Monthly Archives: October 2012

Conventions: What to Wear for the Renaissance Faire

Earlier in the summer I was introduced to the Bristol Renaissance Faire by close friends of mine and instead of going once… I went multiple times. Why? Because I was trying to put together a costume for an upcoming convention in Rochester, Minnesota called FablesCon.

After much deliberation, timeline, feasibility, etc… I have finally figured out who I am going as… and considering most of the piece are almost done all I have left are a couple of essential accessories… W00t! Let’s hope I get this done in time for March.

However… I digress. After the plans for the aforementioned costume were put in motion, my friends and I helped another friend in deciding what to do for his costume which in time turned over to “so when you go to the Ren Faire next year what are you going to dress up as?”

Well… I don’t know, I never really thought about it. Darn them for planting seeds so that I have to think about it now… grr.
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Review: Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear’s The War of the Worlds

Show: THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
Book: H G Wells 		Location: Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear
Director: Pam Turlow

Earlier this week, I decided to watch / listen to a group of volunteers recreate the radio program by H.G. Wells: The War of the Worlds. I have always been a fan of old-time radio programs ever since I started to learn how to drive… and as thus would listen to the radio often (particularly late late at night).

So when friends of mine told me about this production that they were all a part of… I figured “why not?” I have been listening to other radio program of a similar notion via 780 WBBM, but to see it live is something else.

But before I go on from the website of Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear:

[They] are a group of Chicagoland actors and performers who share a common interest—to perform old time radio programs for the community.

[…]

The entire company is made up of volunteers who donate their time to recreate these shows from the Golden Age of Radio for the Chicagoland community. It takes quite some effort to browse through the thousands of old time radio episodes, select a favorite, listen and type out the script—many of these are not available in print and have to be painstakingly transcribed—gather sound effects, then rehearse and mount the production.

Although we are only to give these historical programs a new life a few times a year, we strive to make sure that it’s well worth the wait.

It would appear that most (if not all) of their productions take place at the Oak Park Arms in Oak Park, Illinois… and have been doing so since September of 2002. The majority of their eclectic programming come from the Golden Age of Radio.

What is there to say about it?
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Review: Xanadu at Drury Lane Theatre

Show: XANADU
Music and Lyrics: Jeff Lynne & John Farrar
Book: Douglas Carter Beane 		Location: Drury Lane Theater
Director: Rachel Rockwell
Music Director: Roberta Duchak

A sold out show… Who would have thought? Particularly what was originally considered a total flop when the original film came out turned out be quite a hit on Broadway and various theatre groups throughout the country.

Not to be confused with Zanna Don’t, the off Broadway production about a fairy that helps people in Heartsville fall in love (and how homo sexuality was the norm while heterosexuality was forbidden… But that’s a different story / post)… Xanadu is a call back on 1980s music, dance, and peculiar story telling. Not that I am complaining.

The stage at Drury Lane is relatively small and curiosity piqued my interest in seeing how this particular production would pan out. The first thing I noticed was that the cast was comprised of only ten persons… which seemed rather small to me. At least until I noticed that the original cast was comprised of, at least the original intent was to have most of the cast playing multiple roles… and honestly that is fine by me.
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Review: Village Theatre Guild’s A Little Night Music

Show: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: Hugh Wheeler 		Location: Village Theatre Guild
Director: Craig Gustafson
Music Director: Douglas Orlyk

I am not going to lie, this was one production that I was looking forward to all year. Take that a step further… I was even more excited when the cast list first came out… to the point that I was jumping up and down in excitement and glee because it included several heavy hitters in the theatre community (Steve Schroeder, Pam Turlow, Susan O’Byrne, Randall Knott), relative novices (Teresa Reinalda), favorites (Heather Miller, Patty Yuen, Justin Triezenberg) and everyone else in between.

This blend of talents made for a very beautiful, well-crafted production of A Little Night Music that should be lasting longer than the original one month run.

First let us start with the director: Craig Gustafson. He has been known throughout the community to helm some very strong productions over the years… most recently Assassins at the Geneva Underground Playhouse and the Broadway Ballot at Wheaton Drama. This production of A Little Night Music is not just the exception to the rule… but the standard (for black box theatre productions).

