The 2010 Kennedy Honors were in October. My feet are the most sore they have ever been, I can barely stay awake, but it was worth it.
Friday I received an email from a friend requesting some volunteers to direct guests to the White House before the event. I said I'd love to and she gave me a phone number to call to trade information. When I told the guy in charge that I work in a government contractor office by day and a music club by night, he asked me to come in the day before the event to get the skinny and then direct the other volunteers the next day. Sure!
So I get down to the Kennedy Center for my quick briefing. It took longer than I thought and in the process found out that I had to have a gown... I haven't had a gown since prom so I went into a panic. My contact at the KC was excellent though. He stopped a lady in the hall to ask where I could buy a dress. Of course she suggested Macy's but in my excitement and simultaneous anxiety, I hadn't thought about there. So I hightail it over, find a dress that is basically perfect, long, and layered. I was going to be standing outside for a few hours after all! Was talked into buying a fake fur shrug too. Total? Close to 200 dollars. But I couldn't find shoes, so then it was a rush to DSW to find anything that would work, which ended up being open toed...
Rush back home to go to the club to work a show there.
Rush to Best Buy the next morning for a new camera.
Rush home...to find my roommate not there and now I"m on my own with my hair. Which I decided to just leave to chance and hope someone would help me when I got to the Kennedy Center. On the way, I receive a call that the tuxes for 2 of my guys are MIA. Sort that out. Then my volunteers start arriving. I ask one of them to help with my hair, but one of the wardrobe girls pipes up that I should ask Hair and Makeup to help. She takes us down there, but none of the KC H&M staff are there, only the ones that came in from New York. So I just ask if anyone will take pity on me and help my hair! A lady waiting for Caroline Kennedy says she'll help. Because Caroline won't be coming in for another 30 minutes. As soon as I sit down, Caroline Kennedy walks in. The hairdresser just had her go do makeup first instead. I bumped Caroline Kennedy for hair!
Meeting with my guys, get on the bus, head to the White House. First gate, IDs. Second gate, IDs. Third gate, escort. Then they decide we don't need an escort and leave us to do our job. I post up by the NW gate to await our arrivals. Meanwhile, the Social Office walks up, includingKal Penn (real name Kalpen Modi), walks up. Forgot he works in the White House. He seemed pretty nervous, it was kind of endearing. Alec Baldwin wasn't terribly sure of himself either, but I imagine it had to do with his guest forgetting her ID (can't get in the White House w/out it!) or the fact that he showed up to a reception at the White House with coffee all over his tuxedo shirt.
Edward Albee, Willie Nelson, Julia Roberts, John Lithgow. The first car was actually Billy Cruddup escorting Suzanne Farrell. Diana Ross, Jayce Norman. I was escorting Sidney Poitier and his wife to the door, very slowly, one on each arm. I guess we held up a few arrivals, because as soon as I got them to the door, I turn around and nearly took out Angela Lansbury; who was strikingly elegant I must add. And just behind her, was the bestained Baldwin, who motioned for me to go in ahead of him. I unfortunately had to inform him, that I would not be going inside. Claire Danes came through and then Chris Rock and his wife. Kelsey Grammar and his pacemaker, Itzhak Perlman. Of course Caroline Kennedy.
Everything ran smoothly, except for the tardiness of some of the guests. Jennifer Hudson arrived last and James Taylor not at all. When Jennifer Hudson walked up she just stared open mouthed at my open-toed shoes. I felt like saying, "If you'd been on time, it wouldn't be such a big deal!"
When we got word that James Taylor wasn't coming, I grabbed my crew from the front and just walked right up to the door of the White House and asked if we could come in. It was freezing and windy and we just wanted to warm up. The doors had just been locked (they have to be when the POTUS is on the floor) but they let us in. I am not familiar with the floor plan of the White House. I expected to walk into a foyer. Well, I suppose we did, except the White House foyer is huge, and we essentially walked right into the party and Steven Tyler. and Forest Whitaker and Kris Kristofferson and Brad Paisley and Sheryl Crow. Those were just the people I saw in my line of sight. But there were about 300 people there scattered in other rooms.
I managed to back into Willie Nelson at some point. He seemed ok with it....
At some point, I was sent back outside to watch the guests leave and radio ahead for their car. I was joined by Kid Rock who wanted to smoke his cigar. When he saw my feet, he offered me his socks. At which point I pulled up my dress to show him my long johns. To which he replied, "But that's not going to help your pretty little toes!" I deflected his sock offer and then offered to take he and his friends picture. This done, he proceeded to kiss my hand, and I proceeded to look for sanitizer.
We get everyone to their cars and then head back in to scavenge for food. Success! It was excellent, as was the champagne.
But then...Red Team Go Red Team Go!! Apparently all the gates shut down when the president leaves, so we were trying to get out before he did. Everyone is scrambling, running very unlady like for cars. We're not even sure we got everyone. I find out when we get in the car, the gates are only locked for 20 minutes. Would it have been such a big deal? But I think we had some of the lighting and camera crew with us, so maybe.
Back to headquarters...with all the elderly volunteers, to watch the stream. That got boring in about...4 minutes. Thankfully, one of my crew snuck us backstage where I watched about half the show. Couldn't hear shit, but was nice to be a part of things.
Then with another volunteer, we snuck to the back of the theatre to watch the last segment. Pretty great!!
Then we snuck into the party.
EVERYONE was there. Well except for the POTUS, but Nancy Pelosie was there... Everyone was just hanging out, eating. I could have harassed a fair number of people, had I been that guy. As it was, I had too stiff scotches, and had to excuse myself. I didn't want to end up in the Post the next day because I fell into Sir Paul McCartney's lap...
Hopefully it all goes down again this year, but better!!
