|
The Emissary Cometh 22nd April 2007. St Pauls Function Centre, Adelaide Sunday the 22nd April “The Emissary” arrived in Adelaide. At the St Pauls Function Centre we were “honoured” to meet Mr Barry Jenner (Admiral William Ross from Star Trek - Deep Space Nine) and Mr Avery Brooks (Captain Benjamin Sisko from Star Trek - Deep Space Nine). We also had the added pleasure of meeting Mr Johnathan Hardy (Rygel XVI from Farscape). Approximately 200 people attended the convention which started at 9am. We entered through the atrium which was lined with dealer tables where I could have spent hundreds of dollars on photos, autographs, t-shirts, posters, patches, plates, keyrings, badges, toys, figures and/or a signed baseball or two! For those of you who have been to a convention in Adelaide, you WILL know what I mean! The Australian Costumers Guild had a fabulous turn out and weaving through the crowd made you really feel you could have been on a space station somewhere with an alien face at any turn. Plenty of atendees were in Star Trek uniforms too – which I always think is one of the best things about a convention! The morning was filled by getting photos taken with Barry, Avery or both. For me – this was one of the highlights of the day. Avery and Barry were both over 6 foot tall but I felt absolutely in awe of Avery. The first and best word to spring to mind, for me, was charismatic! Next, Barry Jenner had a guest role in an “Insight – presents” radio play recording that was done live on stage. With the actors inviting audience participation it became quite a bit of fun. This was produced in two halves with a break in between and then it was time for lunch and to once again view the temptations of the Dealer tables. After lunch Mr Johnathan Hardy conducted the auction where a pretty penny was spent by a few of the bidders! Then Barry Jenner took to the stage and for about an hour kept us entertained with stories from his time on Deep Space Nine and Family Matters. What a fabulously entertaining guy. A good sport and good fun. Once Avery Brooks graced the stage (after the initially frenzy of “flash bulbs”) we were all spellbound. The room was in absolute awe. The fact that there wasn’t any microphone made it hard for us near the back to hear but the crowd was mesmerized by him. Several times Avery had me (and a few others) in tears. He spoke of his love of teaching and offering the young hope for the future. He is a tenured professor of Theatre at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and has just finished recording his first CD combining music, poetry and spoken word. The afternoon was finished with a panel of the three actors answering various questions from the audience and then the autograph signing which was the final act of the day. There were then some attendees moving off to a wrap party. By the time I was ready to leave at about 6pm I was exhausted. I can imagine how the actors feel! If you EVER get the chance to see Avery or Barry – even if you aren’t a Star Trek or Deep Space Nine fan – I would still thoroughly recommend you try. By Donna Reid |
|