wren_kt7oz | Final Day - meet and greets and lunch

Okay, I promised that when I got back, and got my jet lag under control I'd try to post more details from Cologne, so here goes.

I'm going to preface this by saying that these notes were made some time after the event, so apologies to anyone that I've misquoted, or if I've gotten the sessions wrong (sometimes I know that Scott or Peter said something, but am having trouble remembering whether it was in the meetandgreet, at lunch, or in the final session).

Anyway, here goes ...

There were four groups in total (Randy/Sharon, Scott/Peter, Thea/Michelle and Hal/Robert/Harris) and each group was doing concurrent meet and greets with different batches of people. So each group did four meet and greets in total. You might therefore hear quite different reports of what went on at the meet and greets depending on which one the person went to. If that makes sense.

My first session was with Scott and Peter.

As you might expect, it was both funny and serious. Peter is a real activist and takes that role very seriously indeed, no matter how much he might clown around at other times.

Sadly, I can't remember exactly what questions were asked (next time I'm going to take a notepad and write everything down or else record the whole damned thing, but they didn't want people recording or taking photos at the meet and greets *sigh*).

I remember them talking again about how difficult it was during the arcs where there was conflict between Ted and Emmett (especially during the crystal thing). They'd said the day before that they found that they couldn't switch from their usual friendship and banter to on-camera "I hate you"s and back, so they kind of had to stay away from each other off camera. Which meant, they both said, that they lost their primary support and really missed it.

Someone asked Scott about the relationship between Ted and Brian. He said that he felt that the friendship had started to develop early on, and reminisced a little about the time after the birthday party when Ted was hanging out with Brian and picking up his rejects. He said he felt weird about that because he hadn't thought Ted was a one night stand kind of guy, but that the gay cast members had kind of wised him up about some things.

Then someone brought up the time when Brian let Ted use the loft, and even lent him his bracelet. Scott had kind of forgotten about that and he got quite animated when he remembered.

I asked Peter about Emmett and Brian, saying that I thought they actually had a great deal in common.

Peter said he thought that Brian, Emmett and Melanie formed an Alpha triange; which is a very interesting observation and would certainly explain a lot of the conflicts and niggles between the three of them.

I said something about how I loved the moment in the pub in Toronto when Emmett comes up and gives Brian that little peck on the cheek, because it was totally "real" and just wouldn't have happened in earlier seasons.

Then came the only moment of the convention that I kind of regret.

Scott was asked about his ending with Blake. He said he hadn't known till he received the script that they were bringing Blake back, but that he really liked it that Ted got to have a happy ending. (Earlier there had been a question something about the sex stuff and Scott's response was something like "I was lucky I didn't have to kiss a lot of really hairy guys. I mainly had to kiss Dean and he's like a little hairless chihuahua. " I nearly fell off my chair; I could not believe he said that. Scott went on to say "Don't worry, I've told Dean that myself." LOL)

Peter talked (as he had the day before) about how he was sure that at some point Emmett and Drew would get back together.

Then he referred to the BJ ending. He said that he knew a lot of fans had been disappointed but that it was what sometimes happened in relationships, especially where one partner was so much older; the younger one just kind of grows out of needing a mentor. And that Brian had definitely been a mentor-figure for Justin.

They talked about the ending and about Brian's growth through the series, and I just couldn't resist saying that, for me, the ending just seemed to invalidate that growth and push him back into the ageing party-boy box he'd been in right at the beginning of S1.

They asked me if that was because he was dancing alone at the end, and didn't I feel that that image was about him rising above all the stuff that had been going on and resurrecting Babylon and all of that. I responded that my dis-satisfaction didn't derive from Brian and Justin not being together, and that I understood that the image was about 'we're here, we're queer, get used to it', but that I didn't think it was a particularly good way to get that message across, and that I thought that my own reaction was linked to Michael's "You're Brian Kinney, for fuck's sake" line, which was a direct reference back to S1.

