A Lucy Lawless
Musical Theatre Subsite - GREASE!
A SHOW OF FANS
By: Saul Trabal
Questions? Comments? Email me at
2112st@vm.com
LIVING IN THE LIMELIGHT
These photos are Exclusive to AUSXIP & Lucy Lawless Files
ALL PHOTOS © 1997 SAUL TRABAL.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
NO REPRODUCTION OR USE OF THESE IMAGES IS PERMITTED WITHOUT
PERMISSION.
CLICK HERE FOR IMAGES
My strange fascination with XENA began about two years ago.
I’m a writer and illustrator (though more of a writer these
days-I’m working on my first novel)-and eventually I hope to get
involved in film and TV. I tend to watch a little bit of
everything, though my tastes tend to drift more towards film.
Television seemed to be a bit on the dull side, although there
were the occasional jems like HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET and
ER. I watched these when I had the time.
Then along came XENA. I can’t lie to you-I was drawn into the
show by the beauty of Lucy Lawless. (Hey-I’m a guy, and I’m not
apologizing for it.) Even so, it takes more than a beautiful
woman to keep me hooked. And goddammit, there was. This show was
multi-faceted. This woman could ACT. And let’s not forget Renee.
The show was a mixture of countless things. These people were
pushing the creative limits. Jesus. I was hopelessly hooked.
So, when I heard that Lucy was going to appear in GREASE, I
counted my blessings. My goals were threefold:
1) Give her the illustration I did of her (check it out
on Mary’s Web Page).
2) Get an autograph.
3) Get photos of her for an illustration.
And much to my shock, I was able to accomplish all three
goals. :-)
Of course you’re probably wondering: "WHY THE HELL DID THIS
FOOL TAKE SO MANY GODDAMNED PHOTOS?!" Well, Lucy certainly
wasn’t going to pose for an idiot like me. She’s got people to
see, autographs to sign-translated NO TIME TO WASTE. And in
order to get the photo I wanted, I knew I would have to go
through several rolls of film. An expensive proposition, but
worth the risk. So I hopped to it, and "rolled the bones."
Luckily, I got the photos I wanted for the illustrations I
wanted to do. But they won’t appear anywhere on the Net. The
problem that I had with the portrait I gave Lucy was that it was
based on someone else’s photo. Plus, other fans had done an
illustration based on this picture. So, I thought, "What the
heck makes my piece so unique?!" These other portraits I can
truly call original because they will be based on my own
photos-not someone else’s. Call it the artist in me. I’m a big
believer in originality.
Lucy Lawless Mini-Interview
This impromptu interview was done over the course of several
days. Lucy was busy signing autographs like crazy. So I shouted
out my questions to her, and she responded the best she could.
Saul: You’re not gonna be working with rats again, are you?
(said with grin)
Lucy: (grimacing sarcastically) Nah...we’re going to be
dealing with poisonous spiders next.
Saul: Are you getting used to playing Rizzo?
Lucy (squinting in thought): Kind of.
Saul: Would you like to be on Broadway again?
Lucy: I might. It’s tiring, though. As long as I’m well
rested...
Saul: Of course. You don’t want to kill yourself.
Lucy (sly half-seriousness): I almost did kill myself. (an
apparent
reference to her fall off the horse.)
A bit later:
Saul: Hey Lucy-don’t overwork yourself!
Lucy smiled, rolled her eyes and got into the limo. :-)
GREASE-A REVIEW
I had never seen GREASE before-either in movies or on stage.
So, this was total virgin territory. The Eugene O’ Neill Theatre
was gorgeous. The stage was wonderfully decorated. Best of all,
I was in the front, only two rows away from the stage!! And the
crowd packed the theatre, waiting in anticipation. There were
people from all over-Europe, New Zealand (!!) California,
Japan-you name it.
Let me tell you-even thought my ticket was really expensive,
the show was worth every penny. Before I mention Lucy’s
performance, I have to say that the cast of GREASE is a
wonderfully talented group of people. To do this show night
after night with the conviction and quality that they brought is
a testament to to their abilities as actors. With any luck-if I
ever make it in this business, I’d love to work with them
someday.
