The Digest

The Burbank Convention 1998 - The Digest of Reviews

Hi
OK, I'm one of the poor souls who couldn't make it to the convention
(something called working for a living)....
so in an effort to try and figure out what I missed, I've cut and pasted
(with a little editing) the comments that were posted about the convention
into a "digest" of sorts....by speaker....trying to match up multiple
comments on the same events where possible....

I pulled the comments from so many posts, I lost track of all the posters
handles...so for original refs. to comments see posts to Xenaverse
(1/16-21)...and Xena forum...and flawless list, etc.

For all you folks who attended, Please feel free to fill in, correct, add to
the comments....and help us who weren't there "relive" the experience!

And for those who didn't go to the convention and hate spoilers...beware
there are a few "hints" in the comments that refer to up coming eps...

Thanks Barron, Tina, Lyn, Michelle, Lunacy, Sal Fan, Limited edition, zwolf
etc. etc. and all the others who shared their experiences in posts, or made
additions and corrections

Saturday Program
Brad Carpener
Michael Levine (director)
Robert Trevor
Rob Weisbrot
Ru Emerson
video tribute to Gabrielle WINGS BENEATH MY WINGS
Robert Tapert
Danielle Cormack
Hudson Leick

Sunday Program
Music Video
Brad Carpenter
Liz Friedman & RJ Stewart
Rob. Weisbrot - "Official Guide to Xena"
Bernadetta Joyce - Coordinating Producer
John Kretchmer - Dir. Herc/Xena
Robert Field
Bloopers
Kevin Smith
LUCY

Before EVERY actor came out we were told the SAME
thing....one question, no pictures, no autographs, no gifts....Lucy and
Kevin complied with the etiquette....Hudson ran her own show, but that's
another story. <G>
It is unfortunate that this must be done, but Lucy was able to
answer a LOT of good, thoughtful questions

Ms. Lawless

The atmosphere before she came out was electric and the crowd
was wild, but when she came out she immediately set a subdued tone.
She didn't warm us up or even talk to us for a few minutes. It was
basically
"hi, this is wonderful, what should I do (someone yelled "just stand there
for two hours!"), let's get to the questions".

The last star of the evening-- LUCY! LUCY! LUCY! High boots, short blue
skirt, and top with-- get this-- horizontal stripes. Absolutely
breathtaking! Lucy was terrific, answering dozens and dozens of
questions. I noticed right away that her style was quite different from
last year. She came across much mellower today-- that was quite refreshing
to see

Lunacy ADDS: the press started coming out in full force. ET was there,
several other news shows, local stations. The security got tighter too. They
showed a nice new Xena video to that Tina Turner song YOU'RE SIMPLY THE BEST
(not sure about title) then came out THE Lawless one herself - Luce!! She
was wearing long purple boots, a light blue mini-skirt and a striped shirt -
what can I say - Lucy's taste in fashion is very much her own :)I could see
the baby blues. Also saw the HUGE rock Robert gave her - nice. In real life
she seems more like Meg than Xena. She was constantly cracking jokes. At one
point a little kid asked her if people ever got hurt on set. She said it
rarely happened although a stunt person recently needed stiches after
SOMEONE (and she notes "not ME!") hit him with a staff ;-) Spoke wonderfully
about Renee and everyone on the set.
A guy dressed up in a Salmoneous outfit went up to the mike and mentioned
that his daughter was a fan of the show then told Lucy that he hoped she and
the show's producers would be sensitive to their younger audience members
and tried to cut back on the inuendo. Lucy very nicely but quite quickly
told him that as a parent it was HIS responsibility to monitor what his
daughter looked at on TV and that Xena was ****NOT**** necessarily
appropriate for kids all the time - not just because of the "sexual
innuendo" either but also because of some of the violence. The fans went
berserk applauding.
Later on someone asked her if there were gonna be more Xena lookalikes on
the show. Lucy responded that they are working on an episode tentatively
titled WARRIOR POETESS TRAMP which is gonna feature a well-known poetess
from the ancient world. She looks at the audience and says something like
"can you guess grrls?!?!" Everyone screamed SAPPHO!!!!!! She smiled and then
added (I'm paraphrasing here) "Oh and where's the guy with the Salmoneous
outfit...make sure to screen that episode for your daughter - LOTS of that
stuff you were talking about in THAT episode!" It was absolutely wild. She
is VERY subtext friendly.

Lucy genuinely seemed to enjoy herself at the FIRST Burbank Con and
also at the New York Con. At this convention, she started out with a big old
smile ...walking from side to side on stage...waving and smiling at
everyone. (just like she did at the other two)... Then the personal
questions came....that's really a shame. (There were SOME good ones....but
the lousy ones were such a turn-off..I'm sorry ...it left a bad impression
on me). Lucy kept her cool...her humor...even went into Meg Mode...more
than once...to counter the stupidity of the personal questions. (I
mean...what else could she do?)

