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| Saturday, 30th March 2.00pm GMT |
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Sunday, 24th March - Inside The One Party, Special Guests Arrive |
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this report are those of Ian Smith, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions
of the official fan club, its staff or any of its members.
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On the pictures below, hover the mouse over a picture to see a description, or click on the picture to see a larger
version
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Those, like myself, who thought Ian McKellen had left the party were surprised when, with a brief intro from Peter Jackson,
he leapt from the audience, cast a furtive glance at the Legolas stand-up figure and rushed over to grab it.
In a hilarious send-up he pouted and preened at the stand-up, before giving it a quick dancing twirl. In interviews McKellen has joked about
suggesting a love interest for Gandalf and preferring it to be Legolas than Galadriel, and here he re-enacted that suggestion.
Producer Mark Ordesky also spoke to the crowd but by this time my camera was back to refusing to take pictures again. You can see him
just behind Carla Fry's left shoulder (immediately to the left of this text). Carla was, said Peter Jackson,a special lady who,
had helped the whole team right from the very
beginning.
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After the impromptu "press conference for the fans" PJ hung around to talk to fans and a TV camera crew.
It was
at this stage I realised how exhausted he must be, and if you look at the last couple of photo's of him shown here, his
eyes give away the real story. As the hot camera lights shone on him at very close range and the sweat poured off him
I thought to myself "I don't care what his public words say about how attendance at this party is great - for him,
it looks to me like it's hell
on earth". I'm amazed he stuck things out as long as he did, to be honest.
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Maybe it's just me, but when people jostle to ask the same questions that have already been answered 100 times in other print and TV interviews, you
do get to the stage where you think "HOW does he put up with this? WHY does he put up with this?". While publicly
there is already talk of his support for a similar event next year, I sincerely hope he gets a chance to be himself, to enjoy
the party and NOT be treated like a zoo exhibit's prize specimen. I guess that's a controversial opinion, but I thought it at the time
and I look at some of these photo's nearly a week after the event, and they just reinforce my impressions of the time.
Perhaps because he is less in the public eye, Richard Taylor appeared to be having a whale of a time. With the patience
of a saint, he stuck around until everyone had got every last photo they wanted - AND appeared to be enjoying himself
in the process. What a guy!
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Perhaps the funniest moment of the evening came when Quickbeam, somewhat carried away by the proceedings,
tried to thank the special guests by getting into a rather convoluted account of how the book had made him cry
at the age of 13 and now 20 years later the film had done the same, at which point Richard Taylor
grabbed the microphone from him and said "To coin a New Zealand phrase: 'You big wuss!'"
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With the mammoth Richard Taylor photo session over, the party itself was over, leaving the hardcore few time to
collect some special souvenirs from the walls of the main screening room.
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| It is hard to describe to those not present just how special
this party turned out to be, and it leaves the organisers with a difficult, even impossible, task ahead: how to
recreate the same feeling next year, without turning the event into the giant generic fan-celebrity circus it will become
if ticket numbers are allowed to go as high as demand indicates they will now that reports of how special this event was
have leaked out. I wish them well, and on behalf of all those present, thank them for their hard work and tireless dedication.
It truly was a night many of us will never forget. |
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| Email the web master at:ian.smith@irascian.com |
