........
Mickey
in Toronto........
Mickey in Toronto on October 30, 2000
Mickey October 30, 2000
The Gemini Awards were on television, but ....
Mickey and I were in the lobby of the hotel chatting , as I took
a few pictures... :-D
.....
First he laughed at something that I had said... then asked me
to repeat something. (he liked my accent :-D )
Mickey explained that he had done a play, years ago, called "D Street
and Broadway", which is in South Boston, only one block from where I
had
lived when I was small and he had used what he had learned as a Boston
accent........ and me being a Bostonian, he wanted to hear how I
said different words. Some of my words were not pronounced as he had
learned.
....
Mickey was answering one of my questions about Gus Pike, I had
made a comment on how he looked...that he no longer looked 15
years
old; but, that he finally looked like an adult. :) He smiled and
said that he thought Gus was 17 years old in "How Kissing was
Discovered"
and then he finally got to autograph a photo for me... (cat
grin :-D)
November 10, 2000 ..... :-D
I have been asked about the two large pictures on the top of the page
...here is a more detailed view of them both :-D
(Forgive the "dust spots" ...they came from the scanner ....guess I
need to do a little house work, eh?)
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All photographs by Kitty Hadley
Kitty in Toronto... :-D
As promised, I will try to recount (briefly) my unbelievable
five
days in Toronto. I have been home for a couple of weeks now... so, some
of it is a bit of a blur ... and other parts seem like a fairy
tale...with
me as Cinderella. :-D
I had five days to explore the city, and so I walked as much as I
could,
rode the subway and even had a car ride north of the city. All in all,
I walked all over the University of Toronto and saw many of the old
buildings
used in Anne of Green Gables and "The Return of Gus Pike"; and
tried
not to giggle or say out loud "...there's another place I
remember...:".Yes,
I took lots of pictures and will put them on my "Our Avonlea"
Site...
( I know you have heard this before ..."when I find the time..."). I
spent
most of one day at Casa Loma, which is an old mansion that looks like
an
English castle, and as I came out of the "Castle" I spotted
Spadina
House ....Captain Ames home in "The Return of Gus Pike"!
Sunday I spent the day with my friend, Alexandra, exploring Black
Creek-Pioneer
Village, ...and saw Jasper Dale's house and the Newspaper Office.
The most exciting part of the day was going to Uxbridge and walking all
over King Farm, standing outside the King barn and remembering
all
of the times I had seen members of the King family or Gus Pike
standing
there. The King farm house is now a tan color with dark shutters. The
road
leading into the farm is still imbedded with red crushed brick,
to
make it Prince Edward Island red! That night, tired, but happy I went
to
the Gemini Award Industry Gala, and from a distance, saw Mag Ruffman
,
Megan Follows and Janet-Laine Green ( who played Eliza Pike)! Talk
about
Cinderella at the ball!
Monday morning I did more sight seeing, back to the University and
downtown
to the CN Tower, which can be seen from just about everywhere in
Toronto.
Later in the day, I went out for a bite to eat . As I entered the hotel
lobby , I remembered my friends telling me that Gemini weekend it was
possible
to see celebrities ... just about anywhere in Toronto. Ok... that
sounded good to me :) I looked up and saw a tall, thin man ,
dressed
in black who looked vaguely familiar.... Hummm? He turned and faced me.
Could it be ? Omigosh! It WAS!
Standing there before me, was ( drum roll ... please...) none other
than, Michael Mahonen! I walked over, held out my hand and
said "Hello, I'm Kitty ..." and waited breathlessly for him to
say
..."Hello, I'm Mickey ..." He had been at the hotel
congratulating
some friends on their Gemini nominations and Gemini wins, and he
asked if I were planning to go to the ceremonies that evening. When I
replied
that I had attended the evening before, he suggested that we find a
place
to sit and talk. Just beyond the lobby were large sitting rooms,
where
we were able to chat and I took some pictures.
Mickey graciously posed for two photos, then I sat and we talked ...
and talked, with me snapping an occasional photo. I am not sure I
can remember all of the conversation, it was hard not to stare into
those
beautiful green eyes; and that smile ... well, that was enough to make
me loose my train of though. "All right now. ... my name is
... ah ... ah... " <G>
Here is some of what I DO remember ...
We talked about the MM sites, and how pleased he was at the interest
of his fans .
