WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Back to the Roots of Queer as Folk in Toronto. What a fantastic time we had with Randy Harrison, Scott Lowell, Dean Armstrong, Makyla Smith, Sherry Miller, Harris Allan, Stephanie Moore, Fabrizio Filippo and the added treat of “Dame” Sharon Gless as the cast likes to call her.
Each Con has its high points and this one was no exception. Elke pulled out all the stops. I will try to give an overall view as it was so jam packed with activities for three days that some of it is running together in my mind.
Friday began with the Check In at 2 p.m. followed by a walk up Church Street with Scott and Dean which ended at Woody’s for drinks. A group of us who had dinner with Dean in Cologne at the last Con had such a good time with him that we called ourselves Team Fun Table and had tee shirts which we wore on the walk. We gave one to Dean who was thrilled that we were his team and had one for Scott who Dean said had to earn it.
At 7 p.m. we gathered at the revolving restaurant at the top of the CN Tower for our VIP dinner first with Dean and then Scott. Randy, Sherry and Makyla alternated seats at the Randy VIP tables. I was seated next to “the actor” and Dean pointed out the building where he lived and one he used to live in. The three course dinner was wonderful, the best food and at the best location of all the Con dinners I have attended. Much wine was consumed too. While we had dinner other Con attendees met at Woody’s to visit with Harris and Fab.
After the dinner, we went to Club Babylon where the first season was filmed. Harris was doing DJ duty up on the catwalk and he dedicated it to the Orlando victims and survivors. We had to wait in line to get our belongings searched and get a wristband which I assume was the result of the Orlando massacre. The place was jam packed and the thumpa thumpa was deafening. It was very hot and we just joined the crowd jumping up and down to QAF tunes. There was a big screen showing selected scenes from QAF and a couple of dancers on platforms above the crowd. Randy was supposed to be the host of the evening and after an hour or so he was introduced as the “King of Babylon”. He went on stage to welcome the crowd and say how happy he was to be there and be able to thank the queer community for their support of QAF and that he had worked there and danced there and would be downstairs to greet anyone who wanted meet him and have a picture with him. It was really great to be a part of this special event that we had all experienced on our TVs and get the feel for the dance club atmosphere. What a topper to the first evening.
The next day began with the Opening in which all the guests were introduced by Elke followed by the photo ops. Elke introduced Fab as “Ian” and when he came out he said, “My character’s name was ETHAN and I know you all hate me.” Randy didn’t seem to remember why we all called him Ian. The first photos were with Randy, Makyla and Fab individually and then together, then Scott and Dean together and separately and then Harris and Stephanie who could only stay for a short time but was able to do photos and autographs. Then we took the group photo with all the guests.
After lunch the panels began with Scott and Dean and then Randy, Makyla and Sherry and then Fab and Randy. Randy introduced Makyla, Sherry and Fab. Then we had the whole group who were joined by Sharon Gless. She was just as delightful and funny as you would expect and you can see why the whole cast loves her. She was talking about her scene with Sherry when she told her that she always knew Michael was gay and had to tell him herself. She said how much she enjoyed her scenes with Sherry who then said she was “verklempt” and they hugged and then Scott and Dean hugged to make fun of them. Sherry didn’t remember that she had a young lover and Randy couldn’t remember his name. He thought it was Taco instead of Tucker.
After the panels, we had the autograph sessions and then we had the cocktail party at 7 p.m. with drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Each guest spent about 15 minutes at each table and then moved on. Patrick Antosh, the costume designer, joined us for this event.
On Sunday we had the VIP brunches on the rooftop of the Hair of the Dog Pub. We sat with Dean and then Scott. Dean decided we should play a game so he asked us to write our occupations on the back of our name tags and he tried to guess who did what. He didn’t do very well but it was fun and he yelled over to Scott’s table to tell him to do the same and then Scott tried it with us when he got to our table. After brunch, we said goodbye to Randy, Makyla and Sherry as they went for their walk with their VIPs.
Later in the afternoon we had coffee and pastries with some of crew members of QAF. Patrick Antosh, Thom Best who was one of the directors, James O’Reilly who was Sharon’s hairdresser, a prop gal and two other crew members whose names and positions escape me. They had some interesting stories to tell about behind the scenes.
That evening Scott was very excited to have us attend the premiere of his web series, Adoptable based loosely on his search for his birth parents. He had planned to only show four episodes but decided to go ahead and show the whole six fifteen-minute segments. He had only just finished it and shown it to some industry people so we were the first fans to see it. Sharon came for the screening as she hadn’t seen it yet either along with some of the QAF crew members. It was very funny and quite different than I had expected. He wrote a role specifically for Sharon who plays a woman who helps him find his birth parents and he referred to her as the “owl lady”. He filled her house with owl pictures and figurines and she even showed up on set with a hairdo that kind of looked like little owl horns. She also had a kind of Fargo accent. Gale has a very brief scene as her son and he comes walking through carrying a large jar of something after she tells Scott that he just had a colonic so ……. She tells him that his mother tried to abort him but she does find out where his parents are living and he goes to meet them. It is done as a documentary being filmed of his quest while he is playing a gay cop on a show called Cops and Bottoms. Noah Wyle is his partner and he is really funny. Everyone enjoyed it and someone asked him how much of it was based on his real life and he said that his mother tried to abort him twice. How awful for him. We were aghast. It ends with an amusing shock when he meets his parents so the next season if he gets to film it should be good.
