On August 26-28, 2016, I attended my first all-Star Trek convention in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the show. I decided to go not only because it was the fiftieth anniversary but because, frankly, I wasn’t sure how much longer any of the original series actors would be around and able to appear. I also knew it might be my last chance to get a William Shatner photo op and autograph on the East Coast.
The con itself was great. Although there weren’t as many of the actors that appear on the West Coast, seventeen actors came, at least one from every series, plus some who had only appeared in one or more movies. The leads from each show included William Shatner and Walter Koenig (TOS), LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn and Gates McFadden (TNG), Ethan Phillips and Garrett Wang (Voyager), Nana Visitor and Nicole Boer (DS9), and Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating (Enterprise). They all did a wonderful job on stage, talking about Trek and their current projects and fielding questions from the audience. However, even though I had gone largely to see Shatner, my favorites were LeVar Burton, Garrett Wang, and Max Grodenchik (Rom on DS9). Garrett was incredibly funny and personable, both on stage and in the dealer’s room where he was selling autographs and selfies. He even did an audience participation exercise, where different parts of the audience would shout out phrases from the show or riffs of theme music. My selfie with Garrett appears below.
Max Grodenchik was also personable and funny, both in his daytime appearance and nighttime show, which I’ll talk about later. LeVar I found very intelligent and was entranced by his discussion of his reading program for children, Reading Rainbow.
As with other Creation conventions, autographs and photo ops were available for a fee. Luckily, the type of ticket I had purchased entitled me to four free autographs, including Shatner, so I only paid for three. As mentioned earlier, I also wanted a photo with William Shatner and had prepaid for that. It was the same, yet very different, from the photo op I had had at the Supernatural Convention last year. We were rushed through and Shatner didn’t even move, much less say anything. Still, I came out with a pretty good picture. (See below.)
The autographs with Shatner were similar. He kept his head down and said barely a word as the line flowed past. Unfortunately, he seems to treat these as something to just get through, rather than enjoy, as the other actors seem to. But he can get away with it because he always has been, and will always continue to be, Captain James T. Kirk.
But what surprised me was how much I enjoyed the nighttime entertainment. Friday night was a performance by the Star Trek Rat Pack, consisting of Max Grodenchik, Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun, Brunt, and Shran), Vaughn Armstrong (Admiral Michael Forest, plus several aliens), Casey Biggs (Damar), and Ethan Philips. (Armin Shimmerman is usually a part of this group as well, but was unable to attend.) The group sang songs written by Max Grodenchik which parodied Star Trek, mostly Deep Space 9 and Voyager (though my favorite was from TNG and entitled “A BORG named Hugh.”) Ethan Phillips not only sang and played guitar, but also told jokes between numbers.
Saturday night was a Karaoke party hosted by Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating. Though I didn’t expect much, I was pleasantly surprised. Connor and Dominick would sing along with the soloists, as did much of the audience. Before long, a group formed in front of the stage singing and dancing and many of us got pulled up on stage. Connor and Dominick were very gracious hosts and kept saying “just one more song.” The party started at 9:00 and went until midnight. A convention official finally put an end to it.
There was a lot more to the con – dealer’s room, costumes, panels, etc., but this is already twice as long as my usual posts, so I have to end. I can only say, it was a great time. All Star Trek fans should get to at least one of these in their lifetimes. You can spend a lot of money or a little, but you will enjoy yourself.