King Con
Michaela Upton joined the throngs of Xena and Hercules enthusiasts at Pasadena’s Civic Centre in late January to see what delights Creation Entertainment had in store for them…
Official Xena Magazine: Issue 07
Call it loyalty. Call it devotion. Call it complete insanity. Every year, thousands of fans flock to California to attend Creation Entertainment's official Hercules and Xena Convention, and this year was no exception.
'The Big One' was held in Pasadena over the weekend of the 21 - 23 January 2000 and saw a whole host of stars from both Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, as well as cast of the new show Cleopatra 2525.
There was the usual guest talks and signings, music videos and presentations, competitions and auctions. Now a full part of the convention on a regular basis are the celebrity breakfasts and cabarets, where the guests have a chance to show off their other talents. And if that wasn’t enough, the weekend included the Back 2 Back Action Pack premieres of Jack of All Trades and Cleopatra 2525.
Friday got under way with Tim Omundson, better known as the teacher in the way of love Eli. Bereft of his long dark locks and beard, Omundson told everybody of the hilarious first time he met Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor. Also on stage that day was Danielle Cormack, who very enthusiastically greeted the audience in at least a dozen languages before singing a song about screen character Ephiny (with very dubious lyrics) and staging her death sequence the way she would have liked to have seen it. Cormack also gave a sneak preview of what we can expect of her new character Rainer in the upcoming Cleopatra 2525 episode Mind Games.
Saturday came and brought with it Joel Tobeck (Strife), Meighan Desmond (Discord) and Jeremy Callaghan (Pompey). Tobeck, no stranger to the convention circuit, proved once again how different he is to his onscreen persona, but that he can become Strife in an instant should the need arise. Meanwhile, Desmond, appearing for her first time, fielded the audience’s questions with ease and much more patience than Discord ever could. Callaghan, who was also making his convention debut, showed a completely different side to the usual arrogance of his character Pompey, answering questions with thoughtful responses and marvelling over the joys of his new-found fatherhood.
Then came one of the highlights of the weekend, the showing of the first episode of Cleopatra 2525, followed by a guest panel with series stars Gina Torres (Hel), Victoria Pratt (Sarge) and Jennifer Sky (Cleopatra). All three were happy to talk about their new roles as well as their previous outings into the land of Hercules and Xena as Nebula (Torres), Cyane (Pratt) and Amarice (Sky).
Then came the long-awaited arrival of Ares, the God of War himself Kevin Smith. Stepping onto the stage, the actor was greeted with the loudest cheer of the weekend, proving how popular Ares is in both Xena and Hercules. Smith answered each question with great care and finished with a ’cheers mate’.
Sunday kicked off with convention veteran Robert Field. As editor on Xena, Field has access to all those ‘never to see the light of day’ show reels, including bloopers and deleted scenes, plus some examples of how they edit together the more ambitious sequences, such as the Xena and Alti skeleton fight in the episode Them Bones, Them Bones.
Field was followed by Ebonie Smith, Willa O’Neill and Alison Wall, all making their first convention appearance. Smith reminisced about her lime playing M’Lila and encouraged the audience to request that the character be brought back into the show; O’Neill talked of her numerous roles with both shows, including Gabrielle's younger sister Lila, and her stage career; while Alison proved quite a surprise as she took to the stage with blonde hair - a stark contrast to Minya's dark hair but with the same bubbly personality, as she warned aspiring actors about the perils of acting with goats!
Both Friday and Saturday evening were reserved for the celebrity cabarets. Friday night featured Tim Omundson, Danielle Cormack, Joel Tobeck and Kevin Smith backed by The Bards Band, the Cosmic Orchestra and Solstice, performing some fantastic covers of rock classics including ‘Bad To The Bone’. Meanwhile, Saturday saw Ebonie Smith, Willa O’Neill, Gina Torres, Jeremy Callaghan, Kevin Smith and Michael Hurst joining the bands with Claire Stansfield (Alti) as mistress of ceremonies. A real crowd pleaser had to be Smith’s alternate lyrics to ‘Fever’: “Xena had a friend named Gabrielle...” I think you can guess the rest.
For anyone wishing to own a piece of Xena or Gabrielle then the auction was the place to be. Following on the heels of the Chakram and sword auctioned in previous years was Xena’s boot dagger and Gabrielle’s fighting staff, and one of these could have been yours for a mere $8,000!
As the finale to the weekend, there was the chance for fans to say a fond farewell to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst turned up on stage together to mark the occasion, and were greeted by a standing ovation. The actors shared some of their favourite memories and their final moments of the show in true Hercules and lolaus style, side by side to the end.
The Big One was a weekend of great entertainment for fans of Xena and Hercules alike. The only thing that could have made the weekend even better would have been the appearance of both Gabrielle and Xena themselves - Renee O’Connor and Lucy Lawless.