~ Convention Report ~
by JodiMnstr
JodiMnstr@aol.com
Disclaimers: I took a notebook with me to the con events I attended and tried to take notes on as much that was going on as I could. However, I know that I missed some things since a lot was happening. I also didn’t take the notebook to the Cabaret, so all of that is done purely from recollection and is more general. What follows is a reconstruction of most of the major things, but please don’t take it as being exhaustive. There is likely to be a Creation video released of Lucy and Renee, and perhaps other guests and the Cabarets, since they were also filmed. This is intended to simply give as good a feel for what was going on as I can convey to those who weren’t there.
Pasadena Con Report – May 3 – 6, 2001
May 3rd – Pre-registration
Creation opened the doors around 5 for the line of people waiting to pre-register (went all the way down the block). For those, like me, whose tickets hadn’t arrived before we left, we got a chance to pick them up and all of us got banded (wristbands that would showed the staff that we had access for all three days). They had some of the dealers there, including the photo table (although they didn’t have all of the photos for the weekend out as we found out on Friday). There were 6 posters that Creation was selling, 1 for the convention and 5 others (the 4 that Sharon had talked about on the website, and then Xena in leather on the black horse). They also had 5 beautiful plates on sale, which was a surprise since Sharon hadn’t mentioned anything about those prior to the con. They had 2 dealer areas, one right outside the door of the auditorium and another on the other side where there was a mix of Creation and other vendors. This was a time for people to get preliminary shopping done and to meet up with folks that were going to the convention.
May 4th – 1st official day of the con
They started off with a half hour of different videos:
Sisters are doing it for themselves – Action shots from the series
Bad to the Bone – Ares Video
Sweet Dreams Are Made of This – Xena Fighting
Oxygen Promo Spots:
Body Work by Xena
Sugar & Spice
You thought your job was tough
Dick Clark Bloopers – the Xena impersonators schtick
Simpson’s Xena Appearance
Then Sharon Delaney got up and did a brief welcome and introduction to the con. After that they ran the Salmoneus Video – Working for a Living, then Robert Trebor came on-stage.
He started off by asking what the deal with Tom Green was, and whether people really thought he was funny. He suggested that they should do a Tom Green and Pauly Shore movie, which would give all of America a lobotomy. Then he started talking about the first time he was in NZ (June 5, 1994) and met Renee. He said that she was in all her makeup from when she was supposed to be thrown off a waterfall. She was very sweet. He posed the trivia challenge of how many times in Hercules and the Lost World did someone want to cut Renee’s tongue out…said it seemed like it was mentioned a number of times. Then he talked about the first time he met Xena when he was over there shooting When Darkness Falls (Nov. 1994). He mentioned that the American SAG actors all had their own trailers and most of the New Zealand actors just had to change in the back of the costume bus. He said Lucy was walking across the area in her skimpy little costume and a robe and she was shivering, so he invited her into his trailer. She looked at him and then refused and wandered off still shivering. He thinks she might have thought that he was hitting on her…and of course, she’s never invited him into her trailer LOL! Then he talked about his Salmoneus book and how Salmoneus was never killed off and so he lived forever. It’s actually a cute little book. He discussed the striptease that he and Bruce did in Men In Pink, and that at first they wanted to put him in high heels and he just couldn’t walk on them. But he did speculate that he looked better in drag than Bruce did because he doesn’t have the square jaw and broad shoulders. He had more to say, but since I had seen him at other cons, I decided to take a cigarette break before Hudson came on. I got back in time for him to lead the crowd in singing Auld Lang Syne.
Next up was the video for Callisto, which was set to Maniac. Then Hudson came on stage. At first she seemed a bit overwhelmed by the number of people there…but then she let her playful side out a bit and we were off. She started off by inviting Laura on stage, who was having her 72nd birthday that day, and gave her a hug. After sauntering around the stage a bit more, she opened the floor for questions. The first person up was a member of her fanclub who mentioned that Hudson’s birthday was coming up, so we all sang her happy birthday. Hudson was wearing a long red latex strapless dress and either she’s let her hair grow or she was wearing extensions because she had a bun on the top of her head with a long ponytail coming out of it. She started talking about how in the past she’s made a habit of auctioning off her dress for charity and asked if she should do that again. Of course the crowd was very agreeable to that idea, so she did so with style <G>. It ended up going for $5000 and the guy who bought asked if she came with it. She said that she didn’t think he could handle her if she did <EG>. Then she said coquettishly, "I’m going to be naked soon."
She was asked how it was to play Xena and she said it was bad…Xena is so stoic, and she’s not at all that way. Then she was asked what her favorite fight was, and she said she liked them all, they were lovely. Next she was asked if she could do the Callisto scream. She asked if she should do it with the microphone, or without, and the crowd suggested without. Then she had to psyche herself up to do it. She said she needed to get mad, and someone shouted that she should think of Xena while she was trying to prepare, and she looked up and pointed out that she was sorry to break it to them, but Xena was a TV show. Then she commented that there were too many voices in her head and not all of them were friendly. Then she took her shoes off, which she said felt lovely. After a few more moments, she let out a tremendous scream, which you could hear all the way to the back of the auditorium, even though she wasn’t using a microphone.
Next she was asked what the most physically difficult thing was that she did on the show. She said riding a horse and getting Lucy. She did a little bit where it was like she was at her audition. She said she was asked if she could ride a horse, and she said yes, while shaking her head no. Then she was asked if she was proficient, and she said yes, while shaking her head no. She said she figured she’d just get on the horse and it would go. It didn’t work out that way, which she claims is why you don’t see Callisto on a horse that much <G>. Then she was asked to do something hideous, to which she opened her mouth really wide and stuck her tongue way out.
She was asked what her worst role was, which she said was playing the Angel Callisto. She said her tail kept wanting to come out. She was thinking while caressing Gabrielle’s face, "You shouldn’t trust me Gabrielle, cause I’m going to eat your face!" The one that was the best was when she was the demon on the rock in Fallen Angel and was taunting Gabrielle. She said that was too delicious.
Next a group called the Pink Ladies presented Hudson with a Pink Ladies jacket. After putting it on, she said she had wanted one when the Fonz was on so she would be cool…instead she became a psycho. When asked what her favorite saying was, she replied, "Here comes trouble!" with a maniacal grin to match.
Then something broke on one of her shoes, so she took it off and was fussing with it. She looked up and said, "Stop looking at me." Then she turned to the crowd and said, "Look at me, look at me," very playfully. Then she put her hands on her hips and said, "What are you looking at?!?"
After that, Hudson was asked what it was like impregnating Xena and becoming her child. Her response was, "First, it was far too quick for me," and the crowd started cheering wildly and I missed the rest of what she said. The next fan up to ask a question was so overwhelmed at being in her presence that she started crying and couldn’t ask her question. Hudson sat down on the edge of the stage and tried to calm her down. Finally she cajoled the camera from the woman and took a picture of the crying fan. Then she gave her a hug.
One of the things that Hudson had been doing at several points was making comments about how shocked her dad must be with her. Then she explained that her parents were in the audience and asked us if we wanted them to come on stage. Of course we did, so she called them up and introduced them. Her mom grabbed the microphone and started singing, "We are the parents, the mighty, mighty parents…" at which point Hudson took the microphone back and commented that this was why she didn’t sing in Bitter Suite. She got her singing talent from her mother.
Next Hudson asked if we wanted candy and the crowd responded yes. Then she brought out a big bowl and got one of the fans to help her. She told the crowd that she’d come down and give us candy if we promised to stay in our seats. For the most part everyone did, as she walked up one aisle all the way to the back and then back down the outside of the crowd, flinging candy around as she went. As she came back on stage, she was holding a teddy bear that someone had given her, and she called it her "big breasted teddy bear, her S&M bear." <VBG>
Next up was a fan who explained that her mother had recently died and she had been a big fan of Hudson. They’d had the tickets to the con and all the arrangements made for her mother to come and see Hudson and then she had passed. Hudson gave her a big hug and commented that that had been a serious moment. After that she flirted with one of the fans beside the stage and then was asked how she came up with the Callisto scream. She said she’d been asked if she could do anything special, like Lucy’s warcry. She couldn’t really think of anything so she just screamed and they decided to use it. Then as time was coming to a close, she lay down and rolled along the stage to the middle, then got up and thanked us and left the stage to thunderous applause.
One thing about talking about a Hudson appearance is that you can’t really capture the essence of what it’s like unless you’ve seen her on stage. She’s constantly playing the audience, telling them to be silent, or flirting with them and just generally having a fun time of it all. She has a wicked sense of humor and loves to tease and tantalize when she’s in front of a crowd. And she absolutely has control of everyone while she’s up there. There’s no denying her absolute magnetism and charisma. It was awesome to finally get to see her in person after hearing so much about what she was like.