Lyn (KitchenWarrior) ADDS: Lucy held up her hand and showed her engagement
ring. I was in the 11th row (K), and could see it sparkle from there. Her
outfit (light blue short skirt + purple, white, green, and black stripe
rugby shirt) didn't quite match, but she told us last year that "Xena
doesn't care about what she wears, and I don't either". I thought she seemed
happy and very much in love. I hope it lasts forever.

Some questions were just too personal...
"Where did you get that scar on
your breast?" and
"What colors are you going to use in your wedding?" This
last one from a man!

She was a good sport - she even imitated Hudson's Callisto scream and did
her own "Yiyiyi" and threw a frisbee-chakrum out into the audience and
stuff...

Lucy was cool, and she did put up with a lot of insulting-type, insensitive
questions and situations and handled them gracefully (including some woman
asking her to sign her breasts... I mean, jeez...).

Of all the questions she avoided. The big one seems to be the one about that
scar. She seemed sort of shocked to even be asked. It was either that
question or another that prompted her to say "you guys sure know a lot more
about me then you did last year."

They (LL/Tapert) were both (understandably) pretty vague to all questions of
their impending nuptials, especially when and where.

She was asked where did Rob propose to her and she answered vaguely, "In New
York" and then added "On his knees"

Someone asked if it was going to be big wedding, and what the colors were
going to be...she said they both only planned on doing this once in their
lifetimes, so it would probably be fairly big, and the issue of colors
hadn't been decided yet.

Sharon Delany, thank you, SO much for not allowing that "love" song to be
performed!! Though I'm sure Lucy also didn't insist after hearing the
audience's collective groan even BEFORE the question was asked!!

One person stood at the microphone, swept her arm across the audience and
said, "Wow, look at all this....some ego boost, eh?"
Lucy just stood very still and quietly said, "Yes it is."
And that wasn't even this person's question!!

Lucy stated at the con that she cheated with the character development on
Leah, that she'd just given her a speech impediment. Not only that, but I
thought I distinctly heard her mention that she is not a Method actor...
She was saying that many people believe you need to immerse yourself, etc.,
but that she believes that you can draw on your own life's experiences or
one of the many different sides to your personality. (Paraphrased, as
usual.)
She studied acting n Vancouver with William P. Davis (cancer man X files), I
believe. And she talked about him at the Con. Said she
still approaches a script the way he taught her...and was happy he had
gotten a "second chance" at exposure, etc. She really holds him in very high
esteem.

She also said she feels that Meg is closest to her own true
self. Some fans may not have liked the ep. but Lucy sure did. She said she
loves doing the multiple roles, and especially loves Meg. Apparently she
used to *do* Meg as far back as high school.
She said she *is* Meg! <g> And as she walked over to the other side of the
stage, she said we now knew more about her than ever before.

Yeah, Lucy did comment at the Con that after watching W,P,T she was able to
tell which scenes of the episode were filmed earliest because in those
scenes she hadn't quite gotten Leah's accent down. She also said that it's
much easier for her to act when using an American accent as opposed to her
own NZ accent and get ready for one more! Lucy said yesterday that they are
working on WARRIOR,POET,TRAMP. She said "and guess who the poet is...I think
you gels ah going to like this one".

* There will be another W...P...T, except this time it'll be
W...Poetess...Tramp, and the poet will be Sappho.

Lucy did a great job answering questions.
The ones I find memorable were about dealing with fame, etc. Money is
important, she answered a fan who was trying to say money wasn't -- it
buys food, shelter, lets you do things.
But, Lucy said, waving in a circular motion before her, "this is not what
the meaning of life is."
She spends weekends with her daughter, who has girlfriends over to play
spy convention under the house. Lucy does her own dishes. I thought she
added that 'Daisy won't do the dishes'
Lucy was gracious and articulate, grateful for the fans, dedicated to
getting the most out of life. She said the one thing the show taught her
was to surrender -- that sometimes you just had to go with the flow and
couldn't change the world.

NOTE Correction fromTina Houle: Actually, she said she has "girls over at
the house every weekend...there are Spice Girls conventions every weekend
under her porch," or something along those lines. This was in answer to a
question about how Daisy feels about LL's fame. "She doesn't always like
having to share her mum, but she understands." (Paraphrased, again.)

* Gabrielle will have her own double

* ROC is apparently moving into a new house (so said LL).
Renee is "getting a house" according to Lucy.

