Family Scoop: An Open Love Letter to the Cast and Crew of Shake It Up
You might recall awhile back I posted about Miss M's birthday, and the trip we were going to take to the Shake It Up set to see a run-through.
I had to follow it up, because I've worked on many a TV show set, and I'm not sure I've ever seen one as kind and considerate this one.
It started in the writers' room, where head writer saw Miss M and I dallying in the hall and invited us in. He chatted up Miss M, wished her happy birthday, read the fan letter she had written to Bella and Zendaya (her very first fan letter), complimented her on her outfit (which happened to be from Target's Shake It Up collection), and generally made her feel like a superstar.
From there we met up with my friend , a super-fab writer who took us down to the set, where Miss M nearly froze in shocked delight.
There was Bella Thorne.
And when David introduced Miss M to Bella and said it was Miss M's birthday, Bella wrapped her up in a HUGE hug… at which point I immediately became Bella Thorne's biggest fan.
It only got better from there. David told everyone on the set it was Miss M's birthday, and everyone said happy birthday to her and made her feel at home. They let her stand front and center to watch each scene, and between scenes she got to chat with every single cast member. She got huge hugs from Zendaya, Roshon Fegan (Ty), Kenton Duty (Gunter), and Caroline Sunshine (Tinka). Adam Irigoyen (Deuce) must have gotten ten or fifteen hugs from Miss M, since she kept racing off and reporting back that she'd hugged him again. The only she didn't hug was Davis Cleveland (Flynn), and that's only because he's actually in her age range and the minute she saw him in person she developed a crush.
What most impressed me was post-run-through, when Bella and Zendaya had to race off. I asked Miss M if she wanted to say goodbye, and she ran to both girls, throwing herself into their arms for a final hug.
Here's the thing — Bella and Zendaya weren't on set to do an appearance. They were there to work, they were on a tight schedule, and they didn't plan to have a seven-year-old missile slam into them as they were racing for the door. But did they flinch? No they did not. They each returned Miss M's giant hug, thanked her for coming, gave her extra birthday wishes, and only then left the set.
Miss M was aglow… but the fun wasn't over.
The amazingly gracious , Costume Designer for the show, took Miss M on a tour of the wardrobe department, which pretty much looks like Miss M's dream closet come to life. From there my friend David took Miss M on a full tour of the set — she walked through Cece's house, the restaurant, the school… we even got a picture of her on the Shake It Up Chicago set, posing by the giant sign.
I've been out here for many years now, and I've been on a lot of TV show sets. I'm a little jaded when it comes to the behind-the-scenes of a show in which I'm not directly involved. But seeing Shake It Up through Miss M's eyes was absolutely magical, and I'm so, so thankful to everyone who made it happen.
Have you ever gotten to peek behind the scenes of a show you loved? What was it like? And if you haven't, what show's set would you most like to visit? It 's okay if it's impossible, as it would be for me — I'd love the chance to see my all time favorite show, Moonlighting. What about you?
