Gigi Edgley at Starfury Defiant Convention 2002
Personal Accounts
by Stuart
One of the hats I wear is as a magazine writer. Thus given, I've written up a convention review. You wanna know what happened, then read on…
Enjoy!
- Stuart
Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It’s been six years since my last regular convention. Was there anything that a convention could offer that I haven’t seen and heard before?
Those of you who have been around through the various incarnations of this mag will know me as a sarcastic cynic of the first order. Memo to ‘my world’ :- prepare to be rocked.
Accompanying Photos by Stuart
L to R: Dave, John, Gigi, Todge & Stuart
As I write, sitting in a bar overlooking Leicester Square, it’s 1.35pm on April 1st and there’s 8 hours until the train leaves Euston Station to shuttle me northwards. My handwriting’s barely legible after three nights hard drinking and, at the most optimistic, I’m at least £300 over the credit limit on the card after staying for a third night at the hotel. I’m also blissfully happy. The comedown from the euphoria is hanging on there and I’m dreading the moment it sinks in. This won’t be a detailed schedule of the panels and events - I only attended three of the talks and caught snippets of a few others. Think of it as a more personal journal… or how I lost my cynicism and felt like a 15 year old again…
Friday 29th March
It’s 5.30pm before I pull into the hotel in a taxi. The opening ceremony kicks off the convention at 7pm so there’s just enough time to book in and get unpacked.
Registration, for once, was well run and efficiently handled. Operated from a cloakroom central to the main suite, it wa easy to find and there were never less than three people handling queries. I was registered and ‘badged’ within 5 minutes of queuing. The set-up was close to perfect. The main hall segued into the bar segued into the autograph room segued into the dealers room - nothing more than 50 meters way from the center of action, no far flung annexes and no dead areas where nothing happens for hours on end.
Gigi after bouncing onto stage
In the opening ceremony every guest was introduced and came onto the stage to give a quick 5-minute talk. Another plus point - ALL the guests stayed for the whole weekend. Still not sure who the biggest draw was supposed to be - I’d always assumed that Nana Visitor would have been the most popular - and thus would get the biggest cheer. Not to be though, when Gigi Edgley bounced (and I really do mean bounced!) onto the stage the whole hall erupted. OK, cards on the table. I came to the convention as a huge Gigi fan - spend far too much time posting on the Sandbox message board; of which more later.
Lani complained about the Australians being ignorant of FarScape's existence despite it being a brilliantly produced and scripted show - from the response they both got in London, they can’t be in any doubt that the same isn’t true in Britain.
The first autograph panel had everybody except Nana Visitor and William Gregory Lee signing merchandise. Everybody was allowed one personal item to get signed with an array of photos and artwork available to buy from around £8 - £20.
The disco followed with a St.Trinians theme. Most of the stewards dressed up but it wasn’t widespread. All the guests (bar Nana) danced the night away…. Thank you Gigi, thank you Gigi…
The featured guests in St. Trinian's Theme
L to R: Lani Tapu, William Gregory Lee, Jayne Heitmeyer, Robert Leeshock and Gigi Edgley
But then, that’s what really made the difference. Every other convention I’ve been to there’s been a ‘them and us’ attitude :- you’re kept away from the talent apart from the signings and panels. Although the guests weren’t staying at the Thistle Hotel, there was no air of elitism. Effectively, you were as likely to spend 15 minutes on Friday night talking to Jayne Heitmeyer at the bar as anybody else… thanks for the natter Jayne.
Don’t remember too much else about Friday night (me…. Drunk? What, you don’t remember Manopticon 2?) but it’s odds on I crashed legless at some small hour in the morning.
Saturday 30th March
Woke up with a hangover (surprise!) and a bar bill. 8 messages on the mobile phone - another three from the Gigi Edgley message board were making the pilgrimage to Heathrow for the one day. True to their word, John, Dave, and Carl sauntered in just before 9am, ready for a day filled with…. ehm… Gigi basically.
Lani and Gigi did their first photo session from 9.30 to 11am. For £10 with one guest or £18 for a group shot - the professional photographer takes the snap and you collect the photo early evening. Smart, streamlined and easy to handle. I get the first photo with Gigi, Sandbox constituent blag their way in and get photos - everybody happy.
