April 21, 2009
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Chicago Couple Travels to ‘Star Trek’ World Premiere in Sydney
Chicago, IL – With just two weeks until the official release of ‘Star Trek XI’ in the United States, one Chicago couple flew to Sydney, Australia just to see the world premier.
That screening was at the Opera House and featured some of the cast and crew of the new film, including J.J. Abrams, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Eric Bana. No, this is not a celebrity couple, but Joel and Abigail Gratcyk are known to take last-minute international trips. Last year the Gratcyks took a four-day trip to Buenos Aries because the flights looked open a week before they planned the trip.
“On March 29 I was reading my normal online blog list and found out 300 tickets were going on sale for the ‘Star Trek’ World Premiere in Sydney, so I called Abigail.” said Joel recalling the events that led up to the trip. “She was on a trip for work and I didn’t want to make sure big plans without talking to her first.”
Abigail said she “was sitting in my hotel room on a layover in Pittsburgh and received a phone call from Joel, ‘The Star Trek movie is premiering in Sydney on the 7th. Tickets go on sale in an hour. Can I try and get some?’ I answered with an ‘Um, sure…? If you get tickets we’ll go.’ I honestly didn’t think he would get them.”
Out of the 300 tickets that went on sale the Gratcyk’s were able to get a pair. “It’s a pretty cool story to tell people. One Sunday I was reading online about the premiere and by that Friday I was on my way Sydney.”
After some sight seeing in the city on Sunday and Monday the couple attended the movie premiere at Sydney’s Opera House. Abigail was especially excited about being able to walk the red carpet. “I was made for this, ” she recalls. “That was probably my favorite part of the trip, or at least close.”
What did they think of the movie? Joel’s answer was that he “loved it!”, not surprising though because he has been a Trek fan for years. Abigail on the other hand was surprised that she liked the movie so much. “The movie was surprisingly good. I’ve never been a Star Trek fan, I’ve only ever seen a handful of episodes. This movie was not your normal Star Trek. J.J. Abrams is brilliant and the movie was nonstop action. It kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I actually really enjoyed it. Just don’t start calling me a Trekkie… yet.”
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Joel and Abigail Gratcyk have lived in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood for the last two years or so. He is a graphic designer for a church in the west suburbs and she is a flight attendant. All interview and photo requests and can be directed to the couple at their respective addresses.
Joel
http://www.gratcyk.com/joel
joel [at] gratcyk.com
Abigail
http://skywaitress.com
abigail [at] skywaitress.com
Hi-Res images are available upon request.
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