2nd Annual Passions Fan Event at Universal Studios ~ July 13, 2001
I arrived at the Fan Event shortly after 9:00 a.m. Andrea Evans and her manager Paul had picked me up at the hotel, and I rode to the event with them. While entering the parkade, I could see Dana, Kim, and a few others going into the elevator which took them to the upper level. Andrea, Paul and I rode up the elevator, and the first thing I noticed was a huge line of people to get in. Fortunately, I got to enter with Andrea and Paul and didn't have to wait in any lines.
Once inside the Universal gates, they had the fan gifts, which contained a silver box, like a lunch box. Inside it was a smaller box, which had a small Passions photo album in it. It's black with a silver plated cover which says Passions. Also a purple pen with Passions printed on it. Also, here are some info sheets I got from Paul.
Andrea escorted me to the main enterance to the building where the event was being held, Andrea went on to where the cast all gathered, while I went on inside. They had tables set up where you could purchase photos, posters, T-Shirts, and much more. They also had a table set up full of silent auction items up for bid.
I purchased a set of cast photos. Each packet contained 8x10 (black and white) photos of each cast member. The photos were $15.00 per set.
Next I headed into the main room where the event would take place. It was very nicely set up and decorated in different shades purple and white.
Here is the table which held the buffet breakfast. The breakfast consisted of fruit, buns, eggs, and french toast with syrup.
They also had a table set up with different types of beverages. I can't honestly say I have any idea what they had here. Things happened so fast, I never did get a chance to get a drink. But I know they had O.J. and coffee.
This is a photo of my table, it was table # 4 and I think I had one of the best seats in the house. I was right in front of the stage and with so many people there, I was thrilled to have such a good seat.
These are photos of an over all view of the room. There were many tables and a lot of people wondering around.
After breakfast was served, aprox. 9:30, they announced that the cast would now join us for a Q&A session. They entered the room through a door in the corner, and all walked up on stage.
The first couple were Jade & Bruce. Don't they make an adorable couple! You'd never think of Bruce as a geek once you have seen him in person.
The next to come out were Rodney & Travis.
Next Ryan and McKenzie.
Then came Dana and Justin!
Then followed the rest of the cast, Chrystee, Deanna, Natalie, Eva, Ben, Kim, Tracey, Jesse, Molly, Donn, Juliet, James, Andrea, Lindsay & Brook.
Once the cast were out on stage, they went one by one and introduced themselves, stating their name, then their character names.
Brook was the first one up.
Here's Andrea & James. I couldn't get to many good photos of the cast on the other end of the stage, my zoom just didn't zoom in enough for any quality photos.
Then Tracey & Kim.
And Ben & Eva.
Here's Justin and Dana. Dana introduced herself as Faith!
Here's Galen, McKenzie & Travis.
Josh wasn't at the event because he was in New York, where on Monday the 16th he appeared on The View.
After the introductions they had a Q&A session where fans could ask any of the cast members any question they wanted. There were a few interesting questions, one girl asked Jesse if he'd marry her. Another asked Galen if she could come up and get a kiss from him.
One fan asked Kim if she thought Ivy and Julian would ever get back together. Kim replied, I sure hope so, which prompted Ben to get up and start kissing Kim, which lead to James coming over to fight for his woman Ivy, which prompted Dana to come over and fight for her man Sam. *laugh*
Dana decides to go back and have a seat on Justins lap, she found a new man. It was all very cute and funny.
Here is a great photo of Dana & Justin.
They all seemed as happy to be at the event as the fans did, you could always see the cast smiling and laughing. I think they enjoyed it as much as the fans did.
One fan asked if McKenzie could sing for us. Which she did happily. McKenzie really does have a beautiful voice.
After the Q&A session, they showed a few video clips. They had a clip from when Jerry Springer did his guest appearance on the show. It appeared during one of Eves nightmares where they appeared on the Larry Winger Show. The fans loved it.
They also showed a bloopers reel, where they had a few different clips. One specifically they had was where Grace was standing outside with Father Lonigan (Bruce) and there was something that sounded like an explosion and all this brownish looking stuff fell from above. Bruce looks up and says, "What the hell was that" and with the croud laughing at that, they missed hearing Dana's reply, which was "Gargoyle s**t!" *Laugh*
Then they showed a few previews of what was going to happen next in Harmony.
When they brought out the cake, they had Lindsay and McKenzie come up to lead everyone in singing Happy Birthday to Passions. They started and soon had everyone singing along with them.
Lisa Hesser joined the cast up on stage. The cast gathered around Lisa while she made a short speech then they cut the first slice of cake.
After they cut they cake, they had the cast step off the stage and head for the tables which were set up for the autograph session. I asked Galen if he would take a photo of the cake for me, which he did, and then I asked Dana to pose with the cake. So here is Dana doing what she does best, being funny. *S*
They had the cast split, half on one end of the room, and the other on the other end. Here are photos from Danas table.
Here is a photo from McKenzie's table across room.
Here are a few more photos from Danas table. Dana was hard to get a photo of as she was sitting in the middle of the table and unfortunately my camera doesn't have a better zoom on it.
I felt so lucky to be at the event, and since Dana had already given me a "Hidden Passions" book signed by everyone, I didn't want to take time away from the other fans who had spent a fortune to come to the event. I just hung back and watched everyone and took photos. A lot of the lines were very long and by the time they were short enough to wait in, it was almost 12 noon and they were getting ready to end the autograph session. Perhaps next time I will make it around to see and meet everyone.
I did however wait in Ben's line. He was on the end and the line moved fairly fast. So I decided I had to meet this funny fellow. I only waited in line for maybe 10-15 minutes and when I reached Ben, I introduced myself as "I'm Rosemarie, the person who does Andrea & Dana's web sites". He signed the photo for me "Rosemarie, All My Love, Ben Masters" Then I asked if he would mind posing with me for a photo. Which he gladly did. I had to laugh, he was being very funny and whispering to me. After the one photo he made a comment about my camera flashing so many times. (My camera flashes 2 times with red eye reduction on) so he asked if I wanted to take another, which I said SURE, so this time he started to give me little kisses, which was where I totally lost it. I'm sure my face turned every shade of red. He was just great and I just want to say "Thanks Ben!"
As the clock struck 12 noon, people were starting to leave. As Jesse and Deanna were leaving, I asked if they would mind posing with me. I know they were eager to get going, but I do appreciate them taking the time to stop for a moment and pose for this photo. Thanks guys!
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