"Trekker For a Day"

Meeting Some of Star Trek's Notables; An Actor's Dream

Well, I'm back from the Star Trek convention in Chicago. It was an enjoyable time spent with friends, and an equally unique opportunity to meet and greet some of Star Trek's notable actors. Interestingly enough, this convention was also very different from any Star Trek conventions I've been to in the past....

We arrived in Chicago around 10 AM this morning after an uneventful hour and a half drive from Milwaukee. It was a brisk and somewhat windy day when we stepped out of the car, but quite comfortable indoors. I was actually rather surprised to find that this particular Star Trek convention was being held in a hotel. I hadn't really expected that. The ST conventions I have gone to when I was younger were in massive convention centers. This hotel setting had me a little concerned.

When we got indoors we signed up, payed our $20 entrance charge (a little steep for my tastes, but I decided to splurge non-the-less) and looked around. The entire show filled up only two moderately sized ballrooms. One was the dealers room, the other contained the guest stage. There were only a dozen dealer's tables in the first ballroom, which disappointed me greatly at first. They were mutiple-table dealers, sure, but still, there were only twelve. Considerably less than the hundred or more dealers I would have expected.

I soon came to discover the advantage of this set-up however. As I walked slowly around the dealer's room, I noticed that the merchandise tables were against the outer walls of the ballroom, while numerous empty tables (at the time we arrived anyway) encircled the center of the room. As it turned out, those plain, simple, unguarded tables would be where the stars sat for autographs. There were no ropes, no set area for waiting lines.... just regular tables.

Obviously, when the three of us arrived, the show had recently opened for the day. There was very little of note going on at the time. So, we walked around investigating the Star Trek merchandise a few times. Most of the items there were either autographed posters, cards, or the insanely numerous autographed photos. They were everywhere and nearly every dealer had them. Plastic figurines seemed to be the second most numerous merchandise category there. Overall, not a very original collection of dealers.

There was, however, one dealer that had an impressive collection of bladed weaponry.... Klingon knives, Samurai swords, I think even an authentic broadsword, you name it. He was a very interesting guy to talk to, and clearly very passionate about his collection. I learned there's actually a lot more to the blade collecting hobby than actually meets the eye. Since I have a strong interest in related bladed weaponry myself (especially Klingon), I enjoyed lingering at his table the longest.

A little after 11:15 AM, I gave up wandering about the limited collection of dealers and found my way into the second ballroom. At this point actor Douglas Arthurs (one of the god's from the popular sci-fi series Stargate SG-1) was speaking to the crowd, so I thought I'd listen in. I only caught the last fifteen minutes of his talk, but being a huge fan of Stargate, I greatly enjoyed his comments about the acting end of things on the show. Very interesting.

When Douglas finished his talk, the next speaker on the schedule was actress Elizabeth Dennehy, who played the popular Commander Shelby in the Next Generation episodes "The Best of Both Worlds". She was very down-to-earth and talked quite extensively about her acting career, acting as a guest star on Star Trek, and what she learned on the set way back fourteen years ago.

Following her intruiging talk came the first of the two Sunday headliners of the convention, Garrett Wang -- Ensign Harry Kim of Star Trek Voyager fame. He, obviously, was no stranger to Star Trek conventions and gave a very energetic talk, answered fan questions, and the like. I was most amused by his stories of the practival jokes pulled on set, the friendships forged among the principle actors, and some of the generally unknown factoids about working on the set of Voyager with his castmates. He ended up being a very engaging speaker, and quite humerous to boot!

An hour later -- which seemed to go by like lightning becasue of Garrett's ability to engage the audience, he left the stage to sign autographs. At this time Dwight Shultz (Star Trek's Lieutenant Barclay) had also arrived and was signing autographs out in the hall. I opted to avoid getting any autographs due mostly to the $20/each cost, but, I did enjoy the break from guest talks in ballroom two, to walk around ballroom one.... and actually mingle with the stars. -- Yes, actually mingle!

Dwight was out in the hallway signing, and I avoided the reasonable line in the dealers room for Garrett, but, there were many other actors of Star Trek fame there who I actually enjoyed talking to, taking photos of for other fans, complimenting, and generally conversing with as if they were at a small booksigning. It was great, and, quite honestly, made my $20 entrance fee all worthwhile!!!....

Robin Curtis (ST:III's Saavik) was there.... So was Mary Kay Adams (DS9's Grilka, the Klingon female who married Quark; as well as a regular star of the sci-fi series Babylon 5 of which I am a huge fan);.... Spice Williams and Todd Byrant (most notable as Klingons in ST:V);..... Vaughn Armstrong (currently playing Admiral Forrest of Enterprise fame as well as the most often cast actor in Star Trek history);.... Robert O'Reilly (Klingon Chancellor Gowron -- no, his eyes are not as big in real life!);.... Max Grodenchik (DS9's Rom);.... Aron Eisenberg (DS9's Nog);.... Casey Biggs (DS9's Cardassian, Damar);.... as well as Jason Carter (of Babylon 5 star fame, as Ranger Marcus... who incidently was wearing my favorite hat -- a bowler!).

There were a few other actors from other sci-fi series (TekWar, Buffy, etc) whom I was unfamiliar with. But, to be able to mingle intimately with the actors who where there, that I did recognize, was a real joy. They were all nice, glad to meet the fans, and more than happy to strike up a conversation when there was nothing else going on. As an actor myself, THAT was a REALLY cool opportunity! It's not often that I'll get to do that!

When 3 PM rolled around, and the autographs had long since dwindled down, the actors were just hanging around talking with fans. Garrett had left (probably to catch a flight), and Dwight Schultz was just taking the stage for his hour-long Q&A talk. He too, though much less animated than most of the other speakers, was a very engaging actor. A long time Star Trek veteran, and beloved series' character, he spoke in depth about both his roles on the "A-Team" as well as "ST: Next Generation". As an actor in his mid-fifties, I thoroughly enjoyed his perspective on his own acting career. I learned a lot from his as well as heard some great acting advice. Great guy, with a great perspective on life, and, apparently, a similar religious faith as my own! That I really appreciated.

When Dwight concluded his talk, the time had come for the show to close for the day. He bid the fans a genuine adeu (and recieved the only standing ovation of the day), and departed. The dealers were packing up their tables, and the fans were heading home. My two friends and I did likewise, and in the end had had a VERY worthwhile day. They had actually each aquired numerous autographs themselves, and had some amusing stories to tell as we drove home again to Milwaukee. It was a well worthwhile Sunday, and ended up being one of the most unique Star Trek conventions I have ever been to! And I really do mean that!

It was a very tiring day too, however, so, with my own heavy eyelids I think I'll bid you my own fond adeu and head off to bed. I'm sure I'll fall asleep to the enjoyable opportunities I came across today. I'll sleep well. As an aspiring actor myself, I couldn't have planned a better day!

So, I hope you enjoyed the review. Have a blessed Monday, and until next time,

Your happily blogging Star Trek fan and actor friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 8:45 PM  I   I  0 comments