This
season's guests were not as many as we had hoped because the work
commitments of two of our scheduled guests, Kari Wuhrer (Sliders)
and Richard Chevalleau (Earth: Final Conflict), caused them
to cancel virtually last minute. Happily, we were treated to the company
of the best of the confirmed guests! The weather held out nicely,
if one overlooks the Friday night snowstorm (can't beat Colorado in
the springtime!). The dealer room hasn't changed at all, still the
same vendors, the same merchandise, the same prices. I only picked
up the 8x10 head shots for autographs and a Blade Runner t-shirt this
time around, but my almost 14-year-old son announced he'd like an
Earth Force uniform - before next fall. Hmmmm...
The theme
of the convention was Plan 99 from Outer
Space, but I really didn't see evidence of said theme
being carried through as well as the folks at Starland have at past
cons. At least there could have been a tribute to Ed Wood or something...of
course, I did hear about the Klingons spiking the "blood wine" with
Everclear, but that may have been merely a rumor. Klingons don't do
things like that, do they? The guest list was quite good: Robert
Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris, Voyager), Max Grodenchik (Rom,
Deep Space Nine), Leni Parker (Da'an, Earth: Final Conflict),
Robert Trebor (Salmoneus, Hercules and Xena), Arnold Vosloo
(Imhotep, The Mummy) and Mira Furlan (Delenn, Babylon 5). A
majority of the guests were there both Saturday and Sunday and everyone
signed autographs.
Unfortunately
I spent a great deal of my time waiting in interminable lines for
signatures, but I did manage to pick up tidbits of relevant information
from time to time. The advance look at The Mummy generated much conversation,
mostly favorable. The movie version of Wild, Wild West also became
a hot topic, with most women agreeing that Will Smith is too sexy
for his shirt! [Commentary note: I feel that Smith was an anachronistic
casting choice when one considers the racial history of America, particularly
in the era portrayed in the film - but then I'm not a Hollyweird casting
director, am I? And be honest, who doesn't love Will Smith? They're
in it for the cold cash anyway, not dramatic realism. I'll likely
see the film in any case, since I have been a die-hard WWW fan since
way back when. I always loved Ross Martin's Artemus Gordon and good
old Dr. Michelito Loveless - and I adore Kevin Kline.] Rumor has it
that Robert Trebor said there would be only 8 more Hercules
episodes made and that Xena is in her last season. When asked if there
are Herc movies in his future, he reportedly held up both hands with
fingers crossed and grinned. Star Wars: Episode I was the very hottest
topic of all, but I didn't really learn anything I didn't already
know from the promos on TV and the net. As far as I can tell, every
SF fan in the entire Denver metro area is going to the theater on
May 19th...!! To my great sorrow, I missed virtually all of the stage
appearances, the one exception being Mira Furlan's.
Robbie
McNeill was at the con to promote a film he's written, produced
and directed, called The Battery. From what I gather, it's a story
about baseball and two young boys, and stars Ethan Phillips and Josh
Jackson. The tickets for the screening were $2 each, with all proceeds
going to benefit Pediatric AIDS. Attendee reviews were generally favorable.
I never had the time to see the movie or RDM's stage appearance (because
I was waiting in the stupid line to get his autograph) but all indications
point to him being a very personable guy with a great sense of humor.
Gales of laughter could be heard coming from the main events room
while he was on stage. He was very kind to my daughter, asking her
name and shaking her hand, giving her a little bit of extra attention
when she proved to be too shy to even face him when it was her turn
for the autograph. He's a good-looking guy, seems like a nice man.
Max
Grodenchik seemed a bit standoffish and aggravated on Saturday,
but his mood improved a good deal on Sunday. He even apologized for
my long wait in line, when actually I spent less time in his line
than any other! He reportedly did not hold out a lot of hope for a
DS9 movie. Surprisingly there were many more DS9 fans in the general
throng than there usually seem to be, and the people treated Max with
a lot of respect. In person he looked a lot like he usually does in
the movies, which I've found is not always the case with actors who
work on TV. (For example, Nana Visitor and Claudia Christian are much
prettier in person than they are on the small screen.) Alas, I did
not get to see a great deal of his stage appearance.
