Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Creation Entertainment, one of America’s longest-running convention companies, runs an annual Star Trek gala in Las Vegas that invites scores of Trek cast and crew members to mingle with fans at Vegas prices and at a considerable remove from more than a few states. As a sort of outreach to us faraway fans, in 2024 Creation has launched a “Trek Tour” comprising much smaller versions of that vaunted Vegas show on the other side of the Rockies. This past weekend it was Chicago’s turn. The location was convenient and the guest lineup included so many missing names on Anne’s Trek-actor checklist, we did something we haven’t done in ages: we attended all three days, from the opening minutes Friday morning to the very end of the final panel Sunday night.

“Star Trek to Chicago” (Creation’s official name for the show; official abbreviation “ST-CHI”) was our first hotel-based con in a good while. We understood Creation handles some con aspects rather differently than the other companies we’re used to seeing annually. For Anne’s purposes, that guest list was worth setting aside our mild concerns and giving it a shot. We’re happy and relieved to report the show far exceeded our hesitant expectations.

Friday was a good, quiet day to take care of necessary formalities, get a feel for the show’s procedures, learn the layout, and meet fellow fans. Our next day would be much busier and just as long. Rare is the con that persuades us to stick around from dawn to dusk.

DAY TWO: Saturday, September 28, 2024.

In case of geek overpopulation we arrived at 8:30 a.m. and again had no problem finding a space in the Hyatt’s voluminous garage. After breakfast and some light pacing around, the day commenced in the theater at 9:20 (Creation does not sleep in) with the daily welcome panel from our gracious hosts, actor/podcaster Ryan T. Husk and Bonnie Gordon, an internet song parodist and the voice of the ship’s computer on Prodigy. (She’s coming to Indianapolis in November!) We’d missed their Friday opening ceremony and I was curious to see them in action. The centerpiece of their brief presentation was Gordon singing the entire guest list set to one of the songs from Chicago (the Broadway play, not the band).

At 9:30 came the first Trek actor of the day: Jonathan Del Arco, best known as the autonomous Hugh the Borg from the Next Generation episode “I, Borg”. He returned decades later for the first season of Picard, a delightful “Whatever happened to…?” surprise.

Rather than talk about himself and entertain limited questions such as “What was it like working with Patrick Stewart?” and “What was it like working with Patrick Stewart again?”, Del Arco flipped the panel and invited anyone to step to the Q&A mics and answer a question instead of asking one: what was your first Trek experience? This common icebreaker can spark interesting chats among online strangers who’re getting to know each other. Live and in person, it was only as fascinating as each respective fan’s public speaking skills.

(My unspoken answer: Sunday morning reruns of the Original Series back in the early ’80s. The earliest episode I can recall holding my attention is “The Changeling”. I didn’t label myself a fan per se until the late ’90s, when my best friend Anne led me deeper into Gene Roddenberry’s galaxy and it grew into something we shared. Yadda yadda yadda, here we are today!)

We left that panel early to go see if any guests had shown up at their autograph tables in the vendors’ hall yet. After some forced browsing and further pacing, at 10:10 some familiar faces from the Next Generation emerged from one corner and manned their stations, by which time Marina Sirtis already had the first long line we saw all weekend. Anne already got her autograph at an early-’90s con, but wanted to revisit her all-time favorite actor, whose identity is well-known to longtime MCC readers and possibly to anyone who really looked at Part 1 of this miniseries.

At 10:45 we reentered near the end of the “Star Trek Rat Pack” panel — a quintet of Trek supporting actors who appear together at cons and perform Trek-parody songs while gussied up in tuxedos a la Frank Sinatra and friends.

We arrived in time to hear Combs confirm Shran is his favorite Trek character among those he’s played, Phillips remark on the existential struggle of his season-4 episode “Mortal Coil”, and Biggs reveal his original audition was just five words long: “They’re in range, sir. Fire!” That bit part would grow into a much larger character who’d prove instrumental up to the series finale.

