This Convention was Rated "Arrrrr!"
I came, I saw, I plundered … here's the super-detailed wrap-up of my trip to Midnight Insanity's Rocky Horror convention, "Pirates of Transylvania: the Search for Booty"!
(This is insanely long. Ye be warned.)
THURSDAY
Jeb, Brittany and Rachel got to my apartment around noon. Packing the trunk took some doing; in addition to our suitcases, there were three sleeping bags, my three costume bags, and my makeup case! We managed to fit it all in, though. (Jeb: "I can do this. I'm great at Tetris.")
We got on the road and headed south. It's lucky we didn't wait until Friday to leave; the Gilroy Garlic Festival was this past weekend, and traffic would have been a nightmare! Festival fun was certainly in the air ... or maybe that was just the permeating smell of the garlic ...
Nobody had really eaten breakfast, so we stopped at Casa de Fruta for lunch. We grabbed sandwiches from the deli, then couldn't resist picking up some trip rations from their sweet shop before getting back on the road.
Except for the usual refueling stop in Buttonwillow, we didn't stop again until we got to eorlover's house in Northridge, where we were staying. We arrived in the midst of a family crisis: her father had gone to the emergency room in severe stomach pain. His appendix ended up being removed that night. (He came home Sunday and is still in pain, but on the mend.)
Despite this, Bobbie and her mother were gracious hosts as always. Her Chihuahua, Elian, was just thrilled he had new people to pay attention to him! We gave him lots of scritches.
Bobbie had barbecued chicken for us (and a vegetarian burger for Jeb), so we kicked back, relaxed, and unwound from the long drive. We went in the pool for a little while, but were too tired to stay in for very long. So we went upstairs, where I did a quick run-through of my role in "Shock Treatment", which I was performing the next night. We chatted for a bit, and went to bed. We had a long weekend ahead of us!
FRIDAY
We left the house at 9:30am, stopped for breakfast and some last-minute supply shopping, and made the hour-long drive to the only RHPS theater that has its own freeway exit sign: the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
We got there around noon, walked around the ship for a bit, then had lunch in the Promenade Café before I had to report to the 2:00 run-through of Shocky. This convention was to see the debut of "Shock Treatment 360", wherein the various sets are placed around the audience instead of all being on the stage. It was a pretty cool set-up, and I was anxious to see how well it would work!
At 6:00, convention registration opened. The four of us got our badges and programs, then took a shuttle bus to a dockside shopping/activity center called The Pike to get dinner. Then it was back to the QM to get ready for the evening's activities!
Brittany and I were both changing into Shock Treatment costumes - me for the performance, her for the costume contest - and some friends from the Las Vegas cast of Divine Decadence had kindly allowed us to change in their rooms on board the ship. We changed into our costumes, got into our makeup, and headed for the Queen's Salon, where the evening's festivities were being held.
The convention officially kicked off with a welcome from MI director Mark Tomaino. Unfortunately, there was a pirate raid and mutiny in the middle of his speech. (Don't you just hate it when that happens?) A pirate Riff Raff - who looked suspiciously like lbcboy232 - announced that this was HIS convention now ... until a pirate Frank burst in and challenged him to a Riverdance / swordfighting duel. Oh, the drama! (It ended with our favorite transvestite victorious, of course.)
After that, Fan Club President Sal Piro took the mic for his usual welcome spiel / Q&A session. He announced that he was planning on having lapband surgery this fall. As soon as I got the chance, I talked to him about my surgery and wished him luck.
Next came the special performances. Sins O' the Flesh did a two-part performance. First, four women dressed as Janet did a song called "You Suck", the lyrics of which I cannot relate because I am too sweet and innocent. (I am, too. Stop looking at me like that.) It was funny, though, and we definitely enjoyed the Blow Pops and other items that were thrown out to the audience! They followed this up with an excerpt from "Cry Baby", which they're shadowcasting this Friday night.
Home of Happiness, who had brought a sizeable contingent in from New Jersey, did a series of pirate jokes and riddles that reminded me of a vaudeville act. Very amusing. They were followed by Divine Decadence's performance of a song from "Evil Dead: The Musical". When Brad held up a gun and said, "This ... is my BOOMSTICK!", the place went nuts.