NOTE addition Tina Houle:Also, there was a gentleman dressed as Salmoneus at
the Con (looked great! A runner up) who told LL that (no matter what anybody
said) his daughter was her *biggest* fan, and he, too, loved the show, and
he appreciated the fact that they kept the "very adult themes" veiled...and
asked that they continued to do that, and keep the kids in mind when making
the show.
LL answered: "Of course, yes, and I have something to add to
that - you must *screen* the TV." She had to wait until all the applause
died down, and then she went on to say some more stuff along the same
lines. (Sorry, verbiage escapes me.) She pointed out that it's very dark
and violent and scary, and that it can give children nightmares...and it
would have given her nightmares if she were that young.
When W...Poetess...Tramp (Sappho) was mentioned again, later,
and she said, "Where is that gentleman dressed as Salmoneus?
Yes...We'll be thinking of you for that one...but you might want to be
careful." Or something like that. Sorry, can't remember it all.

Rita Schnepp ADDS:(All parphrased):
Some asked what Lucy likes to watch on TV. She says, "I generally watch
the News and the Discovery Channel....I know that sounds a little too
'pc' but that's the truth...we don't have the time to watch too much
TV....." "I'm not really into watching fantasy TV or anything like
that....I have enough fantasy in my life right now." "We don't really
watch Xena...I need to get away from it."...."Sometimes you need to get
away from it to do a good job in it".
"Daisy really doesn't like to watch Xena. If she does...it's when Ted
is on...and She likes Hercules".
Then someone asked about Daisy's appearance on Hercules.
She said that she had a really small role and enjoyed herself. She
likes being on the Herc set. Kevin is great. Kevin (Sorbo) is really
great with the children on the set.

She reminded us that at home, she is Daisy's mom and that is how she is
treated. Her daughter Daisy only watches Xena if Joxer is on!
One tidbit she offered is that she loves horses, she was afraid of Argo (due
to her traumatic accident last year on the "Tonight Show" parking lot) until
only a few weeks ago, when she finally was able to realize that Tilly (the
horse who plays Argo) was NOT the same horse that fell on her. She told us
that although she had ridden horses as a child, she had given
it up in her teen years and had only taken it up again for Xena.

Another funny moment occurred when someone asked Lucy about working with
small children. She talked about filming Gabrielle's Hope and the twins
that were used to portray Hope.

Michelle ADDS: She said they had this mother with gorgeous twins that they
used for the part and here Lucy was going "Kill her!" She said the mother
hated her. And she kept reassurring the mother that it was just acting and
it was in the script. Lucy commented that the mother kind of said "Yeah,
yeah, I understand. I understand you just fine you little Xena you." It was
hilarious. :)

One guy asked if she would tell her life philosophy to everyone, and she
said that she didn't like being put in the role of guru

Somebody asked her if she read fanfiction. She said no that that was
something for the fans to enjoy. She lived it, and in her free time, the
last thing she would want to do is read stories.

So someone asked what she did in her free time. She paused thinking what
free time. Hmm, I go to conventions. She said something else too, but I
can't really remember.

There was tons of media was there, she didn't play it up for them. She was
just herself, no glitz, just a mellow Lucy. I like that. Then there was a
kid who wasn't paying attention at the mike, and to get her attention she
did her warcry at her. It was kind of funny.

We showed it to her (Flawless Banner to LL) in the question line and gave it
to Sharon to give to her. Um, I told her "On behalf of the Flawless mailing
list, the Lucy Lawless Fan Club, and all the Lucy fans here we would like to
Thank you for being you, for not dodging the hard questions, and for
embracing all of your fans. And since you couldn't sign autographs we
thought we'd give you ours." She said "thank you so much" .

Lucy: Hi! Your going to have to step up to the mic a little..
Acean: uh, ok.
Lucy: A little more (motioning me with her hand, stepping closer)
Acean: Sorry I am nervous (EVERYONE heard that I am sure! ::BLUSH:: WIMP!)
Lucy: its okay, so am I, now you have a question?
Acean: uh, yeah..
Lucy: (Nodding head /staring at me)
Acean: well, first I want to say (ugh can't believe I said this!) I love
you, and until I started watching Xena that was hard for me to tell
anyone...
Lucy: Awww, how sweet, thank you.
Acean: also I wanted to ask and you don't have to ofcoarse, (stuttering) if
you will say my favorite line from SOTP (told her the line)..
Lucy: Well, I think I can do that (looks at crowd) what do ya think?
CHEERS
(she steps forward and gets real close to me, looking me in the eyes)
Lucy: "You don't want to make me mad, now do you???"