Now, to Lucy. People, let me tell you this-you may think
she’s gorgeous on-screen, but after seeing her in person, I’ve
got to say she’s easily one of the most beautiful women I’ve
ever met. And I have to take issue with that stupid Time Out New
York article in which the reporter referred to Lucy as "weedy."
Hardly the case, folks. Her figure is *perfect*-neither
heavy-set, nor weedy. And not only that, Lucy is one hell of a
performer!! She’s risen to the occasion. If she was nervous that
first night, the nervousness has gone away. She hit her marks
time after time, and her singing is something to behold. She did
let out a bit of the Xena yell, which drew howls and applause.
At the end of the show, she received a standing ovation. Lucy
proceeded to thank everyone who came and helped her realize a
dream come true.
MY ADVENTURE BEGINS
In order to prepare myself for taking photos of this
once-in-a-lifetime event, I scoped out the Eugene O’Neill
Theatre, on 49th Street-between 6th & 7th
Avenues. At the time, Jeff Conway (TAXI) was there. I went there
3 times to check it out during show nights. I noticed that after
every show, the stars would come out and sign autographs. EASY
ACCESS!! I couldn’t believe my good fortune. Of course, Jeff
isn’t a big star, and Lucy IS. So, I was worried that security
would not allow me to get as close as people were here.
Lucy started on September 2nd, but I decided to
wait until Friday to scope the place out. I actually was able to
make it up to the barricades, and had a brief chat with Lucy. I
came back the next night-got an autograph, and gave her the
illustration I did of her. First 2 objectives achieved. The 3rd
would be the most challenging. BUT I HAD A MONTH-AND-A-HALF TO
DO THIS. :-)
Fortunately, I have a CANON EOS 630. This camera-and its
accompanying flash, the 430 EZ-I bought around 8 years ago. The
combined price-about $900. The only way to have been able to get
the amount of high-quality photos I got was to have a camera
like this. I doubt any other kind of camera would have done as
well. I had paid close attention to how people were situated
around me-as well as what Lucy did. She would hurriedly sign
autographs at either barricade, then run up to her limo and sign
autographs on top of it. I instantly knew what I had to do. I
had to position myself on the street, by the right-rear
passenger door of Lucy’s limo. And-as you could tell from the
photos-it was a PERFECT spot. No one was obstructing me.
and-since my camera had the ability to do continuous shooting
and focusing-I was VERY ready. Add to that Konica 400-speed
film, and I was all set.
So-for the next four weekends (with one or two weekdays) I
went through 5 rolls of film. This was necessary, because Lucy
was signing for only 5 to 8 minutes at a time-and was moving
REALLY fast. I must have shot over 100 pictures!! Understand
that I was looking to get a perfect shot of Lucy to do a
portrait from. (I ended up with EIGHT!!! I also figured-maybe I
could sell some of these photos.) Lots of the photos came out
horribly. Lots of them came out REALLY nice. And there were
eight that were AWESOME for a portrait. The new Lucy art you’ve
seen so far-and the ones to come-came from each of those eight.
Near the end of her run, I wrote Lucy a card, and enclosed a
letter with some of the photos I took of her. (I had mentioned
the art I gave her a while back.) Some of the photos were pretty
humorous-and I wrote some funny stuff on the back of them. I
gave her the card, telling her about the photos inside. She said
"Thank you." and gave the card to her assisitant. I
congratulated her on her upcoming marriage to Rob, and she
thanked me again. I asked her about how soon after she got back
would she start work again. Answer: "4 days." Lucy then went on
to sign autographs. Boy-she’s a tall lady. About my height- I’m
5’ 11".
Rob was there too. I congratulated him on the upcoming
marriage. He said "Thanks!" Other people were telling
him-"Hey-take care of Lucy & Daisy!!" Rob smiled, promising he
would. I had on my mind what I knew would be a dumb question-but
the hell with it. I asked it.