After that was over, I took another break and made it back in time to see Zoe Bell and Paul Grinder. The first thing they said as they came on stage was they weren’t really used to talking, so they were going to show how easy it was to teach people how to fight. They brought two groups of volunteers on stage and while Paul was kind of chatting with the audience, Zoe was teaching them moves either with a prop sword or sais. One story that Paul told was about how confusing it can be on set sometimes with all of the multiple Xena’s running around. You’ve got Lucy, and her body and stunt doubles on the set. Paul said that the funniest mix-up occurred when one of the 2nd unit make-up people ran up behind someone he thought was a Xena body double and bit them on the arm, only to discover it was Lucy. Lucy exclaimed that he bit her and the guy was absolutely petrified about doing it…figured he’d lose his job, but she took it in good humor. Of course, Paul never explained, why the make-up artist had wanted to bite the body double on the arm in the first place, but I guess that will remain a mystery. They got a chance to show several people how to use various trademark Xena and Gabrielle moves. There was one girl though, who took the sword and was flipping all around like Xena, so Zoe sort of sparred with her and then bowed to her when they were done because she had such good control of the sword. We found out that Zoe was 5’1", quite a bit shorter than Lucy, but she does all of the stunt and harness work for Lucy. They also had Sharon do that over the shoulder hit and Zoe showed how you sell that to the camera. It was pretty cool. Paul commented that Renee is the best at selling hits to the camera and does a really good job with the fights.
After that presentation, I went to the Little Theater where they were having the Ultimate Fan Fic Directory’s discussion of fan fiction. There were quite a few bards present, including Heartbrkn, CN Winters, Ogami, WordWarrior, Klancy7, Roo, Vertigo, Joe Connell, Felioness, baemer and Lunacy. Kym Taborn was also there. The discussion ranged from what makes a story really work (chracterization) to what is Uber (hard to define and often depends on the reader’s interpretation). There was also a discussion of grammer, beta readers and the impact of some of the bards being published on the proliferation of Uber and Beyond Uber stories. It was neat to see all these people that were only on-line names to me and to hear their different views on various aspects of fan fiction.
Friday Night Cabaret
To start off the evening, they announced that they had a special surprise host for the Cabaret. After a few suspenseful moments, they announced that Hudson would be hosting that evening and she walked onto stage. She was dressed in a pale blue brocade patterned strapless floor-length gown with transparent heels that were at least 3 inches high (she showed them to us later in the evening). There was thunderous applause and after a bit, she told us to be silent and the crowd quieted down. At one point she said she felt like a beauty queen winner and gave a little speech about how she wanted to make the world better and a safer place for frogs. Then a woman in the audience caught her attention and after bantering with the woman a bit, she called her up to the foot of the stage and leaned down and kissed the audience member. Then Hudson acted like she’d turned into a frog and said she was sure that wasn’t what one expected…to have the princess turn into a frog. After a bit more cavorting on stage, Hudson decided she’d better introduce the first act, so she called Ted Raimi and Bruce Campbell up to do their act.
Ted and Bruce came on stage and traded insults with each other for a bit (including Bruce telling Ted that his character could really move an audience…as soon as Joxer came on they moved away from the TV). Then they started talking about how they had been told that they had to find a great act for the show, so they went out and found the world’s greatest mentalist. After they introduced him and he didn’t come on stage, Ted went back to find out what was wrong. He came out and then used charades to tell Bruce that the mentalist had been drinking. They both went behind the curtain and we could hear them talking about how could Ted let this happen, then Bruce came back onstage after telling Ted he had to find a way to fix things. Bruce stalled for time until Ted came back on stage dressed as the Indian mentalist. After that they did a few tricks and then Bruce had an audience member come on stage and blindfold Ted, while he went into the audience and took various objects and had Ted try to identify them. Using Bruce’s verbal cues, Ted got the hat and lipstick right, but acted like he couldn’t figure out the camera or watch. Then Bruce got back on stage and Ted said that he had handcuffs that he could remove with the power of his mind. After testing the handcuffs on an audience member to show that they worked, he put them on Bruce so his hands were behind his back. Then Ted turned to the audience and started talking about how he would remove the handcuffs. Meanwhile Bruce got one of his hands free and was gesturing along with Ted’s speech behind his back. When Ted turned around to check out why the audience was laughing Bruce put the handcuffs back on. This went on for a few times before Bruce freed himself completely and handed the cuffs back to Ted. Then they did a little routine with a mini-guillotine like object. When Ted tried to cut off Bruce’s hand, he thunked him on the wrist. So they brought an audience member up and Ted assured them that the trick would work because he would use the magic word this time. After a few false starts and convincing the audience member to put their hand in the device, it actually worked and the guillotine went through the wrist without injuring the audience member. After that they wrapped things up and left the stage, leaving their props on stage.
Hudson came back out and discovered the handcuffs…she was quite fascinated with them and wanted to take them home. At one point she put them down the front of her dress, then commented that she heard a child’s voice and took them back out. She said that the parents would have a lot of explaining to do when they got home <G>. She gallivanted around on stage making comments about the handcuffs and generally having a good time (she was actually funnier than Ted and Bruce). She also kept commenting about frogs (seemed to be a theme for her this evening). Then she introduced Ebonie Smith.
Ebonie came on and invited James, a staff volunteer, on stage. She sang You’d be Surprised while he sat on a chair and she danced around him. She has a beautiful voice and obviously has had some training. She went on to sing Our Love is Here to Stay, while they showed a video of Xena and Gabby. Then she said that that song had been about love and the next one was about Lust and proceed to sing Fever. She wrapped up with After You Get What You Want. She did a great job and exited to thunderous applause.
Hudson came back out and sat down in the chair that had been left on stage…she sort of lounged around in it, and then asked if we wanted to see her birthmark. Of course everyone said yes, so she started to hike her skirt up very slowly until she got to her knee, where she has a light brown mark on the inside of her left knee. Then she started playing with the handcuffs again. She alternated with teasing us with her ankle and then her knee, keeping up a running conversation about a variety of amusing things, many of which included mentions of frogs. Then she decided she’d go ahead and introduce Adrienne Wilkinson, who joined her on stage.
Adrienne was quite nervous about singing and said that if she got too out of key, they’d just start over again. She then launched into One Fine Day, which she did a decent job with. After that, she sang Black Velvet, and then said that she was going to sing one of her favorite songs, Shhh! by Bjork. She started that one off, but then stopped and restarted it. She obviously had fun with that one since she seemed more comfortable and relaxed while singing it. After she finished up, she went ahead and left the stage.
After a few moments, Hudson came back on stage, but she was carrying one of her shoes. She said she’d been taken by surprise after just trying to get a drink so she just rushed back on stage. After showing off her shoe and asking us if we thought it looked like a glass slipper, she decided it was time to auction off her dress again. This time a woman bought it for $1500 (she later raised the amount to $5000 so that it would match what the other dress went for) but told her that she wanted it to include Hudson and the handcuffs. Hudson brought her on stage and sort of flirted with her a bit before telling her that even with handcuffs she didn’t think the woman could handle her. After a bit more of Hudson playing with the crowd, she introduced Darien Tackle.
Darien came out singing Cabaret. She has a lovely voice and obviously has had a lot of experience singing and performing. She did As You Make Your Bed next and followed that up with Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Then she told us that she had gone to Hawaii a while ago and performed as Eva Peron in Evita. She wrapped up her performance with a fabulous rendition of Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.
After Darien was done, Hudson came back out and then brought the performers back on stage for a final ovation. All in all, it was a fun evening and the performances were good, but it was Hudson that really stole the show.
Saturday, May 5th
Before Sharon came on to start the day, they showed a video to I Need A Hero that was a mix of Xena, Wonder Woman and Supergirl clips. Then they followed that with Here and Now which was a Hercules and Iolaus video. Then Sharon came on stage and introduced the video for Livia/Eve – Walking on Broken Glass. This was followed by It’s My Life which was a video for Virgil. Then she introduced Adrienne Wilkinson and William Gregory Lee.
They both came on stage and Greg hugged Adrienne and said "We really don’t hate each other," and Adrienne agreed. The first question was for Greg about whether he would be on Dark Angel again. He said that the upcoming episode would have him on it as well as a few others. Then Adrienne was asked which she liked playing better, Livia or Eve. She said she enjoyed playing Livia, because she was a much more interesting character. She did say though that she really enjoyed Eve cussing Michael Hurst out in You Are There. She told us how the extras didn’t know that was going to happen and they were very surprised when she started in on Michael. Also, poor Michael had to do the fall over and over again, but she said he was a great sport about it and seemed to be having a lot of fun.
Greg related a story of his strangest encounter with a fan. He said he was walking down the street one day and someone came up to him and asked him if Lydecker was still after him. He told the fan yes, instead of trying to explain that it was just a TV show. He also said that being on Dark Angel was what kept him from coming back on Xena. He said he wasn’t sure what ended up happening to Virgil but he thought it would have been great to have had an opportunity to explore that more.
Adrienne was asked what was the hardest part about getting the role. She said that she didn’t know how to fight. But she was a dancer and that helped her figure out what to do since the fights are choreographed like dances. Greg said that Renee really helped him to learn how to fight. He said she’s really great at it and helped him learn how to sell the hit. He said that’s she’s the best at selling the hit.
Greg said that originally he wasn’t supposed to be Joxer’s son. His character had a different name, but when he got to the set he found out that his name had been changed to Virgil and he was now Joxer’s son. He also mentioned that Who’s Ghurkan was the most enjoyable episode for him since he didn’t have to worry about the tension with Eve and he could relax and have more fun with the character.
