Con 2010

Okay, first the clarifications (Singing only slightly off-key, "Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends").

I wrote that Lucy said that she would have liked a merkin that made her look like Mr. Thomas. It was not Mr. Thomas, but a Mr. Tumnus, who is the faun in the Narnia Series by C. S. Lewis. You can see some pictures of him here: http://tinyurl.com/yhyvq2b

He’s a Roman mythology faun which to me looks more like Pan-at any rate, he has hair pretty much covering his body from his waist to his tootsies. A good proper matron’s merkin look.

When Lucy answered the question what she would do if she couldn’t act, all I had written down was the initials “DRJ” and the words, “World of Fantasy” and then, “Forensic pathologist”. It’s actually Dr. G, (not sure if it was Lucy’s accent or my old ears that changed her “G” into a “J”) who stars in a reality show about being a forensic pathologist. Here’s a link: http://tinyurl.com/yz3xaj6

Oh and one other thing I realized all by myself- When a fan asked Lucy about  where they went to the bathroom when shooting Xena outdoors, she said “Another fresh question. We had porta-johns.” And I only realized when reading through my notebook tonight that when she said “Fresh”, she meant “new”. Not like snarky-fresh.

End of early errata.

Renee came out on stage. Lucy explained to us, “She doesn’t like to wait”.

Now it just so happened that a young woman had been at the head of the line to ask Lucy a question just before Renee came out. She was one of those young fans that get pretty nervous about actually getting to talk to Lucy and she had been flushed and was somewhat panting and looked like she might faint before she got her question out.

This has been happening to us a lot lately. We’re getting a lot of new young fans who are in that very giddy, very excited phase we were in in the mid ‘90s when Xena was fresh and new and had blown us all away. The new young fans are one of the best and most heartening proofs that Xena’s still got it. And that affection for the show will endure for many, many more years.

Xena’s fandom has always been worldwide. But it seems to me that we have many more fans at the cons who are not from the United States or the remnants of the British Empire.

Quite a few of the new fans are not of Anglo-Saxon descent, but are from the romance language lands where emotions run high-like Italy, Spain, France, Holland (whoops-no not Holland-there ARE fans from there I’m sure, but they’d stereotypically be more self-possessed and calm.)

Anyway, when Renee came out on stage, Lucy welcomed her with a big hug while there was a big standing ovation and whooping from various corners of the room. Which all took time and which meant that the emotional young fan was still standing at the mike, still waiting to get her question in. By now, she was now even more shook-up than she had been when she first got to the mike.

Lucy told us, “Ren and I only get to see each other on Skype these days.

Then they turned to the fan. Who by now was being literally supported by Sharon Delaney. And I think it was Lucy who said, “She’s gonna cry”.

The fan was absolutely overwhelmed. She did indeed seem to be crying but did manage to talk with Sharon who began to translate for Lucy and Renee. (Not the first time she’s had to do this-she’s done it with sobbing fans, with mute fans for whom she signs, and for fans who don’t have the best English ability.)

There was a ripple of that "Awwww" emotion, at least among the fans sitting around me. It's so amazing and so touching how emotional some of these young kids get. They've been watching the show since they were sometimes only single digits old. And they're not so old yet that the magic of finding Xena has faded away.

And man, I sure remember my first con in 1998. I snuck to that one-I wasn't out as Xena fan yet and lied about my main motive in going to Los Angeles, pretending I was visiting relatives of my honey. I was SO excited that I was going to actually see Lucy in person. That I would see the woman who had made such a huge upheaval in my life. In my television viewing habits, in my leisure time focus, in my sudden interest in the formerly shunned internet, in the dedication to having blank tapes around the house at all times, just in case Lucy showed up on TV without warning (And I wasn't real young then either-can't blame it on that.)

I will admit with some embarrassment (and a touch of defiance) that my heart was pounding and I was definitely breathless with anticipation. And then she came out. And I was shocked into total immovable stillness the whole time she was onstage. Just my head swiveled around to follow her every move. Even with her dorky outfit-blue skirt and striped top-it still was stunningly magical to me that I could be in the same room as the person who had brought such an amazing character to life. Whew.

I wouldn't even consider crossing the street to see any actor. And here I had crossed half of Alaska, the west coast of Canada and most of the west coast of the United States to see this woman at of all things, one of those odd nerd fan conventions. I had never expected to be so moved by a character that I would actually want to see the person who played her in person before. And never have been again.

(End of trip down memory lane, appreciating the young fan who brought all this back to me.)

I think it was the young fan who asked the question I have written down next which was, “Did you have to take the Xena out of you?” (In real life or to play other roles, I’m not sure.)

Lucy answered but I think I only got part of it-“The Xena is already in you. The Gabrielle is already in you”. Renee said something like she was actually the opposite of Gabrielle.

Next question was about which country they would like to visit again.

Renee said she’d like to go back to Egypt. Lucy said, “India. The Maldives. The climate change scramble should be happening, but it’s not.”

Then there was a question about what actors they admired. I think it was Renee who answered, “Juliana Moore . ‘A Single Man’. She’s amazing”.

They talked about actors who had plastic surgery, botox. And they wind up with “A face pulled in. Some wacky monster mask.”

Perhaps it was Lucy who mentioned, “Judy Dench”. They talked about liking women who wore their own faces-who still looked beautiful and like real people of their age. I think it was also her who next said, “I’d like not to do what you want.”

Renee said something about her “Coach”. And was talking about making movies. And of course, as she always does, she once again praised Rob for being a great supporter of her career. “Rob has been a great mentor for me”.

She tied in Rob being her mentor with being aware that there is knowledge that you can access. “Know who to ask. What to ask. These guys are standing there-just look to them.”

Next I have Lucy saying, “I was lucky enough to have a great mother.” (Which leads me to believe they were answering a question about who was a role model maybe or who had helped them in their lives-something like that.)

Lucy continued, “For those of you with bad moms, learn what not to do.”

Then they talked about the play they were going to do for us.

Lucy said again that they’d had two to chose from after she’d gone to Barnes and Noble and pulled out everything they’d had for woman. I think she pantomimed fanning through little playlet books. She said “It was a ‘two-hander’” Which of course led to gusts of guffaws from some of the fans. Lucy shook her head and gave us a little glare and informed us that this referred to the number of actors in a play. We defied her and continued to giggle.

One of them said they’d thought about doing “Love Letters” And something about “Xena and Gabrielle” and “More interesting”.

Some scattered quotes follow, none of which I thought to write down the speaker of.

“Lot of life (in the play, I think the phantom speaker meant). “Life is (brutal?)” (Who WRITES these things with such bad penwomanship. Gol’ darnit!)

Probably Luce said-“2009 was such a bugger”.

Then a fan said that 2009 was a great year for her. She fell in love, got married, moved to San Diego (or as my honey and I like to call it, “Sandy Eggo”) and that Sandy Eggo looks just like Perth. (Sure, I get down what FANS say-but Luce and Renee-not so much…)

Then someone in the audience yelled out what sounded like “Ooo-rah!” To which many fans yelled back, “Uh-uh!”

Lucy was surprised. “How’d you guys know what to say?”

Someone had already done this earlier-don’t remember who-it MIGHT come up in the notes I took for the folks who appeared before Lucy did.

Anddddd "Cut!"

End of part 1