Dee J. Adams's Blog, page 10

You Heard It Here: Hollywood Anniversary

Last week was a bit of a milestone week as far as my Hollywood life goes. It was 25 years ago that I started working as a dialogue coach on Roseanne. I saw in the news (CNN, I think) where they did a “Where are they now” segment. Through the years I’ve seen most of the cast on and off whether in a work situation or accidentally at a Starbucks. (Which, by the way, those accidental meets are always the best ones!)

Here’s how I remember the cast. I love this pic.

It’s amazing to think that 25 years have gone by. The two youngest in this picture (Micheal and Sara) have kids of their own now.

I figured since I had a Roseanne anniversary of sorts that I’d give you one of my Roseanne stories…

I remember one day Rosie and I were running lines in her dressing room and we finished. She told me to stay and asked me to listen to something. I had no idea what she wanted from me, but I readily stayed seated and waited. She picked up some pages from a bag and started talking. Actually, she started telling jokes. Since I had been a huge fan of her domestic goddess routine, I laughed my butt off and really enjoyed her material. On occasion I’d smile and nod and she just kept going. At one point, I must not have laughed and she said, “Why didn’t you laugh there?” She kind of surprised me with the question and I just told her the truth. I said, “I didn’t understand it.” She grabbed a pen and scratched out the whole joke. THAT was the moment I realized she was running her new material by me. She was using my reaction as a gauge for the new stuff. (Yes, I was so young/green/dense –pick one or pick all–that I didn’t even realize what was happening until that moment.) Then of course, I panicked because I realized my reaction was sculpting -to an extent- her next stand-up routine.

Did I feel a bit of pressure… Um… YES!!! Because what if I laughed at something and the audience at the stand-up club didn’t? OR what if I didn’t laugh at something that might’ve been a great joke that everyone BUT me might’ve understood? I have to honestly say that I’m not sure I was a great audience after that, but she used me a few other times to test out her material. Since I was a genuine fan of hers, I usually laughed and I figured if she felt comfortable trying material out on me, then it was because she wanted my young/green/dense honest reaction. Haha.

What about you? Ever been in a situation where you felt something was expected of you and you weren’t sure you could deliver?

You Heard It Here: Happiness Is

Happiness is a great event!!

This month’s “happiness is” is kind of a follow up from my last post. I thought since I told you about my event ten days ago, you might want to get a report. Book’d in Burbank was a terrific success with standing room only! The book readings were wonderful and all the authors were so nice! Liz D puts on a great night if you’re thinking about going to one of these.

For me, the absolute highlight of the evening was knowing I had such a supportive group in the audience. Within that group was one of my all time favorite authors, Suzanne Brockmann. I’ve been reading her books since I discovered her in 2001. I’m pretty sure I showed you all my “Suz shelf” very recently so you saw my love of this woman’s writing, but I’m thrilled to unveil this pic of the two of us after the show!

I guess I could also add that happiness is a pic with my favorite author!!

So what’s your happiness this month?

You Heard It Here: Sometimes Life is Good.

First of all, today is going to be an awesome day, because tonight I get to participate in Book’d in Burbank. It’s a great event where authors get to read from their books for a few minutes and then mingle with the audience afterward. Liz Donatelli at Publicity and Promotions is the presenting sponsor and she’s awesome!

The other thing that makes me say life is good is that  I had one of those uber-epic nights last week and wanted to share. Many of you know that one of my all time favorite authors and huge inspiration for me is Suzanne Brockmann. I have all of her books (most of them signed), on what I call my “Suz Shelf” in my office. It looks something like this:

Anyway, she was visiting her son in my city and we ended up having dinner together. Really and truly, there is nothing better than having a meal or spending time with someone who is not only talented, but has a great sense of humor and is just the all around real deal. That is Suz. I could write paragraphs about how she’s inspired me and how much I love all her books and the wonderful characters she creates. Sometimes I think those people are real…that’s how good she is. If you haven’t read a book by Suzanne Brockmann, I highly suggest you do. You can start with the first book in her Troubleshooter series called The Unsung Hero, but you don’t have to. Honestly, any book by her is worth it times 10.

So, yes, when you get to spend time with someone who inspires you and makes you want to do what you do as good as you possibly can, life is actually better than good. It’s great.