Adrienne was asked about where she got the rage for Livia. She said the director just kept telling her to make it bigger. She really doesn’t have all that angst in her. She said that her mother called her after seeing the first episode and wanted to know if it was her fault that she had all that anger. She had to reassure her mother that there was nothing wrong. She commented that the entire time she was on Xena, she didn’t have to wear heels, which was quite enjoyable for her. She also related that she didn’t originally know she was cast as Xena’s daughter. In fact, she thought she wouldn’t get the role when she went to the audition because she felt she looked too much like Lucy. As it turned out that was exactly what they were looking for.
Greg was asked what he brought to the character. He that his contribution was Virgil’s clear love of his father. He felt that was a really important aspect of his character. He was originally only cast for two appearances, but they kept calling him up and bringing him back for more eps. He also mentioned that Ted is very animated and it was easy to pick up his characteristics when he needed to include them in Virgil’s character.
Adrienne was asked if she had seen the show before she got cast. She said she’d only seen bits and pieces, but when she was hired, they sent her 3 eps to watch. The first was Callisto, then there was one that focused on Evil Xena and the final one was the first ep. they did with baby Eve (I think she was referring to God Fearing Child). She said that she decided to play Livia like an angry teenager, even though the character is actually 25 years old. She felt that that captured the sense of abandonment that Livia would have felt after growing up without a mother. She also mentioned that she didn’t really get an explanation of Eve’s birth. Another thing she commented on was the fact that she and Renee are really the best of friends, but it seemed like every time she turned around, Gabrielle was hitting her. She wondered if Gabrielle was jealous of Xena’s attention to Eve. She commented that she really would have liked to see the dynamic between Eve and Gabrielle explored more. She also mentioned that they cut a lovely little scene between Eve and Virgil out of Who’s Ghurkan. It was a scene where the two characters reconciled over the fact that Livia had killed Joxer, but they just didn’t have time for it in the episode. She reiterated that she loved playing Livia, and really didn’t enjoy playing Eve because she wasn’t as multi-faceted as Livia. It took them quite a while to get the right note for Eve and she seemed pretty one-dimensional most of the time.
Greg tried to coax Adrienne to sing but she wasn’t willing to do it. Then Adrienne commented that one of the things she really had wanted to do on Xena was dance, since that was her background. She said that Renee didn’t really like to dance that much on screen and it seemed like all the time during the sixth season that she had to. She just wished she’d gotten a chance to do a bit of dancing.
Greg commented that one of the biggest surprises for him in being involved with Xena and Dark Angel was the level of dedication among the fans. He said he loves doing the job but is just amazed at the reaction he gets from fans. Adrienne agreed and said that it takes adjusting to get used to the adoration. "We’re not worthy," she said.
When asked when he started acting, Greg said his mother claims he’s been acting all his life, but he really only started when he was 20. He also mentioned that he was from Virginia. Adrienne said she also started acting when she was 20. Greg was asked who represented him and he said STV Partners was his agency. He was also asked who his favorite Star Wars character was and replied it was Han Solo. He also admitted to having a tattoo, but wouldn’t show us where it was.
Both actors commented on how beautiful it was working in New Zealand. The people are really friendly and giving and there’s so much to see. The county is stunning. Adrienne said she was inspired every day by getting to do all sorts of wonderful things and that everything was a great game.
Adrienne was then asked to do her war scream. She admitted that she could never remember it and they always have to play it for her before she does it in the recording studio. She did give it a go though and did a pretty good job. The actors were asked if they were a fruit what would they be. They hemmed and hawed a bit and then Greg said he would be an apple. Adrienne said that there was really not good fruit to be because you could read anything into it. You might as well pick the horny fruits and get it over with. <G>
Finally, a fan gave Adrienne a teddy bear and then Greg and Adrienne hugged again. Adrienne said about Greg that "He’s so cute and we like each other," and then they left the stage.
After that I decided to go to the Whoosh discussion on "Six Seasons of Xena: What Went Right and What Went Wrong," instead of staying for Tim Omundson. They had Jim Lundgren (ign.com Xena reviewer), Brent Rudnick (Whoosh interviewer and Graphics Editor), Katherine Fugate (writer for When Fates Collide), Deb7 (fan reviewer), Beth Gaynor (Rate-A-Xena and Woolgatherings) and Philip Tracy (freelance journalist – LA Weekly and Village Voice) on the panel. Jim talked about how the relationship, however you chose to define it, was the driving force behind the fascination with the series and that the Fifth season suffered because that wasn’t as central to the story. Brent had done some analysis of ratings and shared that with us. It was interesting that Seasons 1 and 2 showed steady growth in viewership, there was a slight drop in Season 3, but Season 4 regained some of that, and then Season 5 showed a marked drop in viewership. Season 6 has shown an improvement as some fans returned to the show. Katherine talked about how she hadn’t started out watching Xena, but her sister kept encouraging her to do so. She started to watch the show and got hooked. Then her mother developed cancer and she had to essentially drop everything and take care of her in her final days. She took a bunch of Xena videos with her and watching them helped her through the process when she didn’t feel like she could carry on as the strong caregiver that everyone expected her to be. Because of the contribution the show made to her life, she decided that she wanted to give something back and decided that she wanted to write an episode of the show. She said that Renpics must have been quite surprised when her agent contacted them and told them that a features writer wanted to write an episode for a syndicated TV series. She also said that she considered the episode her gift to the fans, and hoped we would enjoy it. At this point, I headed back to the main auditorium so I could watch Last of The Centaurs with the rest of the fans at the con.
I have to say that watching a Xena episode with thousands of other Xenites is quite a unique experience. It’s quite a rush when you have a bunch of other fans reacting and cheering Xena on, instead of watching it by yourself or with a small group. After the episode, they showed some trailers for upcoming sci-fi movies including, Return of the Mummy, Planet of The Apes and Tomb Raider. The audience was quite excited about Tomb Raider (as am I <G>). Then they set up for the Charity Auction and I went to take another break and check out the photo line.
When I came back, I was told that one of the new Chakrams that had been used by Lucy had sold for $40,000. This topped the price of her sword that was sold a couple years ago (it was purchased by Chris Cogstan (sp?), who bought the first chakram and subsequently, the sword). After the auction wrapped up, Sharon introduced the Alti video, which was a rocking video, to the song, "Control Your Soul." And then Claire came on stage.
Claire came out and said that Creation had told her not to swear on stage. Her reaction to that was "Fuck them!" As the audience was cheering that sentiment, she said "I fucking love you guys!" Then she told us she had a surprise for us, and pulled out a tape recorder. She held it up to the microphone and played it. It was really hard to hear, but she told us it was Danielle Cormack and Kevin Smith saying Hi from New Zealand.
She was asked how many more shows she would be in. She said just one more. Then she commented that just when she gets it right they fucking cancel the series! Someone asked her what it was like to be inside of Xena. "Warm," she said. Then she commented that she couldn’t believe that she actually had to say that. She and Lucy were quite amazed that had actually been written into the script.
She commented that "Creation is never inviting me back…Fuck Them!" To which the crowd responded enthusiastically. Claire commented that she had learned a lot from Alti. Before, she had always wanted to be small, since she was such a big girl. Playing Alti helped her be a big strong chick that could stand up to things. She said that when she first got on set, she was having trouble owning the character of Alti…she was sort of slouching around. Lucy came up to her and told her to just go for it and own who Alti was, so she did.
Then Claire mentioned that this was the first convention that both she and Hudson had been at together. She hoped she met up with Hudson, because she thinks she could kick Hudson’s ass. Next someone asked her to say "Xena’s little bitch" in Alti’s voice which she did.
She talked about not liking to work on sit-coms. She mentioned that she had been on the show with the Olsen trolls. They had hired her because they didn’t have enough money to get a supermodel. She was walking around the set one day, and the twins were talking. She heard them commenting to each other that she wasn’t a supermodel, which certainly didn’t endear them to her. She does like doing sit-coms though when they are well run, like Fraiser.
When asked what her most favorite work is to do, she said whatever she can get, especially when she doesn’t have to take her clothes off. She said that she and Alex had talked about that since they had both done shows where they had been naked, and now the shots were all over the Internet. She had done a Red Shoes Diaries and was told that there was only one love scene in it. What they didn’t tell her was that every time the guy in the show thought about her they had him daydreaming about that love scene, so it ended up being shown 7 times and was just awful.
She commented that before Alti she didn’t feel comfortable being in a dominant role, even though that was what she was most often cast as. Now, though, she’s much more comfortable with all of that. Then she commented that she was probably going to miss the show as much as we are because she’s become quite a fan of the show. She said she’d probably be bawling her eyes out with the rest of us on Sunday when Lucy and Renee were on stage.
Someone asked her what it was like driving the car in Send in the Clones. She said she loved it. It was great doing donuts in a big muscle car. She said that they had shot that on second unit and there was no one else around. They let her just have a lot of fun with it, since they really weren’t all that worried about her hitting anything. The car cost about $2000 and they ended up destroying it anyway, so she had a blast doing it.
Then someone asked where the Alti look came from. She said she had pulled a picture of a high fashion model from a magazine and took it to the make-up people. The makeup was used to enhance the power of the Alti stare, since that was what she thought was Alti’s most powerful weapon.