At 11:00 came Anne’s Feature Presentation of the day: a Q&A for TV’s Q himself, John de Lancie. Over the years she’s seen him live enough times to recognize many of his answers and anecdotes (even I remembered a few of them), but you never know when some fan might ask a brand new question, or he might throw in some heretofore unmentioned personal trivia. He had the stage all to himself, no moderator, and hypothetically had nothing holding him back.

Tidbits:

• His latest project is a play called The Dover Intelligent Design Trial.
• This exact day marked the 37th anniversary of The Next Generation‘s series premiere, “Encounter at Farpoint”.
• His Voyager work felt more limiting when the producers declared Q shalt not engender the slightest romantic response in Captain Janeway.
• His son Keegan actually had to audition for the role of Q2 in that eponymous episode and did not coast in as a nepo-baby (now moot, as he’s no longer acting).
• His few encounters with Gene Roddenberry were mostly chitchat about planes.

…and there was more, more, more. I had to leave early for the Lower Decks photo op while Anne stayed behind and enjoyed her schedule conflict. When his time was up, no one was there to stop him, not even someone from the next panel. “When they want me to leave, they’ll tell me,” he said before inviting one more question.

Then Bonnie Gordon popped in from backstage to tell him time was up. He turned to the microphone line and said, “Next question!”

A guy at the mic obliged: “What is your favorite dinosaur?”

A touch of dismay sets in. “What is my favorite dinosaur? Is that how we’re going to end this? I figured it would be something like ‘Who would win in a fight, Q or Godzilla?'” He doesn’t really know if he has a favorite dinosaur. He turned to Bonnie. He turned to the audience. He wasn’t going out like this. “Next question!”

Someone yelled, “Who would win?”

“Q, of course!”

If anyone’s interested in a more in-depth rundown of de Lancie’s panel and all twelve questions asked of him (besides his favorite dinosaur), by all means do let me know. Anne took extensive notes on everything, even the stories she already knew by heart.

After her panel and my cool new photo, we reunited and returned yet again to the vendors’ room, where at long last the man we were waiting for had arrived: TV’s Captain Christopher Pike from Strange New Worlds! We already met him at Dragon Con 2023 along with castmates Ethan Peck, Christina Chong and Celia Rose Gooding (all of whom were here as well), but for the Creation tour he brought something new to the table: pottery! Whereas some actors write books or record albums as hobbies and/or side gigs, Mount makes his own pottery at home and has been bringing his works to cons. His line was nearly as long as Sirtis’, and meant missing the Lower Decks panel, but we couldn’t resist. As the proud artist, Mount also accepted payment himself and personally wrapped and bagged each piece purchased.

We then walked our prized acquisition directly out of the vendors’ room, through the hotel, out into the garage and securely into my car. We both well remembered the last time I bought an awesome mug as part of a very special trip only to break it and my own heart. This one cost significantly more. We were not taking any chances.

We had just enough time to run that errand before our next three photo ops, our last ones for the weekend, all scheduled within a single hour. At any ordinary con, this would be an invitation to disaster. The lines were longer that Friday’s lines, but still short by any larger comic-con standards. Marina Sirtis’ went painlessly. Jeri Ryan’s line was the longest, but cycled efficiently through. In between those two appointments, I ran off to the coffee shop for a lunchtime snack while Anne shared yet another, more formal pic with Mr. de Lancie. I’d already posed with him once. He’s cool, but I met my Q-quota.

Throughout the photo-op process we enjoyed chatting with fans here and there, but also found ourselves frequently playing honorary con volunteers and answering questions folks had about the whole process. For some, this was their very first con. Some were more experienced, but like us found the little differences in procedures disconcerting. Anne had been studying Creation’s FAQs, emails, and website documentation for weeks, and knew much of it backwards and forwards. I crammed the two nights before takeoff, the study style that’s worked best for me since high school, and retained a few finer points whenever her prodigious memory skipped a little. It was a nice way to meet folks and find ways to be helpful to the fandom at large across all spectra and in some cases across international borders.

