Fans flock to ‘Studio C’ event at SCERA Center of the Arts

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Fans Lined up in a line longer than the length of a football field to meet the cast of Studio C at the SCERA Fine Arts Center Thursday night. Photo courtesy Keith WIlles.
Fans form a line longer than the length of a football field to meet the cast of “Studio C” at the SCERA Center for the Arts. (Photo courtesy Keith Willes)

The cast of “Studio C” attracted crowds that packed the SCERA Center of the Arts to overflowing for the special DVD signing and Q&A on Tuesday, Oct. 29.

Fans flocked from all over, some from even as far as Nevada, to see the event. These costume-goers started arriving for the event as early as 2 p.m. to form a line outside the SCERA that eventually grew longer than a football field.

“There aren’t many events that can fill 750 seats,” said Linda Campbell, a manager of the SCERA Center of the Arts.

“Studio C” did more than fill the theater. With fans still arriving even an hour after the beginning of the event, many people had to sit in the aisles in order to catch a glimpse of the comedy stars.

Janeal Christensen, originally from Nevada, and her family said they really enjoyed their experience.

“(With) the opportunity to see some of the old (sketches) and the new (sketches) and then have a Q&A and meet the cast — I mean, what more could you ask?” Christensen said.

The audience became privy to a lot of new information about “Studio C” during the Q&A. Laughter and cheers erupted from the audience when they heard that the awkward avoidance Viking originally was going to be a ninja, that a sketch featuring an all-girls rap would be coming out, and that they would possibly be seeing more of the girl shoulder angel.

Just after the Q&A, the cast showed the audience a sneak peek of the Halloween sketch that aired Monday, Oct. 28. The episode, featuring a comedic murder mystery television show, incited a roar of applause.

The cast pleased the audience even more when they gave away prizes to a few lucky winners.

Joseph Whitely with his mother Julie, holding his tickets to participate in a future Studio Sketch. Photo courtesy Eric Martino
Joseph Whitely, with his mother, Julie, holds his tickets to participate in a future “Studio C” sketch with the cast. (Photo courtesy Eric Martino)

Among those winners stood Joseph Whitely, a middle school student who won the opportunity to appear in a future episode with the cast.

“I just thought it was amazing because I love drama. My drama teacher always wants to get me on stage, and so I got really excited when I heard my name,” Whitely said.

The audience members weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the event. Mallory Everton, one of the stars of the show who participated in the signing, said it was a great experience for her and the whole cast as well.

“My favorite thing was that there were all these little kids dressed up as this character, Lady Shadow, that I did six months ago!”

Everton and the rest of the cast were swarmed by several miniature shoulder-climbing angels, pillow-pregnant spies and spandex-clad grammar heroes — all hoping to meet the stars, whose characters they portray.

The costume-goers were excited and in great number. Jared Shores, the producer for “Studio C,” describes their reception.

“It was super surreal when we came in. Everyone cheered for something like three minutes,” Shores said.

Everton said she too was unprepared for the response of the crowd.

“We don’t really feel that famous. I was expecting maybe 100 people,” Everton said.

Shores confirmed that because it was only their third official signing,he and the cast were still filled with a mild sense of self doubt about how many would people come to the event.

“So to see (the theater) totally filled was really rewarding,” he said.

Chad Call, marketing manager for Excel Entertainment and the organizer of the event, offered some insight on why this is so important to the cast of “Studio C.”

“They don’t do signings in the studio because there isn’t really space for that, so this is really the only chance that the (cast) has to meet their fans,” he said.

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The cast of “Studio C” signs copies of purchased DVDs of seasons one and two. (Photo courtesy Eric Martino)

The event was organized by Deseret Book and Excel Entertainment in order to promote the DVD of the first two seasons of “Studio C,” which released on Oct. 8 and is already one of Deseret book’s top-selling online items.

“It’s fortunate for us,” said Arthur VanWagenen, product director for Excel Entertainment. “They built the brand, they have the creative process, and we are the beneficiaries. We just put it out there for the fans.”

Even a half hour after the event was over, the line to get autographs from the show’s stars stretched out the theater doors.

Despite the length of the event and her post-event exhaustion, Everton said she really enjoyed it and hinted that we might all get to enjoy another event like this one come December.

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