An only in Hollywood kind of night with Lynda Carter and glimpses of James Franco and Julie Chen!

Some days I feel a lot more like Greg in Hollywood than others.
Yesterday was one of those days.
I had plans to catch Lynda Carter’s opening night show at the Catalina Jazz Club with my pal, Scott Morris, and left the house with no time to spare.
I’m driving down Sunset Boulevard and after I cross the intersection at Vine, traffic is stopped. I’m instantly irritated because I want to get a table up close to see TV’s ageless Wonder Woman.
I look to my right and there’s rows of fans standing behind a barricade – screaming.
Then I look to my left and see what they are screaming about: It’s James Franco!
I then realize that I have been stopped in traffic right in front of the ArcLight’s Cinerama Dome and that is where the premiere of Franco’s new film Spring Breakers is taking place.
Traffic starts moving and i drive on thinking, “Only in Hollywood.”
Then it’s on to the Catalina Jazz Club which is a really cool room for a concert. I saw Lynda there last year and in the past have also seen Lanie Kazan and Florence Henderson.
Scott and I had some dinner and Lynda came out to say hello to the crowd about a half-hour before the show began.
And what a show.
When you see her in concert you realize that while she may be a TV icon, Lynda really is a singer and has been performing since before her Wonder Woman days. Now that her two kids are in college and law school, respectively, she’s begun touring in recent years and releasing albums again.
She and her band and back-up singers are clearly tight and very in sync and they are some of the best in the biz.
I was just wild about their slower power version of The Supremes hit Stop! In the Name of Love that really should be recorded.
They do such an eclectic mix of songs from Bruce Springsteen’s I’m on Fire to an out of this world Conga, the hit from Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine.
When I interviewed Lynda earlier this week, she asked me to make sure I came to her dressing room after the show to say hello. So Scott and I accompanied the show’s publicist, Pete Sanders, over there immediately after the show.
But we had to stand outside for about 10 minutes because there were some VIPs inside.
Oh brother, who could be more important than us? Ha!
A short time later, out came a smiling Les Moonves, head of CBS, and his wife, Julie Chen, host of The Talk and Big Brother.
I had to say something to Julie being that close so I blurted out: “Love your shows!” She touched my shoulder, smiled and said, “Thank you!”
Then she and Les were off!
We got in to see Lynda who is so tall and gorgeous and really is an ageless wonder woman. We exchanged hugs and air kisses and I raved about Stop! In the Name of Love and we talked about how her band’s version gives the song a whole new meaning.
The room was filling up with well-wishers so Scott and I got our photo taken with Lynda (thanks Mike Pingel!) and were on our way.
A fun night to be Greg In Hollywood!
** Highly recommend Lynda’s show which continues tonight and tomorrow (Saturday) at the Catalina Jazz Club. Tickets at www.lyndacarter.com
Comments
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2201 East says:
Lynda was singing professionally when she was in high school. I remember when she sang in a talent show in high school. Even at that time, I realized she was something special! If she reads this, Cynthia M’s little brother think she is still great! Bought her CD.
2201 East says:
Forgot to say, when are you (Lynda) coming to Phoenix?
Chip says:
Greg, I must say I’m jealous! All the hot men? Nah. Lynda Carter, yes! haha
I stood in line as a kid to see her for an autograph. It was several hours with the queue barely moving. I hadn’t realized how long it had been until the facility started turning off lights and whisking away the celebrities present so I never got a chance to say hello or get an up-close view of Lynda. One day perhaps! That was probably 25 years ago and she looks just as good now as she did then if not better.