She was asked what her inspirational roles were. She mentioned she was a big fan of The Graduate and Anne Bancroft. She liked the whole idea of what Mrs. Robinson got up to. Then she said she wanted to be a flight attendant when she was younger.
Someone asked her if doing the voice hurt. She said it really didn’t unless she had to do it for long periods of time. It was really fairly easy for her. She did mention that she had stolen the voice from the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.
When asked what she was currently up to, she said that she was directing short films for the Internet, but that sort of fell through. Now she’s working on short films that can be released straight to DVD. She’s trying to put something together with Claudia Christian. She also mentioned that all you needed was a digital video camera, some stolen software and you could make a DVD. She had wanted to do a series called Con Artists, but she’s let that go and moved on to something else.
She was asked whether she knew if they were going to be doing a Xena movie. At first she said no, she didn’t know for sure. Then she said that actually yes she did know, but she couldn’t tell us.
Someone then asked her if she still played golf with Lucy. She said not really. Now they shop together. She said that they really are neither of them good golfers. So, they’d get together to golf, look at each other and say, "fuck it, let’s shop."
One thing that was very clear from the things that Claire was saying was she was very conscientious of the lesbian fans of the show. She said she wanted to give the person that had bought the Chakram for $40,000 something special, so she called Chris on stage. When Chris got there, Claire gave her a big kiss right on her lips. Then she said that she’d be doing more of that later that evening with Alex. This, of course, got big cheers from the audience. Then, after thanking the fans for their support, Claire commented again on how much she was going to miss the show and left the stage.
Next up was the music video for Aphrodite, to the tune of Barbie Girl. Then Alexandra Tydings came bouncing onto the stage. She cavorted around on the stage for a bit and then commented on being blown away by the number of people there.
After regaining her composure a bit, she told us that she had recently done an episode of Sheena and that she hasn’t worked in America lately. She said that it was quite a different role from Aphrodite, since she played a thief, had her own hair and got to wear clothes. She had a number of wild experiences on the Sheena set. She told us that she had to run through the woods and jump over a log. They did this a few times and she felt like she had it under control. The next time through she was trying to make it look like she didn’t know where she was going, even though she did. She was running full out and came to the log, and when she went to jump it she caught her foot on the log and fell face first into the dirt. After that they all called her Grace.
Another time she had to act with a cobra. She said that cobras are method actors. When she got the script she was quite disconcerted to also receive a whole page of instructions on how to work with venomous animals. She said that before they use a cobra or other snake on stage, they milk their teeth of the venom. Other times, they have removed the poison sacs, but there’s no way to tell if they’ve grown back without operating on the snake again. In the scene she had to do she’s walking along beside Sheena and trips, falling down and finding herself face to face with a cobra. Sheena’s then supposed to tell her roll to her left, and then grab the snake and kill it. The way it’s set up, they have the snake behind a piece of plexiglass with two handlers, who have golf clubs, on each end of the glass. She was thinking that the golf clubs were not really going to do anything if the snake came after her. So they tell her that they are going to let the snake out, and not to worry since it will probably be madder at the handler than her. They released the snake and she fell down in front of it and the snake immediately focused on her, not the handler. After staring her down a bit, it struck at the glass trying to get her. She was sure that it wanted to get through the glass at her. After that take, they all stood up to discuss what needed to be done and the snake stayed completely focused on her. Then the next take, they told her to roll to the left, and she was just sure that the snake was going to follow her, and all there was to protect her were the wranglers and their clubs, since the plexiglass didn’t extend very far. So they give her the cue, and sure enough the snake went after her as she rolled. Obviously, it didn’t get her but it certainly made quite an impression on her when all was said and done.
As Alex started to take questions, one of the fans asked how it was for Aphrodite to kiss Gabrielle. She said that she had a good time. Then someone asked her about her costume. She commented that it was very cold, especially when they are outside and it’s raining and all she has on is essentially her underwear. Very uncomfortable. She did comment that playing Aphrodite has been a blast though. Her first episode, Kevin Sorbo was directing, and she got to surf onto the beach in a giant clamshell. That was a blast.
Then someone asked her to pose for a sexy picture and she made as if she was going to take her shirt off. Again she was asked how it was to kiss Renee and she responded, "Fabfuckingtastic!" She said she had a lot of fun in that episode, especially doing her model on heroin walk <G>. She also commented that "Renee is gorgeous!"
She then explained that she was wearing New Zealand pants, which are very tight on the top and have big bell-bottoms that start at the knee. She said that they are very comfortable. Someone asked where the Valley speak came from. She told us that initially it was the writers who put it in, but after a while she got really good at the Valley talk and she’d make suggestions for what Aphrodite would say. For instance, her comment about "that was so 5 minutes ago," came from seeing it on Buffy. Next someone asked her what the dumbest thing was that she’d ever done. She said she wasn’t going to give us that one.
Someone else asked how it was to play a dumb character. She sort of stopped for a second and then said that she didn’t see Aphrodite as being dumb. She thinks Aphrodite is manipulative, crafty and very clear on what she wants, but certainly not dumb. She speculated that Americans have trouble seeing a sexy blonde without thinking that she’s dumb. Personally, she thinks that Aphrodite is brilliant, since she often gets what she wants.
Next someone asked her about practical jokes on the set. She said that she and Renee were always trying to play them on Lucy, but they didn’t have a lot of success. She told us that she and Renee were sitting in a tavern together, and since all of them have really short skirts on, it can be a bother if they sit on something. There was all sorts of icky set food on the table in front of them, and she and Renee were gathering up crumbs and putting them on Lucy’s chair and giggling to each other. They had managed to put quite a number of crumbs on the chair. When Lucy came in, she just automatically wiped off the chair and sat down, completely ruining the joke.
Alex mentioned that she has a fan club website up at Alextydings.com. She also said that she and Claudia Christian were trying to create a show for them both to be in. Then she talked about how marvelous the whole Xena phenomenon is and how groundbreaking it has all been. Finally, she told us that Claire had called her up a bit ago to arrange for their costume fittings for the Revue that evening. She was surprised, since she didn’t realize that it was going to be such a big thing, but she was very excited about what they had planned for us during the revue. After that she thanked us and left the stage.
I didn’t stick around for Ted Raimi, since I was meeting friends for dinner. As I was waiting outside, I hooked up with Joanna Sandsmark who mentioned that there was going to be a showing of The Bitter Treat in one of the hotel rooms at the Sheraton, and invited me and my friends to join them. DJWP and the rest of the crew that put the video together did a wonderful job. It was so funny to watch the ep and hear the words that Joanna had written instead of the original verses <VBG>. Then after dinner we returned to the convention center for that evening’s cabaret.
Saturday Cabaret
After everyone got settled in, they announced that the evening would start off with Claire and Alex’s Triple XXX Review. The house lights went down, and Alex and Claire stepped onto the stage wearing black high heel, black French-cut bottom-hugging bikini bottoms, little black tops and black tuxedo jackets with tails. They each had on black derby hats.
Alex was carrying a silver hard-sided briefcase with XXX on the side. Alex put the briefcase in Claire’s arms and opened it up. She took out two black binders and handed one to Claire, who then put the briefcase down on the stage. The did a sort of shimmy dance with the binders held to their chests and then sauntered across the stage to where there were two microphones and two music stands. Then they turned the binders around and showed us what was written on the front: Fan Fiction. This elicited thunderous cheers from the crowd.
They opened them up and Claire proceeded to thank LN James, CN Winters and Mil Toro for letting them read their works. Claire read first…Bedtime for Warriors and Bards by LN James. This is a fairly innocuous, but hilarious, little story that is fraught with all kinds of double entendre about how warriors and bards have to sleep very close at night for safety. And sometimes after especially tough days with lots of fighting, warriors have to sleep on top of bards to make sure they are especially safe. Sometimes at night, when warriors are sleeping on top of bards, they call out each other’s names to make sure the other is safe, at which point Clare started calling out "Gabrielle," alternating with Alex’s "Xena," in breathy tones and the crowd roared in approval.
Next was CN Winter’s Down Home, which is a follow-up to the episode, Old Ares Had a Farm. Claire read and acted out Gabrielle’s part, and Alex did Xena’s. Very funny!
Then they did Mil Toro’s Sinful Adventures. This story is in script format and is the tale of Xena trying to explain to Gabrielle what she had been up to during Adventures in the Sin Trade. Claire played Xena and Alex was Gabrielle. At one point in the story, Gabrielle kisses the wound on Xena’s hand, which Alex did when Claire put her hand out to her. Then Xena explains that her hand really hurts and Claire put her hand out again. This time Alex not only kissed Claire’s hand, she nuzzled into it. Again the crowd went wild!
Next up was Mil Toro’s Xenafanaddicts ‘R Us. This is a script about a group of fans meeting with Rob Tapert and RJ Stewart about what the show should do in the sixth season. There was Missy fans one through six, disillusioned fan, subtext fan, het fan, Joxer fan and Gab fan. They alternated throughout, but Claire always did Rob’s part in a sort of weasely tone. At one point Claire commented that she’d probably never work again. This was a fun little sketch with the audience quickly picking up that Missy fans two through 6 always said, "What she said," and so we took over that part.
