Gina Torres (Cleopatra)

 

Gina is very tall, slim and elegant.  She actually looks like a model.She resembles Naomi Campbell in looks but would never share herreputation as being difficult.  In fact, Gina is very kind, soft andfriendly in dealing with her fans.  She has a great sense of humor andis thoroughly charming and warm.  She told us that her parents came fromCuba.Gina announced that she has good news.  She is married now and verylucky.  We all could see that she really IS lucky by the big smile shewore for everybody.Gina praised working on both the sets of Xena and Hercules.  She saidit was just wonderful to work with these people... like being part of afamily.  Many of them were far away from their home, so they had createda family atmosphere there.  It was even more like a family at Xena due to theinfluence of having so many women on the show.  She said Lucy took careof everybody who was new and paid extra attention to seeing they becamepart of the Xena family.  Working with Lucy and Reneé was really a pleasure for her.  Gina was asked why she hadn't played Cleopatra in a later episode of"Anthony and Cleopatra". She told us that the producers wanted her to bein this episode but she had other things to do and couldn't.  She saidshe is sorry about this now.  Gina was also asked to sing a song for us.She did.  And she totally impressed me with her full and rich voice!Wow! This gifted woman has many skills.Then Victoria Pratt and Gina Torres had to sign the huge Xena Conventionbanner as did all the attending performers.  Except Victoria was notable to reach Cyane's picture and sign her autograph.  As she struggledand stretched to do so, her friend Gina came from behind and lifted herup so that she could reach.  They were both laughing a lot, obviouslyhaving fun together.  That would have been really a Kodak moment.  Sorryto say that I didn't have my camera ready and missed it.

 

Steven L. Sears

Although the program schedule did not list his name, I was happy whenSteven appeared on stage. He had brought a closed lid box with him. He told us that he has manyboxes which he had kept from his work on Xena at home.  Some were stillunpacked.  He opened the box in front of us and took out each itemseparately showing it to the audience.  Steven explained that even hedid not know what the box would actually contain. The box he had with him this time included several cute soft toys, aplastic gun that shot darts, Xena trading cards from Season One and somefrom Hercules, a number of Steven's own business cards from his days asa co-executive producer, a Xena magazine, and photographs that Xena fans had sent tohim.  Except for the photographs, Steven threw most of the stuff intothe audience.  Everybody began reaching and jumping to try and catchsomething. Steven also joined us on Saturday evening at the "Dionysian DessertDance Party" together with some of the other celebrities. He has alwaysbeen close to the fans and it is easy to talk to him.  Like Alison Walland Murray Keane, he even remained during the disco dance segment, butunfortunately refused to dance.He also appeared on stage on Sunday afternoon along with Alison Wall andMurray Keane to comment on the episode "A Day in the Life" with them.That was a great idea!  Next year the folks at Creation should do thisagain with another popular episode like "When Fates Collide" and inviteKatherine Fugate to participate. It really brought the audience closerand generated a good-hearted warmth for us all to be watching thisepisode together (Most of us knowing the dialogue by heart.).  I reallyenjoyed it a lot and I think Steven did as well.  He told us he hadwatched the episode right before he came on stage because he hadforgotten many parts.  Steven admitted although the idea for thisepisode was a risky one, upon seeing it again, he thought how funny thisreally was!  They wanted to show a typical day in the life of Xena andGabrielle where nothing really happened. Just a day like any other daywhere both of them would do "normal things" like cooking, catching fish,bathing, using the toilet....Things that everybody knows about but wereactually never shown on screen before.It was very important to cast the right Guest Stars for this story andin his opinion, they-Alison and Murray-were just perfect.  Heremembered when he saw Alison for the very first time. She stood therein Minya's leather costume, whip-yielding, with a wild look in her eyesand Steven' s only thought was:   "This is a harmless, good naturedwoman villager?? Oh my God!!" At that moment she really looked more likea dominatrix.The story itself was really the result of a team effort.  The story wasdeveloped using this process.  First, a team member would suggest anidea.  Then another person would say "No, we CAN'T do THAT...but maybewe can do it a bit different."  Steven was asked by a fan why Xenaactually didn't fart in this episode and he told us they had wanted herto do so but then decided against it later.  Because they kept tellingeach other "No, we can't do that!" the scene with Xena using Gabrielle'sscroll as toilet paper was taken out, too, but  after some discussionfinally made it back into the script.  Steven revealed he had writtenGabrielle's reaction to this "abuse" like he had thought he might havereacted.