They kind of looked surprised.

Anyway ... I'm kind of sorry that I got into it. It wasn't really appropriate, although I guess the general dissatisfaction with the ending was kind of a bit of a small elephant in the room through most of the conference.

Someone else commented that they felt that the ending was really rushed.

They looked kind of surprised by that too.

(I don't know why. Really ... the amount of time that was wasted on total crap early in the season (the bet for one thing) and then in the last episode they brought Ted and Blake miraculously back together, got Emmett a potential new love interest from his past, sent Mel and Linds to Canada, called off the BJ wedding and packed Justin off to New York. Not to mention rebuilding Babylon. No wonder it felt rushed.)

Okay ...

Next up was Sharon and Randy.

This one was just plain weird. I'm sorry, but it was.

piksa (I think) asked a question - sadly can't remember what. I'll try to pick her brains and find out.

galeandrandy asked whether, given that a lot happened over the five seasons, there was anything that Sharon would have changed about the way she played Debbie in the early seasons. (I don't think Sharon actually got what the question was trying to ask - which was about being trapped into a particular trait or habit or whatever when it might get to a point where for some reason Sharon might have thought 'I wish I hadn't gone that way back then', eg "I really wish they hadn't given her a red wig, this bit would work so much better if she'd gone blonde" or something like that.) Sharon's response was just about whether there was ever anything she'd change, and she laughed and said, "Every single day."

She looked at Randy, and he nodded, agreeing. Then she said something about how she always did her best acting in the car on the way home. Randy laughed and nodded again and then they both talked about how they often thought, "I wish I'd done this or tried that". Randy said it was one of the things he liked about theatre, because you got the chance to try out different things at different performances. He also said that most times when you did, it didn't work anyway. Again they both laughed.

I should take a moment to say at this point that whenever these two interacted the genuine affection between them is very obvious. Randy clearly holds her in great respect, and she is unmistakably both fond and proud of him. It's really a really nice vibe they have going.

I asked Sharon about "A Round Heeled Woman" the play I saw her in in London. I asked her what it was like for her, as an older woman, to expose herself on stage in that way. (The play starts with her masturbating as she has phone sex, and later in the play she has to strip down to her bra and knickers.)

She spoke about that and what a challenge it was for her. "I know what these arms and thighs look like," she said. She went on to say that she was proud of having done it. I said that as an older woman myself, I was grateful to her, that I felt it made an important statement on behalf of us oldies, and she thanked me.

Then ...

Silence.

Really.

No questions.

Finally,

galeandrandy asked Randy another question about his process in learning scripts. He talked about how he very rarely got "off book" (actor talk for 'word perfect') until they started blocking the play, or the scene, and he could physically make the link with the words.

Then ... more silence.

So I asked a kind of follow up question about how he'd dealt with the Godot soliloquy. (In "Waiting for Godot" the character of Lucky whom he played a few years ago has a long, really long, soliloquy.)

He kind of laughed and groaned at the same time. Then he explained for those who didn't know the play that "this speech is about five pages long and none of it makes any sense". Then he corrected himself, and said, "Well, yes it does, really, but ..."

He said that he'd got the first quarter down okay, but that after that it had been a very hard slog. He said that sometimes he'd lose it towards the end and just made up the last few lines. That made us all laugh, including Sharon.

Then someone asked if he still remembered any of it, and he just rattled off a whole chunk. He broke off with a laugh and said that it was strange that he could remember that much because he'd lost all of "Red" and he'd only finished doing that a month ago.

Then, again ... silence.

Sharon actually had to ask if anyone had any more questions.

So someone asked if they still auditioned for things and they both laughed. The person who'd posed the question said "I don't suppose you do, Sharon".

Sharon said, "No. I hate auditions." (With Randy nodding fervently beside her.) "If I wanted to do a big move or something like that I would need to audition so I don't do those. I stick to the 'safe' stuff where I don't have to go through it."

