It was a pleasure to again see Steve Sears, one of the producers and writers on the Xena show. You can always spot Steve because he's wearing that wide-brimmed hat. Steve has kept busy in the writing game all these years afterwards, and has a couple of projects in the fire right now, but couldn't provide details. He always appears on stage, always takes photos of us (he's a very good photographer), and usually acts as Creation's photographer in this and other conventions. I saw him later as he was getting Creation to auction off an article for a charity near to his heart, and asked him to sign a copy of a Xena script he had written. He was accommodating, as always. And I mentioned, I wish he'd update his blog. He smiled and said he definitely had to get around to that. His latest entry told the world that he had a new girlfriend, that she's too good to be true, but that they've been seeing each other for about a year now. We're all happy for him.
Many of us wait, breathlessly, for the next guest, because we're not sure what she's going to do: Hudson Leick. Hudson played Callisto in so many episodes I can't count, but, as Rob Tapert once told us, you can't have a great hero without a great villain. She considers herself mentally gone from Xena, and asking her questions about it is pretty much useless. Actually, asking her anything is a risk. She pouts, she parades, she struts around the stage, always in a jaw-dropping outfit which she later auctions for charity. She demands that the audience be entertaining for her. We usually fail in the beginning, as we're just sitting there open-mouthed, but usually we start interacting with her after awhile and all are entertained.
One brief story about Victoria Pratt, who played an Amazon in, I think, only a two-part episode in Season Three, Adventures in the Sin Trade. And she was a dead Amazon at that, but memorable. Vickie used to be a physical fitness guru, and from there went into acting. She held up Mutant X for a couple of seasons (but it still was unbearable to watch, even with her and John Shea in it), and Cleopatra 2525. She told a story about going to the Superbowl, and only now appreciates that their seats were on the 50-yard line. But they didn't stay there, instead opting to go to the Press Box. She acted very spoiled about it, and it was a very funny story.We got to see a lot of fan-created music videos and some professionally done short movies while we were there. Two of the music videos revolved around the Broadway play Wicked, or at least its music. I had no idea the gay community liked Wicked. My favorite music video, though, was by Deborah Abbott, and featured Christine Baranski's Mama Mia! version of "Does Your Mother Know?" It was wonderful.
We also got to see a live film called Lightswitch, about a young lesbian making choices. I liked it, and am wondering where it will go now. And Renee O'Connor showed two of her short films, ones she wrote and directed. She's looking to display them at festivals.
Of course, the piece de resistance was Renee O'Connor and Lucy Lawless. First Renee came on stage, talked about her films, showed us some. Then Lucy came on. Lucy, though, brought us a surprise: Claire Stansfield! Claire played Alti, a shaman who was early Xena's nemesis. However, I remember when we first saw Claire on stage: she's 6'1", in heels usually, and gorgeous, totally unlike Alti.
Why do they put beautiful women in all this terrible makeup? Claire quit show biz to produce t-shirts with a friend (C and C ), became very successful when they were featured on Oprah, then they sold the business. And now....now she's working for Oprah! Wow.
Lucy spent a lot of time after Claire left just answering questions, and when Renee joined her back on stage, they both did the same. This is 180 degrees from when they both used to appear on stage some 10 years ago. They didn't trust the audience, trust the fans, and always had a go-between. This time, just shout out the questions, people. Keep 'em coming. Just fabulous.Like I said, just one big living room.
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