Finally, they did a Trixie Revue, which Trixies from around the country had signed up to perform in. They cleverly took several different-language recordings of "Science Fiction/Double Feature" and spliced them together, so it was like having an international Trixie performance. It was very well done!
And then at last, it was time for "Shock Treatment". I was Bert Schnick for the entire show, which was really cool. It hit home just how much I've trimmed down recently when I put on the costume: the formerly too-small shirt, vest, and jacket are now all too big! I'm sure I can replace the black vest fairly easily, but I'm not sure about the yellow ruffled tux shirt and garish yellow jacket, which I had modified using electrical tape for the black piping. The wig looks strange on me now, too. It's too puffy or something. I should look into a different one. Last year, it was hard to tell just by looking at me whether I was male or female when I was in costume; now I think it's obvious. Bit of a shame, really. I liked not being recognized.
The 360 set worked really well, at least in my estimation. It eliminated the need for super-fast set changes (which are myriad in Shocky) and made the audience feel they were in the middle of the action, as they essentially are in the movie. It wasn't perfect, but I think it's well worth doing again for future shows if possible.
We had discussed staying for the after-party, but we had some trouble getting our bags after the show (and inadvertently got caught up in another cast's drama), so we decided to just head back to Northridge. After all, we were going to be staying even later on ...
SATURDAY
We had plans to spend the day with mandersmouse, my dear friend from college whom I hadn't actually seen in nearly a decade. Our original plan was to hang out in Santa Monica. However, when I checked my e-mail that morning, I found a missive from mistermerlin. He was co-starring in a new musical called "Lost in Hollywoodland: or, the Slugwoman from Uranus". It had four preview performances scheduled in L.A. before moving on to the New York Fringe Festival, and the first performance was that very afternoon. A few quick phone calls and discussions later, we decided to change plans and see his play before heading back to the convention.
We drove to Hollywood, parked near the theater, and met up with Mandy. After checking to see when the box office would open, we set off in search of lunch. We walked two long blocks without finding anything before we decided to double back and go to a restaurant called Grub, which I had found in a quick internet search before we left the house.
For some reason, I found it kind of neat to walk around the back of studios and pass by a large film vault. It was like looking at Hollywood from behind. Jeb, who had never been to L.A., was excited to see the famous sign up on the hill. (And funnily enough, that sign played a fairly significant role in the play we were about to see.)
We found the restaurant and were seated outdoors. We gave our orders and chatted while we waited. The food took a while to arrive, but it was quite worth it when it did! (I also discovered that Betty Fraser, one of the owners, was a contestant on season 2 of "Top Chef", which was pretty cool.)
Because of how long we took to find a restaurant and finish lunch, we made it back to the theater only 5 minutes before the show was scheduled to begin. Luckily, they hadn’t opened the house yet. And since it was open seating, we got front-row seats!
The play was about people who will do anything - including literally sell their souls - to make it in Hollywood. Jesse played Edwin McManoff, an unemployed Shakespearian actor who's forced to take a role in a B-movie called "The Slugwoman from Uranus". It was a fun, silly romp. I especially enjoyed the malaprop-spouting devil and his two assistants, Abra and Cadabra.
After the play, we talked for a little bit with Jesse. He thanked us for coming and informed us that we were crazy to come to an un-air conditioned theater on such a hot day. (It wasn't that bad, though, really.) Then we said our goodbyes to him and Mandy, and went back to the con.
We had hoped to get to the boat by 5:30pm, in time for Sal's raffle. However, we needed to stop back at Bobbie's, and then got caught in traffic behind an accident, so we didn't make it there until 7:00pm. We arrived to find some big radio station event going on, which made parking considerably more problematic. We ended up parking on the top level of the cruise ship terminal garage. (We got lucky, actually; people who didn't arrive until the show found no parking at all!) Thankfully, everyone helped me carry in all my costuming and makeup, which was considerable.