Katherine Fugate

Katherine is a great and natural person.  I really like her.  She hadthe rather difficult job of appearing on stage right before Reneé 'sperformance.  There was a lot of anticipation and excitement alreadyamong the fans and the staff from Creation was very busy, too.  Plus,many of us had to be on line for autographs with other celebrities andcouldn't listen to everything because of this.  Sorry to say I was oneof them.

But thanks to her reassuring personality and good news, Katherine gotour attention anyway.She started right away to tell us about the Xena movie project! Oh yes,she has already finished the outline of the script! The story wouldstart after Xena's death and the FIN final Episode.  For the movie, shewould like to bring as many guest stars from the show back as possible.She was asked about Joxer and responded that she would try to bring hischaracter back as well.There is only one last hurdle to face.  This is about the ownershiprights for a possible movie.  Rob Tapert is trying to get these rightsfrom Universal Studios. His lawyers are involved already and Katherinefeels they are very good. Nobody seems to know who actually owns therights. Katherine herself is confident that the project will berealized rather soon.  And the best thing:  Lucy and Reneé are stillready and willing to take the leading roles for a Xena movie. (Yay!)And lastly, Katherine delivered kind regards from her friend, AlexandraTydings (Aphrodite) to all of us.  Alexandra was very sorry that shecouldn't come to Burbank this time. Me, too. But there is always nextyear!    

                                    Reneé O'Connor (Gabrielle) and Lucy Lawless (Xena)

The excitement and tension thrill was noticeable well in advance ofReneé 's Saturday afternoon theatrical performance, which for most, ifnot all of the fans, would be the highlight of this convention.  Addingto the heightened anticipation was the announcement made on Friday byAdam from Creation that there would be a huge surprise come Saturdayand we should all have plenty of film in our cameras ready for this.  Ofcourse, there were rumors after this announcement that Lucy might showup during Reneé 's performance.  But honestly, I didn't believe it, butthen I thought, Lucy would not only make my day, but my whole year ifshe should come.  I know I am NUTZ but I am a big fan of Lucy and adoreher.

When Reneé entered the stage, everybody stood up and the applausewouldn't stop for a very long time.  Though she was obviously incharacter, she walked like a very old Gabrielle, with a grey wig,glasses and bowed with age.  She wore a tight shirt with long sleevesand had on her famous BGSB. She began reminiscing with the audienceabout a Xena Convention she had attended in 2004. And that today hergrandson asked her why she was wearing her Gabrielle costume. And shehad responded to him...because she still can!  That was so funny!  Shewalked around with Gabrielle's fighting staff in her hand, still like anold woman, while talking in an old woman's voice to us.  She called theXena staff and crew her family and included the Xena fans as familymembers as well.Reneé gave a portrayal of five additional characters on stage and shedid a perfect job with this!  She totally engaged me with her fantasticacting.  Actually, I never felt that she was merely acting!  Reneé isa talented and adorable actress, indeed.  Without the wig - her blondehair had grown longer since last year- she just looked splendid.One of her characters was an actress who while sitting in her dressingroom waiting to go on, began to think about her audience.In my opinion, Reneé looked best as a Rodeo girl from Texas dressed intan tight pants, with a denim shirt and cowboy hat which fitted herperfectly. It was a touching story of how the rodeo has diminished from achallenging sport to a commercial side show and Renee told it in a veryemotional way.Next, she portrayed a daughter whose mother was dying of cancer.  Shetold about the brave fight of this mother knowing she had only threemonths to live. The mother asked her daughter to buy 90 glass marblesand put them in a bowl close to her bed.  Every evening, the mother letone of the marbles fall to the floor.  And Reneé really let each onefall. We all were so very silent and the only noise we could hear wasthe sound of the marbles falling to the floor...It was the most movingstory and I welled up in tears several times while Reneé was in thischaracter.Her next character portrayal was an Indian woman, who held a snake inher hands which actually was a scarf. That was very clever. Thisintriguing piece was about a woman who had to deal with the religiousvalues of her father and the choices of good and evil.Then Reneé removed her shirt with the long sleeves showing a black topunderneath. Her arms and shoulders now revealed lots of colorful tattooswhich symbolized the marks that every person her character had ever metleft upon her.  With red lipstick, she drew a "scar" across her cheekwhich had been inflicted on her by a violent man.  She told us howimportant all these marks were...every one indicated a significantmemory in her life-- although not necessarily good ones. The performance was over after this and Reneé received a hugh lengthyapplause and standing ovations from everyone!  Then she told the audiencein a very touching way about her teacher who had taught her to open herheart while acting.  She turned her gaze outward toward the audience andwelled up in tears while remembering her. The teacher had been sittingin the audience the whole time. It really was a touching moment.