Mil Toro ADDS:A girl asked if Xena would be getting a boyfriend on the show.
Lucy answered "We don't make that kind of show". I don't remember the full
answer of what she said but that is the gist of it. Basically, it sounded
like Lucy was saying
Xena already has someone (i.e. Gabrielle) in her life, why would she
need a boyfriend? That's the way I interpreted it, anyway

Mr. Tapert
Rob Tapert, who answered a lot of questions and dropped a few
hints--enough to keep us on the edge of our seats for the next few years!

He stated that, since he was at the first Burbank Con last January, he
originally didn't plan on attending today. But due in part to Kevin Sorbo's
injury last summer/fall, and the fact that he couldn't make it today he
decided to attend.

*He understands how strange it may seem to get slapstick following a very
dark and disturbing episode.From what I remember he basically said that it
is the result of technical/post problems, that sometimes they just can't get
the show done in time
*Networks don't like long continuing story arcs and demand that they
be broken up with "lighter" episodes.
*Networks exchange weaker stories for stronger ones to coincide with
"sweeps" periods.
*At the Burbank Con, Rob Tapert clarified that *each* episode is a
separate entity. He never meant to do a "serial" type of show. That's also
why they're not shown in order.
NOTE correction Tina Houle: If I recall, Tapert's comments were more along
the lines of the first paragraph above, not the second. He distinctly (in my
mind) said that, basically, the studios/networks/brass do *not* want the
shows to be episodic in nature...they want them to be self-contained. The
only way, then, that Tapert and pals could get the story arcs approved and
aired was to draw them out over multiple episodes and agree to throw in
unrelated comedies in between. I do not recall him saying that he didn't
want to do a serial...in fact, my impression was the opposite.

Michelle ADDS: Another question to Rob Tapert was a request for an
explanation of the episode order. He replied that they were simply breaking
up the sweep of the dark episodes by adding the comedic episodes.

Callisto will be killed off for good in this season, BUT Hudson
may find herself in another rennaissance project/series (seems they know a
good thing when they see it). They'd like to have both Tony Todd and
Melinda Clarke back, but nothing is set yet
Stand-in ADDS: It is her final season appearing as the Callisto
character on XWP. It was a producer decision to cut her character from
the series. Rob Tapert mentioned the possibility of a
spin-off series featuring Hudson Leick
LUNACY ADDS: Rob Tapert appeared that afternoon. Tall guy, nice looking.
ADMITTED HE HAS READ SOME FAN FIC!!! >:) When asked if this season was
really going to be IT for Callisto, he sort of hedged pointing out that the
woman has died a bunch of times but he did add that Hudson is one of those
people he loves to work with and when you like to work with someone, if you
finish a project then you find them another vehicle :)

Tapert was asked how Gabrielle got to Chin before Xena and knew where to
go, etc. His response? "You haven't seen the end of that; it'll be
addressed." Or something like that...

* Tapert said that the unanswered questions surrounding the battle
with Caesar and how Gabrielle got to Chin before Xena will be cleared
up. (The former will be a throwaway line, I believe...)

ZWolffADDS:Rob Tappert came out and demonstrated his backpedaling skills,
ducking questions and sayin' a whole lotta not much. Judging from what he
and some of the writers and directors said, we can look forward to a bigger
emphasis on comedy, more Xena "lookalike" eps,
eps about the executive staff of the show, more Widow Twanky...

Robert Field
Then came Robert Field, with a great presentation and Question and Answer
period. Then-- bloopers and continuity errors! with hilarious outtakes from
the shows.
One very special moment here:
Avicus was asked, "What was the most memorable scene in Xena that,
for one reason or another, had to be cut from the final episode?"

Avi thought for a bit, and told us about a scene from The Greater
Good:
Gab leaves the storehouse and grabs her staff from the pack on Argo's
back. She gabwhacks an innocent arboreal bystander, then collapses
in tears.
What follows next is something we never saw...
***As Gabrielle is crying, Argo approaches and begins to nuzzle her.
Gabby gets up, begins to stroke Argo's head and nose and says, "I
guess it's just you and me now, girl."***
This was the defining moment of transition in Gabby's relationship
with Argo, but the episode ran too long and something had to go.

