Last Sunday, April 1 was the final day of Creation Entertainment's 9th Annual Grand Slam Convention in Pasadena, and what follows is an overview of the day's celebrity appearances.

RENE AUBERJONOIS & ARMIN SHIMERMAN

Seeing as their Star Trek: Deep Space Nine characters had a unique, ongoing relationship, it seemed appropriate for Rene Auberjonois ("Odo") and Armin Shimerman ("Quark") to appear onstage together at the convention.

When asked what they thought of how their characters ended up, each had their own response, with Auberjonois saying, "I felt it was inevitable. I always sensed he would return to his people. He became a healing force, and he went to teach them that their fear of solids was unjustified."

Shimerman viewed where Quark ended up this way: "He became more and more human and less and less Ferengi. His character had come so far, I didn't realize that Quark is as much a part of the station as the pillars and the rugs."

He also pointed out that it's commonly thought that the going-away party in Vic's was the final scene shot, but he said, "I did the last scene that was ever shot." That scene was of Quark and Vic Fontaine playing cards. "I was enormously privileged to be in the very last scene," said Shimerman. The former Ferengi also noted that he's hard at work on a sequel to his non-Star Trek novel "The Merchant Prince."

KATE MULGREW

The ever-popular, gracious and eloquent Kate Mulgrew ("Kathryn Janeway") took the stage Sunday to rapturous applause. She talked lovingly about her family, especially her mother. Her relationship with her mother, she said, transcended all others. Which has made it all the more difficult to see her mother suffer from Alzheimer's disease, following a recent diagnosis. Kate feels strongly that scientists are very close to a cure, so she auctioned off several items to go to towards the funding of research on the disease.

Much to her delight, Kate's first script, for "Caretaker," was auctioned off for $10,000. She said the script had her notes and call sheets inside. Bidding for this truly historic document began at $2,000 before climbing to its final asking price. The successful bidder also benefited from a hug and kiss from Kate. She also auctioned off another personal script from the episode "Resolutions," which generated thousands of dollars as well.

ROBERT WISE

Taking the stage for his first Star Trek convention was Hollywood legend Robert Wise, who not only directed "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," but also such classics as "The Day the Earth Stood Still," "West Side Story" and "The Sound of Music." Requiring some help onstage due to his advanced age, Wise spoke softly about the upcoming Director's Edition the initial Star Trek film. Prior to Wise's appearance, the audience was treated to a trailer for the DVD and while Wise didn't get into specific details about the DVD, he did add, "I can say it is now the best film it can be."

He did admit that he'd been asked to direct "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," but had turned it down. "Maybe I should have taken it," he chuckled along with the fans. Among the memories he shared with fans outside of Star Trek, he fondly noted that composer Bernard Hermann's theramin-heavy score for "The Day the Earth Stood Still" contributed "more to the picture than any non-musical picture I've done."

When a fan asked Wise what his advice to aspiring filmmakers would be, he energetically said, without hesitation, "Get the script right. That's the foundation of the picture. Everything will fall into place if you get that script right."

MICHAEL WESTMORE

In the Little Theater, Star Trek's Makeup Supervisor Michael Westmore supervised a makeup demonstration and showed a variety of slides from his long years of working on the franchise. As Voyager makeup artist Scott Wheeler endeavored to transform a fan into Data, Westmore proceeded through the slide show.

Along with showing various guest-stars in full makeup, he peppered the presentation with fascinating anecdotes, such as how Westmore's son, Michael Westmore Jr., creates the blinking lights on the Borg appliances. Westmore Jr. would set the appliances to blink out messages in Morse code, such as "Bonnie," the name of his dog.

Westmore Sr. also described the laser-in-the-lens effect from "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I," when Locutus (Patrick Stewart) turned towards the camera, bathing the lens in the red laser light, calling the effect a "wonderful accident."

VOYAGER CAST

Delivering a five-birds-with-one-stone punch, Sunday afternoon featured a combined onstage appearance in the Main Auditorium of a quintet of Star Trek: Voyager castmates. Seated from left to right onstage were Tim Russ ("Tuvok"), Ethan Phillips ("Neelix"), Roxann Dawson ("B'Elanna Torres"), Robert Duncan McNeill ("Tom Paris") and Robert Picardo ("The Doctor").

During the appearance, Ethan Phillips videotaped the proceedings with his own hand-held camera, and it was noted that he's been taping behind the scenes at Voyager over the final weeks. While Dawson and McNeill fielded questions about their directing efforts on the show, Phillips joked that he was directing a documentary about the show, but only for his own private use.

In terms of the directing for the show, McNeill said, "We're all very grateful for the opportunities they've afforded us." Dawson wasn't about to let McNeill forget that he'd cut her out of an episode he directed, "Someone to Watch Over Me," repeating the good-natured jibes at her on-screen husband throughout the appearance.

When queried by a fan whether B'Elanna would give birth before the show ends, McNeill joked that "Actually, Tom gives birth, but the baby looks like The Doctor!" After the laughter died down, Picardo interjected "But ALL babies look like The Doctor!"

Picardo spoke about his upcoming book with Simon & Schuster, "The Hologram's Handbook," which he's due to turn in a manuscript by June 1. "I'm nowhere near done," he said, "but I understand I'm going to have a lot of free time on my hands starting in a week (when Voyager production ends)."

Dawson recalled her first makeup tests as B'Elanna, where the artists would experiment with the character's look, and how she used to go home afterwards and cry. "Those pictures would scare small children! The teeth, it was awful." Subsequent makeup tests toned down the Klingon attributes and achieved what fans see every week on the show.

Phillips made sure to mention that his next project is a stage play, taking place in Pasadena and directed by Andrew J. Robinson (Garak on DS9). The play is the 1999 Best Play Tony winner "Side Man" by Warren Leight, and will play at the Pasadena Playhouse opening May 13.

The five cast members as a whole were recognized by the fans for their charitable work with an extra ovation during the presentation. As the session drew to a close, the five embraced, as this will be their last convention appearance during the production of Voyager, while the audience delivered a long and loving standing ovation.

BRANNON BRAGA

Although there was much anticipation about Brannon Braga, writer and executive producer for Star Trek: Voyager and the next series, he quickly made clear that he could reveal nothing about the new Star Trek series, except to say that they are working on it and it has been in development for two years. An official announcement from the studio would be coming in a few weeks, he said, although the lack of news disappointed many among the eager throng. He did say, however, that, "The new series will be cool. Trust me," and that, in keeping with Star Trek's vision of an equal-opportunity future, "We're going to try to create as (racially) diverse a cast as possible."

Braga did answer questions about his years of working on Star Trek, beginning with TNG. When asked which episode was the hardest script to write, he thought for a moment, recalling the many scripts he's written over the years before deciding on the TNG finale "All Good Things..." which he said was difficult because it was the last episode of the series, and it had to fulfill so many things.

Creation Entertainment reports that over 10,000 fans turned out over the three days of the convention.