clear your schedule!" She asked "Why, what's going on?" I told her well... "I got tickets to DWTS and your invited to come with us!" She said.."Wait, What? Really!!" and started crying and said, "I Can't believe it!"
My Daughter had a friend in mind who is in her dance class and invited her. My Daughter is into dance. She has been dancing for a really long time... and it's her dream to someday be one of the professional dancers at DWTS... I know she will be someday... I tell her to keep pushing for it and not to give up!! So to have this experience meant the world to us!! It's cool that my Daughter followed in my footsteps with dance as I did dance when I was her age, she is WAY better than I ever was though!!
Fast Forward to Sunday March 20th. I ended up getting and email saying the first 35 people in line by 12:45 pm on Monday would be allowed in to their intimate dress rehearsal before the live show!! When I got that.. I started to worry about my original scheduled time of leaving in order to make it to call time at 3PM. With this new information I decided to change my time of leaving to much earlier b/c I figured a lot more people would be trying to make it there for this dress rehearsal opportunity! My original plan was to make it there by 1PM a few hours before our call time of 3PM. I ended up changing that and we made it there at 10:30AM instead! When we got there... the line of course had already started!! I wasn't sure how many people were actually in line... but I just honestly wanted to be insured we would make it in. After my research the night before reading other people's blogs... DWTS sometimes over books the amount of tickets they really have and depending on what number you are in line... you could be turned away as the tickets are not 100% guaranteed. So I went that early in hopes to make the cut off... but not betting my life or happiness on making it into the dress rehearsal.... at least we would be guaranteed a seat at the show if we were early in line.
Standing in line in outside the front of CBS Studios in Hollywood, CA
March 21st, 2016
We waiting in line from 10:30AM till about 1PM. During that time we made some friends with the people around us. Laughed our asses off at some of the security guards who were hot boxing in the car behind us... you know what I mean! ;) and just had a really good time hanging out.
So... 1PM rolled around and they started taking people in for the dress rehearsal. They would put a count at the top of your ticket so they knew how many people number wise they were letting in. We got up to the lady collecting and numbering the tickets and by the way... at this time... the line was pretty darn long!! I just about died b/c we were numbers 34, 35, 36, 37!!! No fucking way... WE MADE IT IN TO THE DRESS REHEARSAL!!!! Really?! Is this really happening??? WOW!!! BOUNUS!!! We were shocked and very very happy... b/c we weren't counting on making it in for that!! So YIPPIE!!!!!
Can you tell my Mom is soooooo super excited... Well I was too if you can't tell!!! :)
FINALLY inside the CBS Compound getting ready to go thru security!
Ticket #34,35,36 and 37 READY to see the Dress Rehearsal!
Kelsey and Alyssa super duper excited to make it into the DWTS Dress Rehearsal!!
Let me just tell you... I feel so super lucky to have had the opportunity to be at the dress rehearsal!! We got to sit in the VIP seating which is the seating you see the celebs family sitting in. We were sitting in Doug Flutie's family row for the rehearsal. It was so cool to see Tom Bergeron live and in front of us. He was dressed all casually... and was busting jokes left and right while running his lines like you won't believe!! He was so funny and kind, came over and said Hi to us! During the rehearsal we got to see the stars and their professional dance partners run their dances as if it was the real thing. We got to see about 1/2 of them perform for us. Now, my favorite celeb on the show right now is Jodie Sweetin!! I have been watching her since the late 80's in Full House and LOVE that show. I shared my love of the show with My Daughter of course, and she fell in love as well!! So... we are HUGE fans of hers! We recently watched the whole season of Fuller House and just enjoyed it so very much! Well... SHE was one of the dances we got to see in rehearsal! So.... right before she went to do her dance, she was standing right across from us on the dance floor.... I got the chills and just couldn't contain myself any longer and yelled out " GO JODIE!! " and then Kelsey went "Wahooo!" and guess what?... Jodie smiled super BIG at us and waved, and we returned the wave and smiles too! BEST MOMENT of the experience hands down!! I wished so very badly we could have kept our phones.. oh yea.. they make you turn in your phones before going into the studio. So.. sadly I only have pictures from before we got into the studio and after... nothing while we were inside!! But hey... I have memories in planted in my mind that will last, hopefully a life time!
Jodie Sweetin performing on DWTS Premier
Jodie and Keo
Other highlights from the dress rehearsal... Erin Andrews came out and offered us goldfish crackers as she was getting ready to run up to the stairs to the sky box interview area. They had us learn a dance or sway our arms anyways for Doug Flutie's dance to the song "Sweet Caroline". They filmed us doing it.. I wish I could find the rehearsal of it somehow. They had us sway our arms and then do an air punch while singing along!
We were in the top balcony the camera zooms past us really fast!
It was fun being apart of it!
