Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice Benefit: The Recap
I flew, I watched, I laughed, I’m back.
Last night my friend and I attended “Good Medicine,” the Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice benefit show in LA. It was her idea to go, and we speak the same rapid pop culture language, so she was the perfect partner in crime for the evening.
I am having trouble staying awake but I promised a recap, so here goes.
PHOTO UPDATE: TVGuide.com has just posted great photos here from the actual event!
VIDEO UPDATE: Although it may not be there for long, someone has posted a few minutes of footage from Good Medicine here on YouTube.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The pipes. Sara Ramirez (Dr. Callie Torres) and Audra McDonald (Dr. Naomi Bennett)…beautiful, amazing singing voices. Sara received two standing ovations alone. And Gina Taylor-Pickens, real life wife of the chief from Grey’s Anatomy, is an absolutely stunning blues singer as well.
- The sheer talent of both casts. When they weren’t singing or performing dramatic, hysterical interpretations of fan fiction and mail, they were playing the piano, guitars and harmonica.
- Surprise musical guest Patty Griffin, who performed “Up To The Mountain” solo acoustic!
- My hair. Seriously. See above. It behaved. By the way, I do not have a black eye. I was wearing mascara, which I usually only don once a year for our office holiday party. I appear vampiric, but it was just the lighting or lack thereof.
FILE UNDER: OH WELL
The show itself was great, but the evening was substantially more mellow than I’d anticipated. The audience seemed to consist of crew, producers, writers and their families, along with a smattering of fans (but of course all enjoyed it and were very receptive to the entertainment presented). There was one lowly paparazzo stationed outside, but he got bored and left [clarification: he was front of house, but there were plenty of autograph hounds and rude photographers near the back entrance where the actors had parked and tried to leave after the show].
Even though everyone else was getting away with it, I was asked to stop taking photos. My flash was not on, but I was reprimanded nonetheless. From our vantage point of the stage, the photos weren’t turning out clearly anyway (like this photo of Eric Dane and Brooke Smith below).
STAR SIGHTINGS: VERY RANDOM
Look, even if I know someone’s entire IMDB history, I tend to avoid bothering celebrities of any level. I am not interested in getting their autograph in person, and unless I have something meaningful to say, I prefer to observe from a distance. So I noticed but didn’t actually chat with any of the following people last night…
- Marc Cherry: Creator & Executive Producer of Desperate Housewives
- Paul Dooley: Very recognizable character actor, played Dad in Breaking Away and 16 Candles
- Winnie Holzman: Dooley’s wife, and Creator of My-So Called Life and The Wonder Years
- Steven Bailey: Joe from Joe’s Bar on Grey’s Anatomy
- Sarah Utterback: Nurse Olivia from Grey’s Anatomy
- Greg Pitts & Tim Griffin: George’s brothers on Grey’s Anatomy
I know that I’m forgetting important details, but we stayed up far past the witching hour and I need to nap it out. Then I plan to revisit this week’s episode of Lost again and post more theories. And then watch Short Bus and The Nines.
UPDATE: Several people have asked what the actors were wearing. I am not a celebrity gossip hound and do not tend to cover the glamorous/fabulous aspects of the industry, but here is my attempt at a summary….
I did not witness a single fashion faux paus. Sandra Oh looked very pretty in a short black and white dress. Katherine Heigl looked every bit the Old Hollywood Movie Star that she is in a beautiful red dress with her hair swept up. Chandra Wilson had a sassy long and fitted black gown on; very non-Bailey. Amy Brenneman was adorable in her strapless cream and black dress. Audra McDonald wins for best arms; she must be a pilates or yoga girl. McDonald, Sara Ramirez, Ellen Pompeo and Brooke Smith all opted for variations on the little black dress, all with great success. And the gentlemen were as handsome and charming as expected in their suits and tuxes: Eric Dane, James Pickens, TR Knight, Tim Daly, Taye Diggs, Paul Adelstein and Chris Lowell.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!