While I am typing this, I am listening to John Barrowman’s
album “Reflections from Broadway” album, and once again I am moved and amazed
by the sheer range of talents of this man. There is no doubt about it:
Barrowman came, saw and conquered us all, in what started out not too
promising. All SciFi conventions have to deal with the inevitable cancellations
of their Star Guests, but FedCon this year was particularly hit hard, when
Alexander Siddig (ST:DS9’s Doctor Bashir), Roxann Dawson (ST: VOY’s B’Elanna
Torres) and Tricia Helfer (BSG’s No 6) all cancelled at short notice due to
various commitments. It happens, it is never nice, but this meant we had to
shift our expectations a bit towards a rather quiet and more laid back con than
usual. Boy, did we get this one wrong….
This FedCon has been a rather special ride, mainly due to
two people: Ben Browder and the aforementioned John Barrowman, but more about
them later on. Let me first give a general overview of this years FedCon, which
was, in one word, relaxed! Compared with the rollercoaster ride that was FedCon
2012, this one felt like a calm river boat ride. Never before were the photo shoots
with the stars as relaxed as this year, and even though these things go fast,
faster, fastest, they were run very pleasantly and smoothly. Also the great
autograph sessions were a wonderful experience, as we could focus on getting
some of the not so busy actors’ autographs on the Saturday while doing the long
lines on Sunday with the Special Needs group (as my husband cannot stand in
lines for more than ten minutes or so). This was a very relaxed way of doing
things, and we thoroughly enjoyed it!
There was not a lot to complain about this year: all the
volunteers were doing their jobs magnificently and were pleasant and even the
inevitable “Gold Seat Crashers” (those that sit there but don’t belong there
and therefore have to leave when we arrive) were quite responsive to our new
strategy of Direct Assertiveness: “OK, I need two seats, you, do you have a Gold
Seat ticket? No? Well, You don’t belong here, you have to leave now, thank you,
and yes, these seats are reserved!”. This approach works very well, we may not
be found “very nice”, but neither is sitting in my seat that I paid good money
for…
This year I focused more on other shows than Star Trek, most
notably Farscape, Eureka, Torchwood and a fascinating phenomenon: Starship Troopers.
There was some Trek for me, most notably Linda Park’s (ST ENT’s Hoshi Sato)
fine panel and Richard Arnold’s interesting presentation celebrating 20 years of
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
The Farscape Universe was well-represented with
Gigi Edgley (Chiana), Claudia Black (Aeryn Sun) and leading man Ben Browder (John
Crighton), the latter two actors doubling as representatives of the Stargate
Universe as well. They all provided solid and very interesting panels, and as
Farscape is such a goofy and experimental project, their stories were quite
different from the usually well-oiled production machines that are Star Trek or
Stargate. More about Ben Browder later
on.
Eureka was represented by Colin Ferguson (Sheriff Jack
Carter) and Matt Frewer (Taggart). I was especially looking forward to meet
Matt, as he also is the face of 80’s star Max Headroom. Matt had a very fine panel,
encompassing his vast career and later on, when we met him in the autograph
lines, we actually sung a few lines together, from his big 80’s hit single “Paranoimia”
which he did with the Art of Noise. Kind of a surreal experience!
Starship Troopers is something that entered the FedCon
stages when main actor Casper Van Dien was invited last year and immediately
stole the hearts and minds of everyone present. I personally never realized
that this Paul Verhoeven movie had such a large following, but apparently
Casper has been ‘recruiting’ and this time he was back with two fellow actors
from that movie: Dina Meyer, who plays Dizzy, and Patrick Muldoon, who plays
Zander. This awesome threesome managed to put a great stamp onto the show and –I
must admit- has rekindled an interest in watching the movie again.
Incidentally, Patrick is a great rock singer, as he proved during the Saturday
night party!
And then there’s Torchwood. Spin-off of the renowned Doctor
Who, and more geared towards an adult audience. Two actors from this series graced
our stage: John Barrowman (who play
Captain Jack Harkness) and Eve Myles who is Gwen Cooper. There is a lot more
about Barrowman in the second part of this report, but I simply loved Eve Myles’s
panels. She’s witty, she’s knows how to captivate an audience and she’s incredibly
funny besides. Very lovely lady!
Before moving on to the main highlights of the FedCon, let
me finish this general overview. As usual, our dealer friends brought a lot of tantalizing
and tempting materials, and I think my signed Emilia Clark (Game of Thrones’
Daenerys Targaryen) picture tops it all, followed by a signed Eric McCormack
(Will, from Will and Grace). It was also great to see Garrett Wang’s parents
again who brought some incredible new T-shirts!
And then there were the various show elements, of which the FedCon musical really stands out:L incredibly well done, and capturing the essence of a first time FedCon so well! Also great and thoughtful to give the lyrics ‘karaoke-style’ so we could all sing along with the cast!
And then there were the various show elements, of which the FedCon musical really stands out:L incredibly well done, and capturing the essence of a first time FedCon so well! Also great and thoughtful to give the lyrics ‘karaoke-style’ so we could all sing along with the cast!
And now there is nothing else in general anymore, so in Part 2 I’ll talk about the
two men who made this FedCon very special: Ben Browder and John Barrowman!
Don't forget Levar Burton and Katee Sackhoff. Almost every person I bought tickets for ended up canceling. John Barrowman and Eve Myles were able to salvage it somewhat, though.
ReplyDeleteRefunds should have been offered. Not sure I will be back.