Hudson Leick
Lunacy ADDS:she's tall and EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY skinny - nicely proportioned
though. She comes out wearing this skin tight, STRAPLESS, black, vynil and
latex two-piece leotard outfit. She looked (and moved) like a feline. I
think at one point she even purred ;-) You can tell she's a veteran now at
doing conventions. She's quite the performer although ocassionally the
genuine Hudson surfaces revealing a very nice, talented lady with a big
heart who is just having a HELL of a good time! Ephany (an avid fan) showed
she has ovaries of STEEL when she goes up there and BETS Hudson to a game of
Truth or Dare!!!! Hudson ended up inviting her on stage and planting a kiss
right on Eph's lips! Ephany then sang her a song during which came one of
those genuine moments when those of us in the audience could tell Hudson was
moved. Afterwards, Hudson kneels in front of Eph and starts bowing to her. I
don't know if Eph was more shocked by the bowing or by the cleavage
conveniently revealed... ;-)
*She took one question from a girl (woman) who had sung a song for Renee
at the San Francisco Con and it started out with her saying "Truth or
Dare!" Hudson said "Dare" and after a smile she had her come up on stage
and gave her a kiss! Then the girl said because she had sung Renee a song
and Hudson was her favorite she had to sing another song for Hudson.
Hudson cried as the girl sang and at the end Hudson got down on her
knees and bowed to her.

Briefly, Hudson was the highlight for me. I hadn't seen her in person
before and she blew me away with the personality she projected. She was
there to entertain us and boy, did she ever. She was wearing some tight
black leather bustier and pants combo that was something to see (I'm sure
the pictures will be posted soon).

She was wonderful, entertaining, and quick with
the answers. She really wanted to make the whole experience special for
the fans. She took questions from both sides of the stage and this gave
her a chance to strut back and forth (at one point she was having
trouble with the mic cord and gave it big yank! The cord came unplugged
and she had to get down on all fours to plug it back in)

Limitededition ADDS: It started with her first words "meow" and got better
from there. She worked the crowd the whole time she was up there. When
people would ask if they could take a picture with her, the crowd would
booo. She would look out, and say "this is my stage." It was awesome. She
didn't turn anybody down, and I understand that she stayed until all the
autograph seekers were done.
*She didn't answer any questions....honestly...for lack of a better word. It
was more like what we wanted to hear. Which is fine with me.
When someone asked about Callisto being killed off, it was kind of neat too.
She didn't say anything, just walked down the stairs slowly to that person.
I can't remember what she said. Something about she might have her own show,
but it won't be Callisto. She said "Callisto kill a family of 4 tonite on
Callisto." I wonder who she is going to be. It's got to be someone good, but
she is so good when she's bad.
*An old guy came up and told her that he had been around forever, and seen a
bunch of actresses, but she has got the talent and beauty to go all the way.
She seemed moved by his statement. A little later she said that she greatly
appriciated everything that the fans had done for her, and it seemed from
the heart, but again she is a professional actress.

ZWOLFADDS:Lessee, what all did she do... when she first got up there she
said, "Meow." Then she said "Have you all been bad? .... Me too." Then she
took a girl on stage and kissed her on the mouth and then bowed down and
undulated before her after she sang some (bad) song, and she'd let a lot of
people come on the stage and take photos with her even though it was against
the rules (I'm pretty sure she was giving security fits - Ummm, what else...
she did her Callisto scream and attempted the Xena yell (and made us promise
to make Lucy do a Callisto scream the next day), she flirted with the
nervous questioners ("Oooo, you're shaking... I _like_ that in a man!"), she
said she found Danielle McCormack more attractive than Kevin Smith or that
Urban twerp.

fanfan: I think it's pretty much common knowledge now that Callisto won't be
back after this season, so I'm not using any spoiler alerts here.
Both Rob Tapert and Hudson confirmed this at the convention. What I
found interesting was that both also dropped hints that Hudson the
actress will NOT be going away.

I myself would have preferred to hear from her what she's been doing, her
reactions to what's been happening, etc. for a bit. We would have got a lot
more information than we did from the questions. And she remained very
serious through all the questions. I will say she did try to give very
thoughtful answers to everyone.

Hudson was great!!! She is what every fan wishes a star would be like!!! She
is friendly, and easy to pop into character to entertain, even w/o being
asked.Some people see that as being a Ham, but i see it as giving ME (the
FAN) what i want!!! She paid special attention to several of the people
asking questions and even gave a shy high school boy who was having trouble
at his school (also her former H.S btw) a chance to take home a photo and i
think she knew that a photo of him holding her in his arms couldn't hurt his
rep any!! Smart lady!

Another question was by a mother for her teenage son. The son is going
to the same high school that Hudson went to and the question was about
dealing with high school in general. After a few comments about how
tough high school was including , "That is where I discovered Callisto",
Hudson told the mother she would like to have a pic with her son and
would she ask him to come up on stage. When he didn't come right up
Hudson got off of the stage and brought him up. Once on the stage he put
his arm around and basically picked her up. The cameras flashed and he
fled quickly. Tina ADDS:-- What I loved about this bit was HL charging off
the stage yelling
"??? GET YOUR BUTT UP HERE!!"
Lunacy ADDS:Later on some lady went up to ask Hudson on behalf of her son
how Hudson had made it through high school since the boy goes to the same
high school Hudson did. Hudson went down into the audience, found the young
man, brought him up on stage and took a picture with him then suggested he
just "look for the love".