Lani Tupu took the stage just after noon. The format was a question and answer session from the word go.
Nothing was off-limits and, though Lani didn’t give too much away about Season 4 of FarScape, he did reveal that, in his opinion, Crais was killed off far too early with too much unresolved… or was Crais killed off? We were also treated to a rendition of Pilots voice and why he’s become frighteningly adept at talking to the walls.
After the Lani panel we vanished up the road until 3.30 then caught the last 30 minutes of Nana Visitors panel. Then Gigi came on at 4pm.
What is it with this girl and her diaries?? She treated us to a reading from that day's entry. How she’s rocking in London, having a great time, having flown over Las Vegas out in the desert, her hectic schedule. What can I say? This girl is A STAR! Not for her the typical soundbite answer. Ask her a question, regardless how trivial and she’ll answer it, for about 10 minutes!
Questions ranged from whether she would ever try to crack Hollywood (everybody has dreams but it’s important to keep your feet on the ground) to why Chiana has so few changes of costume (3 years and I’ve only had two costume changes - I was on BeastMaster for one episode and they gave me 6 changes!).
After the fastest hour of my life, Sean Harry came onto the stage and pulled Gigi off to her protestation. The room emptied like a sieve.
A (very) short auction was held in memory of the actor Kevin Smith (Hercules) who tragically died recently while making his latest film. Items up for grabs included FarScape shooting scripts signed by David Kemper & Richard Manning (plus, of course Lani & Gigi) and an episode 100 scooting script for Stargate SG1 signed by the entire cast and crew. The FarScape scripts would send you back around £80 while the Stargate script went for £260.
Then things came off the rails.
After the break for dinner and an eternity while the steward (I’d say stewards, but from the time it took I doubt there was more than one on duty) reset the main hall. The quiz (based around movie music) was supposed to start around 7pm, but it was at least another half hour before the hall opened its doors. Did I mention the quiz? Didn’t happen - official reason; technical problems: - my take on it - Sean Harry and all the senior stewards were out having dinner with the guests and nobody there knew how to boot the system. In its place, we were shown an episode of ‘Buffy - The Vampire Slayer’ where Riley returns to Sunnydale. To its credit, the episode hadn’t been shown on Sky at the time of the convention, but none of the Sandbox were in the least bit impressed. To the extent, in fact, that Carl gave up the ghost and headed for home.
Gigi takes in the fancy-dress event with obvious delight
There were some fantastic costumes in the fancy dress competition. Three and a half (well, three plus a baby!) Chianas, two Delvians, a Scarran, Susan Ivanova and a troop of Scottish belly dancers from ‘Carry On Up The Khyber’ were the standouts. The Scarran won overall with two of the Chianas taking second and third place.
Somewhere in Australia, there’s a home video doing the rounds courtesy of Gigi Edgley - I think she’s got just about everybody at the convention on permanent record: whether it’ll persuade the rest of the FarScape cast to make the trip to Britain for a convention or convince them to stay Sydney side is anybody’s guess.
The disco followed on from the results with those in fancy dress taking the floor for the first dance. I hung around until 10pm when John and Dave got their taxi to take them back to Heathrow…. But not before John spots Gigi in the car sent to whisk her away and he and Dave get to say goodbye to her… aw, bless.
Upstairs from the main area is another bar. There’s a huge concourse with a view over Heathrow and, more importantly, a pool table. Somehow, in the melee of hours that followed, I ended up gifting my ‘Coyote Ugly Saloon’ T-shirt to some girl, Lani turned up and I got absolutely slaughtered at pool…, something Lani remembered the next day. Most of the other guests showed up in the main party between 1 and 3am, but I doubt my legs would have let me dance by that point.
Sunday 31st March
Lani Tapu and Gigi Edgley take on the crowd
Woke up between 10 and 11 with a raging headache. Went down to breakfast but it was already over. Never mind, thought I, this time tomorrow I’ll be back at home. Caught the second photo shoot with Gigi and Lani at noon. This time around I had the photo taken with both of them (the first one with Gigi was horrendous! - that’s me horrendous - not her!) then went back to bed for 40 winks.
