Monday 20 May 2013

FedCon - Translation of "Freitag, 10. Mai 2013 - John Barrowman" report

Another lovely FedCon report from Nicole Oebel @ myfanbase.de, about John Barrowman's solo panel on May 10th. The misc notes made me laugh! :)

Original report in German here:
http://www.myfanbase.de/serien/veranstaltungen/?pid=16365
Translation below for your enjoyment :)

(As usual, I welcome any constructive feedback. If you see anything wrong with my translation, please let me know)

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John Barrowman is without a doubt a born entertainer! His performance on the stage of FedCon on Friday evening was an explosion of humor, charm and general good spirit. Adorable cheeky double entendres and frank jokes seem to be an integral part of his personality. He doesn't hesitate to give himself body and soul, breaking into song or miming his stories. There were also quieter, more serious moments, and John Barrowman was wonderful through it all. He was great with this large audience, maintaining the amazing atmosphere in the venue while focusing on individual fans and the various questions and topics they brought up. Among acting and entertainment came the topic of John's sexuality and how he had always been open about it since the beginning of this career. After that, John was asked to sing and he chose to the main title of the musical "Anything goes", the one that launched his musical stage career. He also answered a few questions about the BBC Documentary "The Making of Me" (2008), in which he goes searching for the cause of his homosexuality. Each of his responses showed that it was important for him to make good use of his work in the entertainment industry as well as his popularity in order to speak up for gay rights. His heartfelt and inspiring shout "I love my job! I love my life!" summed it all.

The reason why John loves the role of Captain Jack so much is because it allowed him to become a role model and a hero for young gays, somebody on TV they find cool, because he's not afraid to be who he is. John then talked about the difference between "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood" and how different Captain Jack is in each show. While "Doctor Who" is clearly a family-oriented show, "Torchwood" is aimed at a more mature audience. In "Doctor Who", the Doctor is the main character, which allows Jack a bit more freedom to be cheekier, funnier and more facetious. On the other hand, in Torchwood, Jack has the role of the leader who's bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders and has to make choices such as sacrificing his grandson to save humanity. This decision was a terribly difficult one to make, but Jack felt that it was unavoidable. Barrowman also explained that the day after the episode was shown on TV, he was at the bakery when a lady came up to him and told him that she didn't approve of what he had done the night before as Captain Jack, that it was very shocking, however, she still liked him as a person. John also added how grateful he was of the mutual respect that exists between him and his fans. Whenever he can, he likes to spend time to take pictures with fans, but he also loves that he's able to go shopping alone or to a restaurant with his parents without being harassed.

Barrowman told us that he's glad to include himself in the ranks of the "Star Trek" geeks who are attending FedCon. He's got all the DVDs, and when he comes back home after a night on stage, he likes to watch an episode every night. However, it often lasts until late in the night, because he can't stop himself and keeps watching for hours. It's impossible for him to say who his favorite Captain his, just as he can't answer the question about his favorite Doctor. He loves the series and how the storyline developed, but to him, this is thanks to all the captains. He admitted however having a weak spot for Scott Bakula. He incidentally spoke about the time he asked him for an autograph, in front of a very large audience, but since he didn't have any paper, he let Bakula sign his butt cheek. He would have loved to tattoo his autograph, but his partner Scott Gill would have had something to say about that. He also spoke about the time he got to meet Larry Hagman. As someone who grew up watching "Dallas", he felt very honored to receive a signed cowboy hat that belonged to J.R. Ewing as well a a pair of cowboy boots. When asked if he would accept a role on the new version of Dallas, he said he wouln't refuse, however he thinks that the show as taken a strange turn now.

Fans of "Arrow" have noticed lately that Colton Haynes and John Barrowman have formed a great team; they get up to all sorts of silliness to entertain each other on their common flights. Every fangirl would like to be a fly on the wall to see th eir antics. One very early morning, while everyone was asleep, Barrowman performed a mix of  modern dance and acrobatics which he concluded with a "jazz run" along the aisle of the plane. Colton filmed the whole sequence. His run was cut short however when he tripped and landed on a fellow passenger. He rushed to first class, where the other passenger couldn't follow him to complain. One can only imagine the fun Colton had while filming the whole thing! When asked the well-known question of whom he would shag, marry and throw over a cliff among his 'Arrow" colleagues Stephen Amell, Colin Donnell and Colton Haynes, he answered that he would throw Stephen over a cliff, because he would survive it; he would shag Colin, because he has a very nice butt; lastly, he would marry Colton, because he's always wanted to know what it's like to be a "daddy".