She gave special time to us in her fan club and i was very impressed with
her during that behind the scenes time..

Hudson said she would stay to take pics with anyone that wanted. So
there was a mad dash out to doors and a line that stretched around the
hallways. When security finally let her out they said she could only
stay for 15 minutes though so many were disappointed. I left early

Kevin Smith
Then, Ares! Tight top and jeans-- the ladies (and, heck, the guys) really
loved him. This
guy is so cool, and such a nice man to boot.

Kevin Smith looked wonderful as well
and I really loved his New Zealand accent. He came across as a humble,
sweet guy.

Lunacy adds:they showed a FANTASTIC Ares video to the music of that song BAD
TO THE BONE (not sure of the title on that). Then Kevin Smith came
out....SKIN TIGHT beige t-shirt....VERY, VERY, VERY...fit ;-) The man is
also INCREDIBLY nice. Physically he looks to me like a dark, biker, dude,
rocker type. His hair was curly and long - longer than he usually wears it
on the TV series and he had his normal Ares goatte. The sideburns were there
but not quite as long as the God of War wears them. He has a fantastic Kiwi
accent - kept welcoming everyone with a "hi mate" and then telling them
"cheers mate" when they finished. He's been married for 14 yrs. and has a
bunch of kids which you can tell because he is good with kids. One funny
moment came when someone asked him which character he would like to be if he
could be someone other than Ares. His answer - "Argo" ;-) Everyone cracked
up! Many a Xenite was going "Yeap - definitely, sounds good."

If Kevin Smith could be any other character it would be Argo :-)

ZWolf ADDS:Then Kevin Smith came out. I gotta say, the guy was VERY cool.
Very nice to the questioners, no attitude, and he gracefully put up with
some sexual harassment from a few women (although he did seem a little
embarrassed by it... y'know, if people talked to Lucy the way they talked to
Kevin, people probably would've booed 'em... I mean, I really wanna _see_
somebody tell Lucy "Baby, you're workin' that shirt!" :P )
He can sing, too - he sang part of the New Zealand National Anthem, and said
he used to be in some prog-rock band.
He talked about his lack of martial arts training, how he's not really all
that Ares-like, life in New Zealand, etc. since he had to fly out right
after his con appearance, he pre-signed a bunch of photos and those were
given out to everybody with the preferred seating, so his was the only
autograph I got.

Brad Carpenter
Brad Carpenter showed some slides of upcoming episodes (namely,
Bitter Suite) and they were stunning...and very, very evocative. In
particular, there was a slide with Xena standing, arms stretched upward,
with a prone Gabrielle balancing on her hands...looked like Xena was
about to hurl her off a cliff. Oh, boy...looks intense. I dunno about
the "touchy-feely" issue, but it certainly looks gut-wrenching

* The stills he showed for BS were incredible.
The costumes *alone* were enough to make me watch...and as I mentioned
already, that one image of Xena about to throw Gabrielle off a cliff...was
incredibly intense.

* Carpenter's leaving his position to do something (I think
merchandising) with Gay Entertainment TV - a new network (I think)
devoted to, well, gay TV. He said it'll start out in the bigger markets,
at selected times. Probably the way some channels show regular
programming most of the time, but are also infomercial channels the rest
of the time. I dunno.
SAL FAN ADDS:Brad Carpenter was the first guest. Some points he made: he
will host a Home Shopping Network segment on HerK/Xena memorabilia, Tuesday,
Jan. 27-- at 8 PM, I believe-- check your local listings. He's leaving
Renaissance Pictures to join a TV organization in NYC--

Rob Trebor/Salmoneus
a young kid asked, "Will your character ever do a part where you are on
Xena?" There was a pregnant pause and then
the whole place broke up! Rob asked him to clarify the question a little
and the kid just dug himself in deeper. After admonishing the audience
for our interpretation of the words he said he had been on Xena many
times - That brought the house down.

he will be in at least three new HerK episodes, no Xena yet :( Let's keep
hoping

Rob Trebor signed for anyone that wanted it (Good Man!).