"Hey Rob-what’s the budget on Xena?"
Rob immediately shook his head, dismissing the question with
a wave of the hand and a smile. Of course. What else should I
have expected? :-)
"Top secret, eh?" I asked.
"Yep." he smiled. "Can’t tell you that."
There is a serious side to report also. Before Lucy & Rob
came out, I spoke with a couple of women who had been coming on
a regular basis to Eugene O’ Neill. One of them told me that
Sunday night after the convention & both GREASE shows, Lucy had
stayed up a good part of the night vomiting-she was suffering
from a stomach flu. The woman told me that Lucy herself related
this to her. And I heard she was sick the week before that. I
slowly got the impression that this whole experience had been a
lot rougher than I expected. I felt that Lucy was really trying
to have a good time in New York-and in a sense, she was. But I’m
also got the sense that Lucy was getting really overworked. I
think she was trying to do too much-that she was trying to have
a good time-but she was also attempting to juggle some personal
time & work together. Knowing what burn-out is, I was beginning
to wonder if that would happen to her. 4 days off before you
start work again is not a lot of time-especially when you plan
to work 14-16 hour days, 6 days a week. Personally, I’d rather
not see her do another Broadway show for a few years-instead,
I’d be happier if she rested. None of this sounded good to me.
I felt that she was stretching herself too thin. Her sickness
in part may have been from the stress of having to juggle all
this nonsense. I was getting a glimpse at the dark side of fame
here. Too many people demanding too much from you-and you end up
not having any pieces to yourself.
One last note-involving the card. One of the drivers-I
believe his name was Ahmed, assuming that’s his real name-had
noticed my frequent visits. He and I spoke briefly. The
conversations were pleasant enough; but I’m not some naive
idiot. This guy was suspicious. It was mostly small talk. He
asked me why I was coming here so often to take photos of Lucy;
I explained that it was for artwork I wanted to do. He asked why
I did not go to her hotel-I said I didn’t want to invade her
privacy. He said at one point that he’d like to get a copy of
one of the photos-and that maybe we could get together one day.
I said, "Maybe." Yeah. RIGHT. I wasn’t born yesterday. This guy
didn¹t fool me for a second.
He was scoping me out, making sure I wasn’t some stalker. I
wasn’t angry-hell, it was great to see that Lucy had this kind
of security!! I think of those idiots who Lucy said followed her
everywhere to every interview she did-INCLUDING NEW ZEALAND!! It
gives me the chills to think of the sickos that are currently
stalking her-and I KNOW they exist. This guy was smart. He
wasn’t taking chances. I would’ve done the same thing in his
position.
I saw him the day I was to give Lucy the card . Same asinine
small-talk. He saw the card. I had written on it-on the top of
both sides, in black letters-TO LUCY; and below, in red
letters-PHOTOS OF YOU INSIDE!! (This was to get Lucy’s
attention.) He offered to give the card to Lucy, but I politely
declined, saying I would give it to her myself. (Even if she
never opens it, at least she SEES it.) And here’s the funny
thing-some other people asked him if he could give stuff to
Lucy. His answer-a cold, blunt "NO!" Why would he do this for
me, and not someone else?
I went to the theater again, on a Friday night. (This was
over a week later.) There were two men who had Downs syndrome
standing next to me, who were DYING to meet Lucy. They were
there with their chapparone. I told them she "would sign their
autographs-so not to worry." My photos were done-I was just
there to ask her a question or two-and get one more autograph.
Now-understand that Lucy had been signing autographs at a rapid
pace during all the times I shot photos-and I was also hiding
behind my camera. (Jeez I must’ve blinded Lucy with some of the
continuous shooting I was doing of her!! I HAD BECOME A
PAPARRATZI!!) I doubt she would know me.
Lucy came out, signed their autographs. I then asked her,
"How stressful has this past month been for you?"
