Opening Night Party

Having received ticket for Opening Night, I opted to wear basic black and pearls. I arrived at the Paramount after the theater had opened (so there’d be no waiting in line to get in), and asked a volunteer where the press will call was. “Uh, I think over there,” he said, gesturing vaguely. On wandering around, I ran into head PR guy Ted Fry, who directed me to the mass will call area. There were more volunteers keeping you in line before you got up to the ticket folks, just like checking in at the airport. There seemed a little confusion as to whether press tickets were with the regular folks’ tickets, but it all worked out.

There were volunteers hovering around constantly, both in and out of the theater. If you stood in place for more than 15 seconds, one would come up and ask if you needed assistance. It was a little unnerving.

My companion was filmmaker Kay D. Ray, director of the excellent (and as yet unreleased) doc Lady Be Good, a history of women in jazz. We quickly acquired wristbands, which allowed you to drink alcohol. Blue meant you were over 21. Green meant you got free drinks (have to work on scoring one of those next time). There was another for VIPs but I can’t recall the color. On entering we got in line for drinkies only to be told no drinks were being served. “That’s just wrong!” I exclaimed, but there was nothing to be done about it so we got seats. As neither of us had a coat, we couldn’t save our seats and wander about, so we spent the time chatting and spotting folks we knew. Seen: Jon Kertzer (KEXP DJ, among many other things), Connie Thompson (KOMO), Dale Chihuly (glass), Susie Purves (of COCA/NWFF fame). Other passholders complained about the lack of alcohol beforehand: “We got here around five o’clock! They could’ve made money!”

It was a late start, but the preamble was less painful than before at these functions. Some chat from Carl Spence and Deb Person. Mayor Nickels (who got some boos) giving an award to Lynn Shelton (of Humpday fame). Sponsors thanked very quickly. Some of the SIFF ads. Then a great short film by Rick Stevenson, in which a disgruntled SIFF staffer is shown what life would’ve been like in Seattle without SIFF, a la It’s A Wonderful Life. Steve Poole selling umbrellas. Tom Skerritt peddling coffee (real coffee, not espresso), more locally famous folks making humorous cameos. But the audience must’ve had few longtime SIFFers, as there were very few laughs when SIFF co-founders Darryl MacDonald and Dan Ireland appeared in the short. I think it might’ve got more applause than the main feature.

I enjoyed In The Loop more than I had the first time. Maybe because I was sitting further back in the theater; before I felt like I was being assaulted by the constant shouting and swearing. The audience enjoyed it, as I thought they would, though some felt it was a bit dated, and would’ve worked better had it come out sooner after the Iraq war erupted. I just enjoyed the take on life in modern politics, whatever the era. Though it makes it look like a most unenviable profession.

Then it was party time! Unfortunately, there was a major gaffe in the set up. I’d heard they would block off the street next to the theater, which I thought would work great, as the Paramount always got a bit crowded when they held the reception inside, and now there would be room to spread out. But what they did was put all the food and nearly all the drink, outside. So you were literally packed in together like you were in a cattle pen, and unable to move. As the food was set up at different stations, it was relatively easy to get to the front of each one, but it was so miserable being jammed together, with few places to put your plates down. A shame, as the food was of better quality this year too (loved the crab macaroni and cheese), but I didn’t want to have to fight through the mob each time I wanted something. I got separated from Kay and never saw her again; she told me after one drink she’d had enough and fled.

I nearly did so myself. After the mac and cheese, with people pressing in on all sides, I thought “I’ve got to get out of here or I’ll have a nervous breakdown!” I managed to struggle through and made it back inside the Paramount. Your ticket got you two free drinks, and given the wait I got both of mine at once, learning in the process that I do not like mojitos (a rum sponsor this year). There was a silly rule in place that you couldn’t take your drink outside to the sealed off area (and vice versa), which someone insisted was “union rule,” but I’m sure there could’ve been some way to accommodate/get around that. It meant you were trapped on one side or the other and unable to mingle freely.

When I finally made it back outside, it had thinned out considerably, as people evidently left due to the overcrowding. The food should have been set up both inside and outside. And both bars on the main floor should’ve been opened (only one was; I think at least one more may have been open on an upper floor). Then everyone would have been able to spread out, and perhaps more people would have stayed longer as a result. There was supposed to be what they called a “bubble lounge” on the Paramount stage, where cupcakes and chocolate were supposed to be on offer, but it hadn’t opened before I went back outside.

With room now to stretch, I chatted with various folks: Tom Tangney from KIRO, Jen Steppich who was a SIFF publicist a few years back, filmmaker Shannon Gee, said hi to Moira McDonald from the Seattle Times, saw critic Sean Axmaker at a distance (in a dapper hat), and a couple of SIFFers (Ted, Cal, Britt). Also found, to my pleasure, that one of the bartenders (Blair) was an old friend, so I was then well taken care of. A platinum passholder told me he didn’t get a free program, which I had thought surely platinums would receive.

On my way out, I ran into one of the actors of the film, David Rasche, who was carrying a gift bag. I shook his hand and said “Good job!” Ah, such sterling wit. I suppose if we both hadn’t been walking we might’ve had a bit of a chat. But no, he merely thanked me in response. Well, I was on the way home. I walked, and a man whistled at me. I guess black is the new, um, black. I hadn’t been keeping track of time, so was surprised to get home and see that it was nearly midnight!