Five a.m. comes early, especially for vacationers.
Waking up in the wee hours of the morning wasn’t quite how Paul Adduono had planned to spend his New York holiday, but it didn’t take long for him to change his mind.
On July 4, Paul and his wife Sue were in the Big Apple to celebrate their third wedding anniversary. While visiting the city, Sue was determined to score a seat to watch one of her favourite morning TV shows being filmed. Tickets to be in the live audience during an episode of Live With Regis and Kelly were sold out a year in advance, but Sue was told she could come by at 6 a.m. for the chance to pick up stand-by tickets.
Sue Adduono said the highlight of her trip to New York City was watching a live episode of Live with Regis & Kelly. Supplied photo
Sue and Paul took a “$6 cab ride” from their hotel to arrive at the studio and waited behind four other groups of people.
When 8 a.m. rolled around, the local couple managed to get their hands on a pair of tickets.
Watching his wife’s excitement, Paul said waking up early was suddenly worth it.
“It wasn’t so bad,” he said with a smile.
While sitting in the upper section of the audience, the Adduonos watched as Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa interviewed Kevin James and Rose Byrne on their most recent films, Zookeeper and X-Men: First Class.
“I love it,” Sue said. “Kelly and Regis — they’re both funny.”
Already elated simply to be in the audience, Sue had another surprise coming her way midway through the show.
As Ripa put her hand into a “fish bowl” filled with audience members’ ticket numbers, Sue could see her hand fall on ticket 127 — the number Sue was assigned.
I could see her taking the number out of the bowl. It was my number.
Sue Adduono
“I could see her taking the number out of the bowl,” she said. “It was my number.”
When Ripa announced the winning seat, Sue jumped up and down, excitedly waving her ticket around.
Sue’s daughter taped the episode for her mom, who could be seen in a Canada t-shirt, enthusiastically clinging onto her ticket.
It was later that Sue and Paul found out they had scored a $500 voucher from a lobster company. Now, the couple is planning “Lobsterfest” in the backyard of their New Sudbury home.
“I love lobster,” Paul said with a laugh.
Sue said having the opportunity to be on Live With Regis and Kelly was “one of the highlights of the trip,” but the couple “did so much more.”
They took in Broadway shows like The Lion King, and had even had their photo snapped with Robin Williams. The couple also took a horse-drawn carriage trip through Central Park and experienced the bright lights at Times Square at night.
-Posted by Heather Green-Oliver