The audience also got an anecdote about Whiskey. His two favorite brands have something to do with his name. The first one is called "Barrogill", and John was so excited about the name - which is a play on words on his name and his partner's - that he bought the whole stock. So, when he gives out a bottle for special occasions, he likes to tease people and joke that he bought a distillerie, claiming it's something he's also very interested in. His other favorite brand is Jim Beam, J.B -  his initials.

In this lively and friendly atmosphere, in which the audience and John were basking, came the story told by Ben Browder ("Farscape"): Ben told that very strange and loud noises could be heard coming from John's room the night before. John explained that it was around 4:30 am, they were dancing naked to Mumford & Sons and they had the the most fun! According to him, it's very liberating and exhilarating to dance naked around the house. He advised us all to try this at home at least once. Despite the time extension, the amazing panel with John Barrowman came to an end way too soon. John left the stage to a standing ovation, and we were left feeling that we would have liked him to stay even longer.


Miscellaneous notes
  • While he was on stage, he got a visit from someone who was wearing a bedsheet over their head. John immediately recognized him thanks to his boots, and told us it was Casper the friendly ghost (Casper Van Dien from "Starship Troopers").
  • During a shooting break on the set of "So You Think You Can Dance", he got stuck with half a banana down his throat, while trying to demonstrate "something" to Jamie Redknapp's wife. But he eventually managed to dislodge it completely.
  • His favorite Disney princess is Ariel, because of her flowing hair.
  • He's allergic to latex, which is why he'll never play the role of the Phantom in "Phantom of the Opera".
  • He's now played all the musical roles that are important to him. He's not played in "Les Misérables" though, as he finds the show too long for him.
  • When asked which aspect of his job he prefers - singing, acting, etc. - he generally never answers, as it would lead him to not receiving any more offers for the aspect he didn't label as favorite.
  • Regarding the kissing scenes with James Marsters, he incited the "Torchwood" director to do six takes, just to annoy James Marsters.

Sunday 19 May 2013

FedCon - Translation of GentleGeek.net report - "Bienvenue à la BarrowCon !"

Original report in French by Audrey from Gentlegeek.net
Source: http://www.gentlegeek.net/2013/05/reportage-fedcon-2013-bienvenue-a-la-barrowcon/

The original report has some great pictures, make sure you check it out :) While I've not included the pictures from the original post, I've translated the captions, flagged by "[PICTURE]".
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While 2012 was this author's discovery of FedCon - world-famous German sci-fi convention - 2013 confirmed last year's impressions: this four-day event that takes place at the Maritim Hotel in Düsseldorf is simply not to be missed. Would you like to know more?

Düsseldorf Airport, Thursday 9th May, 1pm: it's impossible to miss the groups of people who are going to FedCon, an iconic convention in Germany, which was celebrating its 22nd anniversary this year. While it's mainly dedicated to the Star Trek universe, this famous convention has reached a wider audience over the years by opening up to other franchises like Stargate, Farscape, Starship Troopers, Battlestar Galactica or the Whoverse. There's enough to make every sci-fi fan happy. Large groups of people do the trip each year to attend this  4-day event at the Maritim Hotel, right next to the airport.

While last year's edition features two megastars - William Shatner (Kirk in Star Trek) and Richard Dean Anderson (Jack O'Neil in Stargate SG-1), 2013 started with a few hiccups. Numerous guests' cancellations made visitors a bit disgruntled. A few weeks before the convention, Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck in BSG) had to cancel due to a conflicting shooting schedule. The actress was replaced at the last minute by Tricia Helfer (Six in BSG), who in turn had to cancel the day before the convention. This was a bit too much for the Battlestar Galactica's fans... and for the others, as at this point, almost half a dozen guests had cancelled just a few weeks before the event, something never seen before in FedCon's history. Unfortunately, these are the rules of the game: for an actor, the priority will always go to a role and filming rather than attending a convention, and it's understandable.

