'Twilight' convention hits Chicago-area

'Twilight' convention hits Chicago-area



Peter Facinelli's response to one audience member's question during Friday's “Twilight” convention pretty much summed up the demographic in attendance.

“Dave?” responded Facinelli, who plays Dr. Carlisle Cullen in the vampire series, after hearing the questioner's name. “There's a guy here?”

To be fair, there were a few guys there besides “Dave from Valpo” — but not many. The audience at the Westin O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont was made up almost entirely of females. But you probably already knew that. And yes, it was a mostly younger crowd on hand for the convention from Creation Entertainment, which has traveled to nearly 20 cities with various actors from the film since it began a little more than two years ago.

Maybe that's why I was so caught off guard when three women walked into the convention holding beers.

“People think it's all for teenagers, but ‘Twilight' is a love story,” said Mary Ellen Awe, one of the three women. “It's very similar to ‘Romeo and Juliet.'”

Awe, 45, took the day off from her job at All About Kids Dentistry in Arlington Heights and brought her sister and a co-worker (apparently there's a life-size cutout of Edward Cullen in their office). She also brought a special gift for Facinelli.

“I brought a hand sanitizer from Bath & Body Works called Vampire Blood,” Awe said. “I'm sure Peter is going to be shaking a lot of hands, so I'm going to give it to him when I do my photo op with him.”

According to the program, a photo with Facinelli cost $60 while a picture with Alex Meraz, who plays Paul, one of the werewolves, cost $50. Four people attended the private meet-and-greet with both actors, which cost $250 per ticket.

What was the meet-and-greet like? The guests paid a hefty price for alone time, it was a little awkward at first and the actors did most of the work. Facinelli and Meraz sat at a round table with the four women and took charge of the one-hour conversation. Facinelli discussed some of his past projects until he realized the guests hadn't seen many of them.

“Why did you pay to sit here if you haven't seen me in anything but ‘Twilight'?” he joked.

Even those who didn't take part in the meet-and-greet came out a little lighter in the wallet. Aside from the $25 general admission fee and the tickets for autographs and photos, a “Twilight”-themed vendors room was there to assist in the draining.

“Twilight” lunch boxes were going for $20, Mattel dolls were $30 and contact lenses — yes, “Twilight” contacts — were $40. The lenses came in a variety of styles, including Banshee, Blackout and Spiderweb.

“Fans have come in here asking for items of jewelry that they saw in the movie,” said Chris Arnold, who was working one of the tables in the vendors room. “The biggest sellers are the lunch boxes and the baseball T-shirts.”

Arnold, who came from Ohio to work the table, said he has also worked at “Star Trek” and horror conventions. He called “Star Trek” fans the most rabid and said “Twilight” fans at Friday's convention were calm by comparison.

“It's not a rowdy bunch,” Arnold said. “It's a lot of teenage girls and moms; how bad can it be?”

Unlike some of the girls in attendance, 11-year-old Mackenzie King was there with her dad. Scott King drove four hours from Detroit to attend the convention with his daughter but didn't tell her where they were going.

“She's a huge fan of the ‘Twilight' series so I thought it would be a fun surprise to check out the convention,” he said. “I thought the movies were actually pretty good, and I haven't done a convention like this in a long time, so it'll be fun for the both of us.”

As for being one of the few males at the convention, Scott said: “We're probably outnumbered, but hey, that's all right. I'll take my daughter and surprise her like this any time.”