Inside All Weekend

It was a weekend here in the north--clear skies, cool temperatures--and we spent the whole thing indoors.

But for good reasons:  we went to Matilda and to New York Comic Con (NYCC)!

This was the second October that we've done a Broadway-NYCC combo; last year, it was Les Mis and NYCC.  It's a great way to spend a weekend (even though no one in our family has Columbus Day off, which is fine with us--Columbus shouldn't be celebrated.  Now if it were First Peoples day . . . . )

What can I say about Matilda?  I didn't expect much, though I'd liked the performance at the Tonys two years back.

Everyone had said we would love it; and we did.   Even waiting for the show to start was entertaining, as we did the word search embedded in the proscenium--monster, phenomenon, acrobat, gymnast, joy, heart, incredible, shiny, burp--then, we noticed when the words appeared in the show.

 I had rushed to read the book earlier this week and the show doesn't materially veer from it, except in the addition of the story of the Escape Artist and the Acrobat.  The musical actually has more of an edge to it, particularly in the portrayal of the children and Matilda--this is clear from the very first, ironic (and sharp or minor-key, whatever the term is) song "Miracle," where parents sing about how their own kids are miracles, though they're clearly "naughty," too.  And from Matilda's iconic, defiant fists-on-hips pose.  

I was curious about the depiction of Miss Trunchbull--a strong, big, ugly Olympic athlete who isn't married and doesn't like children.  Think a butch Miss Hannigan.  Was this a caricature of a lesbian?  The character is even portrayed by a male actor.  (Think I'm nuts, just google "Trunchbull" and "lesbian.")  It's unfortunate, really, but perhaps the figure is such a caricatured and old-school stereotype that others don't notice it?  One would hope.   Though, the musical does give her a song about following the rules, which is a little sympathetic, in the way the book doesn't--except as a non-married, athletic, child-disliking woman, she is actually less traditional and rule-following than the musical implies.

The kids loved the show, which was very stylized and memorable.  The ABC song where the actors climb up on alphabet blocks while they are inserted in the scenery was amazing; the desks rising up and sinking into the floor were great, too.  And there was some imaginative puppetry for the telling of Matilda's acrobat story (reminiscent of Lion King.)  Even the choreography was angular and striking, while the songs were sometimes shrill to emphasize discordance.  Dahl's works are never cheery or simple--even good characters have edges and flaws--just like in the show.

All of which is to say "go see it" if you haven't already.  One of the best, for sure.  Our kids ranked it up there with Phantom and Wicked.

We spent Saturday night in the city--at the same hotel where Lambeth and Mrs Lambeth once stayed, over on 8th, with a cafe on the ground floor.  Clean, quiet, and well-located, it didn't have much character, but we weren't in the room except to sleep.  After the show, we stage-doored briefly and got the signatures of some of the adult actors (the children aren't allowed to come out) and took back to our room some cheesecake, chocolate egg cream, cream soda, and Cel-ray soda for our traditional post-theater snack from Juniors.  Then we watched the sunset over the Hudson, rested a bit, and had dinner at Virgil's, on my old block.  As we ate our barbecued ribs,  brisket, chicken fried steak, collards, greens, mashed potatoes, and sweet tea, we realized that Mama and I had been coming to this restaurant almost since it opened in 1994.

Sunday was for Comic Con at the Javits.  We'd been discussing and prepping for this for months.  Sis dressed up as Black Widow, in a black t-shirt and pants, utility belt, holster, and wristlets.  She focuses on the character's skill and strength as a spy.  Bud was Link, his favorite videogame character.  He only wore his Link t-shirt and green hat because he didn't want to carry the heavy shield and couldn't take the sword to NYCC.  I dressed up in 18th-century dress, plus tartan shawl and specially-crocheted cowl--yep, "Outlander."  I think I was the only member of my fandom there! But no worries, I had fun.  We did a lot of looking--looking at all the wonderful costumes, looking at all the merchandise for different fandoms--and a ton of walking.  We saw a couple of Links and Black Widows, lots of Link merchandise, some Black Widow.  There was a great little Maleficent, a wonderful Totoro, a beautiful Zelda, not many stormtroopers, lots of Harley Quinns, and some oddly underdressed people (what was with the guy in his underwear with a couple of Batman symbols hanging on him??)  We didn't do any autograph or photo sessions--last year, remember, the kids met "River Song"--but still had fun.  They say that want to go every year.  Considering that they haven't even started on "Firefly" or "Battlestar Galactica" or "Star Trek," there is still so much fun to be had.

We got home late afternoon, watched the "Doctor Who" that we missed (one of the more confusing episodes),  and fell into bed not long later, humming along to Matilda.

