Flavor #8 - Attend the Oprah Show

Attend the Oprah Show - Kristine Lorenzo, Chicago IL

"You and your party are all set for the 2/25 ‘A’ taping. Doors open at 6:30am, we ask that you arrive no later than 7am, our absolute cut off time is 7:30am. Plan to be with us until about 11am.

Thank you and see you soon! Teresa Audience Team"

I stared blankly at the computer screen. It seemed impossible. In the six years I had lived in Chicago, not once had I ever been able to get tickets, but this Thursday I was going to see the big "O" herself:

Oprah Winfrey

When my roommate, Kristine, suggested I attend the Oprah show for one of my 31 Flavors, it was really more of a joke. We both knew what a hassle it was to get tickets. Not that I had spent every waking moment trying to do so, but my friend Kara I had spent multiple days (ENTIRE days) during the reservation window, calling in. All of our attempts resulted in countless busy signals, and finally, after a couple years, we kind of gave up.

The only reason Kristine even suggested we go was because her boyfriend, Rob, had a friend on the staff, and it was Oprah's last season After some obnoxious begging, Rob made a quick call to this friend resulting in a tentative promise to get us on the show. About a month later, this "friend" who was actually more of an acquaintance, seemed to have forgotten the whole thing. Well, what had started out as Kristine's little joke was now on the list so I really couldn't turn back. I decided to take matters into my own hands and make a little visit to:

Oprah.com

The website was vibrant and buzzing with all of Oprah's latest endeavors. I located the "Be On The Show" section and was surprised to quite a few last minute reservation opportunities.

Perhaps I had been a little hasty in abandoning the Oprah quest.

I signed up for all of the topics, as well as the weekly emails, and crossed my fingers. Over the next couple weeks, after all of my submission were denied, I began to lose hope. Then, one day I received an email announcing that the show had extra tickets for three tapings. Right away, I replied, and about a week later, I received a curious looking message in my inbox. I clicked on the heading, expecting it to be another rejection, but instead it was a cheerful confirmation that three of my friends and I were reserved for the upcoming Thursday morning taping.

Three days later at 5:00 AM, Friends 1 and 2, my roommates Jeannette and Kristine, joined me on a brisk walk to the bus stop. Halsted, normally a rather lively street, was deserted. Eagerly we boarded the bus. What would the topic be? Would there be any celebrities? Would we get any free stuff? This enthusiasm greatly contrasted the other passengers, probably on their way to work. This energy didn't last long; a few cheese sticks and a granola bar later, our lively chatter dissolved into silence and each of us sleepily retreated into our thoughts.

The bus dropped us off on the empty streets of downtown Chicago and we walked west in the morning gray towards Harpo Studios. As we approached the oddly shaped building boasting a very large "O," we could see there was already a long line wrapping around the corner. Gratefully the line was indoors. We met Kara, Friend 3, at the tail end of that line and crammed our way in out of the Chicago cold. Inside you could hear little clips of Oprah-inspired prattle, everything from free cars to Oprah's weight. I wondered what it would be like to have this many people on a daily basis discussing your weaknesses and strengths.

I'll bet Oprah's nose itches a lot.

Once the doors opened, the line moved quickly, and after we checked everything, including my camera (There are very few pictures this blog entry), with security we were filed upstairs to wait. And wait we did! After signing some forms and the optional "No Phone Zone Pledge," there wasn't much to do but sit and people watch.

It was apparent that some of these ladies were taking the Oprah Experience very seriously. Two women in particular caught our eye; from the color of their hot pink and sky blue suits, that's exactly what they intended. They could have been a set of barbies; same height, build and long golden hair. I sized up our group; we couldn't be more different from each other. Kristine was very sleek yet edgy; Jeannette, tussled and spunky; and Kara, as always, very composed and classy. We were four friends in a room full of women of all shapes and sizes, backgrounds and passions, yet all of us had at least one shared interest: Seeing Lady O.

