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If This Stage Could Talk…Studio 50, The Ed Sullivan Theater
Ed Sullivan is center stage with ventriloquist Rickie Layne and Velvel at the Sunday afternoon rehearsal. In the background, Ed’s cameraman…George Moses with a TK11. I’m very happy that David Letterman is so appreciative of the theater’s history and has done such a great job as it’s steward. I hope to visit there this fall.
Back in the late 60s my friend and I saw taping of To Tell the Truth there (syndicated)
They had four Ikegami studio cameras in the Ed Sullivan Theater — three on the stage and one behind the audience. They also had a jib camera on the stage.
I visited New York in November of 2009. About a month before my visit I requested a ticket for the Letterman show via the internet. I had little hopes of seeing the show. When I was in New York I was leaving a movie theater on 42 Street when my cell phone rang. It was an audience coordinator for the Letterman show. He said that he would give me a “guaranteed” ticket for the next Monday if I could answer a trivia question. I hadn’t been watching the show lately so I thought I little chance of answering the question correctly. He asked me if I knew who Tony Mendez was. Fortunately I knew the answer and I had the excitement of seeing the show (and the inside of the Ed Sullivan Theater) the following Monday. They taped two shows that day. I was at the first taping which began around 2:00 pm. They now tape the two shows on Thursday so that Dave’s monologue is more timely for the Friday broadcast and Dave gets a three day weekend.
I remember the intense high-frequency sound when going into the studio from all the flyback transformers on the monitors. Now I hear that sound all the time as I have tinnitus.;-)
I saw a dress rehearsal one Sunday afternoon of the Ed Sullivan Show in early 1962 and remember a camera with no dolly. It was fastened on a short bracket to the edge of the stage. It must have been used for low-angle shots of dancers, dog acts, etc. From looking at this picture and comparing the camera in my memory, it was likely to have been a TK11.
Long before Letterman, an NBC crew was sent to that studio to “clean up” in preparation for a taping in that facility. In the cable quagmire, I found a discarded ticket for the Sullivan broadcast.
…I envy you ! ..how neat to get to visit this classic and historic theater and studio ! ..hope you take some good photos and share with us ! !
Even gor to see Al Roker a few times when he was with the local NY station.
I saw Conan at NBC…same studio as Letterman.
Got to see Letterman a few times when he was @ NBC
What year would this have been taken?
George Moses had some great stories
I attended a taping of Letterman in 2009.
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