Sing Me a River

It's hard to explain Comic Con if you don't already know what it is.  And judging by recent conversations, many people I know don't.  The easiest way to describe it is as a geek convention.  Because, while it started as a comic book fans' gathering, it now encompasses many fandoms:  science fiction (Doctor Who, Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, etc.), fantasy (Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Princess Bride, Disney, etc.), anime (Miyazaki, Sailor Moon, Pokemon), other cartoons (TMNT, My Little Pony, etc.), video/computer games (Zelda, World of Warcraft, Dragon Ball Z, etc.) and other popular culture (Sherlock and Elementary, etc etc etc.)  Plus, of course, all the comic book superheroes, like Batman, Superman, and the like.

You can see that we firmly fall into several of the fandoms and so we were excited to attend the convention.  We weren't planning on going to any of the panels--interviews and discussions with the creative teams behind the above, including actors, artists, writers, designers, etc.--because they are much in demand with long lines waiting to enter.

But we did sign up for one photo session:  the kids had their picture taken with River Song of Doctor Who, aka Alex Kingston (whom you probably know from her years on ER.)  They were over the moon!  We hung back while they went up to her and told her she was awesome.  And she said they were awesome back!  Sis even noted later that the actress was wearing an outfit--with a map of London, we think--that River would have worn.  So, even though the encounter lasted less than a minute, I think the memory will last a lifetime.   Mama and I opted out of the photo, wanting it to be the kids' moment, though we like Kingston a lot.  We try to remind the kids that actors are just doing a job--that the characters aren't them, that they are real people with positive characteristics and also flaws, that they are paid to do what they do; we don't want the line between fiction and reality to blur, for them to think they "know" the actors.  Still I get it.  I loved Princess Leia and by extension Carrie Fisher and would've gone nuts if I'd met her.  We connect with characters in movies and tv and therefore with the actors who play them.  We are touched by them and we think the actors are special; we want to meet them to express how much they and their characters mean to us and also to feel special ourselves by connecting even briefly with them.  And that's fine when you're nine years old, I think, but perhaps a little odd when taken to extremes by adults.  Sure, I can fangirl on my own quite a bit, but I'm not sure I'd feel right actually acting on it. . . which is why we didn't go to Gillian Anderson's autograph sessions or the photo session with the cast of Star Trek:  The Next Generation.  Besides, it doesn't always pay to meet an ideal.  But it certainly worked for the kids, and us by extension, who watched Doctor Who tonight and kept repeating, "we met her!"  Thank you, Ms. Kingston!

We spent the rest of the day wandering, shopping (truly I expected better shopping), interacting with other fans, and admiring all the costumes.  I didn't know most of the computer games or anime, but I noticed lots of Doctor Who costumes.  Also Star Trek and Star Wars.  One of the best was a Stormtrooper "on vacation" in a Hawaiian shirt!  Also, Princess Leia, a great Xena, a man wearing a homemade cardboard Millennium Falcon, a minion, and so many others.  The kids posed with lookalikes of Gandalf, a Dalek, Smaug the dragon, the penguins of Madagascar, and others.  Because it was family day, there was no cleavage and only one very obvious Brazilian wax.  Interestingly, we saw no brutish behavior, even with alcohol on premises.  Very well behaved, our geeks.  We got a few things, t-shirts mainly, and mainly just walked around for 7 hours.

Thankfully, Mama had done lots of research about surviving Comic Con, so we knew to:

• Bring our own food--deli meats, cheeses, bread, chips, cookies--so as not to stand in line for expensive junk;
• Bring our own water bottles to refill at the water fountains (see above);
• Not carry anything extraneous because the day is long and things can get lost;
• Bring a bag to put purchases and freebies in.

We were tired, but we had a great time.  I think we'd definitely go again, maybe with some panels this time.  And maybe by then, we'll have added a few more fandoms to our list . . .but I doubt it will ever match the excitement of our first Con.  And meeting River Song!!!

Inner Geekdom

For me, it began with Star Wars.
Early on, there was also "Battlestar Galactica" and "Buck Rogers and the 25th Century."
There was Sherlock Holmes in books, then in movies, and most recently on BBC.
Same with Excalibur, Mists of Avalon, and then "Merlin."  And with those, all the Renaissance fests.
I even played "Dungeons and Dragons" and have multi-sided dice.
And went to Gen Con once.
Then "Star Trek," specifically "The Next Generation."  But sometimes "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager."  (Rarely, the original.)
And one "Star Trek" convention.
And some Monty Python.
But only a little "Black Adder."
There was "Xena" and "Buffy" and even "Firefly."
But NEVER the "new" Star Wars.
And I was never huge into Narnia, but I've read the first one.
Of course, there was Lord of the Rings.  And, soon, The Hobbit.
And above all else, Harry Potter.
I even saw (but never read) Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
But I really do think I've sealed my identity as a geek with my new-found love of "Doctor Who."
I've raced through the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, and started the Eleventh today.
I wonder where geekdom will take me next?