Opening Night At The Hollywood Bowl with Reba and Chaka Khan

One of my greatest summer pleasures in Los Angeles is the Hollywood Bowl.  I go every year to catch everything from Hall and Oates to Gustavo Dudamel to the Broadway musical, Hairspray.  I have never been to the Opening Night at the Bowl which always honors the inductees to the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame.  My amazing friend, Annie, who was working on the production, offered me two tickets to opening night.  How could I say no?  Well, the seats turned out to be gorgeous box seats with the most incredible view of the stage--a completely different experience for someone like me who normally buys the $10 seats in the last row.  If you live in the LA area and you haven't taken advantage of the Bowl in awhile, check out their schedule here.  It's an affordable entertainment option for the summer season.

Here are a few photos from my evening with my usual inside commentary.....

 Tarrah and I joked about our "terrible" seats all night long.......

 Okay, see that last section all the way in the back?  Yep, that's where I normally sit. By the way, the bathrooms are way nicer and more plentiful by the box seats too.  Higher price=better life?

 This photo makes me giggle--I'm taking a self-portrait on my iPhone while Tarrah is busy Tweeting on her iPhone.  Steve Jobs would be proud.

 The host of the evening, Julie Andrews.  She's a Dame, but prefers to be called, "Julie".

 The super sweet Reba McEntire.  Her awesome fans followed me all night on Twitter.  They love their gal, Reba. 

 Souvenir chocolate bars for the box seats!  We never get this in the bleacher seats.

 I was happy to see there wasn't any corn sugar or high fructose corn syrup in this chocolate bar.  

 Hey, Dawg, it's Randy Jackson!

 The diva-licious Chaka Khan even had a costume change with only a 5-song set.  "Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan!"

The best way to end the night......Hollywood Bowl fireworks.  

Don't forget, it's #RadioBurtt night!  I will be on the Driving With Gass show at 7:35PM PT/10:35PM ET tonight on KWSS.  I hope you join me for the latest in entertainment news.

If you missed my appearance last week with Dara on Radio, click here to listen in about how I got my start in entertainment reporting. You can find most of the archives to other media appearances here.  

Disclosure:  My tickets were complimentary.  I was not asked to post on this event, all opinions are my own.

The Tony Awards Interviews

The boys show off the Priscilla Queen of the Desert costumes.

I spent an entire plane ride back to LA and the rest of the day editing all of my Tony Award coverage.  I made sure to include a blooper or two plus my insider red carpet secrets, so be sure to stick around until the end of the video.  It isn't easy to talk all night long and then be sharp for that final wrap-up.  You certainly can't take yourself too seriously in this biz.  So, head on over to Starpulse and let me know what you think.

Starpulse:  Tony Awards Interviews.

If you interested in hearing more scoop about the Tony Awards red carpet, I'll be a guest on My Sentiments Exactlee dishing all the dirt on what I saw on Broadway's biggest night.  I hope to share who was the biggest surprise on the red carpet, the grumpiest, and the best/worst dressed on Sunday.  Join me here starting at 7PM PT/10PM ET.

Hanging with Anne Mureau (my awesome camerawoman!), Rachel Potter (Wednesday, The Addams Family), and Adam Riegler (Pugsley, The Addams Family) at the BroadwaySpace.com Tony Viewing Party.  

It's Showtime: The Tony Awards

All of my videos will be posted over on Starpulse as soon as I finish editing!  It was such an incredible night to celebrate the tradition of the American theatre.  I really hope all of you support a show at some point whether it is your local community show or a production on the Great White Way.  Nothing gives back more in art than an electrifying performance surrounded by an audience witnessing the same incredible energy and inspiration.

A huge thanks to everyone who helped me get on the red carpet last night.  First, the village that gets me gussied up to look like a better version of myself:

Dress:  Chagoury Couture (Who also kindly dressed me for the Oscars this year!)
Shoes:  Guess (You've seen these before.)
Jewelry:  Downtown LA (Yep, I went the affordable route.)
Stylist:  Roni B.
Hair and Makeup:  Ellen Zolezzi

To my camerawoman and encyclopedia of musical theatre geek knowledge...thank you!  This adventure would not have been as fun without you!

Camerawoman/Musical Theatre Geek, Anne Mureau.

Finally, here is some unedited footage, but this explains it all.  Why I love the theatre, why I love it when dreams come true, and why I was so happy to be on the red carpet.  My interview with Tony and Academy Award winner, Joel Grey and the story of how he made a huge impact on my life back when I was 16-years old.  

More photos, stories, and videos will be up later on Starpulse. (I have to fly home to LA first!)