With a strong production team that includes Douglas Orlyk as Musical Director and RJ Ogren as Set Designer… Craig masterfully directs this timeless production from the large stage into a small black box theatre with sitting only available for just short of sixty people per show. At first glance, one could only wonder at how a stage production such as A Little Night Music could fit into such a small venue… however it only takes about five minutes into the production to marvel at how effortlessly the cast and production team were able to put such a production up in an very efficient and effective manner.

A feat of engineering as I would call it… unlike myself I do not believe any one of them are engineers! How could I not be impressed? 😉

The set (as conceived by RJ Ogren) was gorgeous as we have come to almost expect out of him, but not just that it was also very functional. At the far ends of either side are platforms for various scenes that do not require much movement or interaction and the center stage area is set aside for the majority of the larger scenes. One platform however is designated for the various bedroom scenes one finds in A Little Night Music (take that as you will) while the other blends from moments of Madam Armfeldt with her granddaughter Fredricka to moments that members of the quintet have to themselves between scene changes.

Anyway… enough about the production team… what about the cast? Before I start talking about the cast… let’s find out who they are:

CHARACTER ACTOR
Desiree Armfeldt Pam Turlow
Fredrik Egerman Mark Mavetz
Anne Egerman Teresa J Arnold
Henrik Egerman Justin Triezenberg
Petra Heather Miller
Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm Randall W Knott
Charlotte Malcolm Karen Bronson
Fredrika Armfeldt Brynn Frantz
Madame Armfeldt Teresa Reinalda
Frid Peter Lemongelli
Mrs Anderssen Patty Yuen
Mr Erlanson Stan Austin
Mr Lindquist Steve Schroeder
Mrs Nordstrom Becky Messerschmidt
Mrs Segstrom Susan O’Byrne

But where do I begin with the cast?
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Fleeting: Việt Nam’s Heroines – The Trưng sisters, Phùng Thị Chính and Lady Triệu

It is rather embarrassing when one’s beau knows more about your heritage’s past and history more than you do… particularly if this beau happens to be not of the culture. This happened to be the case with my current beau over the past few months.

One of the things that isn’t all that known in Vietnamese history (or Asian history for that matter) is the number of women that stood up against the Chinese oppressors of Việt Nam. Keep in mind that Việt Nam was under Chinese control for over one thousand years during which the Vietnamese people essentially lost much of their national identity, writing system and language.

Everyone knows of Joan of Arc or Elizabeth I, but when one thinks of Asia they automatically look at Mulan (thanks Disney) which is great and all… but there are others, though some questionably and some with a lot of blood on their hands.

Two of the more prominent heroines were the Trưng sisters and Lady Triệu.
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Review: The Voice of Việt Nam (Live Rounds – Hồ Ngọc Hà Edition)

Finally we have the fourth and final team for whom we will look at the breakdown of the seven vocalists as they are whittle down to five.

Taking a look at the official posted results we can easily figure out at least two of the final five that will be moving forward.

First off let us get the runaway favorite out of the way for this team who happens to be Bùi Anh Tuấn who sang Hoang Mang (Bewildered). He received 47.2% of the total team vote.

The second place public vote recipient went to Đinh Thị Thanh Hương (13.81%) who sang Forever And One

So who were the lucky vocalists to be given a free pass by the judge to move on to the next round?
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Entertainment: Lego does The Justice League

Ok seriously nerds everywhere have been looking for a decent Justice League movie to come out of the Hollywood house and nothing? The Avengers have a string of movies coming out and sequels up the wazoo… so who has a good movie down the pipeline?

LEGO!

Now seriously… why is this not in theaters? I mean really.

Gotta love my nerd blogs for gems like this (in this case from the Gamma Squad).
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Review: The Voice of Việt Nam (Live Rounds – Đàm Vĩnh Hưng Edition)

As I have done in the past for the Thu Minh and Trần Lập Editions… this time around the vocalists for the teams of Đàm Vĩnh Hưng and Hồ Ngọc Hà.

First on the list: Đàm Vĩnh Hưng.

Now just like with the previous two teams, The Voice of Việt Nam have posted on their website the results of the public voting.

So just like the previous two teams, the top two contestants of the public vote get an automatic pass to the next round and they are:
Vũ Thanh Hằng who sang Thu Cuối (The End), she received 26.93% of the total vote for the team.