Finally they called our numbers and we filed back downstairs into the studio. I was surprised at how large it actually was. After looking about, I realized the camera only shoots the lower level of seating closest to Oprah, but apart from that section there were at least 250 seats divided into four other sections. Our group was directed to the house left section about 5 rows up. The studio was fantastic. Kristine mentioned how the lighting made everyone look pretty. Fascinated, my eyes explored the studio from the lights and cameras to the people. My eyes came to rest on a blond girl that looked really familiar. After some deliberation with Kara we concluded it was the actress who played Chloe on Smallville, and the brunette sitting next to her: Lana Lane. For a brief moment we excitedly fantasized that maybe Oprah was interviewing "Clark Kent" himself, but then realized that Chloe and Lana probably just wanted to see Oprah too.

Some upbeat music began to play and a delightfully energetic woman, who seemed to be in charge of the pre show warm up, got us on our feet. She pulled some obviously devoted fans from the audience for a brief dance party and some mini interviews downstage. After the thrilled bunch returned to their seats, she opened up the interview to the entire audience, asking if anyone had a story about survival. Several raised their hands and shared intimate stories about surviving diseases and natural disasters. She used used this little gear change to transition into the show topic: last year's NFL boating tragedy. Immediately my mind flashed back to a picture of a lone man in an orange jacket clinging to the rutter of a capsized fishing boat. I could vaguely remember reading that three others, including 2 NFL players had been lost at sea. Oprah would be interviewing Nick Schuyler, the sole survivor, and discussing his book, "Not Without Hope."

I may have been a tad disappointed that she wasn't interviewing Colin Firth, but my curiosity was piqued.

Before Oprah's grand entrance, our pre show host attempted to lighten the mood by asking if anyone had any good news to share. Jeannette and I shot up our hands and were a little shocked when she called on us. Jeannette elbowed me with her eyes, and I stood in front of Oprah's entire studio audience to boast a little about my 31 Flavors project and the unexpected success of pulling off #8, "Attend the Oprah Show."

Not long after my mini speech, an excited buzzing started, signaling Oprah was near. She entered into a flood of applause and a very appropriate standing "O." I was amused to see that she was barefoot, high heels in hand. Women ecstatically poured over the railing at an attempt to touch the Queen of Talk, and Oprah graciously stopped to shake their hands.

As she settled into her chair, she encouraged the audience to do the same. She put on her heels, remarking that they were only "sitting-down heels," not "walking heels." Oprah seemed extremely at home. You could tell that this was HER studio, and that she'd been doing this for years. She greeted the audience and made a few comments about her dogs, cracking jokes about their potty habits. These rather ordinary comments were rewarded with adoring laughter. I wondered how it felt to be surrounded by hundreds of fans lapping up, no pun intended, your every word. Being a performer, I've often been the center of attention (of course on a much smaller scale), but I was a character in a fictional story, speaking written lines. Oprah wasn't playing a character, she was playing herself, and she did it very well.

After a mini conference with who looked to be the producer or main cameraman, she welcomed Nick to the stage. Nick was your typical college jock: good looking, clean cut, and built. Looking at him you wouldn't think that he was about to relive the worst hours of his life. Oprah switched into a very focused mode, signaling we were about to embark. All of the crew manned their stations, the audience hushed, and the producer gave her the green light.

Oprah set the stage, churning images of a fishing trip turned tragic after the reckless decision to tie a lodged anchor to back of a fishing boat led to the fateful capsizing. Nick described how the four went from an almost amused shock that they had flipped the boat to unsettling worry when they couldn't flip it back over. When the night fell and the water turned violent, that worry evolved into horror. As the waves constantly crashed against them, they did their best to hang onto the boat and their hope, often speaking of their loved ones and regrets.

Oprah expertly crafted the interview, asking very broad questions, then whittling the story down to specifics. She was a master in that she didn't force him down a certain path, but created a space for him to unload his story in a thoughtful and sequencial way. That story turned grim as Nick described how hypothermia took hold of Marquis Cooper and actually turned his own mind against him. Solemnly he described the struggle to keep Marquis from removing his lifejacket, the moment Marquis stopped struggling, the awful acceptance that he was dead, and the sobering realization that Corey Smith was starting to show the same symptoms. Although I knew how the story ended, I kept hoping that they would get rescued, but one by one Corey Smith and eventually Will Bleakley, Nick's best friend, slipped away.

