MARCHING ORDERS HOLLYWOOD CHRISTMAS PARADE'S NEW PRODUCER STEPS LIVELY.

Byline: David Kronke Television Writer

Todd Lindgren may be taking the reins of the Hollywood Christmas Parade for the first time this year. But his experience with the institution goes all the way back to 1989.

That's when he was a trumpet player in his Porterville high school's marching band.

``I remember the lights of the camera area, I remember the red carpet, and I remember we followed horses,'' Lindgren recalls with a laugh. Let's just put it this way: Given their propensity for unexpected and expansive digestive activity, you do not want to be following horses on a parade route.

That experience, however, did prepare Lindgren to expect the unexpected when putting together a production as ambitious as the 75th Hollywood Christmas Parade.

``What you see on TV is the red carpet, the glamour and glitz, but there are scores of non-sexy issues, like: Where do you stage the horses, where do you park their trailers? How many porta-potties do you order, and where do you put them?'' (Answer: 100 porta-potties will be placed along the 2.3-mile parade route.)

``Luckily,'' Lindgren says, ``I'm like a general contractor. The contractor builds the house but doesn't do the plumbing and electrical work. I hire the person who brings the bands and equestrian units to the parade.''

Comic and sitcom star George Lopez will serve as this year's grand marshal, with TV raconteur Regis Philbin taking on a brand-new title, Diamond Jubilee Honorary Grand Marshal (like the parade itself, Philbin is 75). Teen pop star Brooke Hogan and adult-contemporary vocalist Michael Bolton will perform. Shawn and Marlon Wayans and the cast of the Disney Channel movie phenomenon ``High School Musical'' will also participate.

Casper Van Dien and Catherine Oxenberg, the husband-wife stars of MyNetwork's ``Watch Over Me,'' debuting on Dec. 4, will be participating in their first Hollywood Christmas Parade.

``I wouldn't have minded being on a horse,'' Van Dien says. ``I would've preferred that.''

``Me too, honey,'' Oxenberg says. ``Next time.''

But that's where their agreement ends. Van Dien suggests that, befitting Oxenberg's lineage 7/8 she was a princess in the former Yugoslavia 7/8 she ride in a Cinderella-style pumpkin, she balks, laughing and replies, ``You can ride in a bloody pumpkin.''

As a child, Van Dien marched in a parade with his Little League team. ``This is a little bit bigger than when I was a kid in Ridgewood, N.J..''

``I've never been in a parade,'' Oxenberg admits. ``Now I'm getting a bit nervous. I didn't think I had to do anything at all.''

When Van Dien suggests that Oxenberg polish her ``princess wave'' for the parade route, she responds, ``The only preparation I'm going to need is making sure I don't strangle you.''

In addition to the stars, balloons featuring ``Veggie Tales'' characters will traverse the parade route as well, alongside 16 floats, about 15 marching bands and equestrian units.

The balloons, a staple of New York's Thanksgiving Day parade, represent a new wrinkle for this West Coast counterpart. ``I really was a personal fan of giant balloons; that was my personal interest,'' Lindgren says. ``A parade turns out to be a combination of people's interests and passions.''

Adding the balloons meant scratching the Christmas decorations that span Hollywood Boulevard during the parade, which may actually solve a bigger problem.

``Last year, the (Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's) Christmas decorations were very heavy, and they pulled the lighting poles toward the street, so that they were drooping, (and) the tops of a number of floats took quite a battering. As a result, we did away with those decorations,'' said Lindgren, who calls planning the parade ``a D-Day-esque logistical challenge.''

Someone in a Mickey Mouse outfit collapsing from exhaust inhalation would seem to be unexpected, but even in his first year, Lindgren has his bases covered.

``Costumed characters are typically larger than life, but they don't fit in the green room, so we construct changing rooms for them in an underground garage,'' he says. ``There, they have meals, beverages and giant fans to blow the exhaust out of the garage. You don't want your costumed characters choking on carbon monoxide.''

One last thing, Lindgren notes: At Hollywood and Highland, where TV cameras capture the event, there are people who quickly clean up those horse apples. For the rest of the route, however, marching-band members must fend for themselves.

David Kronke, [phone]

[e-mail]

HOLLYWOOD CHRISTMAS PARADE

What: George Lopez and Regis Philbin serve as grand marshals for the 75th holiday pageant.

Where: Begins at Hollywood and Highland, goes up Hollywood to Vine, down Vine to Sunset, back down Sunset to Orange.

When: 5 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets: Free; $35 grandstand tickets at Hollywood and Highland; call [phone]. Note: Due to heavy traffic and limited parking, parade officials recommend that those attending take the Metro Red Line to either the Hollywood/Highland or Hollywood/Vine stop.

On TV: 5 p.m. Sunday on KTLA (Channel) 5 and WGN. Repeats on KTLA at 11 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m. Dec. 2, 3 p.m. Dec. 9, 6 p.m. Dec. 16 and 3:30 p.m. Dec. 23.

CAPTION(S):

9 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- cover) Hollywood LOVES a parade

Tinseltown celebrates 75th year of floats, fanfare and fun

(2 -- color) Los Angeles Fire Department fire engines, marching bands and Santa Claus make their way along the route of the Hollywood Christmas Parade. Festivities begin at 5 p.m. Sunday. Spectators are encouraged to take the Metro Red Line to the parade site.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(3 -- 4 -- color) no caption (Hollywood Christmas Parade)

parade memories

(5) THE FIRST SANTA FLOAT, 1931

(6) ACTOR JOE E. BROWN (in fur coat), 1931

(7) THE WALTONS, 1975

(8) GRAND MARSHAL BOB HOPE, 1978

(9) ROBERT WAGNER, NATALIE WOOD & FAMILY, 1979

Map:

75th annual Hollywood Christmas Parade

Daily News