Mira
Furlan. Now what can one say about her? She is beautiful inside
and out. She was tremendously generous to the fans waiting in line,
and very forthcoming in her stage appearance. She said she couldn't
believe it has been an entire year since B5 folded up its tents. (She
had no idea if there were plans for more B5 films but would be willing
to do them.) Since then she has recorded her own CD of songs and played
Delenn in an upcoming Babylon 5 CD-ROM game. She also participated
in recording a "bluesy-jazz type" CD of tunes, due out in general
release in May, with several former B5 castmates, namely Bill Mumy
(she called him "Billy" a few times; I got the feeling he's one of
her favorites), Andreas Katsulas and Peter Jurasik. Oh yes, and she
became a first-time mother! Her baby boy, Marko, was born on December
15, 1998 and she has been reveling in her new role as "Mommy" ever
since. When asked what her husband is doing now, she responded with
a grin, "Babysitting!" Actually, her husband, Goran Gajic,
has been working on various directorial gigs and did direct one episode
of B5 (And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder). She didn't particularly
want to talk about the current situation in Kosovo, understandably,
but did say that she doesn't think bombing people solves anything.
She hails from Zagreb, Croatia, is an only child, had a grandmother
who was a professor of languages and she speaks 3 languages fluently.
Mira did say that she often refused to learn new languages from her
grandmother but appreciates the fact that she persisted. She began
acting in high school when her English teacher decided her class should
do a play to help them learn more English. She played a flamboyant
character and enjoyed it so much that she went on to audition with,
and win a spot in, the Croatian National Theater Company. While with
them she played many different roles, including Shakespeare. She has
done over 25 movies in the former Yugoslavia and was once on a soap
opera there called Little Big Town. She said she became so recognizable
in the role that people would accost her in the grocery store! Mira
is an avid reader, loves to hike and climb, and prefers "slow, solitary"
exercises like yoga. She did look pretty darn fit for a lady with
a 4-month-old. She said she would never forgive herself if she didn't
get out to the Rockies (mere minutes from lovely downtown Denver,
don't ya know) and do some hiking before returning to L.A. She seems
a very empathetic and spiritual woman, but not overly so. A little
backstory here: There's this guy here in town who attends all the
cons, and every time we have a B5 guest he goes to the microphone
to tearfully tell the celeb of the time when his mom, who was almost
dead from the cancer and loved stuffed bears, got a great big chuckle
out of the B5 ep with the teddy bear that got spaced. (Sorry to sound
so cynical about it, but I've heard the story four times now over
the course of 2 years time and I fail to believe this dude doesn't
stand there and actively work up his emotions so he can somehow sound
more sincere to the person on stage.) Anyway, he told Mira the story
and about how he's made it his goal to tell everyone associated with
B5 how that so cheered his mother - and she openly wept! She was truly
moved by his emotion. I gained a lot of respect for her right there;
she didn't have to empathize, but she did. She regrets that she did
not get to work too much with Claudia Christian and Jerry Doyle but
she cherished her work with the other cast members - she would not
pick a favorite when asked to do so. When inquired as to how much
of herself went into Delenn, Mira stated that Joe liked to
incorporate personal eccentricities and character traits of the actors
back into their characters, so while she professed to lack Delenn's
"wisdom and serenity," she did confess that much of her personality
was in the role as well. She said the bonehead make-up really hurt
to wear so she was greatly relieved to lose it. There was still a
lot of time spent in the make-up chair, so Bill Mumy made tapes to
play while they were getting done up. They called it their "Minbari
Morning Music." He made one tape called the "All Dead Band," which
of course consisted of the music of people who are all, well, dead.
She would love to play roles in most any genre but only if they are
strong female roles. She disdained the American way of stereotyping
actors because now she's considered a "sci-fi actress," which is so
limiting. All in all, Mira Furlan is a very lovely woman and an actress
whose work I truly hope we see more of.
That's
it folks! Next fall's theme is The Last Convention B4Y2K; guests include
Andrew "Garak" Robinson and Robert "HoloDoc" Picardo. Your intrepid
con reporter thought this spring's con was probably going to be one
of her last, but then they hit me with this guest list...
Cindy
Hill
LogBook roving reporter