The final story was Mil Toro’s Xena’s Kisses and Alex played Xena with Claire taking Gabrielle’s part. This story is about the two of them talking about how they kiss everyone but each other. It goes through all of each of their romantic interests and culminates with them realizing that they want to kiss each other, and unlike other times, there’s nothing to stop them. At that point Claire and Alex turned to each other and walked up until they were facing each other, chest to chest. They took off their hats and leaned into each other as if to kiss, except that they blocked their faces with the hats. The crowd went crazy screaming and cheering. They stood that way for probably a full minute while cameras were flashing and then dropped the hats away from their faces, and we could see that they were, in fact, kissing. The sight blew us all away. Everyone was on their feet shouting and cheering and the flashes were constantly going off. They stayed like that for probably a good minute or two. Then Alex reached her arms around Claire’s neck and they broke off and turned towards the crowd grinning like Cheshire cats. After the pandemonium died down, Claire thanked the fans for the fan fiction and the chance to do this for us. She said she got to read tons of it preparing for the act and that there was many a hot night for her because of it. They then walked off the stage to thunderous applause and wild cheering.
After things settled down a bit, Claire came back on stage and the cheering started up again. She let things wind down and announced Robert Trebor, and then exited the stage taking the binders with her. Robert came out and talked a bit about the depression and then started singing Brother Can You Spare a Dime. He has a very good voice and certainly knows how to perform <G>. He followed that up with The Useless Song and then wrapped it up with a great rendition of If I Were A Rich Man.
Alex and Claire came back on together to introduce Tim Omundson. He came out and did a great job with Minnie the Moocher (with the audience joining in on the chorus), I’ll Never Fall in Love Again and One for My Baby. The songs definitely suited his voice and style. He wrapped it up with Mack the Knife.
Next Alex introduced Karl Urban. After stating that he really couldn’t sing very well, he proceeded to pretty much butcher Help and Ticket to Ride. He had another song listed but apparently decided that enough was enough. You got to give him credit for enthusiasm, but he didn’t seem to be very in tune with his audience. He changed the lyrics to Ticket To Ride from She’s got a ticket to ride to Xena’s got a p*ssy to ride…didn’t seem to go over that well.
After that Claire introduced Ted Raimi, who came on stage looking very dapper in his suit. Ted did a great job with his songs, singing Moonlight Becomes You, Evening in Roma, Shakes Hands With Your Uncle, and Return to Me. Then he called Tim back on stage and they did a great rendition of Papa Loves Mambo together. After that everyone came back on stage for their final bows. Alex and Claire of course got the biggest cheers.
I have to say that I wouldn’t have wanted to be the guys following their act, since everything after them seemed almost anti-climactic. But since they were playing the hosts for the evening, I suspect they moved their act to the front so they wouldn’t give away what they were up to by appearing in their outfits before their time on stage. Overall, it was a great evening and definitely something that everyone was buzzing about afterwards.
Sunday, May 6th
Sharon started off by answering a few questions from the audience and getting the sound check taken care of and then she called Missy Good to the stage. Missy came out to raucous applause and cheering from the fans. She started off by saying that in the past she wasn’t really the type to be a fan of anything, but something about the show touched her creative engine and she couldn’t stop writing. She said that obviously it’s had the same effect on other people.
Then she stated that the Xena fandom was one of the most giving and loving fandoms on the face of the earth. She talked about Sword and Staff and how they had recently reached their $250,000 mark in raising money for various charitable efforts. Then Missy brought Deborah Cassetta (Mist) on stage to talk about it. Deborah said that so far with the events that had happened at the con, they had reached $284,000. This generated a lot of applause from the audience.
After Deborah left the stage, Missy was asked if it was difficult to write the characters of Xena and Gabrielle. She said "hearing the character’s voices isn’t the problem. Getting them to shut up is." Then she was asked what it was like to meet Lucy and Renee. She said that Lucy and Renee are both wonderful and gracious people. She also said that it never occurred to her that she’d end up on a Creation stage as a Xena writer.
She was asked about whether she was going to give up her day job. She said no, and in fact, she had gotten paged right before she had to come on stage that day. She’s always getting paged on vacation.
She was asked who her favorite author is, and she replied, "Lois McMaster Bujold." She said her love of writing really didn’t show up until she saw The Quest and just had to write about the characters.
Someone asked her if everything we saw in Legacy was as she had written it. She said that she had originally intended for Gabrielle to be drawn and quartered, but they decided to change that to the polo match with Gabrielle’s head instead. She talked about how going to New Zealand was difficult for her. She panicked right before she got on the plane and called Kym Taborn. Kym told her not to worry and that she’d be braindead after the 12 hour flight and it wouldn’t be a problem. When she got there, she found that Kym was right. She said that New Zealand has loving people and is very beautiful.
Missy then talked about how she used to run screaming from the room when her roommate had Xena on. Then one day, she was doing some work on a rail and had gloves on and couldn’t reach the TV to change it when the show came on. That was the day that she saw The Quest and realized that there was something very different going on with the show. She’s been hooked ever since.
Missy was asked what tips she could give to writers. She said to write what you know and love, and to write from the heart. She also said not to expect things to happen the way they did to her because the course she took was definitely the wrong one. She said you really need to join the Writer’s Guild, get an agent and go through the proper channels. How she ended up writing on the show is just not the way it’s usually done.
Missy was asked whether she got a chance to see the cabaret the night before. She said she had been contacted by the participants and asked if she had suggestions for source material. She directed them to Lunacy’s site. They gave it their highest recommendation <G>. Missy then said that she didn’t get to see the Cabaret performance because she had given her seat to one of the authors so they could see their work performed.
Someone asked Missy how she got the writing spot on the show. She said she received a number of e-mails from Steven Sears one day asking her to get in touch with him. She figured he had some question to ask her about his computer. Once she got in touch with Steven, he asked her if she wanted to write a script for the show. After getting over her shock, she said yes, and he hooked her up with Rob Tapert. Then she said that when Steven left the show he retired his fedora hat and gave it to her. She didn’t realize what a big deal that was until she mentioned it to the writer’s staff and they were all impressed.
Then she acknowledged Lunacy at one of the microphones. Lunacy wanted to know when she was going to write the Conqueror story she kept promising to do. Missy said she’d see what she could do about it. After that she called Steven Sears on stage with her.
Steven came out to cheers from the audience. He admitted that he hasn’t kept up with the show because he’s been busy with another series, but he wasn’t going to mention the name. He realized how out of touch he was with the show when he was having lunch with Ted Raimi a while back. He asked Ted when he was going to be back on the show and Ted said he probably wouldn’t because he was dead. Steven laughed and said that dead doesn’t mean diddly in the Xenaverse. But Ted corrected him and said that he was dead, dead. After they got that settled, Steven asked him how he died and Ted told him that Xena’s daughter had killed him. That brought Steven up short. It really brought home how much he had missed on the series. Finally, he started musing on the name of Xena and where it had come from. This eventually turned into a little plug for Sheena, after which he and Missy left the stage.
Next up was the Mentor’s video. The song was Thank You, but not the song by Dido. It sounded more like something Jewel would have sung. At any rate, once that was done, Ebonie Smith came on-stage. She commented that she always wants to cry when she sees that video (it’s very well done and a tribute to both M’Lila and Lao Ma). The first things she was asked was whether she had developed any kind of a backstory for M’Lila. She said that she had envisioned her character as someone who had a sort of sixth sense since she was very young. She thought of M’Lila as an ethereal creature who had never really fit in, but was sure she had a purpose to fulfill in her lifetime. Once she was on Xena’s ship, she realized that her purpose was to help Xena turn to the good. This was why she taught her all of the skills she knew. She also felt that she would always be able to reach Xena spiritually.
Then Ebonie was asked about how she selects roles. She said she feels very strongly that she wants to play characters that have a positive impact. Not that she’s looking to turn work down, but she won’t play a role that is completely negative.
Someone then commented that because of Destiny, they had started to learn Gaelic and asked if she had spoken Gaelic before the episode. She said that she was actually coached on how to speak the Gaelic lines that she used in the episode. The producers of the show were very aware that they couldn’t get away with having her speak gibberish, so they made sure that she was legitimately using the language in the episode.
Ebonie told us that she had started off taking voice and acting lessons when she was very young. However, last year was the first time in a long time that she had sung in front of an audience. Then Ebonie said that she has decided she wants to change her career and hoped that we would be as supportive of her with her new direction as we have been with her acting career. She said that she’s decided she wants to enter medical school and become a Doctor. She’ll still take parts but will be focusing on that goal in the future.
Next she commented that she hadn’t understood the magnitude of the fan following when she joined the cast of Xena. She said it had been the best production she’s ever been involved with. Last year was the first convention that she’d been involved with and she said that the fan appreciation makes it all worthwhile.
She was asked if she’d seen the show before she got the part. She said she’d seen it a couple of times, but that her father was a huge fan and filled her in on the show. After she did her role, she started telling all her friends to watch.
Then she was asked what the shoot was like. She said it was during June, which is winter in New Zealand, since the seasons are reversed down there. It was very cold, and they were always trying not to freeze, while staying in character. Overall, it was very challenging. She also said she was taught how to do the pinch, so that it would match up with how Xena had done it before. Finally, she stated that she doesn’t know what she’s going to do next, but she’s ready for whatever comes her way.
