SAG AWARDS

SAG gets soaked

Rain on the red carpet deters Screen Actor's Guild preps.

Geoff Boucher, Times Staff Writer

January 28, 2007

On Saturday, the day before the SAG Awards at the Shrine Auditorium, the mood--and the sky--wasdark. Rain showers prompted the show's crew to scramble to truck in and set up long transparent canopies to protect the gear of the world's assembled celebrity media.

That threat was adverted when clear Sunday skies greeted the relieved production crew. Still, their 14,000-square-foot red carpet was a mess, bulging with water and fraying in puddles. Vacuum-cleaner squads were dispatched with solemn urgency.

There were more challenges: The recent California freeze was an enemy to overcome. The post-show gala, a ballroom draped in tope and lavender, needed hydrangeas and since the regional crop couldn't handle the demand, they were shipped in from Belgium.

The Shrine was a hive of activity all weekend. This year, there were more press credentials issued than ever before as well as more live coverage with TV Guide Channel joining in a big way on the red carpet. That carpet is different than the Oscars or Grammys in that fans (who can buy a bleacher spot via an auction that benefits selected SAG charities) can get closer to their idols than seems reasonable. The show and its relaxed insider-club ethos draws a particularly high percentage of its nominees each year--last year 98% of the nominees attended, according to a show publicist--so the red carpet is, per capita, the densest star cluster of the bold-faced name universe.

On Sunday, the crews that dried the red carpet were long gone by 3 p.m. and good thing. They would have winced when two workers hefting an ice sculpture lost their grip and sent cubes splashing into the middle of the arrival rug. Fans who payed for their seats were distressed that there were some creature comforts lacking. Said one "They said there would be bottled water. They said there would bathrooms and there's neither. We're here for hours what are we supposed to do?" They weren't allowed to leave their penned in area. A nearby staffer shrugged. "That's life."

The tent to protect the press from rain didn't help with the puddles that remained below their feet. The drying crews didn't hop the hedge to dry the press corral, meaning all those smiling TV hostesses had wait in their high heels.