Sorry for taking so long to get this third part written. Anyway, here goes:

The Cabaret -

As I mentioned in my last report, there were a lot of problems with the autograph line and I ended up being one of the very last people to get my stuff signed. They were actually shooing people out of the auditorium so they could start the sound check when I finally got through.

Needless to say, I didn't have time to go try to find someplace to get dinner... luckily some of my friends had thought of this already and had ordered a pizza delivered. Do you know how hard it is to convince someone that we really did want a pizza delivered to a public place??? LOL Especially when you're calling from a pay phone??

Luckily TaurusRat is really good at reasoning with folks. So by the time we actually got out of the auditorium our pizza was waiting for us (some of the group had gotten through the line much earlier and had volunteered to wait for it). So dinner ended up being pizza, eaten on the steps outside the center with a large crowd all around us. (This has to be one of my strangest con memories ever. ) TaurusRat, Tyche, Robinsnest and I were all very glad to see it though.

We managed to get our food eaten and the mess cleaned up just in time to get in line as they opened the doors. The line moved fairly quickly and soon we were back inside and looking for seats. I'd bought a Gold ticket for this event and had a reserved seat, while my friends had bought General Admission so we ended up separated. To give you an idea of how much they'd undersold this convention, I was 3 rows back from the stage and only one section off of center however I had the entire row to myself.

The cabaret itself was a total blast! Kevin, Danielle, Joel and Tim were great and seemed to be having as good a time as the audience was. I think someone else has given a song list that they played, I hope so, because I don't remember all of them. I do remember Joel's Mick Jagger impression... he was an absolute riot and very very good.

Of course Kevin was incredible. If he hadn't told us earlier that he had a cold I never would have guessed from the way he sang. I was a little disappointed that they didn't do Kung Fu Fighting but I loved the songs they did choose so I wont complain. I was laughing so hard at Kevin when he did his Marilyn Monroe impression to sing Happy Birthday that I couldn't get any pictures of it.

All in all, the cabaret went by way too fast. It seemed like they were only onstage for minutes and I was totally shocked to realize almost two hours had passed. The crowd gave them a standing ovation as they walked off stage the first time. The noise level in the auditorium was tremendous... at one point I nearly had to plug my ears ... Amazingly enough, the decible level went up when they all came back out!

I know Kevin made some comment about the song they were going to do but I had a hard time hearing it over the noise... then Kevin went into full Dr. Frankenfurter mode and sang 'Sweet Transvestite'! That had to be the highlight of the evening!! I was laughing so hard I'm still amazed that my photos turned out at all! And I now know the role I would kill to see Kevin in!

All in all, it was a fabulous show and I highly recommend anyone who gets the chance to see it, go for it! For me it was (for once) well worth the price Creation charged.

When the cabaret was over I went looking for Robinsnest... she and I were supposed to be sharing a hotel room with Marit and Apollena (who had opted not to go to the cabaret). Unfortunately for us, the hotel they were staying at was NOT the Golden Gate Holiday Inn but another one down on Union Square. So we were forced to say our goodnights/goodbyes and head off. We didn't have too much difficulty finding the hotel but finding parking??? That was another story. After the third trip around a three block area with not an empty garage in sight, we finally opted to head back across the bay to my home.

Got home to find a pitiful message on my answering machine from Lessa begging us to call "No matter what time you get in!" and tell her all about the cabaret. Well, we really couldn't resist and after a quick call to the hotel to let Marit and Apollena know what had happened to us, we placed the call to Lessa. (So much for getting to sleep anytime soon. ) It was over an hour later that we finally hung up the phone and crawled off to bed.

Sunday -

A much more leisurely morning for Robinsnest and I... we'd arranged to meet Apollena and Marit at the con center at 10am so we had plenty of time to get ready. We made it on time and parked my van then climbed into Marit's car to go get some breakfast. Ended up down near Fisherman's Wharf at a little place that served great food. Relaxing and talking... then went for a bit of shopping on our way back to the car... Found a postcard to send to Hebea which we all signed. Then it was finally time to head back to the Masonic Center where we said some quick good byes and they dropped me off.