Danielle Cormack
Danielle was very good, very nervous, and very witty. The surprise was
when Carl Urban and Kevin Smith came out and asked her how it was to
work with them on the set. With a straight face, she answered that they
were kind, considerate, sensitive and wonderful actors. ? They both just
looked at her. Then the whole place broke up!
LUNACY ADDS:Danielle Cormack was next. Danielle is delightful! It was her
first con and you could TELL! She was nervous, giddy I would say. She was
wearing a very simple black leotard cut off above the ankle with sandals.
She is very beautiful. Had Ephiny's curly hair but longer than we're used to
seeing it in the series. She said that she had just had a baby. Trust me you
couldn't tell from her figure. She has a WONDERFUL Kiwi accent. In the
middle of her appearance pop out from behind the stage Karl Urban and Kevin
Smith!!! They brought the house down! Karl is very cute - WILD from what I
hear and you could tell. He started doing an Elvis impersonation. Kevin was
more quite. Has a dark, bad boy look (more on that later >:) They stayed for
a few minutes kidding around with Danielle then left.

* Danielle and Kevin will soon start shooting a movie called
Channeling Baby. It may have a different title if/when it makes it here.

Danielle Cormack as many have stated was a bit nervous and kinda quiet but
she was imho, funny and witty and BY THE GODS, she was gorgeous..

According to Danielle, Ephiny is QUEEN of the Amazons

Acean asked her if she could add a tribute to Daniel on her "tribute pages"
and D replied "uh, well, sure, i would be honored (long pause) as long as
there's none of them "nudie" photos, you hear?"

Limitededition ADDS:"What's it like to work with Renee and Lucy?" What's she
supposed to say, right? She said that "they were horrible people," jokingly
of course.
*It was pretty cute when this kid came up to ask her a question and stated
that she was nervous. Danielle sort of goes "ppff" like she was too. I like
her much more after seeing her in person.
*The most interesting question she got in my opinion was was she going to
move to the states so that she could hit it big in her acting career. She
said No because when people get famous over there they tend to run away.
That her country need good actors there and that she was going to stay
there. We applauded her for that, and I guess she thought we were going to
flame her for that because she was geniunely surprised. After that I think
she thought we were okay.
*She must've because when asked what her favorite episode of Hercules or
Xena was, she admitted that she hadn't actually seen an episode, and for us
not to throw tomatoes.
*Cupid and Ares came out on the stage to help her out, but I think they only
broke her flow. She was doing fine before they came out. She even set Ares
up to sing the New Zealand national anthem, which he did. It might be a lot
of work, but I think they are having fun with each other over there.

Steve Sears
Steven Sears was hanging around even though he wasn't scheduled on stage

talked to Steve Sears, asking him what his favorite ep was. He said
"Dreamworker" -- the ending, with the lake, evoked the nicest response
from so many fans.

Liz Friedman and R.J. Stewart
R.J. and Friedman presented together.
They said they really hadn't intended to shunt Caesar, Julius Caesar off
to the side that way (in Destiny), but that it became clear as they
developed the episode that Gabrielle's story/experience was much more
important and
they needed to focus on it instead....that it would be cleared up or at
least mentioned later.....Don't be surprised if it's a throw away
line...that's the impression I got.
Michelle ADDS:When asked why the Caeser/Boadicea storyline essentially just
got dropped they replied that the story of Gabrielle became more important

Barron ADDS:-- Liz (and RJ) were asked point blank about the rape.
Basically, "How do you justify this?" Her answer was sort of evasive. That
they wanted to tell a story about ultimate evil entering the world and that
they figured that evil can only enter through corrupted goodness (i.e.
Gabs). Thus, in her mind, the violation was not the Flames bit, but Gabs
killing. As she put it, "there was no one on top of Gabs raping her".
These are to the best of my memory and may be a bit off.
MIchelle ADDS: The Question "Why was the rape of Gabrielle necessary for
character growth." was asked. Liz responded that they believed that the way
for evil to enter the world was through the corruption of good. And in her
opinion(she stated this "This is my opinion"), she did not see the scene as
rape because there was no guy crawling on top of Gabrielle. And that plot
point was necessary for the story.
LYN ADDS: Liz Friedman did say that *in her mind* Gab was
not raped (violated in a sexual way) , that was not the intent. She
seemed surprised that we took it that way
Deemcee ADDS: Liz Friedman was asked about the 'rape scene'.
The way I understood her answer was .. Gabrielle's body was pocessed/taken
over/ inpregnated by an 'evil spirit' aka Dahok.
In Liz's mind that was not rape. Gabrielle's body was just the host for the
'evil kid'.

Michelle ADDS: And a question fielded at RJ Stewart was "What is your
interpretation of Gabrielle? Or how do you see the character?" He replied
with some vagueries about a kid that's out to see the world and has grown at
Xena's side and matured.

