It’s not EVERYDAY that one gets invited to sit in Martha Stewart’s studio audience, but last week a bunch of tickets to the Gardening Show were offered to Blithewold staff. And, honestly now, who wouldn’t want to get out of bed at 2:30 AM in the middle of a vacation to trundle off to NYC with a gaggle of coworkers and compatriots to see Martha her very self in action? Not me, that’s who. (I mean to say that I DID want to go. Mostly. Pretty much. Hey, I went – and went smiling: see for yourself at the 7 minute mark of the final q&a segment of the show – clips are here and Blithewold staff make up most of the second to last row, starting with Gail on the end up to me, wearing signature green.)

I’ve had a lot of time in the last few days to think about the trip (and recover from something kind of like jet lag) and I can tell you that what was most amazing (aside from the bucket of swag we all took home) was the spectacle of Martha’s army in action. There were a dozen or so assistants whose job it was to herd the audience from our line down the block, to the coatroom/waiting room to the studio and then to make sure we were color coordinated in some mysterious way (everyone in the audience was encouraged to wear gardening clothes and there were some wonderful hats and boots!) and bouncers to make sure we didn’t leave our seats. There were dozens more milling around the set moving props, watering plants (the fake greenhouse is full to the gills with live plants), sweeping invisible dust, cooking food, operating scads of cameras, shuffling cues, and giving orders. There was even a court jester whose job it was to make the audience laugh, smile more and clap louder, – LOUDER – then faaaade oouuttt…

I was feeling a little envious – after all, Blithewold doesn’t employ anywhere near the number of staff that Martha Stewart does. But now that I’ve thought about it, our behind the scenes staff, although fewer in number, is just as amazing for being able to put on a live show that never goes off the air or takes station breaks (well, maybe we get a bit of a break starting in January. But we’ll be back soon! Stay tuned. — APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE!… and fade out…)

Do you have an army working behind the scenes on your show?