 

The Surprise/ A Crazy Xena Fan Now Sharon Delaney announced it was time for questions from theaudience.  Some people raised their hands and one of the fans who had aseat in the first couple of rows kept shouting out all the time that shehad a question to ask.  Sharon chose her to ask her question. Sheshouted that her name was Pat and she was a fan of the show. She saidshe always had wanted to know how it felt to kiss Lucy Lawless!  Reneé looked a bit irritated at first, but only for a second.  Then shescreamed out:  "What are you doing here?!" and jumped from the stage reaching thewoman and hugging her. Of course, it was nobody else than LUCY LAWLESS HERSELF!!

The riot that followed was unbelievable! We all screamed and applaudedfor minutes! It was a moment I will never forget for my whole life.Lucy wore a wig with black wild hair and black rimmed glasses. Shelooked very tall and really big with an enormous belly.  Only her legs looked thin.  She was dressed in jeans and a Rosie O'Donnell jacket,probably size XXL, as a crazy Xena fan. I guess I wouldn't have recognized her with the wig and those clothes.  Lucy and Reneé got back on stage together and Lucy repeated her questionto Reneé about the kiss. Her voice deep and husky. Lucy stayed incharacter all the time.  Reneé responded with a laugh and a lilt in her voice:  "Come here--I'll show you!!!" I am sorry to say she didn'tin front of us. Perhaps she got a chance back stage.  Lucy--as a crazyXena fan-- asked further that she always had wondered about how often they had to practice for the kiss and how many times it took to re-shoot this scene.

Lucy wore a black leather bag around her stomach telling Reneé that this is such a practical bag if you have kids with you and you need both of your hands free. She told Reneé that she had wanted to watch her perform because she never had watched her perform solo on stage before.This comment reminded me very much of what Xena had told Gabrielle in"Ides of March" about never having read her scrolls. She also told Reneé how much she liked the snake while laughing a lot.  Lucy andReneé apparently hadn't seen each other for a while.  They bothmentioned how they had planned to get together but then one of their sons had become ill.

Then some of the fans said they wanted to see Lucy's hair.  Lucy would have preferred to remain in character but the fans begged her to removethe wig to see her more clearly. As she reluctantly began to remove it,Reneé went behind her and with gentle care helped  her do so.Everyone cheered.  But it was lovely to watch the two of them as Reneé adjusted Lucy's hair so it could fall down loosely.  As I watched Ireally could feel the special chemistry between these two women.  It iswhat had made Xena so special for most of us, I think.Lucy asked Reneé about her latest movie project. Then she told Reneé she would visit a class for photography now. Reneé obviously wasn`t sure whether to believe it or not and asked: "Is that true?" "Nope!" Lucy responded. They were both so funny together!

Then they left the stage together. I guess they had a lot of catching up to do and I amhappy these two friends were finally able to spend some time together. Sharon Delaney told us later that Lucy had to fly to New Zealand for some final scenes to shoot for her movie "Boogeyman".  She did not knowup until this Thursday (the day before the Convention) whether or notLucy would be back in time to appear.   When she found out --it was too late to add her name to the program but Lucy wanted to surprise Reneé and the fans.  Lucy did not get paid for her appearance. She just had fun doing it.  

Sharon shared a humorous story of how the surprise was almost spoiled.While driving to the Convention with friends, Sharon asked Lucy what shewould ask Reneé as a crazy fan.  That's when they came up with thequestion about the kiss.  Reneé knew nothing about the surprise but oncebackstage they almost met as Reneé was getting ready to perform. Sharon said she had to push Lucy back into another room because Reneé almost bumped into Lucy who was already in costume.  But Lucy being the goodsport and professional she is, quickly looked down and covered her facewith the hair from the wig.  Reneé never did recognize Lucy and even ifshe had seen her, Reneé probably would feel secure knowing Sharon would protect her from a crazy fan...  Sharon told us the clothes Lucy wore belonged to Rob.  Lucy entered the auditorium at the time we were all on our feet wildly applauding to welcome Reneé just before her performance.  Nobody paid any attention as the crazy fan quietlyslipped into her seat several rows from the stage---not even the womanwho sat next to her and belonged to the Creation staff.  Lucy sat all the time among us, watching Reneé and the reaction of the fans tothis incredible one woman theatrical  performance.  I am sure sheenjoyed this very much.  What a performance! What a great surprise forall of us!