Next up was the Varia video which was done to Love is a Battlefield. Then Tsianina came on-stage. Before she came out, Sharon explained that her name was pronounced Chianina so we would be addressing her properly. She was quite overwhelmed by the crowd since this was her first convention experience. She mentioned that the first thing she had done that morning was dump coffee on herself. She hoped we couldn’t see it.
She was asked how she liked being on the show. She said it was fun because she got to be tough and fight like crazy. She is very competitive and that fit her character well. She was also asked if she had any experience with martial arts. She stated that most of her background is in dance, but her sister is a martial artist and taught her some moves.
She was asked what her favorite fight was. She said it was the one between her and Gabrielle. They didn’t really use the doubles much for that one, so they got to do most of it. Someone then asked her what she thought of her costume. She commented that the loincloth seemed to shrink in every ep. (I think there’s a pattern in how the costume department works here <G>). They had to use sticky tape to keep it in place.
Then someone asked her to do a cheer from "Bring It On." She said she couldn’t remember the moves but she could do the words, so she did. Then she went back to talking about her experience on Xena. She said she had been stoked to get the part and that it had been a great experience for her. This was the first tough girl character she had gotten to play. She said she had learned a lot and it had helped make her a more rounded actress.
She was asked whether she had been cast for all of the episodes to begin with. She said she had only been cast in Coming Home and Dangerous Prey and that the other episodes had been offered to her later. She also said that she enjoys dancing but now she wants to focus on acting. After doing Xena, she would love to do action roles.
Someone asked what it was like to be in New Zealand. She said they were on the set for 12 hours a day and they put her up in a beautiful hotel. It was a lovely time.
She was asked what else we could look forward to seeing her in. She mentioned that she’d just finished shooting American Pie 2. She won’t be in any more Xena episodes however.
Then she was asked what it was like to be on set. She said the first day is hectic because you get there and there are fittings, stunt rehearsal, makeup and lighting to get all figured out. She was nervous to meet Lucy and Renee, but she said they were both so sweet and helpful that it was easy to relax with them. She said they helped her with how to block for TV so you’ll always look good for the cameras, and they are both wonderful. She also commented that Renee was awesome as a director. Really good, patient and kind with her.
She mentioned that she had seen Xena a couple of times before she got the part. However, she doesn’t really watch TV so she hadn’t seen it often.
Someone asked her how she got into such great shape. She said she used to do fitness competitions. Now she does yoga and some weightlifting. She said the key is to really focus on the part of the body you’re working on…think into the muscle as you’re using it. Then someone asked her to flex for us. After giggling a bit, she took off her jacket and did some flexing on stage for us. She’s in great shape and we all had a lot of fun appreciating her finely sculpted muscles <G>.
After Tsianina left the stage, they set up for the charity auction. I took a break at that point. When I came back, they were just wrapping it up having raised another bucket of money for charity. They ended up the auction with the Xenaversity banner that went for $13,000.
Next up was Darien Tackle. As soon as she heard her name she bounded on stage (causing them to skip the intro video I suspect). Her first comment was, "I don’t want to go home, I just want to stay here!" She was obviously enjoying her visit to the States. She said this was her first time to mainland America. She’d been in Hawaii though. She said it was very different here. "You’ve got people here." She commented that New Zealanders are shy. They don’t tend to approach actors when they see them. But Americans are open, nice and very approachable.
She was asked if her new CD was available. She told us that it wasn’t yet, but that the autobiography CD was out in the dealer’s area being sold somewhere.
Then someone asked her how she felt about how Cyrene ended on the show. She said that as an actress, she wasn’t satisfied with how Cyrene ended. She said it was hard to tell her kids that she was going off to get burned at the stake. She commented that the role had changed a lot. It started off serious and then got a little silly at times. She enjoyed doing comedy bits with Lucy, like slapping her hand when she was reaching for the fruit. She thought that was a typical mother thing to do. She really liked Takes One To Know One because of all the different people she got to work with.
She said she’s played a lot of strong women, like Edith Piaff and Eva Peron. That prepared her to be the mother of Xena, who has to be very strong to raise a kid like her. She said she was honored to be the mother of a warrior. She was disappointed that she didn’t get to wear leather though, but figures that can be arranged elsewhere <G>. Then she commented that her Dad had died 3 years ago. She said she believes as long as you keep people alive in your heart, they are with you. She said her Dad was a big fan of Lucy and she thinks he was here with us that day.
Next she was asked to sing again, so she sang a French song for us. She really has a great voice.
Someone asked her as Cyrene what it was like to raise Xena. She said that women are all great heroines and to have a daughter like Xena is just fabulous. She said that Xena was always collecting things, building huts in trees and staying in them for a week, but was overall a good girl.
Then she was asked about Haunting of Amphipolis. She said it was an incredible ep and that she believes in ghosts. She commented that it was a harrowing episode for her because her marriage had just broken up and it was going to be her last episode. She does, however, like being a ghost now.
Earlier in her time someone had asked her who Xena’s father was. At that time, she’d refused to answer. However, just before she wrapped things up, she told us that Xena’s father was the milkman <VBG>.
Next up was Rob Field who is one of the two main editors of the show. He was asked how he felt about the show ending, and he said that maybe he’d get a chance to take a real vacation. The last one he’d had was three hours and fifteen minutes because RenPics was feeling generous at the time.
Someone asked him if it was true that they had used wire removal artists across the United States for Fallen Angel. He said that there were many wire removal artists involved in that episode, but that most of them are in New Zealand. Then he explained that wire removal artists are the ones who paint out the wires that are used to make it look like people are flying and doing incredible stunts.
Next he was asked if we would ever get to see longer versions of the eps that had the scenes that had been left on the cutting room floor. He said that first off, everything was digital, so there was no film to cut. Also, no one has mentioned to him if they are going to do longer versions of the eps at a later time.
Then Rob showed us a 6 year retrospective of the show which the other editor had put together. It really rocked. After that, he called two young fans on stage who were dressed in costumes and gave them posters that had been signed by Lucy. Then after much persuasion, he ran the sixth season bloopers. They were great and I hope that we’ll see them in an upcoming fanclub kit, since Sharon indicated that they would be doing another one for us.
Finally it was time for the event that everyone had been waiting for. After they got everyone seated, they ran the video salute to Xena and Gabrielle, which was to the song Time of Your Life. Then Renee came onstage to great cheers from the crowd. She was obviously nervous, but Sharon jumped right in and said that she had heard that even though they weren’t going to get to do the Sappho musical episode, she had heard that Renee and Lucy had been practicing some of the songs. She then asked if Renee would be willing to share with us. Of course the music was cued, so when Renee agreed, they started up Last Dance. Renee sang the first verse and it was easy to see that she was kind of nervous about that but gamely doing her best. Then we heard Lucy join in, and she walked on to the stage to another round of thunderous applause and cheering. Despite everything Renee has said, she can carry sing, she just has a bit of a time finding the tune <G>. It was clear that they both were a bit overwhelmed at the reception they got though.
After they were done, Lucy said that she had wanted to sing Wind Beneath My Wings with Renee doing ballet around her in a tutu. But, Renee told her that she was pregnant and wouldn’t be appearing in any tights. Lucy was dressed in her punk outfit from her Spiderman cameo, though she didn’t have the wig on. Renee was wearing black slacks and a sky blue translucent long-sleeved top. Both were looking gorgeous and relaxed, and Renee was practically glowing <G>. Lucy commented that she’s sworn off stiletto heels after HOD and was enjoying wearing whatever she wanted to. She went on to say that for the dance in HOD they had her in 6 inch high heels and Renee was in flats. Then they asked her to sort of scrunch down so they could get them both in the shot. So she was sort of walking around like a preying mantis (which she proceeded to demonstrate for us). She said it would have been okay if they had just used the close-up camera but they had a wide camera on them also. So in the shot you see her sort of stalking around Renee. Renee commented that she had had to fight in those heels and was amazed that Lucy could do it. Sharon asked them where the comments about Renee being taller than Lucy had come from, and Lucy said that sometimes they sort of joke around in interviews and say things that are silly like that.
Sharon asked Renee how she got hooked up with the show. Renee said that even though she had worked for RenPics before, she had had to go through the auditioning process. Lucy piped in and said that even though Renee had to audition for the part, Gabrielle had been written with Renee specifically in mind. Sharon asked Renee when she had first met Lucy. Renee commented that she had initially met Lucy when she was in Los Angeles getting some training in martial arts. Lucy said that she didn’t remember that meeting. Sharon commented that there were a lot of things that Lucy seemed to forget, like kissing Kevin Smith. Lucy said that she doesn’t really remember nibbling on Kevin’s chest or kissing him because it’s all choreographed and doesn’t really make that big of an impression on her.
Sharon asked Renee what she had thought initially of playing Gabrielle. Renee said that she didn’t expect the role to continue more than that first season. She figured she would give it her best and then she’d be back in the States after a year. Sharon asked Lucy if she would have been willing to come to the States if the role had been offered to her but it was filming over here. Lucy said that she knew that it was the role of a lifetime, and if that was the only way for her to get it, she would have been willing to uproot and come to the States to have it.
