April 1st, 2009 – I am in line for the Martha Stewart show to be in the audience. Every woman in the line and I share something very special…our name is April. How cool is that ? Now, I’ve had 2 best friends named April growing up (Hello April Porter and April Higgs) but not until April Fool’s Day 2009 had I been in a room with about 200 other Aprils.
As soon as we entered the building we were handed Lands End yellow raincoats and a name tag to fill out…Hello, my name is APRIL. Then we were all lead into the studio for a live 10:00 show.
a glimpse at the monochromatic audience
The show’s guests were announced as Anil Kapoor (game host from Slumdog Millionaire) April Bloomfield (amazing chef from Spotted Pig – one of my faves) and some crafts. Too bad Johnny Depp’s real name isn’t April – now that would be some guest !
Being April Fool’s Day , you can imagine the pranks being played, at Martha’s expense. Although she fooled the audience with her “How to harvest your pasta from a spaghetti tree” segment.
Anil Kapoor cooked black lentils with Martha. He was very soft spoken but seemed cool. In between commercials he was getting his hair sprayed like crazy- too funny. We all received a copy of Slumdog Millionaire – hooray. I don’t have any pictures of him because we couldn’t take pictures while taping. Then April Bloomfiled made cheese beignets. I’m a big fan of hers, so that was a treat…just wished we could have tasted her food.
Punches of colorful dishes ( arranged in an orderly ‘Martha’ manner) brightened up the gray kitchen cabinetry
Then the craft portion involved an “audience member” who was really comedienne April Winchell (her dad Paul was the voice of Tigger) . She was pranking Martha and it was kinda funny to see her try to make Martha uncomfortable – that was pretty funny , although Martha was the consument professional host. But more impressive are the beautiful pastel colors of the set.
Martha’s set was awash in pastels
We all got a butterfly and alphabet stamp set to emboss stationary and a beautiful silver necklace with the letter A from Helen Ficalora (which I haven’t taken off since I received). Then Martha answered questions from the audience.
She was pretty and her staff all seemed great and looked like they really enjoyed their jobs. Just before leaving we all gathered on the floor with Martha for a picture – look how excited she is !
This was truly an experience my grandchildren will hear about …the day I was surrounded by 200 Aprils. Thanks Martha Stewart for a day to remember!
FYI- Today’s Martha Stewart Show ( April 20th ) is the ‘Color Show’… check it out- she’s featuring how- to’s on both faux bois painting techniques and colorful floral arranging.
How fun April… I love the behind the scene rendition! I think Martha would have been even more excited about taking a picture with the audience if she knew you were there.
You scored with the giveaways… have to admit I love that they put everyone in a yellow raincoat and Hello My Name is April badges- obviously the staff has a fun sense of humour. Now all you need is an invite to be on Oprah’s next ‘My Favorite Things’ episode ( which by the way if you get- you are taking me ‘with’!!!!!)
What a way to roll April. Now when is the Family
Affair reunuion for my name? Love your blonde haircolor.
Thanks for checking it out ladies. Julie – you are the first person I would invite to Oprah but with our luck it would be the ‘gifts under $20′ show.
Jody – girlene- nice to hear from you. What a fun reunion to be surrounded by lots of Jodys and Buffys. And Mr. Frenchs….hope all is well in Milwaukee . You guys coming near here anytime soon? Bet you’re still a beautiful blonde too !
What a fun idea for the show. (I like the fact that you got rewarded with gifts – for your name). Sounds like a good time was had by all.
What a fun day!! That is a rare experience – only in NYC!!
The Spagetti Tree harvest is from a WW II black and white film that was broadcast in theatres (pre TV news). The net of the spoof was that the spagetti tree harvest was down that year and would lead to higher prices.
Sounds like Marta didn’t give credit to the origin of the idea.