[PICTURE] - Opening ceremony... the tone was set!

Vive BarrowCon!

In any case, there were once again enough overactive guests this year to set those four days of convention on fire: Andrea Thompson (Babylon 5), Gigi Edgley, Claudia Black and Ben Browder (Farscape and Stargate), Garrett Wang, Robert Beltran and Ethan Phillips (Star Trek: Voyager), Tracee Cocco (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Mark Allen Shepherd, J.G. Hertzler et Robert O’Reilly (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Anthony Montgomery and Linda Park (Star Trek: Enterprise), John Barrowman and Eve Myles (Torchwood), Jasika Nicole (Fringe), Matt Frewer and Colin Ferguson (Eureka), and Casper van Dien, Dina Meyer and Patrick Muldoon (Starship Troopers).

Each guest was allocated two 45 or 60-minute slots, during which they were roaming the stage, microphone in hand, answering questions from the fans, who were gathered in two large auditoriums. But apart from these solo Q&A sessions, guests also got a group session - depending on the franchise they belonged to. As you can imagine, when a solo session was a show in itself, laughter, good times and general hilarity was guaranteed when sessions were hosted by two or three guests.

[PICTURE] - John Barrowman and Eve Myles... or "how to make an impression"!

The tone was set during the opening ceremony, which started with a long speech from Anthony Montgomery, in a quite a shaky German that caused fits of laughter from fans and guests alike - some of the latter even went to get chairs to sit while on stage. Then came the Starship Troopers trio. To make fun of Montgomery, they unrolled a giant roll of toilet paper, aiming to make a speech that was even longer... the best part came at the end, when John Barrowman and Eve Myles came on stage: the actor who plays Captain Jack pulled FedCon's mascot out of his zipper, causing hilarity among all those present.

The convention started with an already amazing atmosphere, which was only confirmed the following days during which the merry Barrowman's  presence became a running gag... even leading Ben Browder and Garret Wang to rename FedCon to... BarrowCon!

 
From excitation to emotion

Panels came after panels for four days, alternating with photo shoots and autograph sessions. There's no question that between set anecdotes, jokes and confessions, guests gave the audience some wonderful moments on stage. Of course, some were more reserved, even shy. Jasika Nicole confessed from the start that she had never done this and it was the first time she found herself in front of several hundred people. However the atmosphere got more and more relaxed as the convention was progressing.

[PICTURE] - Linda Park in front of the audience

Among the beautiful moments, we'll remember: Eve Myles talking about the departure of some of the Torchwood  actors, John Barrowman improvising the main title of  the musical Anything Goes or explaining the "banana trick" he does on set, Casper Van Dien inviting himself in his friends' panel and Ben Browder knocking the main set over. The guests, already in very high spirits, liven things up even further during the sessions in groups of two, three... or even more!

Casper van Dien, Dina Meyer and Patrick Muldoon improvised a commented viewing of Starship Troopers, before Eve Myles and John Barrowman decided to turn up in the panel out of the blue, like a bunch of troublemakers. The Torchwood actors got the prime spot, i.e the last panel of the convention. Needless to say that given their liveliness and high spirits during the whole weekend, this panel was eagerly awaited. They didn't disappoint! From serious questions - Barrowman cut the rumour short about a Doctor Who spinoff featuring River Song - to less serious ones, Myle and Barrowman sang, danced, told work anecdotes but also personal ones: Eve Myles' story about her farting dog was a huge success.

[PICTURE] - Patrick Muldoon, Dina Meyer et Casper Van Dien, never running out of anecdotes!

Claudia Black and Ben Browder's nice gestures need to be noted as well: the Stargate SG-1 and Farscape duo, whose panel started more than an hour late on Saturday evening, insisted on answering the questions from all fans gathered next to the microphone before leaving for the day, well after 10pm. This endeared them even more to the fans, most of whom came from quite far (and of course spent a lot of money to attend the convention).