After the screening, Dean invited those who were staying longer to visit his acting studio on Monday morning but I was going home Monday afternoon so I missed it. My friends who stayed an extra few days also got to visit the bakery that Makyla’s husband James owns and got to see her little girl Evelyn who turned one year old on June 18.
A few little tidbits that I can remember:
Randy said his favorite scene was when Brian said he loved him since Justin wanted it so badly.
Sharon said her favorite scene was smoking pot with Gale. When they did the table read, they got a round of applause.
Randy thought Scott was so good in the scene where he says goodbye to Blake in the alley.
Sharon had a sign outside her trailer that said, “No smoking outside my trailer” which meant Smoke Inside. She brought 17 wigs from L.A. for Debbie to wear but they settled on the red one.
Scott said that Debbie and Carl’s first kiss continued after the scene ended and that Sharon looked like she had little birds flying around her head. She said it was a great kiss. She is also writing a book and I think it is about her experiences on QAF but I’m not sure.
Fab said he didn’t have to audition for the role of Ethan. He told Cowlip that the show was softcore porn and when they disagreed, he said you may not think so but people are jerking off to it.
The director of Blake’s overdose scene when Ted found him lying in vomit wanted Dean to do it differently but Dean disagreed and did it the way he wanted.
Scott told his then girlfriend that the guy he had to kiss was a pretty little Chihuahua referring to Dean. There was a fly zooming around Ted and Blake in their first sex scene in Ted’s apartment and you can hear it in the episode.
Scott said that Bradley Cooper insisted that the whole cast of The Elephant Man go to London and not just the three leads. Good for Bradley.
That’s all I can remember and if you were there and I got something wrong, feel free to let me know. I took a couple of notes but I don’t understand some of them because I was scribbling so as not to miss watching the cast and hearing their comments. There will be a DVD so you can hear the panels for yourself.
All in all, it was a terrific weekend spent with many of the friends I have made since my first QAF Con in Cologne in 2012. They make everything much more enjoyable. I was even able to see some old friends from the original Toronto Cons held while the show was still filming.
Elke says that this is her swan song and, if so, she went out with a bang. I can’t thank her enough for all she has done for the fandom to enable us to spend time with the cast members. I still have one more Gale and Randy Fan Meet in September in Bilbao and then it may really be over but I’ve had the time of my life.
Each Con has its high points and this one was no exception. Elke pulled out all the stops. I will try to give an overall view as it was so jam packed with activities for three days that some of it is running together in my mind.
Friday began with the Check In at 2 p.m. followed by a walk up Church Street with Scott and Dean which ended at Woody’s for drinks. A group of us who had dinner with Dean in Cologne at the last Con had such a good time with him that we called ourselves Team Fun Table and had tee shirts which we wore on the walk. We gave one to Dean who was thrilled that we were his team and had one for Scott who Dean said had to earn it.
At 7 p.m. we gathered at the revolving restaurant at the top of the CN Tower for our VIP dinner first with Dean and then Scott. Randy, Sherry and Makyla alternated seats at the Randy VIP tables. I was seated next to “the actor” and Dean pointed out the building where he lived and one he used to live in. The three course dinner was wonderful, the best food and at the best location of all the Con dinners I have attended. Much wine was consumed too. While we had dinner other Con attendees met at Woody’s to visit with Harris and Fab.
After the dinner, we went to Club Babylon where the first season was filmed. Harris was doing DJ duty up on the catwalk and he dedicated it to the Orlando victims and survivors. We had to wait in line to get our belongings searched and get a wristband which I assume was the result of the Orlando massacre. The place was jam packed and the thumpa thumpa was deafening. It was very hot and we just joined the crowd jumping up and down to QAF tunes. There was a big screen showing selected scenes from QAF and a couple of dancers on platforms above the crowd. Randy was supposed to be the host of the evening and after an hour or so he was introduced as the “King of Babylon”. He went on stage to welcome the crowd and say how happy he was to be there and be able to thank the queer community for their support of QAF and that he had worked there and danced there and would be downstairs to greet anyone who wanted meet him and have a picture with him. It was really great to be a part of this special event that we had all experienced on our TVs and get the feel for the dance club atmosphere. What a topper to the first evening.
The next day began with the Opening in which all the guests were introduced by Elke followed by the photo ops. Elke introduced Fab as “Ian” and when he came out he said, “My character’s name was ETHAN and I know you all hate me.” Randy didn’t seem to remember why we all called him Ian. The first photos were with Randy, Makyla and Fab individually and then together, then Scott and Dean together and separately and then Harris and Stephanie who could only stay for a short time but was able to do photos and autographs. Then we took the group photo with all the guests.