By the time I had come back downstairs Nana Visitors second panel was well under way. Amazingly, the Deep Space Nine questions were at a minimum with Dark Angel and the Broadway version of ‘Chicago’ taking precedence.
Lani & Gigi were back on at 4 and, as a few people left the hall after Nana, I was able to get a second row pew. Lani performs far better when he has someone to relate to, and against. The hour that they spent on stage together was the equivalent of a double act, horsing about, ending each other’s sentences. Again, the questions came in thick and fast, Lani’s ambition is to play Othello on stage one day and Gigi scorns the suggestion that beyond the make-up trailer and Homebush set, she has any time for a normal life.
Then in steps Sean Harry with a shiny pair of red high-heeled shoes, as worn by Crais in the FarScape episode ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’. They raised £750 for the Kevin Smith fund, and now reside in an exhibition in Dallas, Texas.
The other items of memorabilia fetched between £30 (For an Earth: Final Conflict press pack) and £120 (another shooting script). Throughout the bidding for the shoes, Lani had them on, boasting that this did wonders for his calf muscles.
Which just left one more autograph session, and then it was the closing ceremony. I think it was around this time that I decided that I was going to stay until the death and, thus, booked in for another night at the hotel.
Blade II was showing in the main hall between 5 and 7 but from the number of people mulling around the bar and concourse, minds were elsewhere.
The fabled red high-heels, sure to involve Lani Tapu
in mistaken identity with Judy Garland to many
a visitor of their display in their new home in Texas.
The closing ceremony was a seated clone of the opener. Each guest gave their small speech with both Von Flores and Robert Leeshock demanding that everybody stayed and boogied the night away. Gigi got a standing ovation.
And then it was over. Von Flores, Robert Leeshock and Jayne Heitmeyer staying for the party.
Nana Visitor going back to NYC. Lani Tupu and Gigi Edgley catching at 24-hour flight back to Sydney at 10pm. I’m sure a few stayed the distance until the 4am close, but after three days of partying, I was exhausted and hit the sack before midnight.
Any regrets…? Yeah, there are always a few. Wish I hadn’t drunk so much and been left with a scattergun memory of at least half the programme. Wish I’d taken more interest in the other panels - Robert Leeshock is a gentleman, and purely on the back of his enthusiasm and attitude I’m now convinced to give Earth: Final Conflict another go. Wish I could ask Gigi Edgley the myriad of questions I’ve thought of since.
Complaints…? Some (and I do mean ‘some’ - the majority - especially those who let me ride roughshod over the autograph panel policy on several occasions - were great fun and personable) of the steward’s attitude. Guys, we convention goers are not omnipotent - don’t look down at us like dirt if we ask you a question.
Saturday night could have been a bit better. Things were probably planned with military precision beforehand, but one glitch and it’s left looking like things were cobbled together 5 minutes beforehand.These are minor quibbles. I’ve yet to attend a convention where things go all weekend without something going wrong.
Alas, it’s the last March convention… looks like I came late to the party. There’s another Buffy/Angel convention next month (and if I could persuade Mr. Barclay and his card to let me go - I would) and Chariots Of War 4 soon after. Rumours that there’s going to be an ‘End of Days’ event taking place next year still gives grounds for hope.
This is how conventions should be. To quote from the Robert Altman film, ‘The Player’ - ‘no stars - just talent’.
Gigi Edgley and Stuart having his day made
I’ve never met a celebrity who is more down to earth than Gigi Edgley. Nothing was too much trouble for her. She stated that the reason for doing conventions was because she wanted to meet the fans. This is somebody who doesn’t even reckon on being a celebrity - but she is going to be HUGE!!! She has star quality in spades.
True, I came to the convention with sky-high expectations but even with that, Gigi effortlessly smashed through the glass ceilings on every level.
If you find that she’s attending a convention anywhere remotely near you, then beg, borrow or steal the funds to get there. Gigi is worth all the money you can ever spend.
~ Stuart