What about you? Get to spend time with someone who has inspired you? Tell me about it!

You Heard It Here: I Know You!

This months’ Hollywood story is one of my more embarrassing moments, but I figure I should come clean since… well… why not. No one will care. LOL.

I first got my foot in the (Hollywood) door working as a Page at KTTV. (Channel 11.) Back then we were known as Metro Media and there were a ton shows taping on our lot. One of my first jobs was working on Hour Magazine hosted by the late – and very wonderful – Gary Collins. One of my duties was to greet the guests for that day’s taping, show them to their dressing room and make sure they had everything they needed. (That usually involved a towel in case they wanted to wash off the make-up when they finished taping. We taped one show a day and there were anywhere from 3 to 5 guests per show. Depended on the show.)

Since I’d only been in California for just over a year at that point, I was still easily star-struck so everyday was an adventure on who I was going to meet and greet. I’d get the show guest list every day when I came on duty and be so excited to see who was on it.

I have to preface this next part by telling you that I grew up in a tennis family. My brother played professionally and toured in Europe for a while. My parents belonged to the tennis club and my mom played a couple of times a week with her “bunch.” I also played for a few years until I discovered it really wasn’t my thing. (I liked running better.) My point is, when you’re in a tennis family, you also watch it on TV and you know all the players.

On this particular day at work, Pam Shriver was one of the guests and I was so excited that I was going to meet her! She was a household name for me growing up. The thing about greeting guests is sometimes they don’t exactly come at the time on the call sheet. I had just taken a guest to their dressing room and had stopped in the audience for some reason I don’t remember. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around. I nearly quit breathing. It was HER! My eyes bugged open and I said, “You’re Pam Shriver!” She said, “Um, yes. I am. I was wondering if you could tell me where to go.”

                                            (This was Pam in those days.)

Could I ever!! That was my job! And of course, by now I’m feeling like an idiot because I blurted out her name like that. (Yes, dumbsh*t, she knows her name!) But she was very nice as I led the way to her dressing room and babbled on about how terrific she was. Ugh. How embarrassing. I’ve had a few of those in my day. Maybe I’ll give you another one of those next time too. Or not. I can only out myself so much. LOL.

What about you? Any really embarrassing moments that you wanted to just crawl under a rug and disappear? It would be nice if you shared, so I’m not out here…alone…by myself…embarrassed.

Oh! Before I forget! Today is the first day of the Against The Wall giveaway at Goodreads! Check it out!

You Heard It Here: Happiness Is…

This month, happiness is getting books in the mail! These are the only print copies of Danger Zone and Dangerously Close so I’m thinking really hard what to do with them. (Maybe a Goodreads giveaway? Maybe something else?)

I did have a scare when the package arrived because it showed up like this:

The envelope had completely ripped open and the post office just chucked everything into a large tyvec bag (the size of a garbage bag). More than half the books were mangled with cover/page damage. I’ll admit my happiness was tempered with sadness because my babies were injured.

Technically, the post office is supposed to make restitution, but it’s not like I can get the presses running again to replace my eight books. All I can do is hope that whoever gets them will love them despite their scars. (Hm…sounds like the theme to a few of my books. LOL. Go figure…)

It’s not the first time that a happiness has been diminished because of something sad and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

What about you? Anything happen that took the happiness out of something special in your life?

Oh…and what do you think I should do with my left over copies? Giveaways? Where?

 

 

You Heard It Here: The Good Life

You know how life is usually kind of boring? Most of us are in the same routine. Get up, have breakfast, go to work, have lunch, go home, cook/eat dinner, then go to sleep. Maybe throw in a Dr.’s appointment and errands and kids and grocery shopping and clean the house and so on and so on… You get where I’m going. We all have our routines. Even if our schedule occasionally changes, we still have a some sort of a routine.

So what happens when something really fantastic happens that busts us out of our routine? Whether it’s a great vacation or some sort of surprise that lifts us up for a couple of days, those little routine busters are really good for us.

I bring this up because this past weekend I went to the Dave Matthews concert. But… I went as a VIP. Let me preface by saying I’m not usually a VIP!!! Yes, I’ve worked backstage before at some very cool events and I’ve met some awesome people, but that was all about working. Last Saturday night, I went to my first concert in a limousine! This ride was tricked out. It was very cool. I wish I had some better shots, but camera work is not my thing! Just imagine a large sleek, black van with seating for about 8. Imagine a flat screen at both the front and back of the van with a stereo system and your choice of drinks as you are entertained. Not too shabby.