 

Charles Keating (Zeus)

Charles made a strong presence from the very second he appeared onstage. His rhetoric abilities were impressive.  This man was born to bein the theatre. He is originally from Ireland but appeared most of hisprofessional life as an actor in England. He told us that, in hisopinion, the American audiences are the most generous and accepting.  InGreat Britain, the audience would show you immediately if they liked anactor or not.Charles did a fabulous job of quoting classic poems and flawlesslydelivering several speeches from several parts of Shakespearean dramas.When the audience asked for more, he was able to improvise with ease.He received a huge applause from everyone. Asked about Meg Foster, who had played Zeus' wife Hera on Xena (andHercules), he told us how friendly and caring "this young woman"-hemeant Meg-was and that he had a good time working with her.When it was time for Charles to leave, Adam from Creation came on stageand suggested he might try to invite Charles, together with Meg Foster,for the next Convention and maybe include both of them in an evening performance. From the applause, I am sure everybody liked the idea.During the many social events he attended, Charles was every bit thedignified and gentle man he portrayed on stage. He was very kind andappeared comfortable with the fans at the "Happy Hour" which heattended along with Hudson Leick on Friday evening.  He graciously andwillingly allowed his fans to take his picture and chat about hisaccomplishments--- all with great ease and patience.Charles Measure (Michael) and Bobby Hosea (Marcus)

 Probably due to a full schedule and time restraints, Creation hadCharles and Bobby appear on stage together.  Actually and in fact itturned out to be a good idea and seemed to work out very well. ForBobby, this was his first appearance at a Xena Convention.  Both live inNew Zealand, though Charles was partly raised in other countries.  Theyare both very attractive, charming and pleasant men.  Charles and Bobbyare very tall, but although their bodies are athletic, they look muchslimmer than they appear on the TV screen, especially Charles.Charles told us that his angel wings were rather heavy and difficult tomove around in---each wing weighing 20 pounds!  He was upset at firstwhen he was told he would have to try and kill Xena's daughter in "TheGod You Know".  In "Fallen Angel" he had to rescue Gabrielle and hadthought "I can do this" but then to later kill Eve ...Well, he had tothink, "Oh, I can do this, too.  Of course, I can do this." Though hethought this was kinda strange.Charles told us an amusing story.  A fan who had asked him a questionaddressed him as "Michael" by mistake. But Charles said he was used tothis. It seemed that everyone on the set of Xena used to call himMichael, too.  "Come here, Mike." they'd say.  Charles felt Xena was anawesome show. In his opinion nothing looks greater than "good lookingkick-butting women" and he liked the whole story very much. When askedabout his private life...Charles said he called himself a convincedsingle and is happy about this.Bobby is for me one of the nicest guys I have ever met.  He is verynatural, very kind, soft mannered and good looking. He is such a cutie.Always a pleasant smile on his face.  I would think he is very similarin real life to the character he played on Xena. (No wonder Xena lovedhim!)  Bobby has been married for 27 years and is still very happy inhis marriage.  He has two kids.  He speaks only in the kindest way aboutLucy and the whole Xena family. Bobby believed it was time for a realstrong woman to make her way onto TV.  He was happy to have been able to work withthese people.  I do hope Creation will bring Bobby back to futureConventions.  

 

Alison Wall (Minya) and Murray Keane (Hower)

Alison and Murray had arrived on Saturday. I saw them at the Hotel Barwith some other celebrities that evening. They were obviously having afun time. At the "Dionysian Dessert Dance Party" they came togetherand pretty much remained together going from table to table. They musthave accepted at least a hundred hugs from fans and endured hundreds offlashlights from our cameras as well. Both were very kind to everybodyand really were funny. They were easy to talk to and had many humorousanecdotes to share with the fans. Alison jokingly told us she hadforgotten her whip, but Murray deserved a few lashes. Later in theevening, there was disco dancing. Alison and Murray were-together with Steven L. Sears- the only celebrities who stayed on with us and even danced with the fans. I thinkthey had as much fun as we did having them with us. On Sunday, they were on stage together as well. Both are so funny. Theyobviously are good friends in real life. They truly are a delight!Alison looked much taller (she is 5 feet 8) and slimmer in person thanshe appeared as Minya. She looked really good. She is a New Zealander,but had been travelling for the last several months. She spent some timein England. Had only flown to LA for the Convention and was going backto England. Before that she had been in Morocco. She told us that shehad known Lucy before working on Xena. Alison remembered her first dayon the set of Xena in "A Day in the Life" where she had to wait foralmost the whole day in full costume. Michael Hurst, the director, toldher late in the evening to prepare for the first scene. It was the scenewhere Minya was meeting Xena and Gabriellle in her village for the firsttime with the little goat in her arms. Alison became quite nervousfeeling the pressure of getting the scene perfect so that the crew couldall go home. Plus, her character-Minya-was expected to react in anexcited way toward Xena. She now had this little goat in her arms, butthe animal reacting to the tenseness all around it, began toinstinctively wriggle out of her arms and kept trying to climb up onAlison's body. One can notice this on screen as well. It was a hard jobto hold onto the goat and keep it from climbing. Alison said she endedup having the goat's footprints on her chest! But then Alison said,"Now...here's my revenge"---holding up the purse in her hands which wasmade from goat's leather. She had bought the bag in Morocco, but told uslater that in fact she loves goats. The stunts she had to do were also achallenge at times. Safety was first on the Xena set and she only had tofight stuntmen. In one scene, Minya had to jump on the back of one ofthe men. But Alison grabbed onto the throat of the poor stuntman almostchoking him in a stronghold. Surely this must have hurt, but thestuntman never complained. Murray is a really big guy, even off screen. He came on stage wearing afunny T-shirt and a baseball cap. In New Zealand he is working as adirector and acting in theatrical performances only. He has been marriedfor several years and has two children, a five year old son and a babydaughter. Murray proudly took out their pictures from his wallet andtried to show them to everybody in the audience. His initial appearancewas in the very first episode of "Hercules" where he had to pick up apig. These were the first shots sent to Universal Studio in the U.S. Hesmiled as he remembered that the very first pictures Universal Studiosreceived from this show were shots of Murray bending over a pig. Askedabout Hower sitting close to Gabrielle while adoringly watching Xena catchfish for a meal, he told us that he only had one thought that came tomind: "They should change Xena's underpants". He became aware that thesepants were starting to look really old and worn out and she reallyneeded a new pair. He thought this as he sat there watching this greatand beautiful woman in action and could think of nothing else.  WhenMurray had finished his story, Alison said for sure he wouldn't be in aXena movie now after telling us things like this.  Murray went on torecall how the fish that was flung at Gabrielle's face had been thrownreally hard. He was sure this was rather painful for Reneé. He alsoshared his thoughts regarding Reneé as well. "She smelled like fish."He was asked by a fan why Hower never appeared again in a Xena episode. He then went on to explain the problem was that it was very, very coldduring the next winter in the village where Minya and Hower had lived.Many people froze to death. One day Minya slashed Hower´s body andcrawled in to keep warm....Have I mentioned that Murray has a verypeculiar sense of humor?

 

There were many other highlights, too, including the very well doneand funny Xenaversity's Silent Western Short Film. The creators did anawesome job with this. The fan made Music Videos were all fantastic! Iwould like to have them on a video or DVD myself. And they also showedus a great video message Lucy had made especially for us fans andstarring her youngest son, Judah. He is such a cute kid! Creation gave a repeat showing of the successful Xena Silent Movie, atake off on the old Charlie Chaplin Movie, from last year's Convention.In it Xena loses her ability to laugh because of a spell the Furies' hadplaced on her. Also several other Music Videos made by Xena fans wererepeated. I really appreciated this. It shows Xena fans are verytalented people. Another great idea was the disco night for the Goldenticket holders. Everyone really enjoyed this a lot. I hope Creation willrepeat this event next year as well.

I also enjoyed the Costume Contest, especially Jo Harriet who was thisyear's winner and who had won the previous year in Pasadena. She lookedamazing in her self made Xena costume from the episode "The God YouKnow". A young woman who dressed up as Livia was also fantastic. I was so happy I could join this 2004 Convention and am looking forwardto seeing everybody again next year!

Many thanks to Pat Romano from New Jersey who helped me so much with this report. Sonja PospisilAustria, Europe                                                          

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