Shiels: How to attend Jennifer Hudson's television show live

You can be in a small studio setting with big star Jennifer Hudson during a taping of her hit television show at Warner Brothers, in Burbank, California, just by asking! I did it – and it’s a trip – if you don’t mind a trip to Los Angeles.

Travel writing and radio hosting has given me the opportunity to meet Jennifer Hudson three times, but now it’s your turn: JenniferHudsonShow.com allows you to request a number of tickets on the dates which work best for you, and there’s no cost – not even for parking – a rarity in L.A.! Once confirmed, you’ll receive a prompt email with the date and time of the show, what time to arrive, and where to go.

Hudson famously sang her way onto the television talent show American Idol and, despite finishing seventh, she became a genuine idol by wining Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Golden Globe awards. In its first year her television show has been nominated for a People’s Choice Award.

After you request the seats, the show’s producers keep in touch via email with clear instructions. There’s a chance you’ll be on camera, so you’ll be asked to dress in colorful, “nice casual” apparel, avoiding black or white outfits.

Your “crew call” at Warner Brothers will be about 90 minutes before the show starts to present your ID and vaccination card plus be COVID tested in a tent right next parking garage’s initial staging area. You’ll then be walked over into the studio’s theater-style seats.

Hudson’s television set is brilliant and bright with moving images on big flat screens, plush carpet, a luxurious couch and a grand piano under a chandelier. There are some personal photos of JHud and her family, and of course a grid of bright television lights hanging above illuminating all of it…including you!

With pop music is pumping through the house to liven up the audience, everyone’s anticipating hearing Hudson’s “Happy Place,” the song used to open the show and bring out the star, but the audience director first calls a few attendees to dance on a wide aisle between the seats and the stage. (I got called, and I pray there is no video of my attempt to dance!).

The audience director then took center stage and continued warming up the crowd.

“Would you all like to take home some fabulous prizes today?” he shouted as the audience screamed and cheered. “Well, we don’t have any! But you will have a good time!” he joked. He did, however, toss up out occasional logoed T-shirts during commercial breaks, and two audience members competed on camera in a trivia quiz and won televisions.

The producer then thoughtfully let us know which day (Nov. 21) the show being taped would air on television. Should you spot a guy in a red blazer, that’s me.

From the stage, Hudson was warm with the audience members and attentive with her interview guests, which included actor David Arquette, who made clown balloon animals.

Hudson, on the talk show, uses her vocal range to show her enthusiasm and sometimes sings.

You’ll get to see, during the commercial breaks, how producers huddle with Hudson and collaborate with cue cards at her couch as she sways and bumps to the music. I got to have a word and a hug with Hudson between segments. During our chat I congratulated her on the show’s People’s Choice Award nomination, gestured at the surroundings, and exclaimed, “There is obviously no medium you cannot conquer!”

“Oh my gosh pray for me,” she smiled.

Though I was blessed to meet Hudson in person, everyone who watches her show on TV, and especially those who come to the studio audience to see a taping, come away feeling they know her. (The producer said after some tapings she greets a the entire audience in a line. “That’s just how Jennifer is,” he admitted.)

If you’re traveling to Southern California to attend, consider staying at the Loews Hollywood Hotel, within the Walk of Fame and adjacent to the Dolby Theater – where “JHud” won her Academy Award. The Chinese Theater is next door and the Hollywood sign is visible from the rooftop swimming pool.

Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at MShiels@aol.com His radio program may be found at MiBigShow.com or weekday mornings from 9-noon on WJIM AM 1240

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michael Patrick Shiels: How to attend Jennifer Hudson's television show live