Re: Richard Biggs Memorial Show
I'd like this thread to be a place for a report about how the memorial show went.)
And you shall have it! Apologies that this is substantially the same report as I've posted on the moderated newsgroup and to JMSnews.com.
What am altogether NICE day! I'm not staying at the hotel where the benefit was held so I took a cab and arrived about 15 minutes before the breakfast was due to start. Met up with SciFiRanger, the webmaster for the KeepB5Alive.com site and headed on over to the ballroom. SciFiRanger, I and another online friend, David were all at table #1 with a few other SF and soap fans. The room was set up with several round tables for the breakfast, the buffet at the back of the room and stage in front. Around the walls were long tables where the actors did the autographing later on. Lori Biggs is a beautiful woman and lovely person. She and her friend Caren were everywhere at once! The little boys, RJ and Hunter are adorable and stongly resemble their dad.
Available to look at and bid on were some cool things for a silent auction including a cast signed Days of Our Lives t-shirt and hat, a 3rd season script (nope, I had it already), signed photos and posters of the B5 cast, including some signed by Rick. There were also items for raffle like copies of the B5 cover TV guide, an entertainment utility, and more photos.
During breakfast, a few people got up to share memories of Rick. I'm afraid that these were soap stars so I don't know who they were. Each mentioned the complete attention Rick would pay to each person he was acting or talking with, something I'd noticed when meeting him at cons. In addition, John Ritter's widow came and spoke for a few minutes about aortic aneurysms, which was Rick's cause of death. Unknown to many, they can be discovered by a simple scan and there's often a family history of them. If you have a family member who might have passed away due to a 'massive heart attack', she urged that you get it checked because they can be detected and repaired.
A space was left at each table for an actor but none came to our table. Bruce, Melissa and Jerry were the B5 stars who attended the breakfast and many fans went and talked and got pictures taken. Toward the end, several of the 'afternoon session' actors came in and were guided to the 'Green Room'.
After breakfast, the room was cleared for about half an hour while the staff cleaned the room and we set up the tables for autographing. Autograph tickets were sold at the door and each actor 'charged' so much per autograph. I was assigned to help out at the table with Jerry Doyle and Stephen Furst. There were some changes from the flyer so let me try to list who was there from B5:
Pat Tallman
Jeffrey Willerth
Bruce Boxleitner
Melissa Gilbert
Jerry Doyle
Stephen Furst
Jason Carter
Marjorie Monahan
Bill Mumy
Ed Wasser
Joshua Cox
Unfortunately, some who originally were supposed to be there, Mira Furlan, Steve Austin, Tracy Scoggins and (sorry, Amy!) Andreas Katsulas didn't make it.
After the main rush of autographing was done, a photo opportunity was held with all the stars on stage and people began to drift around and mingle. They held the drawings for the raffle prizes and I never had a chance to check my tickets but since I didn't see any leftover prizes, I guess I didn't win. Different sets of actors did live auctions for some really cool things. I know there was a poster signed by the cast, one of the Lightspeed lithos and a Season 5 jacket that Bruce donated. I had SciFiRanger take my place as ticket-taker at Jerry and Stephen's table while I rushed to get some autograph tickets and pick up a few of the autographs I needed to get for myself and for another online friend, OmahaStar.
As things were breaking up and the stars were saying goodbye to each other, Bruce was broaching the idea of doing something similar on an annual basis to benefit the family. The idea seemed to get a good reception from what I could tell. As Pat said, Rick would have been the first to do something like that for any of them. I hope it turns out to happen.
If I think of any further details, I'll post them but this is the report while things are fresh in my mind. Like I said, an altogether NICE day.
Your intrepid reporter,
Jan
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