The Twilight Tour Hits Houston

By Cathy Matusow Fri., Nov. 14 2008 at 9:30 AM

Categories: Get Lit, Movies, Spaced City

The Twilight Tour hit Hot Topic in the Galleria last night, and while there were a few screams and a few tears, the chaos that hit malls in other cities was avoided here. That could be because neither of the movie’s main stars, Kristen Stewart (human Bella) or Robert Pattinson (vampire Edward), was slated to appear. Instead, 750 Houston fans got to meet Taylor Lautner, who plays Edward’s werewolf rival Jacob, along with Rachelle Lefevre and Edi Gathegi, who play more minor vampires Victoria and Laurent in the new film based on Stephenie Meyer’s popular series. Jill Chipley, a 15-year-old freshman at Klein Collins in Spring, had been camping at the Galleria since noon the previous day. She stood at the very front of the line with her mother waiting to meet the stars. Like many in the line snaking behind her, she was in her Twilight T-shirt. Lurking around somewhere was her dad, who jokingly described himself as “long-suffering.”

Jill was a fan of Jacob. “Jacob is very charming and very down-to-earth,” she said. “Oh, and he’s hot.” Mom Tracy Chipley, on the other hand, was squarely on Team Edward. She wistfully noted that Robert Pattinson had made a stop in Dallas a couple days beforehand. “I do feel Houston is always behind Dallas,” she said, adding, “We’re thrilled Taylor’s here.”

Word was that around 3,000 people showed up to the tour’s stop in Dallas. Houston’s turnout was smaller. A Hot Topic worker said that after passing out 750 wristbands, they’d turned a few hundred people away from the line.

Jill Chipley had missed school, of course, not to mention drill practice, to be here. When the line finally started moving, she and her mother were in and out of the store quickly but appeared to think the long wait had been worth it.

When you considered that Jill had read Twilight 32 times, New Moon 26 times, Eclipse 17 times and Breaking Dawn nine times – and that mom Tracy had her beat with 37 readings of Twilight – you had to agree. The wait was nothing.

– Cathy Matusow

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