(Pictured with me is Grace Grant, fashion designer and wife to the man who built my new kitchen!)

The reason I was a VIP was because Rashawn Ross (who plays the trumpet in Dave Matthew’s band) invited Gary Grant to see the show. (The link I’ve posted to Gary goes back about 16 years to when he played Wembley Stadium. If you watch about 50 seconds into the clip you’ll see Gary playing the first licks of the trumpet for Rod Stewart. Very cool…) Gary happens to be a Grammy Award winning trumpet player and the father of my contractor. (The man who built my very beautiful new kitchen!) It’s who you know, right? Honestly, I’m not sure why my husband and I were invited, but we were thrilled to be included.

We arrived at the Verizon Amphitheater in Irvine (about an hour and a half away from us) and were immediately ushered into dinner. Naturally, my timing stinks because it was after dinner when I went to the ladies room that Dave Matthews actually came in. He got his meal to go. Damn. But the man sure feeds his band and crew well. What a spread! And delicious too! Then Dave went on to give us a great show. So much fun!

Here’s Gary. I made him hold the Grammy so I could snap a shot.

And here’s Patrick and Gary. These two are amazing at what they do.

Anyway… that was my taste of the good life. A limo ride with some great people to a great concert. Speaking of the concert… here…I’ll show you a pick I took.

Our seats were directly behind the engineering/sound station and my seat was directly in front of Dave Matthews. That’s him in the center. (Told you my camera work wasn’t so good.) But how about that light show? (Did I mention I went home with a raging headache? Don’t get me wrong… it was a great concert! I think I’m just getting old. LOL.)

How about you? Any awesome routine busters you can share? Or a taste of the good life?

 

 

You Heard It Here: Old Time Hollywood

This month instead of a story, I thought I’d talk a little about old time Hollywood. Even though I’ve worked in the business for over 25 years, I can still get a little star struck sometimes. It doesn’t happen often, but I have to admit to it occasionally. Mainly it happens when I meet someone who is vintage Hollywood. Someone with great stories about the old days. Someone who’s seen it all and then some.

A week ago, I got very near old time Hollywood and the starstruck girl from Texas almost came out. It’s funny when you think about it, because I’ve known this person (who is related to old time Hollywood) since 2008. But still, when I get to thinking about his history and family history, my starstruck roots starts spreading up. On August 19th, a friend of mine named David directed the kid’s sitcom, “The Thundermans,” where I’m currently working. (I’m not sure how many of you remember Dom Deluise, but he was a very funny character actor. He did a series of films with Burt Reynolds and I always enjoyed them. They were the perfect Mutt and Jeff. I never met Dom, but I was fortunate enough to work with his son David on (Disney’s) “Wizards of Waverly Place.”

(Regarding this pic… I’m being brave since I look like crap. This was taken after 2 12 hour days. I was exhausted and I look it! Of course David looks great. Grrr…)

David’s character, Jerry Russo, is father to Selena Gomez’s character, Alex on Wizards of Waverly Place. I’d only worked with David before as an actor, so having him direct the show last week was a ton of fun. It was great seeing him in a different capacity. Of course, it’s always fun to hear some of the stories about his father and growing up in Hollywood. The best part about David is he’s such a nice guy and so funny. He has great timing and he’s a cutie on top of it.

Anyway, like I said, I loved having the connection to old time Hollywood for a week and it’s always fun to see old pals. It’s a small town and if you work in it long enough you tend to see old friends popping up on occasion.

What about you guys? Does anyone get starstruck? Is there an old time actor or any actor that might make you speechless? Let me know!

 

You Heard It Here: Happiness Is

I guess you could say I’m a broken record when it comes to Happiness Is because I tend to fall back on family a lot of the time. Color me sentimental.

This month’s “happiness is” revolves around the big family reunion I attended this past weekend in Dallas, Texas. My daughter took about a thousand pictures in a 24 hour period, but I thought I’d post the highlight. It’s the “crazy” shot of us just before our dinner Saturday night.

