Alec Baldwin’s ‘One Night Only’: 4 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets from Epic Apollo Tribute

Executive Producer Casey Patterson spills on Trump absence, Clinton appearance and that infamous voicemail

One Night Only Alec Baldwin

Free-flowing alcohol, ripping skeletons from closets, professing long-hidden admiration and recalling legendary brawls sounds like the ingredients for any holiday at the Baldwin house.

But for golden son Alec Baldwin, Spike TV is throwing a huge appreciation party in the form of their “One Night Only” special — a recurring franchise that honors comedy greats and their larger contributions to American culture.

Airing Sunday, TheWrap caught up with executive producer Casey Patterson, whose eponymous company threw the shindig that has attracted the likes of President Bill Clinton, Robert De Niro, Julianne Moore, Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski.

Read on the for the best behind-the-scenes reveals, starting with:

Baby Baldwin’s Debut
Patterson and Alec’s wife Hilaria Baldwin cooked up a scheme to have his three-year-old daughter Carmen sing one of her dad’s favorite songs — and elicit big tears.

“We made a development track around Alec as a son of New York. For better or worse, from the paparazzi to the Philharmonic. He is a huge donor to a non-profit, after school music and arts program called Hybrid Voices,” Patterson told TheWrap. “It’s for at-risk youth and teenagers in the Bronx, and he built a recording studio for them and donates his time. We had them come in and sing Paul McCartney’s ‘Blackbird’ for him,” she added.

To up the stakes, cue Carmen.

“So we get Hilaria on board to help her practice. The night before, the choir is coming in and we’re ready to go. She said, ‘We’ve been working on ‘Blackbird’ and so far all we have is ‘Bye Bye.’ I said, ‘That’s ‘Bye Bye Black Bird,’ not the Paul McCartney song.’”

Triple-Threat Tracy
Tracy Morgan, Baldwin’s “30 Rock” costar, “is the unsung hero of ‘One Night Only,’” Patterson told TheWrap.

He’s appeared on all three specials to date, emerging in a red leather suit as a tribute to Eddie Murphy in 2012, and offering a sweet tribute to Don Rickles in 2014.

“For Don Rickles, he brought a bouquet of flowers and told one of the greatest stories, about how he didn’t know Don but when he was in the hospital, Don called him and sent him flowers. This time, it was too perfect that Tracy was at the Apollo honoring Alec Baldwin. There was 20 minutes of material right there,” she said.

Ireland Baldwin’s Big Surprise — and Not Just that Voicemail Joke
Being the loving tribute that it is, Patterson said the special was never going to broach the infamous voicemail Baldwin left his then-11-year-old daughter Ireland — in which he called her an “ungrateful little pig.” Baldwin himself has addressed the scandal, but when Ireland agreed to do “One Night Only,” no one imagined she’d go there. In fact, it’s the first joke she makes.

“She was a total surprise, and everyone I talked to said she is just Alec’s Achilles. I asked everyone, ‘If I wanted to make Alec cry, what could we do?’ And everyone said, ‘Anything with Ireland.’ And all his kids. She asked us to tell him she couldn’t make it. She posted on Instagram that she was off to London, it was a big ruse, and he believed it. When she walks out, you can see the shock in his face,” Patterson said.

“We decided to stay away from the voicemail because it was so long ago, and we’re not that kind of show. But she brought it up. She walked out, all 6-foot-2 of that bombshell, and it was the first thing she said. She was our hero. She also described him as ‘that guy built like SpongeBob from Tina Fey’s show.’ She let him have it, but she truly adores her father,” Patterson added.

Your Neighbor, President Clinton
President Bill Clinton made an appearance at the New York ceremony, held at the famed Apollo Theater — not far from Clinton’s own office in the neighborhood. Mr. Clinton finished his work for the day and popped down the street to honor Baldwin.

“If you were to talk to Alec, I think he’d say his night was a blur after the President turned up,” Patterson said. “He showed up an hour early, and hung out in that fabled Apollo alleyway. At the Apollo, there is absolutely no backstage or wing space. So these legendary artists throughout the years — Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, you name it — they would all have to warm up in this all-brick alley adjacent to the theater. If those walls could talk. So we set up the green room there, and he arrived and came into that famed space and spent an hour just talking and writing and rewriting his speech.”

About Trump
Despite a promo where Baldwin (dressed as George Washington) delivers the vocal portion of his Donald Trump impression, the actor’s “Saturday Night Live” mainstay was not a big part of the broadcast.

“This was meant to b the story of Alec’s life and career. He’s a big personality with a lot to talk about. The minute you open the door to talk about Trump, you never get the show back,” Patterson said.

“It all becomes about politics. We folded Trump into his amazing impressions. Which, by the way, is not nearly his best impression. Google ‘Alec Baldwin Al Pacino Screen Test,” she concluded.

“One Night Only: Alec Baldwin” airs this Sunday at 9 p.m. on Spike TV. 

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