Renee was asked about her first experiences on the set. She said that things were quite hectic and that Lucy apologized for not having a chance to really get to know her when she first got there. After about a month, Lucy invited her over for dinner and they spent quite a bit of time catching up and getting to know each other. Lucy commented that she remembered that meeting. Then Lucy commented that it was her responsibility to hold it all together and Renee agreed, saying that Lucy set the tone for everyone on set. Lucy then said that she couldn’t have done it without Renee.
Sharon asked Renee what she thought about her character’s evolution. Renee chuckled and said she certainly didn’t expect Gabrielle to become the battling bard. Then Lucy said that she felt it would be horrible to be stuck in a never changing role as the sidekick, so she had really pushed for them to develop the role more. She wanted to make sure that everyone’s needs were being met.
Sharon commented that Renee had worked with James Garner in one of her earlier roles and that Lucy had worked with Anthony Quinn. What had it been like to work with such greats early in their careers. Renee said that James Garner had a dry wit and was wonderful to work with. Lucy said that she’d enjoyed working with Anthony Quinn but really didn’t understand how big his reputation was when she was working with him. Sharon asked how Renee got started acting and she said she had gone to a performing arts school when she was younger and that sort of set her on the road. Then Lucy commented that she’d seen Renee in one of those crime shows she’d done where she was playing a hooker. Renee was a bit embarrassed by that and they laughed about it. Lucy asked her what it was about her playing a hooker all the time when she looked so innocent. LOL!
Sharon said that they had both commented on how their acting styles were very different, and asked how they had learned to work with each other’s styles. Lucy said that what they had figured out was that they could support each other by talking to each other and listening to what the other said.
Sharon asked them about how they worked through all the stuff that their characters had happen to them. Renee said that the important thing was that they had to relate it to what it would mean for them personally and keep it as real as possible, even when the circumstances were really out of this world.
Since they were talking about acting and how they related, they proceeded to show us ways that actors can detract from the other instead of supporting. These included gesturing behind the actor when they’re speaking their lines or shifting when they are speaking to each other so that the other actor’s back is to the camera. It was very cute watching them demonstrate these things since Lucy was hamming it up quite a bit. Then they mentioned that they always tried to be there to do the off lines for each other. They also did a lot of off lines for the other actors in the episodes, but sometimes it was easier for the supporting actors not to have the leads reading those lines for them, since they would get nervous. The thing that was important though was to be there for each other so they could get the best performance for the show.
Sharon asked them if there was ever a time when they had thought of quitting acting. Renee commented that 2 years before starting Xena, she had thought briefly of giving up acting, but she’s glad that she didn’t. Lucy mentioned that she had also had a crisis of faith a few years before Xena, but she saw Whoopi Goldberg on the Oscars when she told aspiring actors to stick with it, and she was encouraged to continue. Then Renee asked Lucy if she really had gotten her nose pierced, and Lucy said sure…after all it was a very discrete hole (I think she was just kidding actually, since she had an impish tone when she said it).
I don’t remember what prompted it, but Lucy said it was around the 8th episode when they began to get letters about the subtext. They had had no idea that was how it was being viewed and they had a bit of a laugh about it. Renee said that it took them a while to become the close friends that they are. Lucy said that it was around the 5th season when they really started to try to blend their acting styles a bit. They found out that by really listening to each other, they were able to find bits of each other’s style that worked. Then she mentioned that Renee has been working on her acting skills with an actor’s group. Renee said that she couldn’t ask Lucy to help her with that because she can’t do a flat reading to save her life. She’d tell Lucy to read it flat and Lucy would always start acting it out. Then she said that Lucy always uses her instincts. Lucy said that she acts from a place where she tries to just be it. It’s all about getting to a place of true listening. Lucy said that she couldn’t imagine a part that she couldn’t play, especially after all the things that Xena has done. She did say that doing Just Shoot Me was quite a different experience for her. She’s used to having the camera be up close, and she knows how to act effectively for that camera placement. Because JSM is such an ensemble show and is shot with stationary cameras, it was very difficult for her to adjust and figure out how to act to those cameras effectively.
Sharon asked Renee about her experiences being a director. She said the scheduling was the biggest thing that caught her by surprise. Making sure that everything stayed on schedule was a real challenge. The first time it was hard because she was so new, and learning a lot of things as she went. The second time the scheduling was hard because of all the stunts and effects they had in the episode. Sharon asked her if she thought that being an actor helped her as a director. Renee said she really didn’t think it did. Lucy commented though that Renee being an actor helped her pass on her knowledge about tenses and motivations to the actors. She said that directors who have been actors understand how actors have to doublethink. They have to think both about the outcome and the emotions and motivations they are trying to portray. Directors with acting experience are better at giving the motivations and letting the actor figure out how to achieve the outcome. Directors who don’t have that perspective tend to only talk about what actions they want to see and it’s harder for the actors to figure out what’s driving them there.
Sharon asked Lucy about the band that she had mentioned being involved with and whether she was planning on doing anything more with that. Lucy said that she just mucks around with her friends with the band. She’d like to keep singing and maybe playing some instruments, but doesn’t really think it will be anything serious.
Then Sharon asked about how the show had affected each of them. Renee said that the growth of Gabrielle goes hand in hand with her own growth. When she first arrived on set, she was a naïve young girl from Texas. "I’ve grown up on the show." Sharon asked them whether they had taken away anything from their characters. They were both a bit stymied by that. Lucy said that everything’s changed for both of them. Then Renee commented that really she’s taken more from Xena than Gabrielle, and Lucy agreed that she’d gotten more from Gabrielle than Xena since it’s the character you’re acting against that affects you the most. She said that Renee’s become more assured and willing to take charge, and that she’s become more sympathetic and flexible. Sharon asked if Renee had been calling home a lot about decisions when she first got to New Zealand. Lucy laughed and said that Renee always makes all of her decisions. Renee agreed and said that she’s always made decisions for herself.
Renee mentioned that it took them a while to get used to each other’s styles. Lucy would ask Renee about doing something and she’d want to go off and think about it. Lucy was much more about being spontaneous. Then she told a story about a time there were some gatecrashers hanging around the set. She looked up and there was Lucy wearing a ball cap and beard and wearing androgynous clothes. She was walking like a man and at first Renee didn’t recognize her. Lucy went up to the folks and challenged them about being on the set. At first they were taken aback until they figured out that it was Lucy and then everyone got a good chuckle about that.
Then Sharon asked Lucy to sing something in the style of Stevie Nicks, so Lucy sang her Burrito song from SNL, which was a lot of fun. Next Sharon asked them what their favorite costumes were. Lucy said it was the stringed bikini from Lyre, Lyre. She was too tall to fit into Renee’s costume, but Renee’s double was taller so she could wear that one. Renee commented that it had shocked Ted and Lucy said that yes, they had shocked Ted many times. She said he didn’t quite know how to react when his best friend’s pregnant wife was coming on to him, and laughed. Renee said that the costume she liked was the one from If The Shoe Fits when she was playing the ugly barmaid with the blacked out teeth. She said that was a lot of fun to do. Then Lucy commented that she loved all the costumes. Renee said though that whenever they brought out the crucifixion rags they knew they were in trouble, and it always seemed like those were coming back. Lucy commented that Renee had abs of steel and that the baby must be having a hard time finding space in there. Renee confirmed that she was 5 months pregnant. Then she commented that every time they changed the costume, she could move more. Every stage of the costume reflected a change in Gabrielle. Lucy commented that her boobs didn’t get smaller though. Renee laughed and said it was natural because of the pregnancy.
Sharon asked them about practical jokes on set. Lucy said that Renee was always trying to pull lame jokes on her, like putting crumbs in her chair, greasing the door knob or putting cling wrap in the toilet. Renee said yeah, and you always managed to ruin them. They never worked. She said that she thought it was Rob who grabbed the doorknob, and Lucy just brushed the crumbs off before sitting down. Lucy said that she had taken the fishnet costume from The God You Know and worn it out bowling. She said, "I looked cool in the bowling shoes bowling my heart out." Then Renee commented that the rope dance was the hardest she had done with all the twisting and stuff. She’d never been that sore before. Sharon asked her if she was really dancing on shields and she said yes with a bunch of strong men holding her up.
Next Sharon asked Renee what her middle name was. Renee said it was Renee, which sort of stymied Sharon for a minute. Then Lucy mischievously said that her name was Evelyn. Renee sort of shot her a glance for letting the cat out of the bag, and then explained that her full name was Evelyn Renee O’Connor and she was named after her grandmother. However, in order to keep it from getting confusing, everyone always referred to her as Renee.
Sharon asked if either of them had taken anything home from the set on the final day, like their costumes. Renee said she took her bathrobe and the moon boots because they were so comfortable. She loved wandering around her house in the moon boots. Lucy said that she had taken her costume home and the original chakram, because she liked that one better.
Then Sharon asked what were Xena and Gabrielle’s pet peeves about each other. Renee said that for Gabrielle it was that Xena never brushed her teeth. Lucy said that Xena was upset about Gabrielle using her chakram to cut eel.