Bernadette Joyce
who emphasized the addition of sounds in post-production. This
presentation, featuring Doug Stone and Tim (sorry-- I didn't catch his last
name :( ) who are responsible for adding background voices, and Jason
Schmitt, who won a "Golden Reel" (the equivalent of an Oscar) for his work
on "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," was a real treat.
In addition, it was pointed out that Jason came up with the sound the
chakram makes, as well as coming up with the "whoosh" sound effect. In a
rare moment of virtual unanimity, it appears that
everyone at the Con liked having the "whoosh" sound effect as a regular
feature of Xena.

Michael Levine
He showed some footage from THE QUEST that had never been seen before. I
missed this part because Michael wasn't actually scheduled for Saturday. He
was supposed to be on stage on Sunday

Next came Michael Levine, director of several HerK and Xena episodes. He
showed us some "lost scenes" from "The Quest", specifically involving
additional dialogue between Xena and Gabrielle before "the kiss." Xena said
that she wanted to die at first, but then realized she could undo evil by
doing good in the future

Rob Weisbrot
wrote THE OFFICIAL GUIDE TO XENA which is excellent by the way

Misc. comments and other comments not attributed to anyone in particular

CREATION: For those wondering where Renee was, she was filming a Xena-free
ep. We will try to have them together sometime in the future, but the only
time it can possibly happen is during their two-month hiatus which is
between mid-August to mid-October.

* Videos of future cons may become a reality if Creation follows
our suggestions

* Lao Ma is not a character they intended to bring back, but
they'll take the idea into consideration. They didn't sound too positive
on that particular request.

Gary Gerani, editor for TOPPS Comics, gave a brief presentation on some of
the HerK/Xena stuff, including the comic books, magazine, and new Xena
Trading Cards-- I hope the collation is more favorable this time<G>.

I (Ru) am truly honored, and really pleased to have been a part of the
convention.Thanks to all who were at the Saturday afternoon Q&A with
XenaBard. I'm going to do my level best the next few months to make certain
that someone (even if it isn't me, though I selfishly hope it is) gets the
opportunity to write more Xena novels.Thank you again. You've made one
writer a very happy person. Best, ru

this came from Creation, not the rumor mill.....the reason Lucy didn't sign
autographs and hang around for pictures was her choice...If she couldn't
sign for everyone, not just those lucky few in the gold circle or preferred
seating, she didn't want to sign. Her "handlers" wouldn't let her do that,
so
she did what she thought was fair

The Charity Auction followed. In excess of $4000 was raised. No chakrams for
bid today, but a bunch of great autographed items (Thank you, CREATION<G>).
Robert Field, one of the editors for Xena, made a special appearance to
discuss the final item up for bidding, which was the editor's original
parted script for "The Return of Callisto," signed by a bunch of folks.
There's a story behind this. The script originally went to Bret at the
WarriorCon in Washington, DC, last September, 1997. He donated it back to
Rob, who then had it signed by "everyone," then re-auctioned it. What
generous folks we have among our fans! SPOILERS

The Herc Episode Armageddon looks wild with Xena as an evil Queen and
Gabs a slave and also Callisto in the mix. Should be fun. In fact all the
Herc stuff they showed looked like fun!

Lunacy ADDS: Here are some of the spoilers I saw or heard about at the con:
(Don't cont. too read if you don't want to be spoiled!)

Among the clips Brad Carpenter showed there was one, supposedly from BITTER
SUITE which has Xena holding an unconscious Gabrielle straight over her head
- apparantely getting ready to throw her over a cliff. Xena is wearing her
armor, the Gabster is in a white dress. This gave me the chills folks -
particularly when combined with the fact that Solon **WILL** be in MATERNAL
INSTINCTS and is apparantely either killed or hurt. I love this show but
it's going to take a LOT to convince me that X&G could EVER share as strong
a friendship as what they've had until now if Hope kills Solon. We shall
see...

Another clip, again from BITTER SUITE, has Xena dressed up as a queen on a
throne - sprawled in front of her on the ground is Gabrielle dressed like a
peasant with guards around her.

When Danielle Cormack appeared she was asked if she was going to be in any
more episodes. She sort of laughed and then said something to the effect
that after the last one she doubted we would be seeing any more of Ephiny.
Some people have assumed she just felt like she did a bad acting job on that
and the XWP people would not want her back. I think it was RJ Stewart when
he appeared the next day who said that Danielle has done a great job
regardless of what she said. I'm not sure if this was a hint about something
happening to Eph or not. Again...we shall see.

Another new episode coming up called King Con apparantely will be about
gambling. They showed a picture of the "hunk" who will be on the show and
comented that he will show a romantic interest in Xena.

They showed one HILARIOUS clip from QUILL which showed Ares and Aphrodite
having a VERY bad hair day!! :) They both looked beaten up and dirty.
Apparantely in the show Gab gets the power to make real anything she writes