Party at 666 Park Ave.

The person on the other side of the casting-phone immediately asked if I had a tux?  Which of course, I did! And I was immediately given a checkin number with instructions on what to do in order to be on episode 5 of 666 Park Avenue. Sweeeeeeeeeeeet!

It was my first time at Cinemagic Riverside Studios located near the Williamsburg Bridge and not too far from my "steady haircut joint", Steiner Studios.  I arrived a bit early and so did another person.  We asked the guard which was the best way to get to holding and he told us "through the front door".  Together we roamed around the studio's offices until a very festidious office worker told us exactly how to get there.  To our surprise, it was straight down the path from the guard's location.  It would have been easier to just let us go through a few steps... but nooooooooooooo!

Anyway, we didn't mind the jaunt because we got to see the prop shop, the wardrobe department, the makeup rooms, accounting, shipping and receiving, the bathrooms... and finally the holding "deck".  It was a georgeous day and a large white tent was set up for us non-SAGs to sit in  -of course SAG members were given inside window seats.  But we didn't mind it too much because the scenery of being on the edge of the East River, overlooking the NYC cityscape between the awsome bridges... well, it was breathtakingly unique, especially hearing the water splashing against the banks and watching the river traffic go by.

Breakfast was ok and soon we were called to the set inside. It was built to mimic the lobby of the title building's envyrons: a long corridor decorated for Holloween, complete with spider webs, archaic candle stands and of course a DJ and colorful spotlights (just to keep things familiar on the modern day scene).  Originally, after doing some web research on my own, I thought we'd be going to the Ansonia building on NYC's upper west side since this was the image of the building being used in the series.  But the disappointment was shortlived due to the ambiance created inside (and outside) the studio.  We were all given unique masks, a prop drink and paired up with various people during the numerous scenes.

I was wondering if  this would only be a template or if the real actors would show up.  My wonderings were soon answered.  ALL of the actors were there!  Terry O'Quinn appeared in his tux and smilingly bantered with a couple of extras as he was placed on his mark. Vanessa Williams was in front of me, engaged in friendly dialogue with a couple of the other young principals.  I was paired up with a zany gal who provided a lot of laughs with her running commentaries.  Our direction was to walk through the crowd at various moments.  One of the other guests was "Elvis", who stuck a make-believe microphone toward me during every take of that scene... I "Thanked him very much!".

 

At other times, an unmasked ax-man was stalking after someone in the crowd; a goth-themed female impersonator was hanging out with a "medi-evil" king;

Cleopatra was cavorting with a cowboy and a Tippi Hedrin character dressed in Ann Taylor type suit was decorated with stuffed crows on her collar and sleeves; a nun-character was dancing with a devil... no  wonder that the episode was entitled "A CROWD OF DEMONS".

Each of us held glasses with "drinks to sip".  (Note to self:  Never take the wide martini glass.  It always spills, and then the PA's give you dirty looks as they run to wipe the floor... while courteously saying that "It's no problem!".  Sorry about that guys.)  During breaks the food was plentiful and no one bugged us when we snuk into the SAG-food area for some of the baklava cakes!

At nightfall we were back outside taking photos of the twinkly lights outlining the Woody Allan-esque city across the East River -a clear full moon was above (how apropos).  I almost didn't want this day (or night) to end.  It was so cinematically magical.  It's rare that one can experience such a beautifully framed work-day.  And to get paid for it... albeit not much pay -but pay nonetheless.

I was second on the checkout line and packed up my bag, chatted a moment with a new friend and headed out to the street by way of the "forbidden driveway".  It was just about pitch black but the walk was nice and short to the street and I waved good-by to the erstwhile guard who prevented our entrance earlier in the day.  He snorted a "So long!" acknowledgement and went back to sleep.  Midnight was beckoning and I hurried to my car down the block... I wanted to make sure that I witness the moment when it turns into a pumpkin!