Lucy looked up. At seeing me, her eyes narrowed. She raised
the infamous eyebrow. A chill went up my spine. She pointed a
finger at me and said, "Hey-hey-hey you!!" She continued on to
sign autographs. (I got mine, of course.) It wasn’t an angry
response-just a sly, blunt sign of obvious recognition. My guess
was that it was the card & photos I gave her. It had to be. Why?
Maybe it had something to do with the stuff I wrote on the back
of the photos. :-)
The photos themselves were as follows, along with my
thoughts:
1) Lucy staring at a fan in mock shock. My caption: "Lucy
is asked about Rob Tapert for the 100th time."
2) Lucy signing an autograph with a strand of hair under
her nose. My caption: "A mustachioed Lucy. Bad Tom Selleck
impersonation??"
3) Lucy signing an autograph with a fan staring wide-eyed
at her. My caption: "Lucy happily signs an autograph as a
rabid Xena fan looks on."
Of course, I enclosed my picture. Hmmm-I think that was the
clincher.
:-)
I went to see the final showing of GREASE on October 19th.
It was a highly emotional experience for Lucy and everyone
involved. Lucy shed tears during certain points in the
show-during the appropriate parts of course-but there was
genuine pain in her face. She knew the end was near. And I’m
sure that’s where the pain came from. During the intermission, I
spoke to Rob Tapert for perhaps the longest time I’d ever spoken
to him. I had spoken to him once before at the Xena convention
held in late September. Our conversation went something like
this:
Saul: "I guess Lucy must be really exhausted, eh?"
Rob: "Well, she’s looking forward to go back to New Zealand
and work on Xena."
Saul: "Doing GREASE was tough for her, huh?"
Rob: "Well, it was a different experience for her."
Saul: "I guess it will be a while before Lucy does something
like this again."
Rob nodded.
"Yep."
Saul: "How long a flight is it back to New Zealand? About
15-18 hours?"
Rob: "Well, with the stops and transfers-yeah, about 18-20
hours."
We both went to the men’s room. I got out first, and it
suddenly occured to me to ask him about Kevin Sorbo and his
health. When he came out, I asked him. The news was not good.
Rob looked at me somberly.
Rob: "The blood clots Kevin had were giving him a series of
mild strokes."
Saul: "No! Are you serious?!"
Rob. "Yeah. It really freaked him out. He’s resting now. It
may delay the start of filming on HERCULES, but outside of this,
he seemed as healthy as a horse."
Rob tried to be a bit more positive, but his eyes told me a
different story. Robert was obviously very worried. I felt
terrible for Kevin.
We went back to our seats, and watched the rest of the play.
When the end came, I was surprised at how saddened I felt when I
realized this was really, truly the end. I guess part of it had
to do with the fact that my life over the previous two years was
hellish-and that Lucy’s presence these past two months had been
ENORMOUSLY helpful. I got to chat with her, see her perform, and
take pictures. And-well, I had developed a fondness for Lucy.
She really seemed like a decent human being. So, this evening
was like saying good-bye to an old friend. I knew I would miss
Lucy terribly. I shed a tear or two.
So did Lucy. She barely was keeping her composure. Lucy said,
"You know, every time I was doing a routine, I kept realizing
that this was the last time I’d be doing this." She thanked the
cast, saying what wonderful friends they had been. The crowd
gave her a thunderous, standing ovation. Lucy kept wiping tears
from her eyes. They launched into the final song, and it was all
over.
Outside, the crowd was enormous. And when Lucy finally came
out-with Rob Tapert-the crowd went wild. A small camera crew
from ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT was there. Lucy signed a few
autographs, smiled at everyone, waving good-bye. She & Rob then
got into the limo, and the black sedan sped away into the night.
It was over.
Will Lucy ever do this again? HIGHLY unlikely. I feel she did
this just for the experience. But it was one HELL of an
experience for her-and us. Quite frankly-you had to be there.
She is one talented lady, and I look forward to more of her work
on film and on stage.
Saul Trabal
1998
