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grammarwoman(Apologies for running so far behind on these. I've been more scatterbrained than usual...)
I’ve never been to a Creation con before. I’ve heard random comments that they’re expensive (HOLY CRAP YES) and not the most fan-friendly (which I can see), but I have to give them high marks for organization. Events started generally within five minutes or so of the posted schedule, and photo-ops and signatures moved along like clockwork, unfortunately at the expense of any interaction with the celebrity guests beyond “Hi!”.
One thing that surprised me was how late the schedule started on Saturday; the first event wasn’t until 11 AM, and that was for the Xena convention that was running concurrently with ours. This allowed us plenty of time for lazing around in the morning, including getting all girly and curly. (I can’t tell you the last time I used a curling iron on my hair. I was DECKED OUT, y’all.) Then we attempted to go to IHOP for breakfast, only to find a massive line; we were too damned hungry to wait. As it turned out, we should have just stuck around, as we wound up driving around Des Plaines for a long time (including a quick detour past my old house) looking for a likely place to eat. (In all our time living there, I guess the husband and I never went out for breakfast, as that’s the one thing I can reliably cook myself.) We finally settled for a family restaurant and had an acceptable breakfast. Then, back to the hotel for actual con attendance. (Looking back, we would have been much better off buying two one-day passes, as aside from the dealer visit, we didn’t do anything of note on Friday.)
Our first event of interest was an onstage appearance by Suzie Plakson (she’s played four different characters in the Star Trek universe, including Vulcan Dr. Selar and Klingon-human K'Ehleyr) and Natalija Nogulich (Admiral Alynna Nechayev on TNG and DS9). I didn’t hear them explicitly say it (I was late to their panel), but judging from the ease of their interaction, they’ve double-billed before. As to be expected, they had lots of different behind-the-scenes stories to tell, as well discussing their current projects. Natalija crowed about essentially being Admiral Dominatrix, as she had Captain Picard and crew under obligation to follow her orders, and she enjoyed playing a character that cracked the whip. When Jonathan Frakes directed her in a later episode, she reported that he greeted her with a wicked laugh and “Now I have you!” in a revengeful tone. She was looking forward to further seasons, as she saw that the Admiral and Picard’s storyline was getting more personal (he did bring her tea), and she thought that it might have led to romantic developments. When a fan asked if she had read the books that included the Admiral as a character, she answered no, but that she was interested in checking them out. Natalija also talked about being local; she lives in the Chicagoland area with her parents when she’s not in LA or elsewhere for work. She briefly mentioned her website as a way for fans to keep track of her current projects. Natalija was gracious, lively, and very accessible in her answers. I got the impression that she loved her time on Star Trek, and loved doing conventions to hang with fans.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get the same feeling with Suzie, which was disappointing to me; I think I’ve always had a low-level girlcrush on her, from her Star Trek work and her roles on “Mad About You” and “How I Met Your Mother”. She’s just so tall and gorgeous. However, she seems to be the type that doesn’t understand the fannish instinct, why people would get so involved in a fictional universe, and came off as a bit patronizing of the geeks. She stated several times during the panel that she wasn’t a sci-fi fan and never showed Natilijia’s enthusiasm for the Star Trek universe. To me, it seemed that Star Trek was really just another job for her – one that she was grateful for, yes, but not anything more special than her other jobs. With that said, she did have fun with her roles. She talked about doing almost all of her own stunts as K'Ehleyr, with one exception that pissed her off. There was a pivotal fight scene that she did herself, but the shots of her stunt double were used on the episode instead; evidently her double was a completely different size than her, and she was insulted that having done the work, they chose to replace her with an obvious substitution. She also had an amusing Frakes-as-director story; her character was dead, and they were going to do a camera close-up. So she was laying there, being dead, and Frakes called “Action!”. This struck her as so funny that she couldn’t stop giggling, as being dead was pretty much the opposite of action. One of Suzie’s favorite memories was being entertained by the Turbolift, that it looked so high-tech on screen and was really a big pain for the crew to operate. There would be times where it would only open an inch, or make funny noises, or nearly catch people going through it, and she’d have trouble keeping a straight face. She also thought that the powers-that-be behind Star Trek were more than a little stiff; she tried to bring humor and lightness to her roles, only to be told things like “Nobody winks in the 24th century”. Her current project is a country-rock CD that’s she’s trying to promote, called “Good Luck Charm”, available at her website.
Both women mentioned meeting Gene Roddenberry, that their encounters had been very brief, but Gene was very charming and sweet, and obviously devoted to the Star Trek universe. It made me kind of sad all over again that he died and left his creation in the hands of more mercenary and uncaring masters. (Although, I’m guessing we would never have had the dark storylines on DS9, for example, had Gene still been at the reins, so it goes both ways.)
Both of them had vendor booths as well, so I got a chance to talk with them up close. I complimented Suzie on her role in “How I Met Your Mother”, and she said that both episodes had been a blast to shoot. The cast had way too much fun during filming. Talking with her and overhearing her conversations with other con attendees just reinforced my feeling that she thought she was above it all. *sigh* Natalija was even sweeter in person, though; my friend Chad’s camera was being very flaky, and she patiently sat through shot after shot that I took of the two of them. She even asked me if I wanted a picture, though I hadn’t bought anything from her table. You better believe I said yes!
