The Late Show

After gorging ourselves on bagels on Sunday, we started with something different: a sit-down breakfast at Russ & Daughters Cafe in the Lower East Side.

Afterwards, we went to the Frick Collection, a museum from the robber baron era, with art and furnishings as a display of wealth and power. We were unimpressed as we were spoiled by what we saw in Paris just 2 weeks ago.

But that turned out to be far from the main event of the day.

When we booked this trip, Greg had the idea to see a taping of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. By the time he registered for tickets, he could only get onto the waitlist. Amy was convinced that there was absolutely no way we would get tickets. Amy is eating crow right now.

As we finished at the Frick Collection, Greg got the email that we cleared the waitlist, with instructions to hurry online to get tickets. We confirmed our tickets, then traveled downtown to Scarr’s Pizza for New York slices.

Next, we returned to our hotel to relax before waiting in line for The Late Show. Soon after we returned, Greg got a second email notifying that we were upgraded to the priority line for the show! But we had to leave immediately for the Ed Sullivan Theater, a short walk from our hotel.

We arrived and waited in a very long line that stretched around the corner. Outdoors. In the cold. And we waited. And waited. And waited. After about an hour, we were escorted inside, where we waited for about another hour. We were one of the last groups let inside. The people who had “regular” non-priority tickets were still waiting outside. Greg said he never waited this long for Rise of the Resistance at Disney World! At least we were inside.

Next, we were escorted to our seats - front-row-center of the balcony. An amazing view. We could hardly believe our luck. Unfortunately, the audience got strict orders not to take any photos inside the theater. At all. We also got instructions about bathroom breaks and other logistics. Soon, the warm-up act started. Paul Mecurio pulled members of the audience onto the stage to get us involved in the moment. Then the Late Show Band with Louis Cato played a few numbers. Then a few more instructions from the stage manager. Finally, the main event: Stephen Colbert came onto the stage to our applause and cheers, then he started his monologue. When he talked about the War on Isthmus, Greg laughed pretty loudly, and Colbert gave a gesture of appreciation towards Greg! Next, they re-recorded one line that Colbert mispronounced, then switched to the “Meanwhile” news segment, which was also very funny. Then Colbert announced to the audience that the skit with Julia Roberts was pre-recorded, so we weren’t going to see it.

Next was the interview with John Fogerty, who talked about the newest album (do they still call them albums?). Fogerty re-recorded the classic songs from Credence Clearwater Revival to regain the rights to his songs, which Stephen described to us as (Taylor’s version). His stories were charming, and Stephen Colbert listened very intently. Finally, John Fogerty along with his sons in his current band played a medley of their greatest hits, then another song. There was a technical problem with the medley; we think John was unhappy because he admitted to making a mistake with a lyric. So they re-recorded the medley. And then it was all over and the audience was released from the theater. We had an amazing time, especially considering we won’t be back in New York before The Late Show goes off the air next spring.

Although we have no photos to share from inside the theater, you might catch a glimpse of us front-and-center of the balcony on tonight’s show. Amy is wearing a very pink shirt, if you’re looking. We plan to watch the recording on our DVR when we get home.

Due to the show, we had to cancel our original dinner reservations, but Greg found a really tasty Turkish restaurant called Turkuaz. All we could talk about was how much fun we had at The Late Show. And how we think we only got into the show because Greg responded quickly to the notifications and secured the upgrade to the priority line.

We return home tomorrow; we will only post an update if anything interesting happens. There’s no way it can top front-row-center seats to The Late Show.