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Posted on the MEIN Board by Camille:

I’d been looking forward to the premiere screening of The L Word for weeks. The company I work for is affiliated with Showtime, so early in December, I had my co-workers get me an invitation. The screening was on my mind throughout most of the Holiday season. Yeah, the Pirates of the Caribbean DVD with free Junior Novelization I got for Christmas was nice, as were the Indianapolis Colts sweatpants and Peyton Manning bobble-head, but what I was really looking forward to was the gift of being able to attend The L Word Premiere Screening and potentially rub elbows with Tammy Lynn Michaels and Melissa Etheridge.

The screening was last night at the LACMA Bing Theater on Wilshire Boulevard. I was very happy and fortunate to be there with two good friends and colleagues. We got to walk up the red carpet. That was neat-o. I’d only done that one other time, which oddly enough, was at the “Melissa Etheridge: Live and Alone” DVD screening event in Hollywood.

Once stars/talent started to arrive, there was a wall of photographers taking millions of pictures and shouting “Look here! Look here! Now turn sideways! Smile!” All of the photographers had huge cameras with equally as large flash attachments, and camera bags at their sides filled with more rolls of film than a normal person would use in one lifetime. All except for one person. One person was taking pictures with a disposable camera. That would be me. There I stood, shoulder to shoulder with the professional photographers, a huge dumb-ass smile on my face and Kodak Fun Saver 35 I’d purchased that afternoon in my hands. You know, the kind of disposable camera that you have to press the little button until the light comes on to indicate the flash is ready but the flash only goes off half the time anyway even if you don’t press the button. OK, really I was kind of off to the side, but still in between professional Photogs. Erin Daniels (at least I think that’s who it is) was standing there and she looked very pretty so I thought I’d take a picture that I know many of you ladies (and gentlemen too) will enjoy. Here it is:

And here are the shots I was really after:





I was so close! It was great!

TLM and MLE were then interviewed by Showtime or VH1, I can't remember which. MLE was so gracious – she stepped aside and pointed to Tammy and said something like “It’s all about her tonight.” I think Tammy talked a little bit about their wedding, but I couldn’t really hear the interview. Then we went inside to the capacity filled theater and watched the premiere episode.

TLM and MLE were seated seven rows in front of me and my friends. Christian Slater was six rows in front of me and my friends, and right behind TLM and MLE. I saw Tammy introduce herself to him. Other stars (besides The L Word crew) that we saw were Blythe Danner, Joely Fisher, and the woman who played the sister on Mad About You. Actually, we saw a few more stars but could not recall their names or where we’d seen them.

After the screening, we all walked to the outdoor patio, where my friends and I made a bee-line to the heat lamps. We saw TLM and MLE soon after. They were talking to lots of different people and we didn’t want to interrupt. Two ladies who had been talking with TLM and MLE seemed to be looking for a pen, so I gave them a pen and asked “Are you the Showtime contest winners?” They said Yes. Their names were Kim and Shannon. I said I was in the fan club (MEIN) and they said they were too, that’s how they’d heard about the contest. I didn’t get to talk to them much more than that.

