The gang at Creation Entertainment has been busy lately, even busier than usual. Not only are they putting the finishing touches on the mega-show to be held in Las Vegas in August – and they just confirmed Star Trek 2009’s John Cho, by the way – but they’ve got near back-to-back conventions coming up in the next few weeks, with a weekend each in Vancouver, British Columbia (June 10-12), and Parsippany, New Jersey (June 24-26). Among the headliners at the Vancouver show will be Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, J.G. Hertzler, Robert O’Reilly, Gwynyth Walsh, Barbara March, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois, Connor Trinneer, Dominick Keating and Alan Scarfe, while the guest list for the Parsippany show will include Jonathan Frakes, Grace Lee Whitney, Bobby Clark, Nichols, Visitor, Auberjonois, Trinneer, Keating, Walsh and March. Fans at both shows can expect to see the actors up on stage, some of them in costume, and can enjoy the usual array of autograph signings, photo opportunities, no-minimum-bid auctions, shows, cocktail parties, costume and trivia contests, and more.
“The 45th anniversary of the franchise is the most exciting thing going on in the Star Trek universe right now,” says Gary Berman, Creation Entertainment’s co-CEO. “There are a lot of cities we haven’t visited or haven’t visited often, so we’re happy to be going back to Vancouver. We were actually there last year, too, I think, but it’s not a regular stop on our Star Trek tour. So it’s nice to go into Vancouver with a couple of guests who were part of the original Star Trek series. We’ll have George and Nichelle with us, and that’ll be quite a treat. Just in our past history, the folks up in Vancouver have been very supportive of fandom in general and of our Star Trek conventions, so it’s nice to go back there again. Plus, this is a show where we’ll have all four of our Klingons, in costume. They’ve been a big hit and I think the fans will enjoy seeing them.
“Also, as I think people know, it’s been one of our mandates to get the actors to do stuff beyond just the Q&A’s,” Berman adds. “Those are fun and very entertaining, but when you’ve got people like Rene and Nana, who have done extensive stage work, the idea of having them do a performance seemed like a natural. And they’ve been gracious enough not just to do it, but to create a special show (“Cross Our Hearts”) just for the fans. So they’ll be doing that up in Canada for the very first time.”
And what about Parsippany?
“I think that one’s going to be a lot of fun, too,” Berman says. “We’ll have Jonathan (Frakes) and some of the same folks who will be with us in Vancouver. That show is doing particularly well. I don’t know if people know this, but as far as I can tell, there’s no place else in the world, except maybe Australia, where anybody is doing just Star Trek shows any longer. It’s crazy different from 20, 25 years ago, when there was one every weekend. There are no strict, all-Star Trek conventions, other than what we’re doing, as far as I can tell. So that’s pretty cool for people and it’s cool that we’re able to pull it off, particularly in the 45th anniversary year.”
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For additional details visit www.creationent.com.
