here there is James Marsters, there is sure to be an audience - likely filled with giddy, palpitating fans of the female persuasion. But for those of us who didn't attend last month's SFX Convention in Blackpool, Citizen LQ gladly fills us in on the details...
(clockwise from top left)
LQ, Tasha, Bev and Chris
|
If you missed this convention, then you missed a treat. Guest stars included: James Marsters, Emma Caulfield, Joe Pantoliano, Victoria Pratt, Alexander Siddig, Andrew Robinson, and Shirri Appelby.
For the first-ever convention organised by SFX magazine, it was pretty fantastic; a little disorganised in some parts, and information wasn't too clear on how and where to buy tickets for photo shoots etc, but overall a great success -- and I'm not just being biased because James was there, although that was a definite boost. The question and answer opportunity with the stars was a brilliant way to see past the television screen persona and to view the person behind the character.
Emma Caulfield, when asked about how it felt to kiss Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), responded by laughing and saying that she'd told him it would be like kissing her Dad; not that he was old, but more in the sense that Giles on the show and ASH in reality tend to be father figures. Then she said it was more like a peck and not a kiss anyway. She had such a stage presence, using the whole stage forum, including the rest of the audience, that it felt more like an expansive conversation than a question and answer piece.
I felt so sorry for Sherri Appelby. She looked so small on stage when she came on to speak to the audience and to take questions, not helped by the fact that she was sitting for the whole time in an armchair, which emphasised her size. She began by giving a talk on how she landed the part in Roswell; unfortunately it was mainly the words "and then I went back" and constant gesticulation. The audience seemed bored by the time she finished talking, and only a few people asked questions; the rest were more intent on their own conversations and reading the books they had been given as a free gift from SFX. She finished early, sitting for a short time asking, "Am I done now, is that it?" several times, before leaving the stage.
An auction followed, with a K-9 replica, a signed Angel box set, and other various items. All proceeds went to Great Ormond Street Hospital. The centrepiece of the auction had to be James Marsters' own guitar, signed as well with the words "Rock On". As the bidding crept ever higher a woman's voice was heard to shout, "yes" each time her bid was ousted. After some time in the bidding, with the amount of money being bid, the audience was laughing nervously each time she shouted. Eventually she won her dream guitar and a photo shoot with James and the guitar was thrown in as well. The end price on the guitar was £4750. Afterwards she said that now she had something to keep her close to James -- but she still had to explain this one to her husband when she got home.
James' signed guitar bought for £4750 in the charity auction!
|
James wowed the audience, looking very shocked yet delighted by the standing ovation which seemed to last an eternity, even jokingly dragging a man from the audience up onto the stage and saying "Right, there you go, scream at him!", which, caught up in the euphoria, we did! James went straight into the question and answer section, as so many people were lined up waiting for him. Asked "Who did you like kissing best on the show?" he replied, "That's like having to choose between chocolate and ice cream", then gave a very devilish look and burst out laughing. When asked "Do you like cuddling girls?", he was about to answer but then checked himself and asked "How old are you?", and seeing a young girl he sheepishly answered "Yes, I do like er..cuddling girls." Seeing that she had a gift for him, he jumped off the stage and gave her a big hug. Opening the gift onstage, he was delighted to see it was a birthday card; he turns 30 shortly. He was also given a cover of the Sex Pistols, which he was obviously moved by.
James sang a verse from one of the songs he wrote, "Smile", written for his girlfriend, who he is no longer with, and also sang the first verse from "Let Me Rest In Peace" from the Buffy musical, Once More With Feeling. He was very conscious of people in the audience who might not have seen the more recent series, season six, and was careful about giving away spoilers -- but he did give away some. He also spoke about the romance with Mercedes Mcnab (Harmony). He asked her out on a date, to which she agreed. To him things went quite well however, he said that he left it too long after the date before he contacted her again, so when he finally did she told him not to bother, in no uncertain terms. He told how Juliet Landau, Drusilla, was evil. When shooting scenes she would have her hands stroking places that they shouldn`t have been, and he found it rather difficult not to respond while filming! He mentioned that if you watch the early episodes of Dru and Spike then you'd see what he meant. He also laughed as he spoke of the teasing from Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy). During filming of season six, most of the scenes called for him to be naked or very nearly naked. "I'd go to my trailer and the wardrobe department had left my clothes for the shoot and it would be a sock. In films you can have the luxury of covering yourself before the shoot, but on TV you don't have that -- it was just 'get in there'. I'd stand there with this sock hiding things waiting to shoot the scene and Sarah would come over and tug at the sock." He constantly had the audience howling with laughter. It was obvious that he learned his performance techniques in theatre, as he always had the full attention of the audience, and was in total control during the entire session.
As for Tasha and I (LQ), we had a ball. We Plugged CoA at every given opportunity, made lots of new friends, and yes, we even got to meet and have cuddles with James Marsters and Tony Amandola, who played the paranoia demon in Angel "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been", as well as roles in Stargate and Babylon 5.
There were some very memorable moments -- for one, James Marsters on stage was asked what he liked about being on the show. He replied with "Kissing Sarah and getting naked!" The audience was in rapture at this, with another standing ovation, and lots of screaming. I can only blame the mass hysteria for shouting out "Get 'em off then!", only to realise that the crowd was now seated again and was deathly silent. Tasha and I happened to be sitting in the centre row directly in front of James, albeit some rows back. He looked directly at me, then smiled and acted coy, turning slightly to the side before facing me again and lifting up his top to flash that gorgeous body. Once more the audience was screaming and clapping and I was a very happy LQ.
Aaaah...
|
Unfortunately Tasha and I had to leave the convention early as she had a plane to catch, and we had a few hundred miles to drive to the airport. We explained to one of the stewards (a tip from Laird) about the situation, and she was excellent. We were rushed through for the photo shoot with James before we left. As I walked up to him he asked, "Are you all right?" in that melting deep California accent. I replied, "I'm nervous as hell." He smiled and said, "You better cuddle me really tightly then". I put an arm around him and the photographer asked James if he was ready, James looked down at me and then put both arms around me and squeezed hard; my arms encircled him and then he tickled me, laughing as he did so. Then he said, "Yeah we're ready". The photos are being sent out signed by James, and I only hope that my eyes are open and that I look human, while standing wrapped up in the arms of my idol.
SFX held an awards ceremony with the winners being voted by SFX readers. Sarah almost wiped the board, Amy Acker won best female newcomer, and Angel won best-improved show. Sexiest female went to Claudia Black from Farscape.
We hope that SFX is planning annual conventions; if so LQ will definitely be there!
Thanks to LQ for sharing this event with us!
A video of 2002's SFX Event is now available at a special price of only £11.50 incl p&p in the UK (£13.50 for outside UK). Click here the order.
If you have any comments for CityofANGEL.com regarding this Happenings, we would love to hear from you. Just email us at: comments@CityofANGEL.com |