Sharon asked Renee whether the pregnancy had affected any of the final shooting. Renee said that they had adjusted the costume at her request so that it came up a little higher in the middle, but they hadn’t made any other changes. She said she had been worried that she would have to do reshoots of scenes and that they wouldn’t match up. When Sharon asked them if they would keep up their physical fitness, both of them said that they were planning on staying fit. Sharon asked them about whether they were going to change their hair styles now that the show was over. Renee said she wasn’t really worried about her hair and that she liked it short. Lucy said that she’d probably let it return to her natural color because she didn’t really want to mess with dying it every 6 weeks. She didn’t feel the need to dissociate herself from the character and had gotten used to the look after all these years. She said she’d had it cut a bit recently because it was getting a little ragged.
Sharon asked them what they would miss most about not being on the show. Lucy said it would be not having someone to cook for her all the time. She hates having to feed herself. Renee said she would miss having someone managing her schedule for the day and telling her where she needed to be. Then she sort of ribbed Lucy about how she’d probably be shopping at Martha Stewart’s website now that she had time to be more domestic. Lucy laughed and admitted that she’d actually bought Martha’s kit for crystallizing flowers but had never used it. Then she said that she should have kept her mouth shut since the kit was going to be Renee’s shower present. She went on to say that Renee was a great present buyer. When she first was on the show she was always buying presents for everyone’s birthday and things, and all the folks were quite confused by that. In New Zealand apparently, everyone is horrible about presents. They’re not big on giving gifts. And then she and Renee joked a bit about some of the presents that Lucy had gotten for Christmas, including the hole-punch that her father had given her one year. Lucy said that one time she had pulled out a wound and slapped it on Renee’s back, which led them into talking about the guy that Lucy always sent her prosthetic wounds to.
Renee commented that they couldn’t recreate Xena, that it was too surreal. Lucy said that they loved being able to make people laugh and cry. Sharon asked them about the scene from The Abyss, saying that it had affected her profoundly. Lucy said that they had sort of adlibbed most of the cave scene and that when she had seen the dailies she had teared up. Renee said that all she remembered was being really cold and wet during the whole thing.
Then Lucy and Renee wished all of the fans that had a birthday that day Happy Birthday. Lucy said that she wanted to thank the fans for being such a force for good with all the money they raised for charity. She said that it was heartening to everyone involved with the show, how much the fans were always looking for ways to help others.
Then Sharon asked about Lucy carrying Hal Sparks and David Spade at the Comedy Awards. Lucy said that at 150 pounds Hal Sparks weighed more than she does and that she was only able to do that recently because she’d been doing her Pilates. Sharon asked if there were ever times when Lucy actually carried Renee or if it was always rigged. Lucy said she thought it was always rigged because of the problems she had with her back, but Renee said there were a few times when Lucy had carried her without a rig.
Then they were asked about the scene in Old Ares had a Farm where the three were in bed together. Renee said that was a tough scene to film because she actually ended up hitting Kevin in a really tender place. Lucy started kidding her, saying that Renee had been flopping her arm over and was hitting him in the face or the chest. Then they told her that for it to be funny she had to be lower and when she tried she actually nailed him. Renee looked quite embarrassed about that, but Lucy thought it was hilarious. Then Lucy said that it was really nice to fight against Renee in that episode because she’s so good at the fights.
Sharon asked what it was like doing Haunting of Amphipolis. Lucy said it was fun. She’s watched Evil Dead 1000 times and so it was a great time to be doing an episode that was like it. But she felt sorry for Renee having to be in that horrible water. Renee said it was pretty bad. There were rotting artichokes, asparagus, vegemite and mayonnaise in the water. After a while she got used to the stench because she was immersed in it, but everyone else on the set was retching and wouldn’t come near her after she got out of the tank.
Sharon asked them if there were any storylines that either of them wanted to develop that they hadn’t had a chance to do. Lucy said that she wanted to do the Helen Keller story and Renee said she had an idea to have the seven virtues at war. Lucy said, however, that they both got so busy with the show and their other interests that they didn’t have time to pursue their own stories. There was another question that prompted Renee to comment that Gabrielle wanted Xena’s breastplate and that she was trying on the boots at night. To which, Lucy commented that "We share everything."
This led very naturally into Sharon asking them about the subtext. Both Lucy and Renee said that the relationship was all about Love. Then Renee said that the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle has been amazing. Both of them seemed to struggle a bit to put their thoughts into words. Then Lucy said that once they were aware of the subtext and what it meant to the fans there were times when she felt they played too lightly with it, and she stated a couple of times that they hadn’t wanted to make the subtext a grubby little joke. To her, these were two characters that love and respect each other and that was what was important. Renee said that they didn’t want to label the characters. They just wanted to work on the relationship and that was what their focus always was. One of them brought up the poem that Gabrielle reads to Xena in an upcoming ep. Renee said that it was a beautiful poem that is attributed to Sappho and Lucy said that it brought tears to her eyes when it was read during the scene.
Then Sharon asked about what they could tell us of the final episode. Renee commented, "Live by the sword, die by the sword." Lucy said that she had seen tiny bits and they were heart-wrenchingly, beautiful scenes. Renee then said that the characters come full circle. Lucy added that it wasn’t easy shooting the final episode and Renee said it was beautifully shot and that she also cried. Then Lucy added that if it didn’t kick ass to the end it wouldn’t alter the last 6 years. She said, "I don’t know if I liked it, but I loved the way it ends.
Then Sharon asked them both if they would do it all again if they had a chance. Lucy said that if they could go back in time, of course she would do it again. If they had to pick up and do it now, it just wouldn’t work. They’ve all changed and it would be impossible to capture that magic again. There would never be a way of getting that synergy back that they had. Renee commented that ignorance was bliss and Lucy reemphasized that it had been magic.
Finally, Sharon asked them if they would be willing to sing again. They both agreed and sang Last Dance again. When it was over Lucy hugged Renee and kissed her on the forehead. Then Rob Tapert’s head popped up between the two of them and he proceeded to hug them both. After that the rest of the guests came out and joined them on-stage (minus Hudson Leick who apparently had already left). There was thunderous applause and cheering from the crowd that was on their feet. After a bit everyone waved and left the stage.
Now for some additional impressions I had about Lucy and Renee together. It was fascinating to watch the two of them interact. Renee was obviously the shyer of the two and tended to focus a lot on Sharon as she asked the questions. Sharon was on the floor below the stage so as not to detract from Lucy or Renee, and she kept shifting to either side of the stage to help keep them moving. Lucy tended to pace around the stage and to step back from Renee when the questions were directed to her. I think this was to allow Renee to answer without being distracted. There were times when Lucy almost disappeared because she had stepped out of the light. But she never hesitated to jump in to the discussion to back Renee up or tease her a bit. She also on several occasions led Renee to either side of the stage so that everyone would get a good chance to see them. There were times when Renee jumped into the conversation to help Lucy as well. It was very obvious from the way the two interacted that they were very comfortable with each other. It was also clear that they were a bit protective of each other and kept an eye on how the other was doing. Another thing that came through clearly was Lucy’s quirky sense of humor. There were times when she was like a big kid having a blast with getting all that attention (the discussion of the nose ring comes to mind, along with letting the cat out of the bag about Renee’s full name). Renee tended to put more thought into her answers while most of the time, Lucy answered from her gut. On the occasions when the answers hit close to home though, it was clear when Lucy was feeling it. These were the times when Renee tended to sort of cover Lucy’s hesitation by answering until Lucy was ready to share her thoughts. In some ways it was like watching a pair of Ubers on stage since the bond between the two was so clear. I’m looking forward to them releasing this on tape since it would be fascinating to watch it again and savor the experience all over again.
Now, on to the conclusion. After the tumult died down, they had the costume contest. Ebonie, Tsianina and Darien were the judges. As I had gone out for another break and chat with some of the Xenites that were outside, I didn’t see most of this. However, the winning group was a set of three amazons and a Xena with baby Eve. The amazon costumes were stunning with exquisitely made amazon masks (yes, there was a Gabrielle in her queen outfit). Deb Abbot and her Cleopatra/Xena in chains outfit was a runner-up. After everything was done, a bunch of us who were in the preferred section hung out in the hope that we might be able to get autographs from Ebonie, Tsianina and Darien. We had a great time talking about the convention and everything that had happened. At one point the security folks escorted the stars to the restroom and then got them dinner (they had been signing for about 2 hours at that point). Then after the last of the waiting Gold patrons were lined up we were allowed to get in line as well. The three of them ended up staying until well after 10:30, but we all got autographs. It was incredibly nice of them to be willing to do that for the fans that had waited. After that was done, a small group of us went to dinner and finished off our con with a fabulous evening of conversation.
In conclusion, I have to say that this convention was everything I hoped it would be and more. It was great to be walking around Pasadena and to see other Xenites traipsing around with their wristbands and other Xena paraphernalia proudly displayed. Everyone was wonderful and there were many a conversation struck up while waiting on line or sitting outside taking a break. The efforts for charity were astounding and I’m just blown away by the amount of money that was raised by the fans. The Creation staff were all polite and very helpful. The energy in the place was fabulous. All in all, I can say that this is an experience I’ll never forget, and I’m incredibly glad that I got a chance to be there and share it with all the other Xenites. Although the series is ending, I know that the Xenaverse will continue going strong. Battle On!