So, yes, this month, happiness is having a great family and managing to get together once or twice a decade to catch up with everyone, shut the bar down, and in general wreck a little havoc. Life is good. Just wish we had more like a week instead of a day to reconnect.

What about you? What’s your happiness this month? Do you love family reunions or is your extended family a little on the nutty side? (Like mine!) Let me know!

You Heard It Here: It’s Time

Sometimes I have no idea what I’m going to blog about until the last minute and this was one of those times. I had planned to save this post for next month and I still plan to give you an updated version (think: before and after), but for now, you’ll get to see my latest joy.

After 23 years in the same house, my husband and I decided that now was the right time to remodel our 40 year old kitchen. Working in show-biz, we’ve learned to save for a rainy day (or possibly many rainy days), but we came to the conclusion that the time was right and we dove into making our dream kitchen.

I don’t think I would’ve posted this today, except after working 13 hours on set and walking into a few beautiful new appliances in my almost finished beautiful new kitchen, I decided it was worth the blog time. Here’s my new kitchen almost completed:

Do you see where the fridge begins on the left? That was the end of my old kitchen. It extended width-wise to about the end of the right side of the island. Basically the new space is about 2.5 x bigger than the old space. Did I mention the old kitchen was avocado green and had no room for a table and chairs? (True.) The new space has room for 3 or 4 stools at the island. (Did I also mention that I plan to sleep there when it’s completely done? No, not forever! LOL. But for a night or two, just so I know it’s real.) The granite counter top goes in tomorrow (that’s plywood right now). Still needs molding and tile and paint and so on so next month you’ll get to see the whole deal.

Hubby and I are very similar when it comes to saving for a rainy day and not overextending ourselves. Maybe that’s why this kitchen was 23 years in the making. But can I tell you… it was worth the wait.

What about you? What did you do – or what happened – in your life that was past the time you needed to do it? Maybe a remodel or a delayed honeymoon. Could be anything. I’d love to know!

 

You Heard It Here: Stars in the Making

I usually tell one Hollywood story at a time, but this post is breaking tradition a little. Working in show business for as long as I have, I’ve run across some amazing actors. You’ve heard me tell stories about many of them.

One of the things that’s fun for me is when I work with someone who I know is going to hit it big. Granted, it’s hard to tell in this town where one false move (or movie!) can set a career back decades. But still, with the right project and right timing, just about anything is possible if the actor has talent.

Two people come to mind initially as I talk about this. But let me tell you the stories first. (I can group them together since I told both of the them almost the exact same thing.)

Both of these actors had been feeling a ton of self-doubt about their careers and if, when and where they might work again. They are both handsome, funny and extremely talented. It amazed me that they could worry about their careers at all. But twice in two years as I sat down with both of them, I gave the same advice. And it went a little something like this:

“Trust me. You have nothing to worry about. You are not only going to work again, but you’re going to be huge. Giant. You’re going to own this town.”

Interestingly enough, they both gave me close to the same look. The you-know-this-is-Hollywood-and-you-can’t-predict-shit look. True, this town is one gigantic crap shoot, but these guys had the world at their feet (and pretty much still do).

So, who am I talking about? You’ve probably already guessed by now. The first guy to get my speech was seventeen year old Matthew Perry. The second, was a twenty-something George Clooney.

In recent years, I’ve been working with a ton of child actors and again I’ve run across a couple that stand out. And, yes, I gave them my you’re-going-to-make-it-after-all-Mary-Tyler-Moore speech. But, I’m going out on a limb and I’m going to publicly tell you the next two guys who I think are going to hit it big.

The first is Robbie Amell. In fact, I think he’s staring in a new show this fall, but I’m not sure of the network or the name of the show. I worked with Robbie on True Jackson, V.P. for Nickelodeon and I can tell you this young man is the whole package. Next (and another actor I met on the same series) is Matt Shively. Matt is one of the best physical actors I’ve ever worked with (although Robbie’s no slouch in that area either). He’s funny and cute and he has an energy about him that’s irresistible. I know he’s shooting a movie now in Canada with a couple other actors I love.

That’s my prediction and I’m sticking to it. Check out these boys. They are fun to watch.

What about you? Has any actor caught your eye from a movie or television program and you just knew they were going to hit it big? Spill! I want to know!