I stowed everything backstage at the Royal Theater, where the evening events were taking place. We met up once again with our new friends on Divine Decadence and had a quick dinner back at the Promenade Café before I hightailed it back to the Royal Theater to start getting into costume prior to the run-through of the All-Star show. (Thanks, Brandon and Mark, for letting me slip backstage to get ready even though the theater was still in preparation stage!)
joykinz was in charge of the run-through. She was also the other Janet that night, so I was very grateful she was there to show me where to put my stuff and which side of the stage to be on when!
We practiced the Floor Show kickline several times, since that's one of those things that every cast does just a little bit differently. Joy taught us a technique wherein we dip down and up at the end of each line during the "twist dance" part of it, which was very helpful! I'm going to teach it to my cast before our Reno show.
The festivities began shortly after 10:00 with a Cabaret-style dance number from MI which was very hot! After that, they showed a video of Sins' special - and extra-bloody - performance from the 2001 convention, "Science Fiction" (AKA "Quentin Tarantino Presents RHPS").
Next it was time for what is usually the Big Con Event: the costume contest. I entered Best Janet, wearing the pink dress. I did my best to play up the character while showing the details I had, like the ring and necklace. I was shaking when I left the stage, I was so nervous! I quickly slipped backstage to change into Janet's purple outfit, since I was performing the opening scene.
After the contest came a tradition of MI's: the David Awards. These are given to people whom MI feels have contributed to the betterment of the RHPS community, either locally or in general. The award is a statuette of Michelangelo's David, with his nails painted red and a small speaker glued to him, so he looks like one of the statues from the movie.
This year, they decided to give a posthumous David Award to Dan Britt, AKA "Nad is Dog". He joined the Bawdy Caste as a Brad and our unofficial photographer back in 1997. He became well-known for being able to make just about anything. Among other things, he made the awesome Plexiglas trophies that were awarded to the costume contest winners at the '98 Las Vegas con. (Those who were at the 2000 Bay Area Con may also remember that he made a 'Starship Honeycomb' and rigged it to dispense different-colored drinks.) His track record in RHPS circles was admittedly not spotless, but he knew how to have fun and was always up for a good time. He was also an excellent Brad and Frank (and Rest Home Ricky when we performed Shocky).
Sadly, Nad was killed by a drunk driver a few years ago. Since I was his friend and am now the co-director of the cast he belonged to, they asked me to accept the award in his name, which I did. I hadn't really thought out a speech, but when Mark handed me the statuette and the microphone, here is what I said:
"Dan Britt, also known as 'Nad is Dog', was an asset to the Rocky Horror community, a valued member of the Bawdy Caste, and I'm proud that I got to call him my friend. He was the first guy to grab my ass on a regular basis. Whatever needed doing, he always had a plan to do it - whether it was coordinating 15 airline tickets to get us to New York for the 1998 convention, or making the trophies for the Las Vegas Con that same year, he was always eager to solve the problem. I miss him, and it makes me happy to know that he is somewhere right now playing Naked Twister."
I surprised myself with how emotional I got during the speech. I hadn't thought about Nad in quite a while.
After the awards presentation, they announced the costume contest winners. I was on pins and needles. Thankfully, I didn't have long to wait; they announced Best Janet second.
"And Best Janet is ..." I held my breath ... "Julie!"
Yay! My fellow BC'ers cheered loudly while I went up onstage. I got a small box filled with pins and magnets - one of which said "Winner, Best Janet, July 2007". Even cooler than that, though, was my "Janet-to-Janet" prize. MI has a tradition wherein whomever plays each role on their cast comes up with a prize to give to their contest-winning counterpart. Joy had actually made a heart-shaped pillow that was mocked up to look like Janet's pink dress. It's so awesome! I don’t know if I want to display it or cuddle it or both. (I DO know that I need to find a place to put it so it's out of Mollie's reach!) I held it up so everyone could see, posing the way Janet does when she catches the bouquet. I did NOT shout, "I got it! I got it!" because I felt that would be rude to those who hadn’t won. Someone in the audience shouted "She got it!", though.
The rest of the prizes were awarded, and then ... movie time! I was performing for about half the movie, and I was very excited! I did wedding scene and "Dammit Janet," then reveled in the fact that I had more than 90 seconds to change costumes before going back out for "Sweet Transvestite". I stayed out until the end of creation scene, then went back to change for Floor Show.