Gus Pike., yes, dear Gus. When I asked about Gus, Mickey said that
he
thought of Gus as being about 17 years old when he first appeared on
the
show. A boy of mystery, who had had a hard childhood. He was surprised
when Gus got the job at the hotel and most of the stories took
place
there. He felt that the light house was more in keeping with
Gus's
character. Later, when Gus left to go to sea, it brought back
some
of the "mystery" to his character., making him more interesting.
When I asked if he had ever done any of the fiddle playing on
the show, he explained that he had learned several of Gus's songs, but
had never learned to play as well as Gus or the actual fiddle player ;
so none of his playing was ever heard.
On to "By Way of the Stars"... and his eye color. When Fransoise
said
that Ben's eyes were green and Ursula said "...no, they're
blue..."
., he was surprised to hear that.
"Strong Medicine": Mickey mentioned that he was "ready" early in the
morning; but waited five hours to be "called' to the set. Then it was
several
more hours before he got to do his scene. The director wanted him to be
restrained, to try and hold back the tears as long as possible. Wow.
His
scene was incredible, some one said that it was a "doozey" of a scene (
Sounds like a Whoopi Goldberg word, eh? ). It was unbelievable, I have
watched it a dozen times, and am moved by it every time I see it.
"The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios"... In this, and other
roles,
Mickey is able to "cry" realistically. Is it easy? He replied
that
is was never easy, that most people make an effort, during an emotional
moment, NOT to cry.; the actor must be willing to "let" himself
feel
the characters emotions. By doing research on the role and imagining
what
the character is going through at that particular moment in time... it
is possible to make the tears flow. That and working with the other
actors
in the scene, help make the tears possible. ( He still makes it look
easy
:-D)
"Conspiracy of Silence": Lee Colgan, who was one of four young
men who murder a young Cree Indian girl, and keep silent about it for
sixteen
years. Lee was a dark character, a wife beater, drunk and
possible
murdered; and that it was an effort on Mickey's part to rid
himself of any "traces" of Lee's character. I did ask about the
photo
of Lee and his wife, Sandy, in the bedroom, that we have
all
seen. He said there had been a scene filmed, but since it showed more
of
Lee's character, but did not move the story forward, it was cut from
the
film.
"Canada-A People's History". I hadn't seen it yet, but Mickey
explained
that John Jewitt had been captured by the Indians, and was held hostage
for several years. Jewitt had an English accent, because he had come
from
the Mid-lands. Since I love doing accents, he and I did different
accents
for a few minutes. :-D ( I have since seen this and Mickey is excellent
... his accent sounds like the one my friends in England have :-D
Bravo,
Mick ... you do, indeed, have an ear for accents!)
Mickey mentioned in "An Intrigue of Manners" that he
also
does an English accent; but this was a more proper, more refined
accent.
He made the comment that his character wore a long wig, and that he
would
be doing a sword fighting scene, as well. I can't wait to
get
my copy of this one :-D
"Captured" ....ugh! A very different and difficult film to watch.
While
we were talking , I said that this film had some very
interesting
moments, but would have been done to perfection if it had been done by
Alfred Hitchcock, and he laughed, and said that that was an interesting
idea. (Trying to remember :-0) "With Hitchcock directing, it would have
been a dead match. I think he would have done some significant work on
the script, but he would have made a terrific film of the
story"..
:)
("A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission
and the baby sitter were worth it." - Alfred Hitchcock)
We chatted for a little while longer about my children and family.
It
was his idea, he asked <G>... and since I am always willing to
talk
about my children.... I did (Cheeky grin from the cat :-D) Mickey
autographed a photo for me and it was time for him to leave. As
we
walked to the lobby door, and passed under the chandelier; I stopped
him
and asked one more question. " Just what color ARE your eyes ?".
He grinned, because it was an often asked question.; and said
that
they seemed to change color, depending on what he was wearing. I looked
and saw : green, a little gray, a little blue and some flecks of gold.
Hummmm :) Lovely eyes, with very long lashes...but ...they are green !
Mickey left, and I floated up to my room ... feeling like Cinderella
... wondering if I had been dreaming or if I
had
really spoken to him? Well... the pictures above, prove that it
wasn't
a dream ! But, if it had been ...and I was Cinderella... would
that
make him Prince Charming? I am sure that Felicity would
have
thought so :-D
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