Being in that unofficial position also broke our hearts when dealing with one confused young lady, new to cons, who thought that photo ops worked like autograph tables — i.e., you just show up whenever, meet the star, and do the thing. Apparently someone had just broken it to her that ops are scheduled. She turned to us and asked when her favorite star was signing. As we pulled up the app to check, one of the official con representatives escorted her gently to one side before we could break the news to her that her favorite star’s photo op had been at 9:30 a.m.

(We remember learning some convention lessons the hard way. I’m sorry that happened and I hope the day brought them other forms of brightness.)

Our next hour was a somewhat free-form mix of roaming and resting. We passed by the theater, where Gates McFadden’s solo panel was in progress, and noticed Connor Trinneer standing at the door and listening in. The Lower Decks cast finally found time for autographing, whereupon Anne had her moment with Dawnn Lewis. We returned to our assigned theater seats in the middle of the No-Minimum-Bid auction, but didn’t pay much attention. We mostly wanted to stop walking, relax and catch up on phone notifications.

As the auction went on and Trek memorabilia was offered up piece by piece, the show’s other autograph lineup had begun. Whereas most actors had tables in the vendors’ room with no schedule posted and walk-ups welcome (like an average con), seven of them were scheduled for specific signing times only at tables in the back of the theater, only on Saturday, and only by advance purchase — headliner Jeri Ryan, four of the five Rat Pack members, and (a last-minute addition) Strange New Worlds‘ Melissa Navia. Time frames were divided according to badge levels. Fans were encouraged to remain in their seats and enjoy the programming; when it was their group’s turn to line up for one of those , it was displayed on the two screens at the front of the theater, while programming was in progress.

Getting autographs and celeb moments during someone else’s panel in the very same room sounded really weird to us, but we’re told Creation employs that same setup at their annual Vegas shows. Anne went ahead and pre-purchased Jeri Ryan autographs for each of us, but we were afraid to splurge on any of the rest, for fear things might get awkward and/or even weirder. We’d already met four of the five Rat Packers anyway, but it would’ve been keen to meet Casey Biggs and Ms. Navia for our first time.

The next panel at 3:45 held our full attention: Voyager‘s Jeri Ryan!

Ryan answered questions cheerfully but whipped through them very quickly. Tidbits:

• Her recurring role on Leverage was one of her favorite jobs (which worked out great for me since I brought my season-2 set for her to sign).
• Up-and-coming actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a sweetheart on the set of his Voyager episode “Tsunkatse”.
• The children’s book Love You Forever destroys her every time.
• A request to sing “You Are My Sunshine” got only a couple measures in before she stopped to avoid tears again.
• In later seasons of Picard she surmises Annika’s breakup with Raffi, though never explained in-story, was likely because the two of them just aren’t built for long-term relationships.
• Her favorite dinosaur is a triceratops.

Best moment: Ryan beckoned the next fan to the mic. “WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE CAPTAIN AND WHY IS IT SHAW?” boomed Todd Stashwick, fellow guest at this very show who’d patiently waited his turn. His role in Picard season three as Captain Liam Shaw of the U.S.S. Titan was arguably the Best New Trek Character of the Decade. We met him at Fan Expo Chicago during the SAG-AFTRA strike and got a kick seeing him post-strike at Galaxycon Columbus, where he kept punctuating the Picard panel with gratuitous mentions of 12 Monkeys. Ryan was more than happy to invite him onstage to hang out for a few.

Eventually he left. The next fan in line asked about, were she to return to the role once more, whether she’d like Seven to see more of Janeway or more of Shaw. “SHAW!” boomed Stashwick from the darkness without a mic. Then he left. I think.

After her panel, Ryan reported to her autograph table and commenced signing, starting of course with VIP- and Gold badge-holders. Concurrently, the next event on stage was something you’ll never see at any other con: a wine-tasting panel! Ennobled oenophile and connoisseur Casey Biggs welcomed fellow partygoers Cirroc Lofton, Bonnie Gordon, and Dominic Keating to sit with him on stage, try wines, and gab about them. We don’t drink, but we loved the part where an autograph line with a couple hundred people in it got to sit down for most of that time rather than standing for two solid hours on unforgiving convention-center concrete. In that sense, we appreciated our own kind of luxury.