At times, Oprah really had to work to extract the story because Nick had removed himself to some extent. The only time he came close to breaking was when he spoke of Will, who he credited with saving his life. As we weaved through this intense timeline, I couldn't help but remove myself as well. Spending a big chunk of my life in the theatre, I was intrigued by the inner workings of the show. From where I was sitting I could see the main camera and how the producer expertly edited the different shots of Oprah, Nick, and tearstained audience members, together to create his masterpiece on the back screen. I also loved the fake commercial breaks and the process of switching from recorded footage to the interview. The entire crew, Oprah included, conducted all of this flawlessly. Lady O was a pro.

As the interview slowly came to a close, Oprah guided Nick through the hours he spent completely alone and wondering when his sanity would start to resemble his ragged body. He recounted the desire to live and the act of finding strength when he was sure he had none, the indescribable relief when he was finally rescued, and the long road to recover what was lost during those 43 hours at sea. Oprah didn't shy away from bringing up some of the controversy surrounding his book including the bad blood it has created between he and some of the families of those who had died. Nick admitted his relationship with Marquis' family was not where he wanted it to be because he had never found the words to explain in person what had happened. Oprah then said something that really struck me. She said,

"For everybody, there comes a moment when things need to be said and everybody always wants to know the answer to the question, 'Why?' ... Particularly when somebody dies or there's an awkward situation. You don't know what to say, so you end up saying nothing. And then that nothing ends up creating really bad feelings because somebody should have said something." She continued, "If you can, just say, 'I don't know what to say."

Oprah wrapped up the show and after chatting with us for a bit, bid us farewell. The stage came alive, and the crew started to set up for the next taping. It occurred to me as we made our way down the aisles, that although Nick had survived the accident, he would be surviving that dreadful experience for the rest of his life. The family members of those who died are surviving losing a son, brother and husband. I looked around once more at the variety of people I had just shared an audience with; everyone leaving that studio was a survivor of something tragic, the loss of loved ones, dreams, health. My aunt refers to us as "The Walking Wounded," meaning that everyone has some heartache that we can't see on the outside.

I find myself wondering how Oprah survives being Oprah? We see a rather glamorous version of her life, but I'm sure has her low days, just like everyone else . What kind of price does she pay in giving so many people access to herself? This studio wasn't an arena; I was on one of the back rows and I was probably only about 20 feet from her. She does that every day...sometimes twice a day. So, how does she find the strength to share her failures as well as her triumphs. How do any of us?

I looked at my diverse and delightful friends and it became very clear to me. When I'm lost and feel as though my sanity will crack, I find shelter in my friends and family. I'm so grateful for the love that makes the good times better and that same love that helps me survive the rest.

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Flavor #7 - Learn German and Visit Germany

Learn German and Visit Germany - Me

"Why German?" This is the question most people ask when I tell them about my latest Flavor. I suppose most of them are wondering why I don't pick a language more widely used in America, like Spanish; or why I wouldn't want to learn a language that was more pleasant on the eardrum, like French.

The answer is not a very simple one, because truthfully, I'm not even sure why. For some reason over the years I've developed a fascination with the country's history and formed deep connections with those who either grew up there, or by some twist in life, lived there for a time. It seems that my path constantly intersects with opportunities to know more about Deutchland, so when I was picking a language for my 31 Flavors list, it seemed very natural to:

Learn German and Visit Germany.

My opinion of Germany wasn't always as romantic as it is now. When I was young, it seemed that whenever I saw Germans in a movie, they were usually Nazis and the language was being barked in some harsh way; Indiana Jones was always fighting them, and the VanTrap family barely escaped from them to the Swiss Alps. Even when I was older, if there happened to be good Germans in a film, I almost forgot they were German because they usually didn't have the German dialect.