After lunch the panels began with Scott and Dean and then Randy, Makyla and Sherry and then Fab and Randy. Randy introduced Makyla, Sherry and Fab. Then we had the whole group who were joined by Sharon Gless. She was just as delightful and funny as you would expect and you can see why the whole cast loves her. She was talking about her scene with Sherry when she told her that she always knew Michael was gay and had to tell him herself. She said how much she enjoyed her scenes with Sherry who then said she was “verklempt” and they hugged and then Scott and Dean hugged to make fun of them. Sherry didn’t remember that she had a young lover and Randy couldn’t remember his name. He thought it was Taco instead of Tucker.
After the panels, we had the autograph sessions and then we had the cocktail party at 7 p.m. with drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Each guest spent about 15 minutes at each table and then moved on. Patrick Antosh, the costume designer, joined us for this event.
On Sunday we had the VIP brunches on the rooftop of the Hair of the Dog Pub. We sat with Dean and then Scott. Dean decided we should play a game so he asked us to write our occupations on the back of our name tags and he tried to guess who did what. He didn’t do very well but it was fun and he yelled over to Scott’s table to tell him to do the same and then Scott tried it with us when he got to our table. After brunch, we said goodbye to Randy, Makyla and Sherry as they went for their walk with their VIPs.
Later in the afternoon we had coffee and pastries with some of crew members of QAF. Patrick Antosh, Thom Best who was one of the directors, James O’Reilly who was Sharon’s hairdresser, a prop gal and two other crew members whose names and positions escape me. They had some interesting stories to tell about behind the scenes.
That evening Scott was very excited to have us attend the premiere of his web series, Adoptable based loosely on his search for his birth parents. He had planned to only show four episodes but decided to go ahead and show the whole six fifteen-minute segments. He had only just finished it and shown it to some industry people so we were the first fans to see it. Sharon came for the screening as she hadn’t seen it yet either along with some of the QAF crew members. It was very funny and quite different than I had expected. He wrote a role specifically for Sharon who plays a woman who helps him find his birth parents and he referred to her as the “owl lady”. He filled her house with owl pictures and figurines and she even showed up on set with a hairdo that kind of looked like little owl horns. She also had a kind of Fargo accent. Gale has a very brief scene as her son and he comes walking through carrying a large jar of something after she tells Scott that he just had a colonic so ……. She tells him that his mother tried to abort him but she does find out where his parents are living and he goes to meet them. It is done as a documentary being filmed of his quest while he is playing a gay cop on a show called Cops and Bottoms. Noah Wyle is his partner and he is really funny. Everyone enjoyed it and someone asked him how much of it was based on his real life and he said that his mother tried to abort him twice. How awful for him. We were aghast. It ends with an amusing shock when he meets his parents so the next season if he gets to film it should be good.
After the screening, Dean invited those who were staying longer to visit his acting studio on Monday morning but I was going home Monday afternoon so I missed it. My friends who stayed an extra few days also got to visit the bakery that Makyla’s husband James owns and got to see her little girl Evelyn who turned one year old on June 18.
A few little tidbits that I can remember:
Randy said his favorite scene was when Brian said he loved him since Justin wanted it so badly.
Sharon said her favorite scene was smoking pot with Gale. When they did the table read, they got a round of applause.
Randy thought Scott was so good in the scene where he says goodbye to Blake in the alley.
Sharon had a sign outside her trailer that said, “No smoking outside my trailer” which meant Smoke Inside. She brought 17 wigs from L.A. for Debbie to wear but they settled on the red one.
Scott said that Debbie and Carl’s first kiss continued after the scene ended and that Sharon looked like she had little birds flying around her head. She said it was a great kiss. She is also writing a book and I think it is about her experiences on QAF but I’m not sure.
Fab said he didn’t have to audition for the role of Ethan. He told Cowlip that the show was softcore porn and when they disagreed, he said you may not think so but people are jerking off to it.
The director of Blake’s overdose scene when Ted found him lying in vomit wanted Dean to do it differently but Dean disagreed and did it the way he wanted.
Scott told his then girlfriend that the guy he had to kiss was a pretty little Chihuahua referring to Dean. There was a fly zooming around Ted and Blake in their first sex scene in Ted’s apartment and you can hear it in the episode.
Scott said that Bradley Cooper insisted that the whole cast of The Elephant Man go to London and not just the three leads. Good for Bradley.
That’s all I can remember and if you were there and I got something wrong, feel free to let me know. I took a couple of notes but I don’t understand some of them because I was scribbling so as not to miss watching the cast and hearing their comments. There will be a DVD so you can hear the panels for yourself.
All in all, it was a terrific weekend spent with many of the friends I have made since my first QAF Con in Cologne in 2012. They make everything much more enjoyable. I was even able to see some old friends from the original Toronto Cons held while the show was still filming.
Elke says that this is her swan song and, if so, she went out with a bang. I can’t thank her enough for all she has done for the fandom to enable us to spend time with the cast members. I still have one more Gale and Randy Fan Meet in September in Bilbao and then it may really be over but I’ve had the time of my life.