During their little party, we Copper-badgeholders with Jeri Ryan autograph tickets were summoned to join her line, which was the longest line of any kind of the entire weekend, though it moved quickly. We were still in line as the pro winos wrapped things up and invited a limited number of audience numbers to come up and each enjoy a sip. We would’ve declined anyway, so it was no loss for us.

After our lightning-quick turn with the proficient Ms. Ryan, we returned to our seats because we couldn’t leave yet: next up onstage were the women of Strange New Worlds!

Tidbits:

• Navia can play the banjo, but the producers denied her offer to prove it in the musical episode “Subspace Rhapsody”.
• Shooting scenes with alien engineer Carol Kane is a frequent cause of giggle-fits.
• Filming wrapped on season 3 in May, but they’re still in post-production. So no, no hints of a release date.
• Navia is open to seeing whatever will happen to Ortegas in the future. Chong is adamant La’an is doomed to die in the series finale someday.
• Words of advice included “Don’t try to be anyone else,” “Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” and “Never give up, never surrender.”
• After reflecting on the Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks crossover episode “Those Old Scientists” (the only episode I’ve seen twice because it’s that great), the ladies would also like to see crossovers with Doctor Who, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or just an all-drag-queen episode.

We paused here for a dinnertime intermission, but rather than leave the premises and double our parking fees again, we settled for food at the hotel bar, mostly because the hotel restaurant closes at 2 p.m. daily. We couldn’t leave yet because we had another long night ahead of us — another concert, this time included with our admission: the aforementioned Star Trek Rat Pack! This time in tuxedos! And not taking any questions!

Without any prior knowledge of what these gents had done at other shows (not to mention past members such as co-founder Armin Shimerman and the late James Darren), I feared they’d just be doing covers of oldies from the SiriusXM ’50s channel. (I mean, their average age is 70.6.) I was a bit more pleased to learn their specialty is song parodies — not unlike Weird Al, Bonnie Gordon, or most YouTubers circa 2010. All their ditties are of course Trek-themed, and co-opt familiar tunes such as “Hey, Jude”, “A Boy Named Sue”, “Duke of Earl”, “Wendy” by the Association, “That’s Amore”, “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?”, the Mister Ed theme, and more, more, more.

In between songs, Ethan Phillips provided standup comedy — some Dad-jokes, some clever twists, lots of bawdiness not for all ages or sensibilities. They were hit-or-miss, and a few punchlines were too mumbled for me to catch. (Best one, maybe: “If life were fair, mosquitoes would suck fat.”) They also paused for a serious In Memoriam segment for Trek actors who’ve passed away in recent years. On the brighter side, the night’s set list included numbers not on their album, such as the welcoming “Ethan Phillips Is Here”. (“His singing’s apprehensive / But Anthony Rapp is too expensive.”)

We were mostly entertained by the five gents plus accompanist Bill Burchell, though a short, crude number about Jadzia Dax didn’t amuse me in the slightest. More distracting: Grodenchik seemed to need assistance throughout the show. He handled a few short solos here and there, but frequently joined other actors at their mics, where they’d keep one arm around him as they played backup crooners to their pals’ solo numbers. More than once he seemed lost, wandering a bit, at one point shuffling through papers on a table against the back wall. He was a pleasure to meet at past cons, but it was hard not to notice something seemed off.

Otherwise…fun times up to the 9:30 endpoint. During the show, they announced the CDs would be on sale later, autographed by all five gentlemen. I’m a sucker for concert merch, especially signed, and bought one afterward from a roving Lolita Fatjo, who was on hand to assist the gents. So now we have something we didn’t before: Casey Biggs’ autograph.

To be continued! Other chapters in this very special miniseries:

Part 1: The Stars in Our Galaxy
Part 2: Cosplay!
Part 3: Friday!
Part 5: Sunday!
Part 6: And the Rest!