I Love Lucy ... well maybe I wouldn't jump to LOVE

Remember when Lucy always wanted to be in the show and Ricky would deny her?  Well, I felt like I was Ricky Ricardo on the K shoot last night and playing the role of Lucy was the lobby music that couldn't be turned off, Vicky the Vacuum Lady, Crystal the cranky maid, the old man whose humor I will share with you momentarily and apologize that I shared it seconds later, the 300 people walking through take after take, the two little ladies who decided to chat very loudly around the corner and the overall people stopping to ask if we were actually using that camera to shoot something.  Yes, it was a Lucy fest.  I really wish I would have set up my flip camera to show the behind the scenes because last night there were more behinds than fronts and yes, I meant to put it just that way.

There I was doing the last scene from Kramer vs. Kramer where Joanna tells Ted that she's not going to take her son to live with her.  It's meant to be a scene where I'm pretty much bawling my eyes out but shootus interruptus made that sooooooooooooo hard.  I think I can honestly say that was my hardest acting challenge ever.  Had it been a comedy, or a scene with any other emotion, I would have kept going no issues.  The tears were drying up so much though because of the Lucy factor and if this man's jokes didn't make me cry it just wasn't going to happen.  Here's a sample of his hallway humor.  "Hey, did you know my dog got a pedigree?  Yeah, he got a B for barking" (da dum dum) I did the obligatory laugh but I think that was a bad move because he followed it up with ... "What do you call a bartender who isn't drunk?  He hung there until one of us said, "what", "out of work" (I'm here all week).  "Saw something funny today ... I looked in the mirror".  There were more, way too many more.  Vic asked him what floor he was going to and very sweetly guided him to the correct elevator.  I, by the way, was supposed to be crying but could only conger shock at that point.  When he got on the lift to go to the 14th floor, I couldn't have been happier ... sorry Shecky, you were killin' me!

Vic was a real trooper.  He was playing the role of Ted Kramer.  Dustin Hoffman's shoes are insane to fill and Vic maintained a level of professionalism beyond the beyond.  I was truly getting annoyed and Vic stayed the course.  Bless his heart!

Dev did his best to quiet the ladies around the corner and to work through the insane logistics of shot after shot.  He actually made me laugh when he said that he didn't realize that pedigree thing was a joke and thought maybe that guys dog DID get a B!  lololol

The location visually was absolutely perfect and Eric Swinderman was responsible for me finding it.  As many interruptions as there were, Eric had the foresight to try to land us a weekend slot.  It didn't end up working out but I really appreciate him coming to help me, especially since he and I have never met!  Can you say, thanks Facebook?  I can!

Finally we did get some quiet and a window of time in which to shoot everything imaginable.  If it weren't for Shecky coming back to do one more set and pass out HIS CARDS while my face was covered in tears, it would have been a perfect finale!  "two snakes were in bed together and after sex the girl snake said, you're right you have a reptile dysfunction"  OK, I'm going to finally sing Babaloo without interruption now.  Sheesh, I'm used to being Lucy and I like it better that way.