I’m a Trekkie! I grew up watching TAS on Saturday mornings, and every Star Trek series and movie since. I currently can be heard hosting Trek Talking a Star Trek podcast every Thursday night. I can often be found roaming around as a Klingon, stop and ask for a picture holding my Bat’Leth.
Seriously Nerdy Comedy is a group of East Coast stand-up comedians dedicated to telling the nerdiest jokes at all the nerdiest places. Dave McOwen is a professional museum nerd, DC-based comedian, and retired US Air Force flight medic. He has performed at the DC Improv, at an assortment of comic/sci-fi conventions across the country (including New York Comic Con), and online (with Myq Kaplan and Aparna Nancherla). In his spare time he teaches stand up to veterans and military family members for the Armed Services Arts Partnership, takes too much Motrin, and is the social media manager for a variety of woodland creatures. You can find him at davemcowencomedy.com
Dani Riedel is an NYC based comedian and author. She performs as Seven of Nine at conventions all along the east coast and as herself all over NYC and beyond. Her novel, Smile and Walk Away, is published by Champagne Books and available everywhere books are sold online.
I have been a Star Trek fan for life and a collector for almost as long. James was good enough to invite me to Trekonderoga to talk about all the stuff I’ve collected over the decades and to share some of the stories behind those collectibles. I have two Star Trek Web sites: CollectingTrek.ca tells the stories behind my best collectibles and TorontoStarTrek76.ca is the definitive history of Canada’s first and best Star Trek convention. Let’s talk about Star Trek collecting.
A true Star Trek fan and afficionado!
One of, if not the, most popular “non-regular” member of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast is surely none other than John de Lancie, playing the villainous (or was he?) omnipotent (most times) Q!
John began acting in a Shakespearian play at the young age of 14 and continued studying his craft through to Kent State University and then won a scholarship to attend the prestigious Julliard School.
His first appearances in the genre of science fiction began with five episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man, including the popular two-parter “Death Probe” episodes, where a Russian space probe meant for Venus lands in the U.S. – you’ve all seen it! He also appeared in 1979’s Battlestar Galactica, Emergency!, a popular stint as a regular star in Days of Our Lives, The Thorn Birds mini-series, an episode in 1986’s version of The Twilight Zone, MacGyver, Murder, She Wrote, 1988’s Mission: Impossible, and L.A Law, amongst so many others.
He appeared in eight episodes as Q in Star Trek: TNG, bookending the series by appearing as one of the driving forces of the plots in both the pilot and the final series-ending two-parter, involving the long arc of the “humanity on trial” theme. He once quoted Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry telling him after his audition for the part of Q, “You make my writing sound better than it is.” High praise from The Great Bird of the Galaxy!
John and his character would continue appearing in various Star Trek series incarnations, including most recently appearing in the recent second season of Star Trek: Picard – we won’t spoil John’s wonderful performance and perhaps final Picard-Q storyline here, so stream it if you missed it – that’s an order – and then join the Q Continuum as an honorary guest as Q himself bends spacetime again with another snap of his fingers and we all find ourselves back on Earth, during the mid-1960s, entering Desilu Studios – but in this case, not in Hollywood but in Ticonderoga – and strolling down the corridors of the original Starship Enterprise with John de Lancie!
Not many Enterprise-D characters could call their Captain by his first name, but Doctor Beverly Crusher, memorably played by Gates McFadden, certainly could – and did. Representing one of the most popular incarnations of Star Trek, Gates McFadden will once again be roaming the corridors – and we expect her predecessor’s Sickbay – of the original starship Enterprise at this year’s edition of Trekonderoga!
Gates started in the movie business for Jim Henson’s organization, working on such films as Labyrinth and Dreamchild as the director of choreography and puppet movement, and as choreographer in The Muppets Take Manhattan. As an actress, she also cameoed in Muppets and played Jack Ryan’s wife in The Hunt For Red October.
But her next role as a widowed mother balancing a dangerous career with the raising of a son exploded her into the realm of Star Trek as 1987 saw her cast as Dr. Beverly Crusher on board a new Enterprise. The long-lived newest incarnation of Star Trek gave its writers many opportunities to showcase Gates’ acting talents in such memorable Dr. Crusher episodes as “Remember Me,” “The Host,” “Descent,” and “Attached.” Her other talents were showcased behind the scenes as well, where Gates choreographed the dance sequence in “Data’s Day” and later directed her fellow castmates in “Genesis.”
Take this opportunity to personally meet the talented and radiant Gates McFadden as she makes her second appearance on board the original Starship Enterprise!
If you’ve watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and the feature films Generations, First Contact, and Insurrection, you are already very well acquainted with Tracee Cocco’s work as Lieutenant Jae across many episodes, and also as various background characters and even as a psychologically damaged Borg drone. She’s also appeared as various aliens in Quark’s bar on board Deep Space Nine.
Tracee first started working as a model for Revlon, Pool & Spa magazine, 7-Up, amongst many jobs. She has appeared in other television shows such as General Hospital and Baywatch, and in the films Gross Anatomy, Demolition Man, Barb Wire (in which Clint “Balok” Howard also appeared), Virtuosity, and Bulletproof.
Recently, Tracee worked on Star Trek: Renegades alongside original series stars Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig and various other Star Trek actors and continues working in film today!
Don’t miss a chance to hear Tracee’s stories about filming various Star Trek series both in and out of alien make-up, at this year’s edition of Trekonderoga!
Robin Curtis arrived in Los Angeles in 1982 and first appeared in a first season episode of the popular science fiction television show Knight Rider. She formed a friendship with the head of Paramount’s casting department which led to that person recommending her for the role of Lieutenant Saavik in Leonard Nimoy’s Star Trek III – The Search for Spock. Robin met with Nimoy who cast her in the role the following day; Robin had now forever joined Star Trek lore. Robin also played Saavik in Star Trek IV – The Voyage Home in a short “This is good-bye” appearance. In 2002, Robin would provide audio commentary for Search for Spock in its “Collector’s Edition” DVD release.
Robin also appeared as a Vulcan disguised as a Romulan in Star Trek – The Next Generation’s two-parter episode “Gambit” and later appeared in the Babylon 5 episode “Deathwalker”. Other television credits include MacGyver, Night Court, and The Equalizer, while film credits include Hexed, Ghost Story, and LBJ – The Early Years in the role of Jacqueline Kennedy. Robin was also active on the stage including appearing in the off-Broadway show The City Suite and Los Angeles’ Garden. In 2005, she debuted her one-woman show entitled Not My Bra, You Don’t! – The Sexual Odyssey of a Forty-Nine Year Old Woman.
Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to meet and greet Robin Curtis in the corridors of the Starship Enterprise…!
Dave Blass is a highly accomplished production designer and art director renowned for his exceptional creative vision and expertise in bringing fictional worlds to life on both the big and small screens. Dave was Star Trek: Picard‘s production designer for season 2 and for season 3’s spectacular reunion of the Enterprise-D command crew (not to mention the return of the Enterprise-D herself)!
Dave has left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry through his meticulous attention to detail and ability to seamlessly blend aesthetics with storytelling. He has been nominated for the Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series Emmy for Justified, and also for the Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program (One Hour or More) Emmy for Justified and later for Constantine. He was also nominated for the Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a One Hour Contemporary Television Series for Justified.
Blass’s versatility is evident in his diverse portfolio, which includes iconic productions such as Justified, The Boys, Preacher and Constantine. His work on the show demonstrated his prowess in creating dynamic and immersive environments, as seen most recently in Star Trek: Picard!
Trekonderoga is absolutely thrilled to host Dave and his presentation on designing Star Trek: Picard‘s look and feel! Don’t miss out on your chance to meet the man in person at this year’s event!
George Takei is best known for his portrayal of Mr. Sulu in the acclaimed television and film series Star Trek. He’s an actor, social justice activist, social media mega-power, New York Times bestselling author, originated the role of Sam Kimura and Ojii-Chan in the Broadway musical Allegiance, and subject of To Be Takei, a documentary on his life and career.
Takei’s acting career has spanned five decades, with more than 40 feature films and hundreds of television guest-starring roles to his credit. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Actors’ Equity Association and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
With the outbreak of World War II, Los Angeles, California-born Takei and his family were placed behind the barbed-wire enclosures of United States internment camps along with 120,000 other Japanese Americans. He spent most of his childhood at Camp Rohwer in the swamps of Arkansas and at wind-swept Camp Tule Lake in northern California. At the end of the war, Takei’s family returned to their native Los Angeles.
Inspired by this difficult chapter of American history, Takei developed the Broadway musical Allegiance, an epic story of love, family and heroism in which he starred alongside Tony Award winner Lea Salonga. Allegiance’s record-breaking world premiere, at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in 2012, won multiple awards, and was followed by a Broadway run in 2015-2016.
Now a community activist, Takei serves as chair of the council of governors of East West Players, the nation’s foremost Asian Pacific American theater. He is also a member of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender political organization. Takei is Chairman Emeritus of the Japanese American National Museum’s Board of Trustees; a member of the US-Japan Bridging Foundation Board of Directors; and served on the Board of the Japan-United States Friendship Commission under President Bill Clinton. In recognition of his contribution to the Japan-United States relationship, in 2004, Takei was conferred with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, by His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan.
2021’s edition of Trekonderoga is his first appearance in Ti – what an opportunity to meet a fascinating member of the original bridge crew! Be there when he returns to where it all started, on the bridge of the Enterprise, in various photo opportunities and chats!