I didn't have long to wait before I spotted more folks wandering in from the hotel... spent a little while going through the pics on the digital camera I'd borrowed... and getting deafened by shrieks from those looking at them with me.

Once again, I didn't spend a lot of time inside the auditorium. I mean, how many times can you watch the same things (mainly Xena)?

Joel was on fairly early in the day and of course the digital camera died on me just before he came on. (Brother forgot to warn me that the thing eats batteries like they were peanuts.) So I had to rely on my regular camera.

Considering that Joel told us he had not gotten back to his hotel until 3 am the man had a lot of energy. The first thing he did was ask the audience how many of us had attended the Cabaret the night before. He grinned at the loud cheers that answered him and then told us that that was the best gig they had ever done. Again, I don't remember a lot of the questions he answered... I do know he talked a bit about Channelling Baby and mentioned the All Blacks quite a lot. And I definitely remember hearing Kendaa shouting something about Aussies... I think Joel did a bit of a double take when he realized there was an Aussie in the audience.

Joel obligingly did Strife's laugh and Deimos' tongue bit when asked but he seemed to be a bit more subdued then he was in Santa Monica (from the late night?). He also mentioned his mother (Liddy Holloway - Alcemene) was off on a trip to India. I didn't hear the question that prompted this so I don't know what this was in reply too.
All too soon he was told his time was up and left the stage to great applause.

Since Kevin wasn't scheduled to be on for a couple of hours I decided to walk down to the store and get some more batteries (the flash on my regular camera was starting to give up the ghost as well). On the way out, I ran into Kendaa who decided to go with me. Of course we talked the whole way about Kev, the con and how much fun it had been.

We made it back with time to spare and after changing the batteries in both camera's I spent a bit more time making people THUD, right Cass?

I spent some time wandering through the crowds and talking to people again. Ran into Paul Robert Coyle and got to talk to him for a few minutes. He seemed a bit surprised to be recognized but was very happy to chat.

Then it was finally time for Kevin... I ended up sitting in front of Whisper for most of this session though I did sneak down closer for some good shots. I think she's already filled you in on most of what Kevin said, so other than a couple of things I'm not going to go into too much detail here... even if I could remember it all. Kevin's voice was much rougher this time and you could definitely tell he had a cold. He also seemed very tired. He also wanted to know how many of us had attended the cabaret and seemed pleased by the response.

On orders from Lessa, I tried once more to ask a question and this time actually got to do it. I don't know how many people here know, but Michael is planning to do MacBeth in May/June of next year and there is a group planning to attend. My question for Kevin was if he was planning/considering doing it with Michael. Kevin said he didn't know at this time but he would be interested. He made a point of saying that the director was a mate of his so it was a wait and see thing.
Again, Kevin's talk was over way too soon and then it was time for Danielle. She seemed to be positively bouncing and very full of energy. She fielded a lot of the same questions that the others had gotten and seemed just as surprised that we had heard of Channeling Baby here. Just as the others had done she asked if we'd enjoyed the cabaret and then announced that she was going to change careers... she now wanted to be a rock star. Since she repeated that several times over the course of her talk, I think it is safe to say she really enjoyed herself.

All too soon her time was up though and it was time for the costume contest. I took advantage of this to grab a quick break and got back to my seat just in time for them to announce the winners. While they were setting up for the autographs I found Kendaa and Cass and chatted for a bit... then it was time to wait. I must say Creation seemed to have learned from the previous day's fiasco and this time it was much more organized. Though I did feel sorry for the woman who kept having to shout out the row numbers since TIIC hadn't left a microphone on for her.

*****

Hmm... I think I'd better stop this here... I do have a bit more to add about getting the autographs but don't want to spoil a surprise. As soon as I hear it's ok to tell, I'll add that to this.