The big request had been for us to wear the Floor Show makeup. For a regular show, it's very difficult to get the full makeup on in time, but for this show we were given plenty of time in which to do it. I got into my costume - including my newly-sequined corset - and put the makeup on. I must say, I was pretty pleased with the effect I saw in the mirror! (Still hoping to see pictures.)
Floor Show is where I feel least confident, in part because of the 5-inch heels that I wobble in precariously (and that pinch my feet). But I got through it, hopefully well. And I was very proud of the applause I got at the curtain call!
It took me forever to get all my stuff together and drag it out of the theater after the show. Luckily, my friends helped me once again. We stopped at Denny's for some post-show refreshment, then headed back to Bobbie's, exhausted.
SUNDAY
We took our time in getting up and getting ready to leave for the final con event: the Sunday picnic, to be held at Rainbow Harbor across from the ship. We planned to get there around 1:30, but got caught in yet AOTHER post-accident traffic jam (gotta love L.A. ...), and then went the wrong way once we got to the harbor and walked around the wrong area for quite a while. So by the time we found the group, it was 3:00 and any food there might have been was gone.
Gah! We were starving! We hung around for about an hour, saying our goodbyes, and went over to the harbor in search of food. We ended up at an African-themed sports bar, where we finally had lunch at around 4:30. Then we topped it off with ice cream, did some quick shopping, and drove back to Bobbie's, where even MORE food awaited ...
Bobbie's birthday was on Tuesday, so she decided to hold a backyard BBQ and pool party Sunday night. Oh, the spread! Burgers, hot dogs, chicken, chips, potato salad, sodas ... and topped off with white chocolate chip cookies that were AMAZING. (Must get recipe ...) Plus, her neighbors surprised her with a birthday cake. We were stuffed by the time it was all over! (In hindsight, we should have eaten a light snack at the harbor and saved more room for dinner, but who thinks straight when they're hungry?)
We hopped into the pool after dinner (flaunting that whole "wait one hour" thing, because we're rebels). I couldn't get warm in the water, though, no matter how acclimated I got to it. So I ended up sitting on the steps and shivering for quite a while before I gave up and toweled off. The others joined me after a bit, and we chatted while we sliced into the birthday cake we had all been too full to eat before.
We pitched in to help Bobbie clean the kitchen, a task which became monumental when she opened the refrigerator door and a poorly-secured bowl of BBQ sauce tumbled out. It got everywhere! It's funny now, but at the time we were pulling our hair out trying to clean the mess up. Then we definitely wanted to just stumble into bed, since we had a long haul ahead of us.
MONDAY
On Thursday, we passed by Magic Mountain on our way to L.A. I'd remarked that I kept meaning to stop there on the way home from my trips, but hadn't yet. On a whim, we decided to do exactly that. As an added bonus, there was a great online sale happening, so we paid $25 each for the $50 tickets!
So we got up, stopped at IHOP for breakfast, and drove to the park. My goal, of course, was to ride as many of the park's legendary roller coasters as possible. And we started off in a BIG way by riding X, billed as "the world's first 4th-dimenional roller coaster". The cars sit off to either side of the track, and they spin a full 360 degrees! Unfortunately, the line took over an hour, which we should have anticipated. Once we were on the ride, though - whoa! I've never actually lost track of my feet on a roller coaster before.
The long wait cut fairly significantly into our time, though, so we didn't get to as many coasters as I'd hoped. We missed Tatsu, the flying coaster, and Superman and Riddler's Revenge and Batman and Goliath. We did go on Colossus, the famous double-tracked wooden coaster, and Scream, their floorless coaster, which was my favorite of the day.
At one point, we passed by a blue and green coaster that I recognized from the "Roller Coaster Tycoon" computer game series. (They have licensed Six Flags coasters in the games.) "I've seen that coaster before," I remarked ... then I laughed when I realized I had just said that about a coaster named Deja Vu.
We did a few other rides, then had dinner at the Mooseburger Lodge before departing at around 6:00pm.
