Get Your CAPE On

For the second year running, Cornwall’s Benson Centre hosted CAPE, the Cornwall and Area Pop Expo. Fantasy Realm’s Randy Sauvé and fiancee Carol Grant (founders of the event), once again ran the show (congratulations to the couple who married in a truly unique ceremony that took place on Saturday evening at CAPE). After a more than successful first year (with more than 3500 people attending the one day event), hopes were high for year two.

I spent two full days at the event, the first working for TV Cogeco Cornwall interviewing the numerous celebrities attending CAPE, while on the second I continued my job of talking with the guests of honour and had a chance to explore some of the booths that lined the two rinks of the three pad arena.

It is clear from my journey through the throngs of crowds, that this second offering of everything pop culture related was a resounding success. With nearly 6000 making their way through the Benson Centre doors over the now two day event, what is clear is that the expo is growing at an impressive pace. Young and old made their way around the venue, some dressed in creatively concocted costumes (ranging from a gargantuan Chewbacca and Agent 47 from the action flick Hitman, to professional impersonators who do faithful homages to Ace Ventura and Dr. Evil), while others comfortably perused the different booths in jeans and t-shirts.

Now, onto the celebrities. I spent nearly two full days recording excellent interviews with six Star Trek veterans who told me amazing stories about their fifty plus years in the business. We covered both television and film, chatting about shows such as Gilligan’s Island, Get Smart, Leave It To Beaver, The Rifleman, and obviously Star Trek. . . plus numerous other roles that they played throughout their years in the business. Each celebrity also shared wonderful stories about icons such as Frank Sinatra, Peter Lorre, Cecil B. DeMille, Frank Capra, François Truffaut, Chuck Connors, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr., Robert Altman, Rodney Dangerfield, Petula Clark and. . . Madonna? You’ll have to keep checking back to the site to hear about who worked with the famous songstress. So, look forward to Star Picks featuring the great Michael Forest, Sean Kenney, Sally Kellerman, BarBara Luna, Louise Sorel and Beverly Washburn coming to Filmizon in the near future.

I also interviewed Brian O’Halloran, Marilyn Ghigliotti, and Ernie O’Donnell of Clerks fame. Featured in the image at the top of the page, they brought me back – telling me all about their time on the set of the cult classic, whether they are truly hockey fans, as well as several other things, including their favourite films. Check back in to hear more about them.

Finally, I spent some time with character actor Steve Coulter, aka Reg Monroe in The Walking Dead. We spoke about his roles in film and television, from his turn as a Dutch Amish man in the Cinemax series Banshee, to his time on set in Mr. Brooks, Insidious: Chapter 2 and The Conjuring. It will form another intriguing Star Pick that will grace this site in the near future.

I can only hope that CAPE continues to grow and attract interesting celebrities, actors and the like. It was a pleasure to spend a whole weekend at the event and here’s looking forward to next year.