Randy grimaced and said that he still had to do them, and then he spoke about how difficult he found it. He was shatteringly honest about how easy it was to undermine yourself, to start thinking "They'll hate me. They won't think I'm right for it."

Then he shrugged and said something like, "But I have to audition, so I can only try not to do that."

In the inevitable silence that followed, I asked if it was also a matter of trying to second guess what 'they' had in mind for the part. But they both emphatically shook their heads and said, in slightly different ways, but pretty much at the same time, "You can't do that. You have to make a decision about how you think the part needs to be played and commit to that and just go for it."

You're not going to be surprised to hear that there was silence after this, are you?

Then

galeandrandy said something about how one of the things she really liked about how Randy played Justin was that he underplayed a lot of the scenes. For instance, the scene in S1 where he comes into the garage and finds the car with the front fender all bashed in. He just glances at it and doesn't really react at all.

Randy looked sweet and modest and thanked her, and then (in the ... oh, let me see, what would you call it? ... silence that followed) I said that one of my favourite Justin moments was the scene that followed right after that. The one where he confronts Craig with the 'no matter what you do, I'll still be your queer son' line. I told him that I thought his deliver in that scene, so strong and confident, sent a really powerful message to gay kids. He spoke a little about how he appreciated that comment.

Then, guess what?

Yeah, you got it. More silence.

I finally reached the point where I was losing it so much that I asked Randy about why he was wearing bright green socks. (He had been the day before as well, and I was kind of intrigued.) I did preface it by saying that it was kind of an impertinent question, but he just grinned and said that he liked bright socks. I was then joined in my inanity by someone who will remain nameless, but who started to talk about a shop that sells great socks. Seriously, we were desperate.

(What is really frustrating here is that in the taxi on the way home to my house from the airport - days later - I thought of the perfect question to ask him. *sigh*)

After the stuff about the shop, Randy looked a little alarmed (I think he had visions of being sent kazillions of dreadful pairs of socks) and said quickly, "I think I have enough socks right now."

LOL Poor lamb.

And that was pretty much how the session ended.

There was one other question, I think, and actually about Justin. But I just can't remember it.

Two things about this session.

One was how weird it was. Seriously, the room was full of people (well, 20-odd) who'd paid a considerable sum of money to be there to 'meet and greet' and none of them seemed to have anything to say. It was ... well, ... weird.

The second was that it was also kind of cool, because when they were speaking about their work (not just responding to questions about the character that they've already answered a kazillion times before), they were both really energised - Randy in particular. It was lovely, and a much better interaction than I'd been fearing. Again, I suspect that Gale's presence would have changed the dynamic dramatically.

One thing that I would almost like to suggest to any future convention organisers, is that if they do manage to get Gale and Randy in the same room at the same time, they add Sharon to the mix. She is such a gracious lady, and everyone holds her in such respect, that I think even the most rabid fan would kind of settle down a little if she were there. Just a thought.

Okay - Hal, Robert and Harris

I want to start this bit by saying that I am not the biggest Hal fan in the world but, with a couple of exceptions, his contributions to the discussions in our meet and greet were balance and, if not particularly insightful, were at least mainly on-topic. But God he talks!

This one started with me asking Robert to expand on what he'd said the day before about what it was like to come into such an established ensemble cast. Robert spoke about two sentences, then Hal took over and spoke for most of the rest of the time. It was weird. I'm sure there were other questions asked, but my memory of this session is mainly just Hal talking.

I remember Harris managing to get a few words in right towards the end.

Hal talked abuot why he gave Michael the "clutch the spoon in his fist" eating style (as a sign of retarded development). And how he tried to work out why Michael was so leery of coming out, given that most of his friends were out and proud and that he had the world's most supportive mother ever. He came to the conclusion that Michael had been gay-bashed at some point. And then he came out with what, to me at least, was the second most funny line at the conference (just pipped by Scott's 'hairless chihuahua' comment). Hal said he thought the gay-bashing had happened when Michael "went away to college".

