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 Views,
Reviews, and Interviews
by Dianne R. Davis
diannerd@aol.com
Photos by Dianne or Burt Davis
Thousands
of Trekkies were beaming at LV Convention
Commander Riker and Lt. Data
I loved the original episodes of Star Trek, so how could I resist
stopping in at the Star Trek Convention at the Hilton Convention Center.
I was there on Saturday, August 11, just in time to join thousands of
fans listening to Jonathan Frakes, aka Commander Riker, and Brent Spiner,
aka Lt. Data. The brochure said that , “They were the hit of the
convention last year, so we HAD to have them back!”
I can see why. Their animated back and forth banter and comedic timing
added up to what would have made a great comedy act. They fielded
questions for the audience, some serious inquiries about an episode,
others more like the cotton candy questions from fans who just want to
be able to say they spoke with their idols.
Captain Janeway
Kate Mulgrew, the famous Captain Janeway from the Voyager episodes
followed. This talented actress flew in to Vegas from New York where she
has just opened in the Off-Broadway's Signature Theatre Company
Iphigenia 2.0, She plays the role of Clytemnestra, Kate was
knowledgeable and gracious to her adoring fans.
Will Wheaton and Dianne R, Davis
I spend time browsing in the Vendor’s room at items for sale include ws
there signing copies of his book and chatting with fans. Will was the
first teenager to be cast in a permanent role on Star Trek when, as a
16-year-old, he got the part of Wesley Crusher. He’s an LA resident and
full time writer who told me that his passion is writing, “and I’m very
fortunate that I can make a living at it now.”
COSTUMED CHARACTERS
You couldn’t go anywhere on Saturday without bumping into costumed
characters from the various series. Then came the incredible costume
contest.
Winners of the children’s division were four year old Kira and five year
old Benjamin along with their parent Deborah and Chris from North Ogden,
Utah. An entire family of Borgs! Chris told me that, “I’ve been going to
these since I was a geeky kid dragging my parents. Now, I’m taking my
own kids.
Some of the entries in the adult division were amazing. While some of
the contestants simply purchased costumes for the occasion, many were
clever creations.
 
Two men/characters tied for third place. Giles Aston bears a startling
resemblance to Piccard. Ben Braver as Cyrano Jones, one of my personal
favorites, put his costume together himself. He had tribbles coming out
of all of his pockets.
Susan Vance of Anaheim, California, the second place winner, went all
the way, shaving her head to portray Ilia, a bald Deltan from Star Trek
The Motion Picture.
The incredible first place winner must have had some interplanetary
travel to do because he disappeared before I could get his name. I
understand that it has taken him years to bring this costume along to
this point. It was effort well spent.
All in all, it was a pleasure visiting the Star Trek convention. It took
me back to the days when our family gathered together to watch the
episodes. Then later, we would compete to see who could be the first to
identify the reruns.
Today, with the conventions and merchandising, it is an industry. But,
it’s a good one. Beam me up Scottie.
Will Wheaton took a moment to pose with 13 year old Katie Zuag who had
come in from California to see him
Katie Zuag and Will Wheaton
I met Lisa and Sarah Tintle from Reno, mother and daughter in matching
outfits.
Lisa and Sarah Tintle from Reno
William Young From Jonesboro, Arkansas was there with his best friend
Mark Cayen from Syracuse, New York. Being confined to a wheelchair
didn’t stop Mark from doing some dress up with his friend. They
described their collection of Star Trek autographs as being, “this
thick.”
William Young From Jonesboro, Arkansas with his best friend Mark Cayen
from Syracuse
Interview
with The Osmonds - They Are The Real Thing
The Osmonds. We all get a picture in our mind when we hear the name of
this legendary family. For some, it is the perpetually youthful Donny
and Marie. Or the young Jimmy. For others it is the whole crew of
singing Osmonds, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Donny, Marie, and Jimmy.
Some even picture Andy Williams along side them. After all, he gave
their career a huge boost.
I was off to the Orleans on August 14 to conduct a backstage interview
the Osmonds. The bad news is that not all of them were available. The
good news is that Merrill, Jay and Wayne are three of the nicest guys
you’ll meet.
Yes, they are as nice as they seem. As they enter the room, you feel the
warmth. It’s like seeing old friends you haven’t gotten together with
for a while. I believed them when they said they were pleased to meet
me.
The Osmonds were in Vegas for an historic 50th anniversary musical
celebration. They did three sold out concerts in the Orleans Hotel
Showroom. Parts of each show will become part of a PBS special to air in
March of 2008. The special will also include cameo appearances by
celebrity guests, video clips, and a mix of musical numbers.
I had 15 precious minutes to ask questions, record them and try to keep
straight who said what. I know they will forgive me if I attribute a few
lines to the wrong brother.
DD: When you are out, do you want to be recognized?
MO: We love the people. We love those who have grown up with us, who
have spent hard earned money to buy our products, who continually
support us, even today. We just can’t be grateful enough for everybody
who has been a part of our family.
DD: Is there any time when you don’t want people to come up to you?
WO: I don’t think so. I mean obviously we’ve been around the fans since
we were children. If somebody wants to get a picture or they want to get
an autograph, why in the world would we want to not allow that to
happen? We should all be grateful that they want to spend five seconds
with us.
DD: Retirement. Is it an option?
JO: I don’t think so. Not any more. I don’t think people retire really.
We just love life so much and show business has been so much a part of
our life that it’s hard to let go of it.
MO: You know what’s unique for the brothers is that when you have people
who have watched you and been a part of your life from the very
beginning of their lives , you don’t just say good-bye. You carry on.
You are there. You are part of their life. They are a part of your life.
Millions and millions of people are a part of this group.
DD: How many Osmonds are there now, coming from Mom and Dad?
WO: There are 54 grand children and 30 great grandchildren. And more
coming.
JO: That’s why we’re still working.
DD: Who would you like to meet that you haven’t?
MO: I would like to meet Gandhi.
WO: I think the one that we would all eventually like to meet is our
creator, the one who really made us. If we could live the really good
lives, we could go back in his presence and meet him.
DD: That’s a good answer.
JO: That’s why we bring Wayne along with us.
DD: The last time you worked together was around l981. When did you
start working on this show. When did you start rehearsing for this? What
is the process of getting you ready to do it again? Is it like riding a
bike?
JO: It is. To be honest with you, last night was our dress rehearsal.
Tonight will be the actual show.
MO: Jay and Jimmy have actually been spending months putting together
all the clips, the pictures, all the memorabilia so to speak.
JO: There’s a lot of things going on at the same time. There’s a little
film fest of Osmond stuff and then different things that the fans are
doing. Kind of like a convention. And the show is part of that, but not
all of it.
MO: But the songs, the hit songs, the hit records, we’ve been doing that
for a long time, so as long as we know what the format is, we can
usually get through it okay.
DD: What part of the show will you all be on stage together?
MO: Well, with little sister Marie here, she’ll obviously do a good 15
minutes by herself. The brothers will open it up, turn it over to her a
little bit. Donny will come out and do a little bit. Then we will end up
on stage together.
The quick & quirky questions and answers:
Who is
The class clown - Wayne
The starter, the initiator who get things going – Jimmy
The finisher Jimmy
The procrastinator – Jay and Wayne
Most sentimental – Alan
Stubborn – Alan
WO: When I say stubborn, that is a positive thing because being stubborn
can also be being very direct with yourself and trying to accomplish
something and Merrill is very good at that.
Easiest mark - WO: probably me. I’m the most gullible.
Worst Monopoly player – Jay
Favorite TV show -WO: I dream of Jeannie, MO: 24
Biggest sports enthusiast – Jay
Most requested songs – Love Me For A Reason, Let Me In, and Crazy Horses
Best impersonations – Wayne
DD: Your favorite singer/performer - JO: Paul McCartney, MO: Neal
Diamond
DD: Any Broadway in anybody’s future?
MO: I’m hosting a Broadway show right now in Branson, Missouri. Marie
has obviously done Broadway and Donny has been on Broadway.
DD: Who picks the songs?
WO: All of us do
DD: Will you all ever be back in Vegas together?
All: Oh yea. You bet we will. You bet
DD:How has the business changed. You have 50 years in the business. Has
it changed for the better or worse?
JO: Unbelieveable. When we first started, there were just a few gendres
and now every group has a web site. Before you had to get with a record
company before you could get promoted or anything.
MO: Star Search also changed the direction of entertainment in general.
I think its great in one way and sad in another because if you are going
to be a real long term player in this industry, you’ve got to realize
that there are ups and there are a lot of downs. And sometimes the
downs, if you don’t have a base established and realize what it is that
you are tackling, it could take you for a real ride. So I think that is
what’s changed a lot. Instant success is there.