The second highest public vote went to Phan Ngọc Luân who sang You’ll Be Sorry with 17.92% of the total votes of the team:

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Entertainment: The Last Five Years as a Film

This isn’t entirely old news… but with a film version of Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years floating around there is speculation as to who could star in the adaptation of the stage version that originally starred Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott.

Other than being one less word in her professional name (kidding!) Anna Kendrick has apparently been tapped to play Cathy.

Now she has had some experience in musical theatre in her youth and has proven to be a rising star in Hollywood as well, but I think the one thing that she is known for is her time on David Letterman when she showed off her singing and hand-eye coordination skills that were featured in Pitch Perfect.

And here is the original video, by Lulu and the Lampshades, that Anna came across while bored at home one day:

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Entertainment: George Orwell’s Animal Farm Film Adaptation in the Works?

Almost a year ago, I had the pleasure of watching a unique stage production of George Orwell’s Animal Farm being done at the Madison Street Theatre at Oak Park.

Well, via my RSS feed, Andy Serkis (the man of a million digital faces) is on board to direct an adaptation of this very production in the future. According to the Hollywood Reporter this will be

his first film from his London-based performance-capture studio The Imaginarium.

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Fleeting: Gangnam Style by Psy… the Dance Craze!

So I was recently introduced to the Gangnam Style only last week during the Results Show of Dancing with the Stars when Shawn Johnson and Gilles Marini were asked to select songs for the Team Freestyle at random.

Gilles Marini picked the song: Gangnam Style and almost immediately I was thinking of the strange dance moves that a guy cosplaying as Venom did at the New York Comic Con a couple of weekends ago:

Yes, sad to say that I knew nothing of the Gangnam Style until AFTER the fact. So naturally I had to find out more about this and finally found the official video for Gangnam Style by Psy:

Finally… as with all things fleeting… I found myself researching more about the song / dance craze and finding more and more parodies being done all over the place.
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Review: Tangled Ever After

While listening to ABC’s Dancing with the Stars for the online blog PureDWTS where I am a blogger… there were commercials running for the new DVD / Blu-Ray pack for Cinderella. Typically I zone out these commercials and continue working until something else piqued my interest. Namely the fact that the Disney short film “Tangled Ever After” was to be a part of it.

Say What?!?!?!? Now I loved Tangled when it first came out… so much so that I bought the DVD and watched it a few times since, but now? Yeah… it was a music watch… so here!

Needless to say… I loved it.
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Fleeting: Other Movies that I Partially Watched While Flying Overseas

This was one of several movies I watched on my flights between Chicago and Vietnam that I either
1: did not watch entirely on my own (meaning someone else had it on and I just happened to be watching over his shoulder and consequently I felt that I needed to watch it in its entirety later on
2: was watching on my own, however fell asleep at some point during the movie that I missed crucial moments and as thus didn’t have a chance to watch in its entirety
3: was watching but fast forwarded parts because I got bored quickly but wanted to see what happened towards the end.

So which movies had this dubious pleasure? Based on the above criterion:
1: Battleship
2: The Lorax, Puss in Boots
3: Footloose

I am sure there are others and eventually I will watch the above movies in their entirety in the comfort of my home and review about them.

Granted there were probably a lot of other movies I glanced at, but at the moment they escape me… however should I remember of any others than the above I am sure I will post the movies here and link back as well.

However in the meantime…

The first in the above series? Battleship and The Lorax.

Bucket List: “America’s Best Pizzas”

So while browsing various Yahoo! articles… I came across one that dealt specifically about some of the best pizzerias all over the country. Originally what I would have done was click on the link and send it to my twitter feed with the hash tag “bucketlist” because I wanted to keep it in mind for when I travel to various places all over the Continental U.S. and I would make sure to make a stop in some capacity.

But after reworking my personal website and keeping up to date with the blog I decided putting ideas up as a post might be a better option… So here it is the first of the series of posts dedicated to places that I would love to travel to before I die…

So what to expect? Instead of essentially reposting what would already be in the article I would probably focus on particular places that are either in Chicago (since that is where I am from) and other areas that pique my interest where I may actually be able to go to. And if I have already gone to a certain restaurant / location I would provide a link to that particular post and provide my own thoughts of the food, service and restaurant in general.

