ere’s a question for you: "How many Angel fans can you pack into one British castle hotel
hall?" Please write your answers on a postcard and send them to…
The Opening Ceremony
Well, at the recent End of Days Starfury Convention a whopping 2,500 attendees waited restlessly in the
main hall on Friday night, eager to greet the veritable plethora of guests
Starfury Conventions had lined up for the weekend. To name but
a few, they included Amy Acker, Vincent Kartheiser, Andy
Hallett, Dayne Johnson, Stephanie Romanov, even the
aligman behind our dearly beloved Wesley Wyndham Pryce, Mr Alexis Denisof
himself… the list was long and extremely impressive. The excitement
was almost tangible in the air as the attendees awaited their arrival,
breathless with anticipation. Of course that might have been because they’d
already started getting into the true ‘School Disco’ spirit
for the after party and hit the booze early… After surviving the
CoA Beast’s Brew Pub Crawl the night before, both
Citizens and Council were perhaps looking a little worse for wear but
still anticipating seeing all those stars come out on stage to say, "Hello"
and start the convention with a bang.
The crowd gets a group kiss from the honored guests.
|
As if the mere thought of
all this wasn’t enough, the stage itself was enough to wet anybody’s
appetite for a weekend of Angel based goodness. The lobby of the
Hyperion Hotel, home of Angel Investigations, was reconstructed before our very
eyes, complete with front desk, bell and (almost) working elevator. But
before the festivities really began, who should step out on stage but
event organiser Sean Harry with a little announcement for us all? We’d
already figured out that J. August Richards had turned up as an
unexpected but extremely welcome surprise guest but little did we know that somebody
else had been due to pay us all a little visit. As the lights were dimmed,
our eyes were drawn to the screen and… two little action figures
having a fight? This was our big surprise? Actually no, the man wielding
the two figures, series creator Joss Whedon was the big surprise.
From his office, where the magic happens, he explained that due to last
minute ‘work stuff’ (hmm… interesting) he was
unable to join us as originally planned. Quite possibly he would have
been the best surprise guest of all time, but alas, the Powers That Be
thwarted us once more. So, instead, he thought he’d send us a video
message and give us an insight into the making of a little show he likes
to call Angel. We do hope that his entering rooms and getting attacked
by masked members of the writing staff in capes isn’t a regular
part of the series’ production… Of most interest to the audience,
even all the non-spoiler fans present, was the big white board in the
background where the writers break their story concepts. Well… Season
5 of Angel - it’s going to be huge if this is anything to
go by. Here are the writer’s thoughts:
“Numfar
= Sexy”
“Angel not brooding enough”
“Show not gay enough, more ballet!”
“Hand puppets”
“KILL WESLEY!” (Bet Alexis loves that idea…)
At least, we think these aren’t real spoilers. After much raucous
laughter rang throughout the hall, with that little revelation out of
the way it was time to get on with the show! The spotlights hit the stage
and through the door to that infamous office where our favourite Dark
Avenger spends his days brooding… err, I mean, working… stepped
the great Glorificus, the one and only Clare Kramer as our MC for
the event. The Hell God herself wasted no time in welcoming everyone and
getting the party started. One by one, the guests were called out and
made their entrance on stage to give a quick hello and a wave and to promise
a weekend of fun and frolics, each greeted with an astonishing number
of decibels as the attendees whistled, clapped and screamed their appreciation.
A few of the guests even treated us to a little something extra:
J August got the
crowd going with a slightly revamped version of the 50 Cent hit ‘In
The Club’ which consisted of him telling us, “Hey Blackpool,
it’s your birthday”, as well as indulging in a little audience
participation (a staple of any good convention).
J gets the crowd in a swingin' mood.
|
Nobody needed to guess who
was coming through the door next when they heard that unmistakeable voice
belting out the highest note he could hit; Krevlorneswath of the Deathwok
Clan has nothing on the one and only Andy Hallett. But the biggest
cheer of the night naturally went to the man on his first ever UK
convention appearance – when Alexis Denisof made his appearance
you would have thought Elvis had just entered the building. The cheers
and screams were certainly loud enough.
With the festivities over and done, the attendees and the guests wasted
no time getting into the party spirit. Over all three nights of the convention
the guests could be seen milling around in the bar and on the dance floor,
but all the action seemed to happen on the stage where Andy decided
to grace us all with a few numbers. Belting out classics such as ‘Lady
Marmalade’, ‘I Will Survive’ and whatever song the
DJ happened to be playing at the time, he quickly earned himself the title
of ‘Green Con Queen’ as he partied the weekend away and made
it his personal responsibility to ensure that guests and attendees alike
were having a good time, even managing to convince Mark Lutz and
Brody Hutzler to join him in a few numbers. The three of them even
developed their own unique dance. We’re still not exactly
certain how he managed to lose his only pair of shoes while he was at
it – apparently it was something to do with ‘Row, Row,
Row Your Boat’ and giving them away - but we’re
sure he appreciated the strappy gold heels one thoughtful attendee provided
as a replacement!
How many Lorne's does it take to win a competition? |
A particular highlight for
guests and attendees alike was the fancy dress competition, which took
place on Saturday evening. The effort and thought that goes into first
choosing and then creating each character is unbelievable, and there was
an exceptionally high standard of costumes. All our favourites were recreated:
Angelus, Darla, Drusilla, Spike, and more. There was particular delight
at the little ‘Cheerleader Buffy’ recreated by one of the
younger contestants; even Julie Benz and Nicole Bilderback
had to stop for pictures. One of the audience favourites and eventual
prizewinners was the recreation of Olaf, ex- boyfriend of Anyanka, who
came pre- equipped with his own full size troll hammer (quite frankly
he could have knocked somebody out with the thing, it was that sizable).
There were even a few non- Buffyverse entries in the shape of the leather
clad X- Men. From start to finish the fancy dress competition was a great
source of entertainment and one of the highlights of the party; even that
agonising wait for the judge’s decision seemed to fly by as the
guests left John Kassir in charge of the rabble. You may not recognise
him if you see him in a crowded room but you’ll certainly have heard
him before as the voice for the Crypt keeper, Buster Bunny
of ‘Tiny Toons’ and from the many other voices he has
provided. But what has that got to do with the price of an exorcism from
Angel Investigations, you ask? Well, he also has the grand distinction of being
married to the lovely Julie Benz. He kept the attendees rolling in the aisles as he
slipped seamlessly from voice to voice in a totally improvised presentation of The Wizard of Oz
which was over all too soon as the judges came back with their decision.
The most rapturous applause of the evening was reserved for the Lorne
and Lornette duo who eventually won the ‘Demon’ category;
who couldn’t love a green guy in a pink suit? Certainly not Andy
Hallett who was thrilled and has already put his request to Dayne
Johnson for his own version to wear on the show next year (more on
this later)!
|