Jeb drove most of the way home, for which I was grateful; I was pretty tired! Brittany and Rachel sat in the back reading entertainment magazines. (Rachel: "Anyone want to know why Cameron Diaz can't find love?" Me: "No, I want to know why *I* can't find love. Let Cameron Diaz worry about herself.")
Finally, shortly after 11:00pm, we arrived back home. I took what I could carry upstairs, and pretty much just collapsed into bed. What a weekend! So, when's the next convention?
(This is insanely long. Ye be warned.)
THURSDAY
Jeb, Brittany and Rachel got to my apartment around noon. Packing the trunk took some doing; in addition to our suitcases, there were three sleeping bags, my three costume bags, and my makeup case! We managed to fit it all in, though. (Jeb: "I can do this. I'm great at Tetris.")
We got on the road and headed south. It's lucky we didn't wait until Friday to leave; the Gilroy Garlic Festival was this past weekend, and traffic would have been a nightmare! Festival fun was certainly in the air ... or maybe that was just the permeating smell of the garlic ...
Nobody had really eaten breakfast, so we stopped at Casa de Fruta for lunch. We grabbed sandwiches from the deli, then couldn't resist picking up some trip rations from their sweet shop before getting back on the road.
Except for the usual refueling stop in Buttonwillow, we didn't stop again until we got to eorlover's house in Northridge, where we were staying. We arrived in the midst of a family crisis: her father had gone to the emergency room in severe stomach pain. His appendix ended up being removed that night. (He came home Sunday and is still in pain, but on the mend.)
Despite this, Bobbie and her mother were gracious hosts as always. Her Chihuahua, Elian, was just thrilled he had new people to pay attention to him! We gave him lots of scritches.
Bobbie had barbecued chicken for us (and a vegetarian burger for Jeb), so we kicked back, relaxed, and unwound from the long drive. We went in the pool for a little while, but were too tired to stay in for very long. So we went upstairs, where I did a quick run-through of my role in "Shock Treatment", which I was performing the next night. We chatted for a bit, and went to bed. We had a long weekend ahead of us!
FRIDAY
We left the house at 9:30am, stopped for breakfast and some last-minute supply shopping, and made the hour-long drive to the only RHPS theater that has its own freeway exit sign: the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
We got there around noon, walked around the ship for a bit, then had lunch in the Promenade Café before I had to report to the 2:00 run-through of Shocky. This convention was to see the debut of "Shock Treatment 360", wherein the various sets are placed around the audience instead of all being on the stage. It was a pretty cool set-up, and I was anxious to see how well it would work!
At 6:00, convention registration opened. The four of us got our badges and programs, then took a shuttle bus to a dockside shopping/activity center called The Pike to get dinner. Then it was back to the QM to get ready for the evening's activities!
Brittany and I were both changing into Shock Treatment costumes - me for the performance, her for the costume contest - and some friends from the Las Vegas cast of Divine Decadence had kindly allowed us to change in their rooms on board the ship. We changed into our costumes, got into our makeup, and headed for the Queen's Salon, where the evening's festivities were being held.
The convention officially kicked off with a welcome from MI director Mark Tomaino. Unfortunately, there was a pirate raid and mutiny in the middle of his speech. (Don't you just hate it when that happens?) A pirate Riff Raff - who looked suspiciously like lbcboy232 - announced that this was HIS convention now ... until a pirate Frank burst in and challenged him to a Riverdance / swordfighting duel. Oh, the drama! (It ended with our favorite transvestite victorious, of course.)
After that, Fan Club President Sal Piro took the mic for his usual welcome spiel / Q&A session. He announced that he was planning on having lapband surgery this fall. As soon as I got the chance, I talked to him about my surgery and wished him luck.
Next came the special performances. Sins O' the Flesh did a two-part performance. First, four women dressed as Janet did a song called "You Suck", the lyrics of which I cannot relate because I am too sweet and innocent. (I am, too. Stop looking at me like that.) It was funny, though, and we definitely enjoyed the Blow Pops and other items that were thrown out to the audience! They followed this up with an excerpt from "Cry Baby", which they're shadowcasting this Friday night.
Home of Happiness, who had brought a sizeable contingent in from New Jersey, did a series of pirate jokes and riddles that reminded me of a vaudeville act. