Rose Parade, part 2
Jan. 3rd, 2007 04:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jainaHere's Day 2 of the ongoing saga! Only one more to go. I still have no pictures, but you can check out Rachel's photos of the day here.
Sunday-- dress rehearsal, float judging, parade practice, and New Year's Eve dinner
After a slight mishap with the alarm going off at midnight (I'm sorry, I'm sorry!), Debby and I hauled ourselves out of bed at 3:45 am, dressed, and met the rest of the "backstage crew" in the lobby. We were taken to the float warehouse, back in Azusa, in a van with the most incompetent driver in the history of van drivers. Grrr. But we did get there eventually! And we met Laela, the LFL Archivist, and Joanie, aka Biba-Fett, who were in charge of the costumes. We started prepping by taking the costumes out of their muslin bags and checking the accessory boxes to make sure everything was there. And papering over the giant window in our prep room, so people couldn't see in!
A quick break to talk about the costumes-- the red and black Amidala dresses were the LFL replicas, the ones that were in the FIDM fashion show last spring. The packing dress was a real costume, but it was a version made for Rose Byrne, because it was slightly larger than the Natalie version. Apparently several costumes had handmaiden "decoy" versions made alongside the Natalie versions. The picnic dress was also there as a "backup" costume in case something happened to one of the others. We left it in its bag, but I did get to look at it and make some observations. I'm posting all my info about the picnic and packing dresses in their threads at the C&P boards. The Luminara and Aayla costumes were also real, except for the Aayla headpiece, which was newly made.
Okay, back to my account of the day! As we were prepping, our queens and Jedi started to arrive, except Kelsey who'd come with us that morning, since Matt was also a dresser. They got sent to makeup first-- LFL had hired professional makeup and hair people. Then we dressed them in the underlayers of their costumes, so at least they'd be warmer, because it was COLD! The queens were all wearing Uggs under their dresses, and some had sweatpants or leggings on too. The poor model who was being Aayla basically froze the whole time, because she couldn't muss her blue paint. Debby, Tree and I were each assigned as a sort of lady-in-waiting to one of the queens, to help them dress and take care of whatever they needed. Debby had Kelsey (black dress), Tree had Ashley (packing dress), and I had Alaire (red dress). Ashley and Alaire were the 2005 Rose Queen and a 2005 Rose Princess, respectively. They were so, so sweet, big Star Wars fans, and a lot of fun to work with. And Kelsey, for those who don't know, works at Lucasfilm. I think she's a customer-care person for Star Wars Shop? Her parents were there to help decorate the floats, and they helped us out quite a bit with the costume stuff! They are just the sweetest people.
Somewhere around 5:30 or 6, I think, while it was still dark, they started moving the floats out of the warehouse and into the lot outside, to prep them for judging. It was so cool-- the Naboo domes lowered, and the tops of the Endor trees tipped over, in order to go through the door. In a moment of confusion that I think is really symbolic of the whole weekend, I looked at the floats, only partially lit by the floodlights outside, and wailed, "But how will they judge them? There's not enough light!" and Tree looked at me funny but didn't say anything. Only later, at 9 am when the judges arrived, did I realize-- of course there was plenty of light. I had forgotten that the sun was going to rise.
As the judging time neared, we finished getting everyone into costume, or at least as much costume as possible, because it was not easy getting the girls onto that float! Tree had to rather ungracefully boost Ashley onto her balcony, and we had to put Alaire's Senate robe on once she was positioned on the float, because it was hard enough for her to get up the spiral staircase in that underdress and headpiece! (Narrowest spiral staircase EVER.) And that Senate robe weighs an absolute ton! I walked up the stairs with Alaire holding the back of her dress, then Joanie passed up the robe. Once she was all settled, the safety guy explained about straps that would hold the girls to the support poles (so silly!), then the makeup/hair people came up for final touchups. And then we got herded away from the floats because the judging was going to happen! I saw![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kay_dee70 along with Allison and Mike from Vegas and got to chat with them a bit, which was very nice.
The judging was fun, but very short! They started the music, and the characters waved and moved as if it were the real parade. In addition to the two SW floats, the company also built the China Airlines float, so we got to see that one as well. (And they built the USC and Michigan floats, but I don't think those were judged.) And just like that, it was over. All that prep work for just a couple of minutes! But it was really great to have the dress rehearsal because we got to find out all the little issues (and the big ones-- like Aayla's headpiece being cranky!) and iron them out for the Parade proper.
Getting out of costume was *much* faster than getting in, but getting out of makeup proved nearly impossible for the girls because of the type of makeup that was used. (Later that night, I spotted Alaire right away because her eyelashes were still white!) We packed everything back up into bags and boxes, checking against Laela's reference list, then packed it all into her car so she could drive it over to our trailers at the parade location.
The big van came back for us, and took us not to the hotel or the parade trailers, but to the practice field where the 501st, Grambling, and Rebels/Hero Squad were practicing! That was a thrill and a half! We got to see them do their whole loop of music, marching and dancing, which lasted several laps around the football field. Tree took video, which hopefully we can post for people to see. You guys, it was *so* amazing. The first time they passed us, the band blaring and the troopers marching and everything, it was so overwhelming that I actually started crying. (And I am not alone!scendan admitted to crying too!) We spotted George Lucas across the field, being interviewed for something, and then he was led across the field past us so we got a nice close-up! I ran over to the Hero Squad people to say hi to the folks I knew and congratulate them, and to meet a few I hadn't yet, like Keith (Han) and Joslynn (handmaiden). But then Debby came to get me because our van was leaving.
We drove over to our parade trailers, which were right nearby. We had two real movie trailers, one for costumes and one for makeup. Laela and Joanie had already done most of the set-up work, so we headed back to our hotel. It was about 1 pm, so we'd been awake for about nine hours, and we had five and a half hours to kill before dinner at 6:30. Debby, Tree, and I were really hungry, but we were really tired too. Hunger won, so we took the shuttle over to CityWalk for crepes, and then Debby got a foot massage while Tree and I found chocolate and browsed in the geeky collectibles store. Sufficiently refreshed, we managed to walk back to the hotel and back to our rooms. Debby took a nap, but I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep that night if I gave in to my sleepiness, so I knit Dulaan hats instead.
After an eternity, it was almost time for dinner. We took showers and put on our "nicer" clothes (jeans and my Narnia hoodie! Whoo!) and followed the line of guys in SW-themed shirts down to one of the Sheraton's ballrooms. The dinner was very passable, some chicken and salmon and potatoes and rolls (and salad stuff, whatevs) and cheesecake for dessert. We sat with Matt and Kelsey and some other Lucasfilm people. Also, Tree's husband Alex had by this time arrived, and he came to the dinner with us. There was lots of 501st speechifying and awards and gifts given (I remember one for "World's Best Babysitter," to one of the squad leaders), and you really haven't lived until you've been in a room with two hundred guys screaming "Five-Oh-One! Five-Oh-One!" at the top of their lungs and pumping their fists and banging tables. Well, maybe you have lived. Because it made me fear for my life, quite frankly. The German garrison gave Steve a really cool trooper helmet painted with an American flag motif, and Mary a gigantic flower arrangement. And we were treated to a lovely a cappella performance by one of the Grambling music fraternities-- they serenaded Mary for their encore.
As dinner wound down, I was more than ready for bed, because our call for the next morning was 2:30 am. But first I wanted to chat a bit with people I hadn't seen yet. I was happy to see and talk tocolleency, who'd come to see obishawn, and admire her absolutely adorable pink dress. I also spotted ajmeow, whom I hadn't even known was going to be in the parade! But I probably should have. :) Then the weirdest thing happened-- AJ looks over my shoulder and goes, "Oh my God, Alex and Tree, what are you DOING here?" and it turns out they all used to do Dancetroupe together, which again, I totally should have thought of that! (In further Freaky Coincidences news, apparently Tree also went to high school with twjudy. I know!) Then C-3P0 and R2-D2 showed up to take pictures, and the bride and groom from the wedding reception going on next door arrived in state, with the bride declaring "I wanna take my picture with Artoo!" which, given everything else that weekend, seemed perfectly normal.
But finally I called it a night, somewhere around nine, and went up to our room to get at least a couple hours of sleep. The Big Day was still to come!
ETA: Y'all,scendan has a fabulous video of the Grambling/501st/Rebels/everything-but-the-floats-practice here. You can see the band doing their awesome dance that barely made it onto TV at all!
Sunday-- dress rehearsal, float judging, parade practice, and New Year's Eve dinner
After a slight mishap with the alarm going off at midnight (I'm sorry, I'm sorry!), Debby and I hauled ourselves out of bed at 3:45 am, dressed, and met the rest of the "backstage crew" in the lobby. We were taken to the float warehouse, back in Azusa, in a van with the most incompetent driver in the history of van drivers. Grrr. But we did get there eventually! And we met Laela, the LFL Archivist, and Joanie, aka Biba-Fett, who were in charge of the costumes. We started prepping by taking the costumes out of their muslin bags and checking the accessory boxes to make sure everything was there. And papering over the giant window in our prep room, so people couldn't see in!
A quick break to talk about the costumes-- the red and black Amidala dresses were the LFL replicas, the ones that were in the FIDM fashion show last spring. The packing dress was a real costume, but it was a version made for Rose Byrne, because it was slightly larger than the Natalie version. Apparently several costumes had handmaiden "decoy" versions made alongside the Natalie versions. The picnic dress was also there as a "backup" costume in case something happened to one of the others. We left it in its bag, but I did get to look at it and make some observations. I'm posting all my info about the picnic and packing dresses in their threads at the C&P boards. The Luminara and Aayla costumes were also real, except for the Aayla headpiece, which was newly made.
Okay, back to my account of the day! As we were prepping, our queens and Jedi started to arrive, except Kelsey who'd come with us that morning, since Matt was also a dresser. They got sent to makeup first-- LFL had hired professional makeup and hair people. Then we dressed them in the underlayers of their costumes, so at least they'd be warmer, because it was COLD! The queens were all wearing Uggs under their dresses, and some had sweatpants or leggings on too. The poor model who was being Aayla basically froze the whole time, because she couldn't muss her blue paint. Debby, Tree and I were each assigned as a sort of lady-in-waiting to one of the queens, to help them dress and take care of whatever they needed. Debby had Kelsey (black dress), Tree had Ashley (packing dress), and I had Alaire (red dress). Ashley and Alaire were the 2005 Rose Queen and a 2005 Rose Princess, respectively. They were so, so sweet, big Star Wars fans, and a lot of fun to work with. And Kelsey, for those who don't know, works at Lucasfilm. I think she's a customer-care person for Star Wars Shop? Her parents were there to help decorate the floats, and they helped us out quite a bit with the costume stuff! They are just the sweetest people.
Somewhere around 5:30 or 6, I think, while it was still dark, they started moving the floats out of the warehouse and into the lot outside, to prep them for judging. It was so cool-- the Naboo domes lowered, and the tops of the Endor trees tipped over, in order to go through the door. In a moment of confusion that I think is really symbolic of the whole weekend, I looked at the floats, only partially lit by the floodlights outside, and wailed, "But how will they judge them? There's not enough light!" and Tree looked at me funny but didn't say anything. Only later, at 9 am when the judges arrived, did I realize-- of course there was plenty of light. I had forgotten that the sun was going to rise.
As the judging time neared, we finished getting everyone into costume, or at least as much costume as possible, because it was not easy getting the girls onto that float! Tree had to rather ungracefully boost Ashley onto her balcony, and we had to put Alaire's Senate robe on once she was positioned on the float, because it was hard enough for her to get up the spiral staircase in that underdress and headpiece! (Narrowest spiral staircase EVER.) And that Senate robe weighs an absolute ton! I walked up the stairs with Alaire holding the back of her dress, then Joanie passed up the robe. Once she was all settled, the safety guy explained about straps that would hold the girls to the support poles (so silly!), then the makeup/hair people came up for final touchups. And then we got herded away from the floats because the judging was going to happen! I saw
kay_dee70 along with Allison and Mike from Vegas and got to chat with them a bit, which was very nice.The judging was fun, but very short! They started the music, and the characters waved and moved as if it were the real parade. In addition to the two SW floats, the company also built the China Airlines float, so we got to see that one as well. (And they built the USC and Michigan floats, but I don't think those were judged.) And just like that, it was over. All that prep work for just a couple of minutes! But it was really great to have the dress rehearsal because we got to find out all the little issues (and the big ones-- like Aayla's headpiece being cranky!) and iron them out for the Parade proper.
Getting out of costume was *much* faster than getting in, but getting out of makeup proved nearly impossible for the girls because of the type of makeup that was used. (Later that night, I spotted Alaire right away because her eyelashes were still white!) We packed everything back up into bags and boxes, checking against Laela's reference list, then packed it all into her car so she could drive it over to our trailers at the parade location.
The big van came back for us, and took us not to the hotel or the parade trailers, but to the practice field where the 501st, Grambling, and Rebels/Hero Squad were practicing! That was a thrill and a half! We got to see them do their whole loop of music, marching and dancing, which lasted several laps around the football field. Tree took video, which hopefully we can post for people to see. You guys, it was *so* amazing. The first time they passed us, the band blaring and the troopers marching and everything, it was so overwhelming that I actually started crying. (And I am not alone!
scendan admitted to crying too!) We spotted George Lucas across the field, being interviewed for something, and then he was led across the field past us so we got a nice close-up! I ran over to the Hero Squad people to say hi to the folks I knew and congratulate them, and to meet a few I hadn't yet, like Keith (Han) and Joslynn (handmaiden). But then Debby came to get me because our van was leaving.We drove over to our parade trailers, which were right nearby. We had two real movie trailers, one for costumes and one for makeup. Laela and Joanie had already done most of the set-up work, so we headed back to our hotel. It was about 1 pm, so we'd been awake for about nine hours, and we had five and a half hours to kill before dinner at 6:30. Debby, Tree, and I were really hungry, but we were really tired too. Hunger won, so we took the shuttle over to CityWalk for crepes, and then Debby got a foot massage while Tree and I found chocolate and browsed in the geeky collectibles store. Sufficiently refreshed, we managed to walk back to the hotel and back to our rooms. Debby took a nap, but I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep that night if I gave in to my sleepiness, so I knit Dulaan hats instead.
After an eternity, it was almost time for dinner. We took showers and put on our "nicer" clothes (jeans and my Narnia hoodie! Whoo!) and followed the line of guys in SW-themed shirts down to one of the Sheraton's ballrooms. The dinner was very passable, some chicken and salmon and potatoes and rolls (and salad stuff, whatevs) and cheesecake for dessert. We sat with Matt and Kelsey and some other Lucasfilm people. Also, Tree's husband Alex had by this time arrived, and he came to the dinner with us. There was lots of 501st speechifying and awards and gifts given (I remember one for "World's Best Babysitter," to one of the squad leaders), and you really haven't lived until you've been in a room with two hundred guys screaming "Five-Oh-One! Five-Oh-One!" at the top of their lungs and pumping their fists and banging tables. Well, maybe you have lived. Because it made me fear for my life, quite frankly. The German garrison gave Steve a really cool trooper helmet painted with an American flag motif, and Mary a gigantic flower arrangement. And we were treated to a lovely a cappella performance by one of the Grambling music fraternities-- they serenaded Mary for their encore.
As dinner wound down, I was more than ready for bed, because our call for the next morning was 2:30 am. But first I wanted to chat a bit with people I hadn't seen yet. I was happy to see and talk to
colleency, who'd come to see obishawn, and admire her absolutely adorable pink dress. I also spotted ajmeow, whom I hadn't even known was going to be in the parade! But I probably should have. :) Then the weirdest thing happened-- AJ looks over my shoulder and goes, "Oh my God, Alex and Tree, what are you DOING here?" and it turns out they all used to do Dancetroupe together, which again, I totally should have thought of that! (In further Freaky Coincidences news, apparently Tree also went to high school with twjudy. I know!) Then C-3P0 and R2-D2 showed up to take pictures, and the bride and groom from the wedding reception going on next door arrived in state, with the bride declaring "I wanna take my picture with Artoo!" which, given everything else that weekend, seemed perfectly normal.But finally I called it a night, somewhere around nine, and went up to our room to get at least a couple hours of sleep. The Big Day was still to come!
ETA: Y'all,
scendan has a fabulous video of the Grambling/501st/Rebels/everything-but-the-floats-practice here. You can see the band doing their awesome dance that barely made it onto TV at all!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-01-04 12:29 am (UTC)That's cool about the Aayla and Luminara costumes - I didn't know they were using those as well!
Sounds like you had a great time! How lucky to be a part of it!
no subject
Date: 2007-01-05 03:38 pm (UTC)It was a lot of work, but definitely a lot of fun!
no subject
Date: 2007-01-04 01:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-15 05:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-04 06:44 am (UTC)I was sooooo tired when we stopped by the marching practice I didn't even remember seeing you there. (I had only 2 hours of sleep that night, and about 4 hours the prior night) I was also floored when the band played. I almost called my Dad so I could have him listen over the phone. (He played trumpet in his high school marching band and is also a fan of the scores John Williams has done).
no subject
Date: 2007-01-04 11:13 am (UTC)How cool that you got to see George Lucas close up! My friend Jimmy (one of those scary troopers) said that it was all he could do not to burst out crying when he got to go up and shake George's hand and say "Thank you."
And I have been around The 501st when they start getting psyched about something. It can be a bit intimidating.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-04 12:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-04 02:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-04 06:23 pm (UTC)FYI, if you go here and click on the folder for the Float Judging, there are some great pics of you in the balcony with "your" Padme. Also a pic of you in the float building - the one of you up high in the Naboo float:
http://roseparade.goldengategarrison.com/gallery/Rose-Bowl-Parade-501st-and-Floats
no subject
Date: 2007-01-05 03:39 pm (UTC)Where is the pic of me building the Naboo float? I can't find it. :(
no subject
Date: 2007-01-05 05:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-04 09:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-15 05:24 am (UTC)