Planes, trains and automobiles – my trip to Philadelphia and New York

By BetteAndTinaForever

<< Page 1, Day 1

They finished this part with Ilene saying, “Thank you for giving us stories to tell. And thank you again for coming out to support the Mazzoni Center tonight. Everybody dig deep. We need to step up and support this organization. And keep our community strong and healthy.”

After the applause died, Nurit took the microphone again and told us that we had a chance to take more pictures and get autographs, before we got to the general reception. For some reason nobody was moving so the cast just posed for a few minutes and then they all left to get ready for the second part of the evening - the auction.

We went to the 19th floor to a larger room and again I got closer to the stage but it was too close and I didn’t think I could get good pictures so I moved a little further away and spent the rest of the evening on the top of the bar; literally…until the security guy told me to get down. By that time the presentation was over and I moved back to the stage for the auction.

The second part of the benefit began with two women from the local TV station (channel 3) who were the hosts of the evening. Nurit came up to the stage and told her story again about meeting Jennifer and how they came up with the idea of the benefit.

The TV ladies talked about the show and then invited all the cast members on stage, announcing them separately. Everyone got a big welcome and I think I still have ringing in my ears from all the yelling and screaming.

Before the event everyone who bought tickets got an email, inviting us to ask one question. I don’t know how many questions they received but each cast member was asked only one.

Ilene was asked what her inspiration was for the initial group of characters that she created, if they were some people that she knew, people that she imagined or just some random characters. Ilene replied that it was all of us because it was time to tell our stories and when she was thinking about the characters, she sometimes did think of certain people. In reality they were all of our stories.

The question to Jennifer was about how playing Bette for six years changed her and her views on life. Her answer was pretty long and very inspiring. She said that it changed her views on a lot of things, like the law because before she always assumed that it was the same for everyone but now she’s a very big advocate of the Matthew Shepard Foundation. The show also helped her realize the power of storytelling because it’s really critical to the creative community. The biggest thing that changed for her was the notion of equality because she realized it wasn’t true and that’s why organizations like Mazzoni Center are important to support the community because the government won’t help. And we all have to give, in order to help each other.

And to her Philadelphia fans Jennifer said, “Thank you so much. Please, Please, Please go out and vote! Get all of your friends. Go early. Be loud and proud about it.”

Kate’s question was what other character she would choose to play. Kate replied that she would like to play a love child between Peggy Peabody and Joyce Wishnia. (It’s funny because Kate’s answer changes all the time. Last time in LA she said she would like to play Jenny because she wanted to figure out what was going on in Jenny’s crazy head.)

Rose Rollins was next and they asked her about some behind the scenes pranks and she said that Mia was the best at that. Rose told a story that had happened to the actress who played Lover Cindi (Alicia Leigh Willis). It was something about fake stuff that looked like poo and they somehow made Alicia step into it. Everybody had a good laugh from that.

It’s true. Mia is famous for her pranks on the set and at every convention the cast members have something to say about that.

Daniela was the last to answer and her question was about some challenges she faced playing a transgender character. I actually couldn’t hear her well from where I was standing but at some point she was talking about bars in LA that represent the mixed culture. She also said that she was lucky growing up and all the challenges she faced were worth it. Daniela added that she enjoyed playing her character.

Then they told us that we were going to see a never-before-seen preview. That we’d be the first ones to see it. Everybody got really excited because we thought we were going to see a Season 6 preview. To everyone’s disappointment they showed the old Season 5 preview that we’d seen already.

After that they showed the kiss scene from episode 504 and everyone got crazy and excited. The episode was shown because the cast was going to auction the props from that episode: Bette’s top, Tina’s dress and the pictures of the kiss. Jennifer mentioned several times that she doesn’t like to watch herself but she was watching that scene and smiled when the crowd went screaming at the actual kiss part. It was great, it was very loud and I think Jennifer totally enjoyed everyone’s reaction to that.

The auction part of the evening began and it was crazy, actually. People were yelling the numbers and the auctioneer was moving around, making it hard to take pictures or record. I made a little video of a few short moments from that auction and you can check it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwd3GkpksVA

The Season 5 DVD went for auction first and it sold for almost $9,000. Jennifer made a little speech about Nurit’s request to sign it for auction and thanked everyone for participating. The winner came up on the stage and all the cast members signed the DVD right there. Jennifer gave the winner a hug and they all spent a few minutes talking to her.

Bette’s top went next and the auctioneer kept called it ‘a shirt’. At one point Jennifer took the microphone and said that it wasn’t a shirt, it was a very expensive top and it was worth at least a $1,000 because she kissed Laurel Holloman in that shirt. I kept asking what size it was and if Jennifer would come with it. The auctioneer repeated my question about the size and Jennifer looked at the top and said, “My size.” She then kissed it and rubbed it all over her body and someone yelled that now it was worth $2,000.

In the end the top sold for $2,400 to a young woman, who also got a hug from JB and had her picture taken with her. She later posted on another website and announced that she made a financial mistake and she couldn’t really afford the top. I think everyone told her to keep it because the top even smelled like Jennifer and she signed it, too.

Tina’s sparkly dress was next and it’s actually more golden than silver. I had a chance to touch it later in the evening and it was really soft and looked very expensive. People went even crazier over it and it sold for $5,400.

The next three items were autographed photos from The Kiss, as everyone now refers to that scene. I’m happy to say that I’m a lucky owner of one of them. I am living on the street right now but at least I have my photo to warm me up on a cold night. I also went on the stage and got hugs from Ilene, Jennifer and Daniela.

And the last item was the Olivia cruise that went for $6,000 and the woman who won it also went up on the stage and talked to the cast. She actually told them that she just barely came out and I think someone from the cast joked that it was perfect timing since she can meet many hot girls on her Olivia cruise.

And then it was all over. The L Word ladies left, we went back to our room…by the way, I stayed in the same Hyatt Hotel where the event was held and let me tell you, it was great. I usually stay in small motels and finally I could enjoy some luxury and a comfortable bed.

All the attendees were invited to go to ‘Sisters’, a local lesbian club and we went for an hour for some dancing and karaoke…and that was the end of day one.