DD: Describe yourself in just a few words.
MO: Intense, spiritual.
WO: Wonky. It means like different, really different. Something that
doesn’t quite go with the norm. I hear a different drummer.
JO: I am a sensitive but tough individual who has been through the mill
with my brothers and glad for every moment of it.
DD: Have any of the kids run into problems with alcohol and liquor?
MO: No, not really in our family. We obviously have our struggles and
problems jut like any other family, but we try to do is be there for
each other when we have our problems. I think we really attribute all of
this to our parents who truly were parents. Mom was a mom and dad was a
dad.
WO: Our faith plays some really important things as that as well since
it is highly recommended that we stay away from drugs and alcohol and
tobacco and things that just aren’t good for the body. When you don’t
allow yourself to succumb to those kinds of things, then it even keeps
you away from harder things that the world is into today.
MO: and the other thing is that when you have contemporaries like Paul
McCartney and Elvis Presley other individuals who are respected who back
up the fact that you’re doing it right despite what the world says, then
at a young age that sends a very profound message that says, “Wait a
minute, the world says you need to take this and this to be hip, when
the people who are hip say no you don’t, that really sends a real clear
message at a young age.
DD: Who has the final word?
MO: I don’t think anybody has the final word. I think we have consensus.
DD: What makes your fans love you?
MO: That we care about them. We really do. We’ll try to spend whatever
amount of time we can to say hello to them.
MO: It is a blessing for us to be able to have an influence on people’s
lives. Music is the only form of communication that will bypass your
conscious and goes directly to your subconscious. So the positive
influence that you can get through with music definitely reaches the
soul of another individual. So if you want to put negative stuff through
you can. Or you can put something that’s healthy and loving through.
And our goal as a family is to create that love and that compassion and
that unity and that family concept that says you’re going to be okay
despite all your problems and your worries, spend a moment in time with
us, your extended family, and let’s have some fun.
DD: I was fortunate to spend 15 minutes with three of the Osmonds and I
did have some fun. They are genuinely nice guys. And my fun went on
later that evening when I sat with Alan’s family at the 9:00 p.m. show.
The fans crowded the perimeter of the stage, they moved in their seats,
they sang along, they laughed and cried and celebrated the 50th
anniversary of the Osmonds. This family is the real thing and lucky for
us, the next generation is on its way to the charts.
How And
When Did The Osmond 50th Anniversary Special Come About?
How long ago did the planning begin for the Osmonds’ 50th anniversary
special? The answer was surprising. We spoke exclusively with Gustavo
Sagastume, the Executive Producer for the PBS show. In fact, Gustave is
General Director of International Media.
“I was vice president of Programming at PBS when I met Jimmy Osmond
through a show that we have on PBS called ‘Branson Jubilee’. We started
talking about how wonderful it would be to have a family reunion
concert, how it could be a great fund raising special for PBS because
PBS specials are usually about bringing something back to people that
they feel that they’ve lost or that they feel is a wonderful event.
Thinking that this reunion must have taken a few years of planning, we
dared ask how long ago the planning began.
Gastave told me that this was only about six months ago. “We started
talking about the show and Jimmy said he thought we could do it. He felt
that because it was the 50th anniversary of their start in the business.
‘I think I can bring my family together,’ he told me .So I encouraged
them and we started working together as co-executive producers to bring
make this happen.
Six months later, Gustave and I stood together in the lobby of the
theater waiting for the Tuesday evening performance to begin. He is now
one of the legends of Osmonds fans. He told me that it has been a
wonderful experience because, “What excites people when they see the
show live, and they will see it on PBS, is the tremendous talent that
these family members have. I think it is only surpassed by the love they
have for each other and it just comes across.
Gustave said that in his 30 years of PBS experience he has never been to
a taping where there was such a strong and emotional and excited crowd.
He described the Osmonds as “wonderful” and told me that people keep
running up to him to show him pictures of the Osmond with them 30 years
ago. “They are wonderful, nice people. And it’s so wonderful to have
this image of these performers that you love and meet them and actually
have them be the wonderful people that you hoped they would be. They are
talented and warm and loving and real.”
Viewers will be able to enjoy these loving, talented real people, the
Osmonds, next March on their PBS special.
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