TLM and MLE were still surrounded by people, and my friends and I started losing our nerve to go chat with them. We were like: “You go talk to them.” “No, you go talk to them!” “No, I’m not going to go talk to them, you go talk to them!” Finally, I made a move. Well, sort of. I had to wait for TLM and MLE to be interviewed by Showtime or whoever that was. I was close enough to hear, but I couldn’t concentrate because even though my head knows that MLE is “just like everyone else”, my heart and my knees are rather clueless. I was standing all by myself. My two friends were off to the side, engaged in conversation with each other. I nearly chickened out of introducing myself, but then I would’ve kicked myself for not seizing the opportunity. It was silly to be nervous. I’d met MLE briefly on two other occasions, and I have never heard of anyone ever having even a remotely bad experience of meeting either one of them. Nonetheless, I finally had to tell myself to just pretend that TLM and MLE were Showtime employees, and therefore wouldn’t mind meeting me at all. That seemed to calm me down. Their interview ended, and they headed my way. I sincerely wanted to address them both, ‘cause even though I’m a huge MLE fan I really do enjoy Tammy’s acting and this was her night to shine, so I greeted them with “Hi Lucky and Angel! My name is Camille and I work at (name of company)”. My attempt to address them both nearly failed because the instant MLE looked at me and I shook her hand - I was like a dear in the headlights. I probably would have stayed frozen there forever staring at my favorite rock star in the whole world if Melissa hadn’t said “Hi! This is Tammy.” (Once again, she made sure the attention was on Tammy last night.) I shook Tammy’s hand and said Hello. My goodness, they are both very friendly. I was still a little nervous, not sure what to say, so I said something like “I was wondering if I could get you ladies to sign the program?” They both said “Sure!” I think it was then one of my friends walked up and said Hello. I said “Melissa and Tammy, this is my friend Deb.” And do you know what Melissa said? She said “Hi, I’m Melissa.” It wasn’t until later my friends and I busted up laughing that apparently MLE was unaware we were WELL AWARE who she is.

Melissa signed my program first and then handed it to Tammy. Tammy said to MLE, “I’m going to sign above you. I like being on top.” It got REALLY quiet for a second, we all just looked at each other, and finally my friend said “I’m not even going to touch that one!” We all laughed.

Tammy asked me if I liked the episode or if it was too risqué for me. I said no it wasn’t too risqué, it was really good and I really liked it. I told her I’ve actually seen the first five episodes, and she said “Oh so you’ve seen one I’m actually in?” (She was in the premiere, but only had a few lines. See my earlier post on the “Tammy and the L Word” thread for a breakdown of Tammy’s appearances in 3 episodes.) And I don’t want to give it away, but I asked her about one of the outfits in one of her scenes, and she said it was her idea, and that she made the shirt by herself. (Sorry – you’ll have to wait until that episodes airs to understand exactly what I’m talking about!)

I asked her about the possibility of being in future episodes, and she said Showtime had asked her about it, but they filmed back in September, and she said “You know, I was busy and all, with the wedding.” I was so glad she brought it up, because then I was able to say “Oh yeah! CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WEDDING!!!” And I couldn’t help myself - I touched her arm as I was saying it. Seriously, I had been so excited and happy about their wedding, I’m glad I got the opportunity to tell her face-to-face Congrats. She said Thank You, and my friend asked to see her ring, so she showed us. Once again I couldn’t help myself, I just had to look close and touch it. It’s really pretty. I remember it had bands on the outside, and x shapes in the middle, and a really big diamond in the center.

I asked Tammy if she would be going to any of the upcoming MLE concerts. She said “Yes. Unless we have the kids. Then I’ll be at home sitting on the couch with gum in my hair.”

If you’ll notice, I haven’t mentioned MLE in the last few paragraphs. That’s because she had been pulled away for an interview or something. Tammy is so charming and kind and animated and chatty and friendly and nice and engaging that I hadn’t even noticed MLE wasn’t there anymore.

So then, someone started tugging on Tammy’s sleeve, and she had to go for an interview or something. But – how sweet is this? She says to me and my friend “It was really nice meeting you!” and then she points at us and says our names. She said to look for her at upcoming shows and to come up and say Hi. I was blown away. What a classy lady.

I’m sure the other actresses on The L Word are equally as lovely and charming in person, but I didn’t go up and talk to anyone else. While my friends were visiting the buffet and bar, I was feverishly writing the entire experience on an envelope I happened to have in my purse. I didn’t want to forget a thing. I think I got most of it.

Hope you all enjoyed my little story. By the way, I’m not sure it happened in this exact order. My notes were scribbled all over the envelope and I’m not sure if the stuff I wrote on the flap happened before the stuff I wrote on the glue part or after the stuff I wrote on the stamp part or maybe the address label part was first or vice-versa.

Happy New Year,
Camille

Other photos posted by Camille:

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