Bless!

I had to do the whole Brian Kinney sucking-the-lips-in thing not to burst out laughing.

Seriously. As if!

a) Michael went to community college for one semester (we're talking about someone who didn't even know what Hamlet was, he'd never have gotten into a 'real' college)
b) Debbie would never have let him go away to college, I'm sure we're meant to understand that he did his one semester somewhere in Pittsburgh (don't they mention Allegheny at one point?)
c) If he'd been gay bashed at all, it would have been referenced at some point. If not when Justin was bashed, then certainly when Darren was - neither Deb nor Michael himself could have resisted making the comparison to what happened to him.

Ah, well. I guess we all need our delusions. But I did find this one funny.

Hal also went on kind of endlessly about how during the bombing episode, he made a decision to lie on the guerney being absolutely still the whole time they were setting up the hospital scenes, and not responding to the other actors when they spoke to him so that they could get the feeling of what it would be like if Michael suddenly wasn't there anymore. (I had to fight back a kind of wistful 'wouldn't it be wonderful' moment at that point.)

I don't want to be unkind. And I applaud how seriously he seems to take his acting. But he seems to think that he's a much better actor than he actually is; and while I would have really valued hearing about how they prepared for certain scenes, or developed certain character traits from Randy or Sharon, or even Peter and Scott, from Hal it kind of made me want to laugh. Sorry. Sue me.

(It actually put me in mind of the story about the making of Marathon Man where Dustin Hoffman supposedly went without sleep for like two days to prepare for the torture scene and put himself through all sorts of other stuff so that he'd look suitably haggard and could get into the whole 'hanging on by a thread' mindset, and when Olivier heard, he just said kind of quizically, "Have you ever tried just acting, dear boy, it's so much easier?")

Thea and Michelle

This was a really nice session. I felt like these two women did their best to make a connection with each person in the room. They spoke about their activism. They talked about how amazing it was that new people were still finding the show and that it was still reaching out - especially to gay kids.

I really can't remember the individual questions and responses very weel. I wish I could, but by that time I was suffering from memory overload.

What I mainly remember is the feeling. The genuine warmth they both expressed, in different ways. I remember thinking how beautiful Michelle is with her long hair, and how extraordinarily lovely Thea's voice is - much deeper and huskier than the one she mostly uses for Lindsay.

I remember Michelle speaking at one point (but I honestly can't remember whether it was here, or in the general Q&A the day before) about how, far from limiting what roles she was given the chance to audition for, playing Melanie had widened the roles she was offered because it had given her a chance to play 'tough' which casting directors, producers, etc hadn't seen in her before.

Thea was asked about doing audio books, and said that it was a project she was very keen on. Asked what books she would like to do, she said that she would love to do all the classics - Dickens, Dostoevsky, etc. - but that she would like to start with a fairy tale like Beauty and the Beast.

She also talked about the cabaret show that she is putting together. I told her that there is a good cabaret festival in Adelaide that she might like to consider.

I mentioned also what Peter had said about the 'triange of alphas', and they both grinned a little. They talked about that.

They talked about Lindsay's relationship with Brian and her being in the middle between Brian and Mel - always a little bit in love with Brian, but also loving Melanie.

They were both asked whether they felt that Mel and Linds would ever move back from Canada.

Thea said that they'd probably come back. Mel said she thought that might decide that the kids should experience different places, different systems and cultures - in Canada and maybe in different parts of the States.

Right at the end, I asked them, given that they were both activists, how it felt playing the move to Canada storyline, which I interpreted as them basically abandoning the fight. (I also said that, given the storyline and with the kids to consider, the move was completely understandable.)

Thea responded that she didn't see it that way, that they were just taking a breather, a time out to get some perspective and renew their energies.

Michelle responded that they would definitely be back. She said that while Canada was a great place, it wasn't the land of milk and honey and became really emotional when she was talking about her country, saying that it wasn't perfect, but that she believed it could be made so much better, and that it was worth fighting for. She is so passionate in her beliefs, I admire her so much.

Anyway, that was pretty much that.

Thea asked me if I could stay back to talk about the Adelaide festival, which I did. That was kind of nice. I also told her about the Spiegeltent. (Can't easily explain, but take my word, it is the most amazing venue ever for cabaret acts. See end of post for pix.)

It would be so great if she came out here to do her cabaret. With that lovely low husky voice, I'd be there with bells on.

Next came lunch.

I should say that due to the hold ups the day before and the need to reschedule various photo sessions, they were running considerably behind schedule which meant that the whole day was kind of rushed.

What we all thought was going happen is that there would be four groups - the same ones as the Q&As and the meet and greets - and each group would head off on a guided city walk to be followed by lunch.

What actually happened was that while the Sharon/Randy group went off separately, the rest of us in one big batch were galloped through the Heuemarkt, past the Dom, down the steps and wound up altogether at one Brauhaus. At this stage, the only celeb in sight was Hal who, to his credit, galloped right along with us, clutching (as always when not actually on stage, etc.) the hand of his girlfriend.

Once there, the others showed up and we all sat at tables which may or may not have been the ones at which the celeb you'd chosen also sat at. It was more than slightly chaotic.

However, we were at a small table and were lucky enough to have Scott join us.

He is such a gentleman and we had a really good lunch with much interesting talk and a lot of laughter.

He talked about going online, getting into the Facebook/ Twitter things, and a couple of scary things that had happened to him in the cyber world (like someone setting up a myspace page pretending to be him, and making out like he and Peter were together, which took him a while to sort out and get it taken down). He showed us photos of his dog and cat. Talked about what he was doing next (Elephant Man in the Berkshires).

And he talked about Gale. About how much he'd wanted to be there, and how disappointed he'd been when he just couldn't make it. I repeated what I'd told him earlier, about how I'd like him to pass on to Gale that most people understood and respected his decision, and Scott thanked me again and promised to pass that on.

The food itself was the subject of some hilarity. Scott had ordered the bratwurst. In English it just said something like "outsized". So Scott was expecting something like 8 or 9 inches (a little less than 20 cm). In German, however, it actually said something like "one third of a metre", so what he got was over 30cm long (more than a foot). It came on a large plate and was draped around most of the edge. It was huge. When they put it in front of him, his eyes totally bugged out. We all cracked up laughing at the look on his face.

Then Peter, who was sitting at another table and had also ordered the bratwurst, started shouting "Scott! Scott! Did you get the sausage?"

Of course, coming from Peter, that question had all sorts of overtones that just made us giggle more.

From then on, they were having a competition over who could eat the most of the bratwurst.

At one point, Peter held his up. He only had about 4 inches (10 cm) left and Scott was encouraging him to deep throat it.

It was all very funny and relaxed and really felt like we were all just hanging out with friends. There wasn't the kind of competition for attention that there might have been with Randy, or heaven help us, Gale.

Anyway, towards the end they swapped places, so we had Peter for a while.

My brain hurts when I try to remember what we spoke about. I do remember saying to him that I thought one moment I would always remember was when Robert told us about his mother's reaction to his coming out. I said I felt as if I'd been punched. Peter said acknowledged how awful that moment had been, but went on to say that Robert and his mother now had a really good relationship, and that the bad bit was something they'd had to go through to allow their relationship to develop in a way that was based on honesty and being real with each other.

The other thing I remember happened right towards the end. He was asking if any of us who had had the bratwurst had managed to finish it; and was all "did you see the size of that thing?". He was kind of bragging about how at least he'd eaten more than Scott (who barely managed half of his).

I just looked at him across the table and said sweetly, "It takes a real man to handle a sausage that size, Peter."

