Ian McKellen’s one-man fundraising show is coming to a close this weekend, but not without the surprise support of a large contingent of Hobbit actors.  Last night audience members were treated not only to McKellen’s phenomenal performance, but the chance to meet, chat, and even act with some of the elf, dwarf, and hobbit actors who will soon become household names.

As TORn member Lissuin reports:
It was a thrill to see them all on stage together.  We had spotted a couple of cast members in the lobby before the show and said, “How nice that they’re here to support Sir Ian.” When they all came up on stage, the audience was stunned, I think. Then, big applause.

Afterwards, the entire cast and Sir Ian spent at least an hour out in the lobby signing autographs, posing for photos and chatting with fans. There were lots of $5 donations for the Isaac Theatre Royal for each photo and autograph. They all seemed very relaxed and happy to be hanging out together and mingling with the crowd, each with his collections bucket. Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman and Billy Connolly had lines of fans going inside the auditorium, smiling the whole time, entertaining in their individual styles – in Billy’s case with his characteristic colorful language.

I doubt that you could have found anywhere else such a relaxed, open atmosphere with a large group of actors interacting with fans. Every one of them seemed genuinely pleased to be there helping the fund-raising effort. Sir Ian had said it was going to be a party, and it was.

Wellington, you have earned my undying envy. Enjoy it.  Thankfully, there were some in the audience who captured the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and shared pix via Twitter and Tumblr.

Luke Evans is ready to collect!  Photo by Angela Moriarty.

James Nesbitt and fans! Photo by Matteats.

Photo of the cast on stage by noei1984, who also bumped into Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, and Richard Armitage.

The following photo of the cast (and many more) were posted on Tumblr by Cathoiskool:
In addition, Catherine shared these photos of the cast collecting donations.  She writes:
I would be lying though if I didn’t say that the best part was afterwards when all the members of The Hobbit cast and crew who came to see it came out to sign autographs, take photos and just CHAT with everyone after the show. I would have still been there at least an hour afterwards but they were all so lovely, conversational and just seemed genuinely happy to be there and meeting everyone! It was just so good I can’t even <3

Hmm…last photo is sort of distracting.  What was I doing? Oh right…I realize this blog is very dwarf-biased, but if hobbits (one in particular) are your main squeeze, then you will likely delight in the full account of meeting Martin Freeman (and Ian McKellen), by Briony Jae.  It’s quite funny and sort of karmic too!  Here is her video of the event:

Getting back to the dwarf-obsessed (or at least those obsessed with a certain dwarf lord), here is an account posted by RAFrenzy from a NZ based Richard Armitage fan, as well as her own video:

Had a great time living vicariously through all of you lucky devils!