I was thinking about Lucy’s appearance and I suddenly remembered that Renee had been talking to us when she suddenly stopped and looked towards the curtain behind her. She may have put her hand to her ear as she said, "I hear a Kiwi accent!" There was a little scrabbling around and then Lucy came out on the stage as Renee went back behind the curtain. A huge roar went up and a long sustained standing ovation happened. Lucy smiled and walked around a little bit as the audience continued to applaud and cheer. We were not only doing our usual hysterical "Welcome Lucy!" but there was an extra added exhilaration, due to this being the first time we’d seen her since her concert appearance the night before.
Damn-I’ve totally forgotten what Lucy was wearing. Now *I* have to go peek online to see what she looked like. Oh yeah. Elegant and sophisticated. I wonder who dressed her. (Grin.)
The first thing she said was, "Forgive my appearance-I’ve been lying in bed all day with a pillow over my head. No make-up-it’s all at the Roxy." Once again, the audience found this disclaimer as amusing as Renee’s previous one had been. And comments like, "She’s still stunning", "I should look so good" and "Yeah, riiiiight" rippled through the crowd. I believe that Lucy asked us how many of us had gone to the show last night. (About 400 or so of us raised our hands.) I’m not totally certain if it was Lucy or Renee who asked, but I do remember that a number of the stars on Sunday at the breakfast and at the con asked us if we’d seen the show. I think Lucy asked if any of us were going back that night and again about 400 of us raised our hands.
Lucy gave us thanks for making the show such a wonderful event for her. "There’s a few things we need to fix". She talked about how she had pointed to the back of the hall last night and how "I got everyone to turn around and tell the sound man, they came to hear me, not the rock and roll band. There are 500 fans here-you don’t want them mad at you. You’d be better off having Xena mad at you. SHE has some compassion."
She told us that Celebrity Duets totally blew away her brother David. (I think she said he’s the one who’s younger than she is.) When he saw her on the show, he said, "It’s not right. It’s just not right that that’s my sister up there."
She was asked how she got the songs she sang last night. "Did you dive into your IPod?" She said to Sharon Delaney, "I dove into yours." Lucy told us that Sharon had really encouraged her and "Sharon pushes it. My daughter too-she passes out ‘Come see my mom!’ flyers". She said "The songs are about me and my relationship with the fans and about their relationship to each other in a cyber community."
She said that the guys in her back-up band have played with Eric Clapton and Brittany Spears. But that "We have a whole different relationship with our fans."
A fan said, "At an early con you said that you felt almost like a rock star. So how did you feel last night?" Transcribing my notes right now, I thought at first that I had missed Lucy’s answer because her next words don’t answer that question. And as always with Lucy, I space out a lot just watching her. And then suddenly remember that I’m trying to take notes. So I just figured I’d blown it. However, she does answer this, but goes at it in that roundabout Lucy way where she thinks for a bit and then pulls out some background and goes off on telling us a story and seems to be just talking and then suddenly ties it all together and you realize she IS answering the question.
So what she said was, "My husband said that he really enjoyed the songs last night. That you could really hear my voice because I didn’t do a character. That I’m a better singer than I think and that I should be more of a singer and less of an actor (when on stage singing)." She said that she tried to tell the band that, "This is not a rock and roll concert. Nobody’s ever had a more supportive audience." So that was how she answered that "How did you feel last night?" She answered it by relating it to how our relationship with her makes her feel. Supported and loved.
Fan: "Battlestar Galactica is a perfect show. I love it." Lucy: "Thank you-I’m responsible for that." (She said this with a touch of her fruity, haughty accent that she puts on at times.) She talked about its look and said, "Let’s have some really ugly lighting. Let’s make those actresses work really hard to look beautiful."
There was a question about how much input the actors had on BSG. Lucy said, "They suck out your thoughts. Any thoughts you have on a character, they take. They put a brain probe in and suck your brains out."