More later on Marina Sirtis and Jonathan Frakes...
I’ve never been to a Creation con before. I’ve heard random comments that they’re expensive (HOLY CRAP YES) and not the most fan-friendly (which I can see), but I have to give them high marks for organization. Events started generally within five minutes or so of the posted schedule, and photo-ops and signatures moved along like clockwork, unfortunately at the expense of any interaction with the celebrity guests beyond “Hi!”.
One thing that surprised me was how late the schedule started on Saturday; the first event wasn’t until 11 AM, and that was for the Xena convention that was running concurrently with ours. This allowed us plenty of time for lazing around in the morning, including getting all girly and curly. (I can’t tell you the last time I used a curling iron on my hair. I was DECKED OUT, y’all.) Then we attempted to go to IHOP for breakfast, only to find a massive line; we were too damned hungry to wait. As it turned out, we should have just stuck around, as we wound up driving around Des Plaines for a long time (including a quick detour past my old house) looking for a likely place to eat. (In all our time living there, I guess the husband and I never went out for breakfast, as that’s the one thing I can reliably cook myself.) We finally settled for a family restaurant and had an acceptable breakfast. Then, back to the hotel for actual con attendance. (Looking back, we would have been much better off buying two one-day passes, as aside from the dealer visit, we didn’t do anything of note on Friday.)
Our first event of interest was an onstage appearance by Suzie Plakson (she’s played four different characters in the Star Trek universe, including Vulcan Dr. Selar and Klingon-human K'Ehleyr) and Natalija Nogulich (Admiral Alynna Nechayev on TNG and DS9). I didn’t hear them explicitly say it (I was late to their panel), but judging from the ease of their interaction, they’ve double-billed before. As to be expected, they had lots of different behind-the-scenes stories to tell, as well discussing their current projects. Natalija crowed about essentially being Admiral Dominatrix, as she had Captain Picard and crew under obligation to follow her orders, and she enjoyed playing a character that cracked the whip. When Jonathan Frakes directed her in a later episode, she reported that he greeted her with a wicked laugh and “Now I have you!” in a revengeful tone. She was looking forward to further seasons, as she saw that the Admiral and Picard’s storyline was getting more personal (he did bring her tea), and she thought that it might have led to romantic developments. When a fan asked if she had read the books that included the Admiral as a character, she answered no, but that she was interested in checking them out. Natalija also talked about being local; she lives in the Chicagoland area with her parents when she’s not in LA or elsewhere for work. She briefly mentioned her website as a way for fans to keep track of her current projects. Natalija was gracious, lively, and very accessible in her answers. I got the impression that she loved her time on Star Trek, and loved doing conventions to hang with fans.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get the same feeling with Suzie, which was disappointing to me; I think I’ve always had a low-level girlcrush on her, from her Star Trek work and her roles on “Mad About You” and “How I Met Your Mother”. She’s just so tall and gorgeous. However, she seems to be the type that doesn’t understand the fannish instinct, why people would get so involved in a fictional universe, and came off as a bit patronizing of the geeks. She stated several times during the panel that she wasn’t a sci-fi fan and never showed Natilijia’s enthusiasm for the Star Trek universe. To me, it seemed that Star Trek was really just another job for her – one that she was grateful for, yes, but not anything more special than her other jobs. With that said, she did have fun with her roles. She talked about doing almost all of her own stunts as K'Ehleyr, with one exception that pissed her off. There was a pivotal fight scene that she did herself, but the shots of her stunt double were used on the episode instead; evidently her double was a completely different size than her, and she was insulted that having done the work, they chose to replace her with an obvious substitution. She also had an amusing Frakes-as-director story; her character was dead, and they were going to do a camera close-up. So she was laying there, being dead, and Frakes called “Action!”. This struck her as so funny that she couldn’t stop giggling, as being dead was pretty much the opposite of action. One of Suzie’s favorite memories was being entertained by the Turbolift, that it looked so high-tech on screen and was really a big pain for the crew to operate. There would be times where it would only open an inch, or make funny noises, or nearly catch people going through it, and she’d have trouble keeping a straight face. She also thought that the powers-that-be behind Star Trek were more than a little stiff; she tried to bring humor and lightness to her roles, only to be told things like “Nobody winks in the 24th century”. Her current project is a country-rock CD that’s she’s trying to promote, called “Good Luck Charm”, available at her website.
Both women mentioned meeting Gene Roddenberry, that their encounters had been very brief, but Gene was very charming and sweet, and obviously devoted to the Star Trek universe. It made me kind of sad all over again that he died and left his creation in the hands of more mercenary and uncaring masters. (Although, I’m guessing we would never have had the dark storylines on DS9, for example, had Gene still been at the reins, so it goes both ways.)
Both of them had vendor booths as well, so I got a chance to talk with them up close. I complimented Suzie on her role in “How I Met Your Mother”, and she said that both episodes had been a blast to shoot. The cast had way too much fun during filming. Talking with her and overhearing her conversations with other con attendees just reinforced my feeling that she thought she was above it all. *sigh* Natalija was even sweeter in person, though; my friend Chad’s camera was being very flaky, and she patiently sat through shot after shot that I took of the two of them. She even asked me if I wanted a picture, though I hadn’t bought anything from her table. You better believe I said yes!
More later on Marina Sirtis and Jonathan Frakes...
