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Back From Shore Leave

Well, we're back from our annual sojourn to Shore Leave in Hunt Valley, MD. This may go on for a bit, so we'll go to an extended entry.

FRIDAY: We made spectacular time and made it down by late Friday afternoon. Mike Friedman, Bob Greenberger and I had our usual Friday evening rehearsal for Mystery Trekkie Theater. We had a slight monkey wrench thrown in the works, since guest Mercedes McNab had originally said she would participate in the opening sketch (as guests have for the past six years) but she's changed her mind and now the sketch has no punchline. I keep my fingers crossed that she'll change her mind back,and in the meantime we run through the script for the shredding of the Voyager episode "Threshold" (the one where Janeway and Paris mutate into lizards.) Kath, meantime, is continuing to sew like a madwoman to get her "Labyrinth" costume ready for the masquerade the next night. The "Meet the Pros" party--which has basically morphed over the years into a "Get the Author Guest Autographs" party--goes well while karoke is going on in "Vic's Place." Although I don't see it, I'm told that guest Michael Welch of "Joan of Arcadia" performs a staggeringly memorable rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody."

SATURDAY: I'm downstairs crack of dawn to watch the tech rehearsal for "Monty Sauron." It's rough as such endeavors are, but overall it looks extremely promising. Still, I'm worried that I've overloaded the script with tech cues and am worried that I've given them an impossible task.

Ariel, along with Bob Greenberger's kids, Katie and Robbie, do their very own panel (they even came up with the idea) called "Growing Up Fannish." They get an extremely decent turn out, although unfortunately both Bob and I are scheduled opposite them and can't get away to see it. I also have a solo panel Saturday night which is well-attended, and I read an excerpt from the next "New Frontier" novel. In addition, I help Kathleen choreograph the dancing and pacing of her "Labyrinth" presentation, along with Ariel, Ariel's friend Danicah, and my sister Beth (who's attending the convention with husband Rande and their two daughters). The wild card is Caroline: She's going to be onstage as "Toby," the kidnapped baby brother, and if she's in a bad mood and starts crying, it's gonna be excruciating.

We also have an extra-level gag built in. During the dancing, as the Goblins draw the audience's attention, Kathleen--dancing as the Goblin King with the baby--is to dance over to me waiting off stage. She's to hand Caroline off to me while Danicah thrusts a dummy replica of Caroline into her hands. She's to bound back onto stage, tossing the "baby" up and down, and then Danicah as Sarah is to run out onto the stage to try and get her "brother" back, whereupon the Goblins and their king start tossing the baby around in a rapid game of keep away. If we pull it off smoothly enough, people will freak out thinking an actual baby is being chucked around stage like a frisbee. Naturally they'll realize the truth within two seconds, but it's those two seconds of "OH MY GOD!" that we're shooting for.

Kathleen gets the costumes finished less than an hour before it's time to go down. Kath is dressed as the Goblin King, Beth and Ariel are Goblins, Danicah is Sarah, and Caroline--in red and white striped jammies--couldn't be fussier. What she really is is tired, and forty minutes before she's to go on stage, she falls asleep in my arms. We keep her there until we're waiting in the wings, and a second before Kath is to make her entrance, I transfer the sleeping Caroline to Kath's arms and she marches out lip synching to "Dance Magic Dance."

Ten seconds into the bit, Caroline wakes up.

She lifts her head slightly, blinks, looks out at the audience, realizes instantly that she's on stage...and beams a megawatt infant smile at the audience. Immediate adoration; she's got them in the palm of her tiny hand. Out come the goblins, we make the switch seamlessly, and the instant the stunt baby goes airborne, there are alarmed shrieks from any number of audience members that's then overwhelmed by laughter as people realize they've been had. The illusion worked perfectly. For her efforts, Kath won "Best Recreation," which was the award she was most hoping to get.

Ariel and Danicah boogie with Michael Welch and the Greenberger kids at the Ten Forward dance, and Kath and I head down there but don't stay long, since the Goblin King eye makeup has irritated her eyes. Plus we have a small calamity: Kath's badge has been torn loose from the laniard she'd had it hanging from around her neck. Not only was it her badge, but she also had twenty bucks and her room key in it. We quickly have the card keys invalidated at the front desk and new ones issued. Our efforts to find the key prove futile.

Michael Welch, it should be noted, is an ideal convention guest. Between his karaoke appearance on Friday, his Ten Forward partying, his participation as judge at Masquerade, and his boundless enthusiasm, he is clearly having the time of his life. Between his gig on "Joan" and his role in "Star Trek Insurrection," he's got the SF/fantasy cred, and he gives 110% to the con besides, so I recommend him highly to anyone looking for guests.

SUNDAY: With half an hour until Mystery Trekkie Theater, we still have no Mercedes McNab. She was supposed to come on and say, "Blondie bear, there you are!" to a cast member who claims an on-line quiz said he was Spike. I'm frustrated and figure we have to just cut the end of the sketch. Then several female tech people volunteer to stand in for her, and I get an idea. I call Kathleen on the phone and say, "Honey...you know that blonde wig you wore as the Goblin King? Could you bring it down please?" This elicits howls of laughter from the crew. I then say loudly, "Who wants to play the role of Mercedes?" Hands shoot up from many people, and then my eyes light on Lew--our bearded video genius guy who's built like Uncle Fester. I point at him and say, "You," and the place goes nuts.

The sketch actually works better that way. It makes it seem as if Lew took the same on line quiz and discovered he was actually Harmony. The "Spike" fan, played by T. Alan Chafin, simply reacts with horror instead of smug pleasure and we're good to go. It works great, as does our shredding of "Threshold." During the show, however, I totally lose composure for the first time in the history of MTT3K. During Paris' mutation, his tongue has fallen out, and he's telling the Doctor that he wants to get off Voyager. "Why?" says the Doctor. And Mike, mimicking Paris' tongueless diction, says, "Becawth...the thow...thucks." And I just lose it. For thirty seconds, I'm laughing so hard that Bob and Mike jump in and start doing my lines because I'm missing my cues.

Kathleen's badge turns up and is returned...minus the twenty bucks.

"Monty Sauron" goes beautifully. My worries were unfounded; there was exactly one technical miscue, and it was minor. The cast and crew pull everything together beautifully, and it was an exceptional production under the guidance of director Renfield. Just a terrific endeavor by all concerned, and the audience was rousing and enthusiastic.

Sunday evening the Greenberger, David, and Welch families (Michael being 17, he had his family with him) went out to dinner at a great seafood place called Gibby's. I spent a good chunk of the evening talking with Michael's mom, a personable and pleasant woman who is clearly (a) devoted to her kids and (b) supportive of her son's ambitions as an actor, not a stage mother driving him into showbiz.

The kids are out until late playing poker, but they keep checking in with us, so we give them some latitude (and no money is exchanging hands, so that's fine.)

MONDAY: After breakfast we drive back in a downpour. So that wasn't fun. But the rest of it was a blast.

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Posted by Peter David at July 12, 2004 09:46 PM | TrackBack | Other blogs commenting