At the start of ch 2, during the theatricals - and during my *transport* the computer freezes and I cannot emerge in the Asapi camp. I've also tried to enter ch 2 via the Novice to Epic Character Maker CEP Edition, but it seems there's no way to come around the theatricals. I don't usually have difficulties with even heavier games - is it a bug, maybe? (the version I have is 1658066)

You need to either get the hotfix from bioware, or update to 1.66. It's a known issue, and has been addressed in the latest update.