Fan: "Whose idea was it for the threesome?" Lucy: "Oh it was probably improvised." (Slips into funny accent) "Just another day at the office. Just another threesome."
There was a question about Marie Osmond as a judge on Celeb. I think it was the fan who referred to her as "Beast Marie". Lucy said she was the most constructive generally, but got more bitchy at the end. But that Lucy had stopped listening to her by then-"She might as well have been Charlie Brown’s teacher. ‘Blah blah blah’." (For folks who haven’t seen it, on the animated Peanuts TV shows, whenever the kids are in school, their teacher’s voices are always portrayed by low, short, staccato bleats of a horn. No voice, no words.)
Lucy said, "That show catapulted me in terms of my confidence. And now I’m doing the Roxy!"
A fan asked regarding Duets, "How could you have lost?" Lucy: "It was rigged."
Lucy declared that "Without Sharon, I wouldn’t be visible." Then I have a cryptic note that says, "I kept my shirt on. You didn’t." Beats me. . .
She told us that someone from the club had told her that in 20 years working there, he’d never been in an atmosphere like that. We’d already heard things along this line-Michael Hurst told us at the breakfast that he’d heard the night before that someone from the club said that they’d seen many stars perform there and that the greatest response they had ever seen before was when Bruce Springsteen played. And that our response left theirs in the dust.
A fan asked Luce what songs she would like to do in the future. Lucy answered, "This is the problem with being an in the moment person." That she can’t really do lists for the future.
A fan made some comment and Lucy answered, "My children might have something to say about that. My children would say, "She ain’t that perfect."
My notes go on with Lucy saying, "Our first priority is our children’s sustenance. My kids and my parents. Rob and I were talking-I try not to affect them negatively." She said something about talking "To God-the universe-whoever I was talking to-my mother, the universe. . ."
Then there was something about "Imaginate Xena. Try to find people who can give you a run for your money. (In presenting a believable female warrior.) "Some actresses-it’s a stretch. Give that girl a pie, man!"
A fan came up to the mike and Lucy said, "I love that shirt-it’s so snug." Not sure what the fan’s response was, but Lucy then said, "Don’t try that again."
A fan thanked her for what she’d done for New Orleans telling Lucy it was her home and it meant a lot to her. Lucy replied, "I have to get back there. It’s my honor" (to have done what she’s done for New Orleans.)
She talked about filming FIN. "The show was ending. People began to get terse with one another for the first time ever. Well, it was, ‘How am I going to pay my mortgage now?’"
She said as she has before that she was totally exhausted and just about out of her mind. She said that she had a scene with Michelle (Akemi) and she’s making suggestions, she’s yelling about how they should do something but she’s so exhausted that she’s just talking bunk. Michelle and Rob are looking at her like she’s crazy but they’re also trying to calm her down by saying, "Uh-huh. Okay, Lucy. Good." Lucy said, "You know when I had the short hair, the white make up? Underneath the make-up I looked just like that myself. I was just shutting down. I could hardly get through it."
She talked about how now she finds performing on stage more enjoyable than acting. :-(
Then Renee returned. Lucy and Renee together will be the next report.
When Lucy first came on stage, it struck me almost immediately just how relaxed and happy Lucy looked. Like last night she had slain the dragon. Finished a mighty quest that had taken tremendous courage, effort and belief in being able to be successful at it. She had the look of someone who’s just finished a huge project-and it had gone well. And now she could rest and enjoy life again.
In the past she’s always been a little sharp and edgy, up and "ON" when she comes out on stage at the con. Like she’s really primed herself to give us a good time, to give us some good give and take. This time it really felt like. . .ummm, like we were all weekend visitors together somewhere. And this was day two-we had all met yesterday, we had figured out that we liked being together, we’d gotten through the often stressful small talk phase. And now we were just relaxed and enjoying ourselves without any kind of awkward social pressure.
It was different. Very sweet. Just great.
KT
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