AMERICA’S BEST PIZZAS

Chicago
Chicago is well known as being the inventor of the “deep dish pizza” but according to Yahoo! Its pizzarias only managed to make it to fourth at highest out of twenty… so which locations does Yahoo! recommend?

4. Pizano’s
With four locations and another one on the way, you know that Pizano’s has a loyal fan following among Chicago’s intense deep-dish market. But Pizano’s offers both deep-dish pizza and a thin-crust version that many would claim to even make most New Yorkers happy.



For the deep-dish crowd, the restaurant offers the Rudy’s Special, a pie that the restaurant requests guests’ patience for in advance. This monstrous concoction, topped with cheese, sausage, mushrooms, onions, and green peppers, takes up to 30 minutes to cook all the way through.

5. Vito & Nick’s
In a city dedicated to deep-dish pies, this family-owned restaurant has been serving up thin crust pizzas to Chicago residents for decades, and as the note on their website demonstrates (“If you don’t know about us, you will”), the owners are fairly confident in their popularity. The thin crust and generous cheese and sauce covering will likely leave you in agreement.

8. Gino’s East
Gino’s may be the ultimate in Chicago deep-dish, with a history dating back nearly 50 years. The story starts with two taxi drivers and their friend, who became frustrated with rush hour traffic and decided to open up their own pizza place. Just off the famed Michigan Avenue strip in the heart of downtown, the restaurant has been considered a city mainstay since its conception. The walls of the restaurant are covered with graffiti, as it’s a tradition of Gino’s to carve your name on the wall if you’re a dedicated patron.



Pies begin with a buttery crust that crumbles as soon as you take a bite, and it’s then stuffed with a layer of fillings (ranging from sweet Italian sausage to pineapple), then topped with a more-than-healthy serving of mozzarella cheese, and finished with crushed vine-ripened tomatoes. Their success has led them to open 11 locations, even expanding into neighboring Wisconsin for all those cheese lovers.

If Chicago only made it to fourth at best… who has Chicago beat? It is not a surprise when the top three places recommended by Yahoo are all from
New York City
Who knew that New York City would have so many pizzarias? Or strong ones for that matter? In any case, for someone like who goes to NYC frequently enough, the below is probably something to keep in mind, but not 100% necessary to stop by…
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Convention: Fables at the New York Comic Convention (NYCC)

Over the past weekend I was privileged to be able to watch the Vertigo – Fables 10th Anniversary panel at the New York Comic Con. From the New York Comic Con website:

Speakers:
Andrew Pepoy, Bill Willingham, John Cunningham, Matt Sturges, Phil Jimenez, Sean E. Williams, Shelly Bond

Description:
Come join in the party as Fables celebrates its 10th anniversary at New York Comic Con! Join Bill Willingham, creator of the multi-Eisner Award winning series Fables and Fairest, Group Editor Shelly Bond, Phil Jimenez (Fairest), Matt Sturges (Fairest) and others as they look back on 10 years of the amazing journey that is Fables, plus an in depth look into what the future holds! Don’t miss this panel that is truly legendary.

Needless to say… there was a lot of information coming our way… and true to the Bill Willingham style, there were a lot of teases, diversions, and possible red herrings being thrown for the audience to see.

So where to start?

LATEST FABLES AND FAIREST ISSUES ON STANDS NOW
Well first off the issues of Fairest and Fables that are out for the month of October. Fairest opens up to a Rapunzel story arc while Fables wraps up the Cubs in Toyland storyline. Click here for a review of Issue 121 of Fables (warning… spoilers!)

UPCOMING ISSUE OF FABLES
Coming up later in October we have a one-shot story called “The Destiny Game”. Since I didn’t take any notes about this particular issue other than Bill asking the audience if they felt that the Fables series did not do a good enough job when it comes to magic and destiny… below is the summary of the issue from the Vertigo Comics website:

How does fate work in the Fables fictional universe? Find out in this tale full of deadly chases, betrayals, sword fights and skulduggery, as superstar guest-artist Gene Ha guides us through “The Destiny Game.” Also: Bufkin and his “girlfriend” sidekick continue their Ozian adventures in the backup feature painted by Shawn McManus.

An interesting quote that was spoke to the audience later in the panel… straight from the upcoming issue of Fables:

Your sons and daughters will become gods and monsters that lay waste on the world…

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