Subconsciously I'm sure that I thought of the language as angry, and the people who spoke it as "the bad guys."

Studying the Holocaust in junior high didn't help much. I remember the Diary of Ann Frank, as well as other stories of the concentration camps, chilling me to my bones. I vividly recall a nightmare where I was frantically searching for my younger sisters only to hear that they had been taken to the gas chambers. I awoke in an awful panic and stumbled through my sleepy fog to their bedroom to make sure they were safely asleep in their beds. I remember being so relieved that it was a dream, and going back to bed thoroughly convinced that things like that only happen in bad countries.

My first year of college, it finally occurred to me America wasn't the center of the universe. I began dabbling in foreign cinema, and became quite fond of British and French films. I wasn't until I returned home for the summer, that I watched my first German movie: "Run Lola, Run." My younger sisters and I were were sucked into Lola's 20 minute race to save her irresponsible boyfriend from desperately holding up a grocery store. The movie literally is a race because Lola very rarely stops running the entire 70 minutes. The movie is full of fun quirks, like an animated Lola charging up and down flights of stairs, brief encounters with strangers unravelling a flood of foreshadowing snapshots, and three different endings. The action is underscored by a pulsing beat with lyrics like, "I wish I was a Person with Unlimited Breath; I wish I was a Heartbeat that Never Comes to Rest," and only stops for a couple brief scenes, including flashbacks with Lola and Manni. It was during one of these flashbacks, with Lola and Manni lying in each other's arms, whispering intimate insecurities about love, that I remember thinking, "Wow, this language is beautiful."

A few years later, I left my roots to explore the Chicago stage. I remember the first time I met Katherine. I was the new girl at church, sitting quietly by myself, when a tall, beaming face approached me. She was charmingly inquisitive and I liked her almost instantly. Quickly I learned that she grew up in Germany; her parents were both American and had moved there after they were married so that her father could pursue his career as an opera singer. Katherine had recently left her roots behind to move closer to her older sister, Elizabeth, who was tutoring in Chicago, and to study acting at DePaul University. The fact that we were both actors gave Katherine and I an unspoken understanding and we quickly became friends. Her English was so flawless that I would often forget she had spent her whole life in a foreign country; until she'd say something about the cereal she had as a child, or break out into German while talking on her cell phone.

It was around this time that I took a more mature interest in the Holocaust. I poured over books like "Schindler's List," and "A Man's Search for Meaning" as well as documentaries and movies on the subject. These heavy stories, inspired many emotional phone calls to my family where I tried to express how much I loved and appreciated them. I seemed incurably fastened on the injustice and grief, and the thousands whose lives had been torn apart. Then somehow, in the middle of all my horror with this country's history, my intrigue switched to the country itself. I wondered about the German people, the individuals living there, and how they felt about this black mark on their country's history. My childhood was filled with 4th of July fireworks and the Pledge of Allegiance. When September 11th happened, millions of windows all over America proudly displayed the stars and stripes. Katherine told me that growing up, she had never experienced that sort of pride.

I felt sorrow for the horrible things that had happened there, but I also felt sorrow for this country that seemed to still be repenting of its past.

Over the next few years I formed other friendships with German ties including a brief long-distance relationship with Jason, a structural engineer living in Philadelphia, who had served an LDS mission in Germany. Sometimes in our late-night conversations I would request he speak to me in German. As the complex vowels and consonants tottered off his tongue, I could visualize Lola and Manni whispering to each other in the dark.

My relationship with Katherine and her family grew as well. I have lovely memories of choreographing silly skits, bawking Christmas carols, and listening to her father's beautiful bass voice cascading over my church congregation.

When Katherine moved away from Chicago, I became very close to her sister Elizabeth, the wonderful woman I've talked into taking this trip with me.

It was through these amazing people that Germany became more to me than the place where the Holocaust happened or the Berlin Wall came down. It became Katherine and Elizabeth's home. It became Jason's treasured two years abroad. I can feel how much they all love Germany, and my love for them has translated into love for their country as well. I'm excited to learn this language and visit this place so dear to their hearts.