 
Jetlag

Apart from the usual panels and costume contests (it would be great, by the way, if the costumed people could pause on stage for pictures and not run off after their performance), the convention also included the traditional photo shoots and autograph sessions. There's not much to say about the formers, there's very little time to pause with the guest(s), which is mainly due to the limited time allocated for those sessions - 30 minutes - for an ever growing number of fans. However, the kindness of this year's guests needs to be noted once more: Barrowman and Myles were not against a few seconds of pure silliness in front of the objective.

There were some mishaps for the autograph sessions on Saturday. Very few people with weekend passes (4-day access) were let into the room. Priority was given to Gold Pass (the most expensive) and Day passes, the latter we can understand, since they wouldn't be here on Sunday. However, once in the main room, we could see that the queues were not very long, which means that more people could have had access to the room on Saturday. On the other hand, the Sunday session was almost immediately open to all visitors, without any distinction regarding the nature of the pass (bought more or less in advance prior to the convention).

[PICTURE] Ben Browder, very focused (as if !)

Two guests stood out during the autograph sessions: Ben Browder and John Barrowman. The queue to Ben's table was very long, which led the Saturday night panels to very delayed. The fact is that apart from being popular, the actor was taking his time during the signing, even spending a few minutes with some of the fans. This was a delight for the fans, but a nightmare for the organization staff. As a result, the actor was moved to another space on Sunday, where his popularity didn't diminish but there were two members of staff managing the session.

As for John Barrowman, Captain Jack partied for most of the night at the hotel bar on Saturday night, singing in front of a cheering crowd... and woke up very late on Sunday morning for his session, with "one hell of a hangover" according to Eve Myles, who, joined by a Casper Van Dien in fine form - kindly applauded her friend's arrival. Because of Barrowman's 45-minute delay, the queue to his table was already huge, but the atmosphere during the whole session was absolutely great.

 
An event that kept its promises

Those who were worried about guests' cancellations were undoubtedly reassured by the whole atmosphere of this 22nd edition of FedCon. The whole event was of very high quality, and the small hiccups due to the delays were largely compensated by the organizers' and the guests' professionalism, which made this new edition a success. FedCon doesn't have to prove itself any more, however, the convention doesn't rest on its laurels and sets the bar very high each year.

[PICTURE] - Already time to say goodbye...

One of the obvious high points of this convention is the freedom given to the guests, which results in surprising and rich panels, with no constraint - no translation constraint, in particular, since everything is in English. Unfortunately, this kind of panel doesn't exist today in France, where guests are always coached to a certain extent and answers translated, which limits both the interaction and the amount of exchange between the guests and the fans. The ultimate proof of the success of this year's edition is the conclusion of the closing ceremony, where guests came back on stage several time to dance and film the audience... some guests stayed on stage until the last moment, announcing that they would like to come back next year with surprises.

The Düsseldorf weather became a bit gloomy by the start of the evening on Sunday, just like the FedCon visitors who had to leave their bubble and go back to the real world again. The wait will be long until next year's edition, which will take place from 8th to 11th May 2014... but one thing is certain, we will be there!

Friday 17 May 2013

FedCon - Translation of "FedCon XXII - Sonntag, 12. Mai 2013" report


Report written in German by Nicole Oebel @ my fanbase
http://www.myfanbase.de/serien/veranstaltungen/?pid=16376

Any feedback on the translation is welcome (be kind, English and German are not my native languages ;-))
 
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John Barrowman had already proved his skills as an entertainer on Friday evening (so had he during the commented screening of Starship Troopers on Thursday evening and the concert on Saturday evening), which is why expectations for his joint panel with Torchwood co-star Eve Myles were exceptionally high. They were actually exceeded! John Barrowman and Eve Myles on stage together is the perfect recipe for a true festival! They are like a well-oiled machine and like their characters on Torchwood, they behave sometimes like brother and sister and sometimes like an old married couple. They tease, they laugh, they cuddle... or they suddenly launch into an interpretation of the stool dance from the musical "Cabaret". The warmth and friendship between the two actors and their fun factor hit the audience like a lightning bolt. There were very few moments over the next hour when people were not in stitches. It actually began when Eve came on stage and asked everyone in the packed room to greet John with a standing ovation and loud cheers to exorcise the hangover out of him. He took it very gracefully, however it must be said that he was already looking better at that point.
Very quickly, the discussion turned to Torchwood and the balance between actor and character. John said the reason why the fans love Gwen and Jack so much is because they each put a lot of themselves in their characters, while Eve explained that she and John are amongst those actors who give everything they have when shooting a dramatic scene, without worrying about how they might look (which they might end up regretting later!). Such emotional scenes, Eve explained, can become an actor's obsession and be at the front of their mind for a long time. John added that these are hard times for their partners, as they are difficult to be around after they've shot this kind of scenes.