They had Whitney and Von Miller practice their dance.. it was a crack up to the 37 of us at the rehearsal. Let me explain why... So the crew came over and was setting up CO2 canisters and said... everyone Watch your ears, this is going to be loud! So they tested it and it was a bit on the loud side, but not that bad. So then the crew told us.. it's going to make our hairs stand up and I was like, What? Whatever.. I thought honestly he was telling a joke or something. Nope!! Turns out the CO2 cans put off a lot of electricity... which in turn really does make your hairs stand up!! So sure enough.. as they were practicing... Whitney's hair started to stand up.... which made us all laugh.. then we started to notice ALL of us had our hair standing up!! So the whole time they practiced their dance we were all busting up !! During the rehearsal, they have stand-in judges who actually critique the dances and give them a score... Erin kept saying these are your FAKE scores! Which indeed they were.. and luckily so, the stand-in judges gave only 4's and 5's.
Whitney and Von
Can you see her hair... Well now you know why it looks like that!! :)
During our time at the rehearsal.... they had all 37 of us get up and come out on the dance floor for Val and Ginger Zee's practice performance. Again... Wish I had my camera or a way to find the behind the scenes rehearsal videos for this... it was awesome!! We got to go up and we were on the actual dance floor and yelled and screamed for Val and Ginger!! It was a blast to be there and get to see these things before everyone else!! We def. felt special and very VIP! In fact, we were 1st in line to get back in for the actual live show!! We were in rehearsal from 1-3PM. As soon as we were done we came out and they got us back in the front of the line with all the other people who had been waiting!!
Val and Ginger
The ballroom was so pretty... so many lights and sparkle and the biggest disco mirror ball I've ever seen!!! So much glitter and sparkle.. I was in heaven!! The ballroom floor is a lot smaller than I thought it would be... it's amazing how the angles they film at give it a much larger appearance... it was still a pretty good sized floor and set up! When they loaded us in around 4PM we were sent up the the balcony. Our seats were great!! Right next to skybox and the all access spot... so... we could see when they did the interviews right after they performed (where they run up the stairs to) and to the left of us we saw them doing the Live Chat interviews too (All Access) ! It was cool, action all around. When you go to these things you see how many crew members it takes to run a show like this... It's was amazing.. honestly, they had big props they had to set up all during the commercial breaks! This show runs like a well oiled machine and it's b/c they are all so good at their job. Not to mention the live band was on point too! The whole time we were live.... you had to stand! The only time we were allowed to sit was when it was commercial breaks which was anywhere from 2-4 mins. I would have to guess about 150-200 (not counting the VIP floor seats) of us actually made it in to the live performance. The people that didn't make it were held outside for seat fillers!
This was an awesome experience we will NEVER forget!!! :) I had a blast and look forward to continuing to watch this season!! Best of luck to all the contestants! We are rooting for Jodie to win!!
Where we spent our day.. CBS Studios in Hollywood!
The end of our day at CBS studios and the taping of DWTS Season 22 Premiere!
Kelsey and I CBS Studios filming premier of DWTS Season 22
We had so much fun!!
Pretty sunset over CBS studios to end our day!!
I spy... Kelsey and Alyssa!!! I was sitting to Kelsey's left....
can't see me, but I'm there! We had great seats!!
If your ever lucky enough to get tickets... I'm going to break down my advice of a few things I wish I knew before going, or learned while I was there!! :)
1. WEAR COMFY SHOES (No one will see your feet) You will be standing and walking A LOT!
2. DRESS NICELY!! Everyone there is dressed to impress, it was the nicest dressed audience I've ever been apart of!
3. BRING YOUR CREDIT CARD! Parking at the Grove is $24 for the day and they only take Credit Cards!!
4. BRING WATER! They sell water & soda when you wait in line, they do allow you to bring water into the studio. I wish I would have known that!
5. BRING SNACKS! You won't have time to get food! We were there from 10:30AM and didn't leave until 7:30PM, That's a long time to go with out any snacks! They won't let you eat inside the studio, but you have time while you wait in line.
6. LEAVE YOUR CELL PHONES IN THE CAR! They will make you turn in your cell phones if you bring them along. We knew of this rule as I read all the fine print! We only checked my phone in and left the others in the car. Believe me, the line to get your cell phone at the end is longer than the restroom line.... however, they did get it back to you pretty quickly I'd say at least a 10 min wait in line.
7. BE READY TO SMILE, CLAP AND STAND! Yep.. you do a ton of standing (you only sit during the commercial breaks) See the comfy shoes thing comes in handy here too! You will be clapping a lot and usually to the beat of the music.... and smiling a ton!! You never know when the camera will catch you!
8. GET THERE EARLY! If you want to be guaranteed entrance into the show... the earlier you get there the better!
9. AGES 14+ONLY! If your under 14. or look under 14 don't bother coming!
10. BRING YOUR ID! CBS security will NOT let you in unless you show your ID!
