When we first formed a "group" to see Judi Dench when she appeared in Amy's View in New York it was early in 1999. At that time I took the train from Chicago because I was afraid to fly. The subsequent groups have all met in the UK -- either to attend tapings of ATGB or to attend individual performances by Judi. And because they still haven't built a bridge from here to there I haven't seen Dame Judi in person again, nor have I written her. After Amy's View we all met for a brief time after the rest of the audience left, but I was embarrassed to introduce myself to her.
Since then I moved to Nevada, which is right next door to California and only a few hours from LA. When it was announced that she would appear live at the Fine Arts Theatre I couldn't resist the chance to see her, once again, in person.
No, I did not make arrangements to see her in advance -- I'm much too shy to do that -- but I do have a friend who I put in touch with Judi years ago and, although they've spoken on the telephone they've never met. It would never have occurred to me to use my web site as a way to meet her. 
It was he who arranged for a pre-show meeting and since I was staying at his home and went with him to the theatre, I just tagged along.
Judi was immediately led through a curtain at the side of the theatre. There were many photographers, but none of them went through the curtains as we did. They probably took their publicity shots after the audience was seated because there was a large congregation of fans in the lobby -- so large that it would have been impossible to take clear, posed photos such as I've seen in the media. When my friend announced himself to a member of the staff and said that Dame Judi was expecting him, the curtains were pushed aside and we were led inside. Judi's agent sat behind her and she had a few other escorts -- possibly from KCET, but there was no-one else in the room. The first thing I noticed is that she was not the tiny little thing I expected. She looked not only quite normal, but she looked as though she had either lost weight or just looked thinner than she does on film or television. Either she stuck out her hand or I stuck out my hand to shake, I don't remember, but she was smiling a big, broad smile when a friend of mine told her that I ran the ATGB website. She said, oh, of course. I told her that I brought her a birthday present and she told me that she was so surprised that everyone seemed to know it was her birthday. And then I said I would tell her what it was. It was a NY Times electronic touchpad crossword puzzle game that she she could use with a stylus and that seemed to please her. 
Her agent said it would be perfect for the plane. I hope she remembered to take it. And speaking of planes I told her I wasn't able to fly to see the tapings because I was afraid to fly. My friend told me that she then said she was actually afraid to perform at the tapings in front of all the Americans, but I didn't hear that because I was much too busy not believing I was actually in the room. And I immediately went into the old joke about not being afraid to fly, but being afraid to land. Then I told her I put in the batteries. I'm surpised that no-one pulled me out of there with a hook. We shook hands again. And I thanked her for seeing us and I swear, I can't remember if the friend who got me in there in the first place ever did have much to say to her. At one point I saw him take a photo of her (he used a flash) and then I got bold (although I didn't want to flash the camera straight in her face) and took a direct shot of her. The room was quite dark and I was quite nervous so essentially I got a photo of a red blob, but it is not like the one you see -- it is absolutely huge and I will have it matted and put into a huge frame -- and if you put it on a wall about two rooms away, you can recognize her. Knowing that she, at that point, was looking directly at me is something special so I don't really care that the picture was so bad. Anyone can take a clear picture. 
Same is true of the photo that my friend took -- he was on my right and she was, again, looking directly at me so it is a special photo. I posted it as a black and white photo, just because I preferred it that way and I know she was talking to me when he took it. Every time I look at it, it seems to me she looks puzzled and mildly amused I imagine her wanting to scratch her head and wondering who the hell this talkative person is and why is she going on about batteries.
We thanked her for meeting with us and went into the theatre. I was seated almost at the back row and all of my photos came out badly. I suppose I could have walked to the front and taken photos, but I figured that there are plenty of commercial photos out there and she pretty much looks the same in all of them, but she rarely is photographed talking with me and in this article you have copies of the only two such photos in existence.
There were two director's chairs at the edge of the stage and after Judi was presented with the Lumiere Award at the front of the stage, she walked onto the stage and was joined by Pete Hammond, the host of the KCET Cinema Series who conducted the Q & A of which the audience was not a part. The Lumiere has only been presented three times including the one to Judi. The first of these presentations was to Judi's good friend Ian McKellan. Pete acknowledged that Judi has received many awards and has appeared in many movies, but earlier, when Judi was given her award the presenter mentioned As Time Goes By and the room erupted in applause -- they talk a bit about that. Judi knew that we were all there to see her and also to see a screening of Mrs. Henderson Presents and she spoke a bit about the movie, but she didn't want to give too much away. And she told a few stories that most of her fans are familiar with. As she was telling the stories her microphone gave her a bit of trouble, but she recoved. And she spoke a bit about Pride and Prejudice. Finally, she spoke about her future plans. She couldn't have been there for more than 25-30 minutes, if that.
And then we saw the movie, which I found to be terribly amusing. I first saw Judi in Mrs. Brown and, I think it is my favorite, non-ATGB role. I think I enjoyed her performance in Mrs. Henderson Presents nearly as much. The next day I saw a review of it in a San Diego newspaper which suggested the whole movie should be covered up. I guess there's no accounting for taste. I used to post all the reviews of Judi's movies and then I realized that if you want to read all the reviews in one place you would be better off going to a site like Rotten Tomatoes and reading them until the movie has finished its run. I mean, in the end, who cares what the critics think? The reviews are as different as day is from night and all that really matters is what you think. Right now there are close to 40 reviews and the majority of them are positive. Word has been that she might be nominated for an Oscar ---- again. All I know is that when the show was over I was in a good mood.
When we left the theatre and walked into the lobby, Judi had left the building.
Many thanks to Ridge for everything.