A fan mentioned season 4 and Jack Harkness' shift to a fully gay character. John disagreed with her to some extent. He clarified that change is necessary for any drama, otherwise it does get boring. However, for him, the change in Jack in season 4 is due to him becoming mortal and thus wanting to explore other things, like sex with strangers. But all in all, the character's essence and soul remain the same: he misses Gwen and he misses Ianto. Regarding the latter, they both spoke a bit about the character's death and the filming of the scene, the heartbreak their characters were going through and how, as actors, they felt the same sense of loss as they were parting from their colleague with whom they had worked for so long. John added a nice detail: the body bags in which Ianto and Jack lay in that scene are respectively numbered 11 and 13, both of which have to do with John's lucky numbers. His birthday is on the 11th of March and his mother's is on the 13th of July.

When asked what skills they acquired during the filming of Torchwood, they replied that they learned how to shoot. Both are strongly opposed to firearms; however their roles required they learned how to shoot with guns. John also learned how to shoot a bow and arrow. When asked what kind of Torchwood-related project they would like to be involved in, John spontaneously answered that he would like the Torchwood novel "Exodus Code" - that he co-wrote with his sister - to be brought to the screen. He added that he would like to be the director as well. He was particularly enthusiastic about Jack's first scene in the book, when he falls from a plane and thinks "Fuck, this is gonna hurt!" Eve said she would very much like to explore Gwen's darker side and shoot an episode where she would be Jack's nemesis. John also liked this idea, especially since they had a similar scene in "Miracle Day", where they turn against each other and Jack threatens to rip the skin from Gwen's skull. He said it would be great to expand this storyline and explore this further.

Eve and John also agreed that it's just as difficult to be successful in show-business as it is in any other profession. You can be successful if you put your heart into it. John also gave a piece of wisdom: in show-business, being successful has nothing to do with fame but with actually having work. He said there's no doubt that he loves his popularity, but he would also have been very happy to perform in any theater - where the paycheck would obviously have been lower, he added jokingly. Then the discussion moved to an anecdote that occurred during one of Eve's theater performances, which John attended. Eve had a small mishap, which she managed to hide... until John, who was in the audience, started to laugh out loud. His laughter is for her so distinctive and contagious that she couldn't keep a straight face on stage and she in turn broke out in laughter.

"The Walking Dead" is one of John's favorite series, and he would like to play one of the survivors, with the option of becoming a zombie later on. Other than that, his favorite comics are "Captain America" and "Iron Man", and he answered for Eve that her favorite was "Wonderwoman". Would John like to play the first gay Star Trek Captain? At the drop of a hat! "Live long and prosper!" He couldn't do the Vulcan gesture, his ring finger wouldn't cooperate.
John also told the audience that he would like to do a concert tour in other countries. The fact that it has not happened yet is not because of him or his management. He explained that it's due to the fact that for example, in Germany, concert promoters don't know him and this aspect of his career and thus don't foresee any potential commercial success. An action from the fans would be needed, as 500 potential buyers would be enough to get the ball rolling. Eve suggested that John could do a concert in one of his fans' garden.
To conclude the panel, John broke into song and performed the beginning of "From a Distance" with his usual clear and warm voice that could have moved the audience to tears if Eve hadn't stepped in to mime the verses. Once again, the audience was in stitches. Emotion and little tears still came up at John's parting words, when he told the fans how much he and Eve appreciated them and how they changed both their lives and allowed them to live their dreams. After this fantastic panel came the closing ceremony, and it was heartwarming to hear so many of the actors say that they had been to conventions before, but it was here at FedCon that they had the most fun and the warmest welcome from the fans.