He just gawped at me for a minute like he couldn't believe what he'd heard.

Then he totally cracked up.

It was hilarious.

After lunch we had an abbreviated city walk - really just around the cathedral (the time thing again), past the Roman museum and down the steps towards the Rhine where we did the flashmob.

But it was okay. The guys and girls just meandered around with us, and it was all pretty relaxed. Scott was craving icecream to cool down his palate after the spicy bratwurst and was quite triumphant when he finally found some.

Apparently with Randy's group they kind of had him segregated a little to protect him - with a body guard and Elke's daughter who acted as his PA all weekend kind of keeping him apart from everyone. But in our group it wasn't like that, we all just ambled around together.

After the flashmob, which was in support of AIDS research, I walked back to the hotel with

galeandrandy along the banks of the river, which was nice.

Then it was, sadly, on to the final session. But that's going to have to be another post. Will try to get it up soon.

Stuff I was told

There are two things that I want to add - both of them are hear-say, since I wasn't there. One was about the Randy/Sharon lunch were there were apparently two large tables and one of them sitting at each table. So I kind of felt we got a better deal with Scott, given that there were only five of us and him at our table.

The other, and please, those who may be fans of Hal, don't crucify me over this, I'm just passing on what I was told, is something Hal apparently said at one of the other meet and greets.

In some bizarre way he seemed to be trying to say that you could tell that Ben and Michael had a stronger, more 'real' relationship than Brian and Justin because they always fucked face to face.

WTF???!!!!????

a) I'm not sure that Hal is the best one qualified to talk about what different sexual positions might indicate in a gay relationship

b) Even if he were, is he serious? Since when does vanilla sex automatically indicate a closer relationship?

c) For those of us who have watched every episode (especially of S1) multiple times, the way that Brian and Justin's fingers entwined in that memorable scene where they are doing it 'doggie style' (while Craig is sitting in Justin's bedroom brooding over his son's sexuality) is one of the reasons we all knew Brian was falling for this little blond twink, despite his best efforts.

Like I say, I wasn't there. I can't report on the details. But I heard this from a number of people, and it certainly does seem that the gist of the thing was that Hal believes that face to face sex is somehow more intimate and loving and that therefore indicates that Michael and Ben's relationship is more intimate and loving than BJ's.

I will refrain from speculation about what that says about his own sex life.

Anyway - that's all until I can do the final session notes. Some time this week, I hope, but I want to post the new chapter of Homecoming first.

Spiegeltent

As promised, and right off topic here are some pics of the Spiegeltent. It's a real tent made from canvas and wood with an elaborate fascia; they were apparently made in the early 1900's in Belgium. Inside it has a wooden floor and is all mirrors and stained glass. There's a bar, and booths as well as floor seating and a stage. I think it's some kind of TARDIS myself, because from the outside it no way looks like they could fit all that in.

I love it, and always make sure I attend at least one performance there during its Melbourne season. I think it's going to be in Edinburgh in August for the Fringe Festival.

spiegeltent

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Let's Hear It For the Boy

Page 1 of 2 << [1] [2] >>

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

lanbeo.livejournal.com

I read a lot of report about the M&G with Randy and Sharon, and some said that they were too in awe to aks them anything. I mean, they did ask the other actors lot question but couldn't utter a words with Randy and Sharon (I kind of think Peter and Scott and Robert sent the "I'm your friends" vibe, so it's easier to talk to them) I hope somebody could explain about it to the actors so they didn't think they were not loved or something like that. (Honesty, if that was me, I think I'd just sit there as well, too nervous to say anything)

The "sausage" part is just fabulous!!!! I LOVE your line to Peter (they should put it in the show LOL) And again, the lunch just prove what I point out above that people are relax easily with other actors, but Randy, Gale (and maybe Sharon)kind of make us nervous (really really...really nervous)

From:

My QAF World

Final Day - meet and greets and lunch

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags