WHAT’S GOING ON?
We don’t really know what’s going on, but Megan’s friend since birth, Nikki, is in town from New York and she wants to Get Around. The Los Angeles Philharmonic Opening Night Gala is tonight. We have no idea who will be there, but we head downtown to see.
THE SCOPE OUT
We find the best parking spot imaginable and walk to the concert hall. Good times! They’re using venue security… and they don’t know us! No worries about being hassled tonight!
They’ve erected a massive enclosed tent for the party. It’s huge, fancy and very pink. Three guys are approaching us pushing a single metal cart labeled: tomato tarts. Megan, Queens of Snacks, zeroes in on this and questions the guys about their tarts.
We track down the red, or in this case -pink- carpet and the group of press photographers next to it. I’m anxious to see what happens. The setup here looks really easy, but almost too easy. Plus, we still have no idea who will be here, but as always I’ve got hopes for some True Blood.
JANNA BRINGS GOOD NEWS
We need information. Janna is being sneaky and hopefully it pays off. A few minutes later, it does. When she tells us Stephen Moyer…from True Blood…is on the guest list, I lose the ability to recall what happens next. Let’s just say I’m stoked and there was jumping and possibly loud cheering involved.
I have two Rolling Stone magazines with Stephen, Anna and Alexander on the cover. One Anna Paquin has signed, the other just has Stephen. I hope to get Stephen on the other one tonight.
Something ridiculous happened earlier in the day: Megan removed her True Blood goodies from her car, so she’s screwed. Luckily Janna has a few things with her to get done. Nikka has never seen True Blood and has no idea who Stephen is (What?!), but she’s excited anyway.
Janna said Eva Mendes is also on the list. The girls are crazy excited about this, but I still can’t think past Stephen Moyer.
THE TRICK IS TO STUFF YOUR CHEEKS WITH MOTH BALLS
People are starting to arrive and…Wow. The people… Depends and fresh facial sutures are the two most popular trends this evening and the smell of moth balls wafts around us.
Each lady that gets out of her car has a stunned expression frozen on her face that looks even more stunned than the lady that got out of the car before her. One lady was wearing a Queen Elizabeth ball gown that I know must have been fabricated a few centuries ago. It’s beginning to seem like nobody we know will ever show up.
What will happen to the LA Philharmonic in 20 years when all of these people pouring in tonight are dead?
It’s getting dark and the concert is about to start. I’m wondering if this is going to be a bust. But I see Janna about 10 feet away holding her Rolling Stone magazine and looking towards me. That can only mean one thing: Stephen is here!
DID I MENTION STEPHEN IS HERE?
As soon as he’s out of his car, he comes over to us. He’s very chatty! It’s only the 4 of us so we have him to ourselves. He’s going on about how he almost got in a wreck coming over here. He pulled a Megan and cut into the valet lane at the last minute, bypassing the line and almost taking out a Bently, then abandoned his car in the middle of the two lanes.
He signs some things for Janna and then I get him on my Rolling Stone. As usual, it’s a perfect signature. Every time I meet him I’m amazed at how nice of a guy he is. TB’s Rutina Wesley and Ryan Kwanten should be schooled in the art of niceness from the rest of the cast. Seriously, those two are total douches, while everyone else goes out of their way to be cool to the show’s fans.
But wait, there’s more…Here’s our video of Stephen doing the press line:
THERE’S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING, EVEN FOR EVA MENDES
I don’t really care what happens next, because after what just happened…the night is already pretty cool. But Eva Mendes has just arrived and the girls are freaking. Janna approaches Eva and asks if she can get a photo with her, but Eva tells her that they’re rushing her to the carpet and is escorted by her publicist towards the mayhem.
Megan and Janna both let some snarky comments fly. I’m shooting Eva on the red carpet and all of a sudden she retreats and stands at the entrance to the carpet. Unsure of what the hell is going on, I scope out the area. I see Janna over there by Eva, and Nikki and Megan are approaching too. I head over and discover that in a strange turn of events, Eva Mendes left the red carpet and sent her publicist to get Janna! The publicist asked Janna if she still wanted a photo. Uh…sure?! Eva did a round of pics and was super sweet.
As we left she was still talking to us, telling us how bad she had felt. Who knew the chick had a few nice bones in her body? She returns to the carpet to do the press line.
We had a blast showing Nikki how to Get Around. We bailed and left the tomato tarts in favor of grilled cheese at Norms.
Check out the full set of pics from the night:
Tags: celebrity encounters, eva mendes, la phil, stephen moyer, true blood
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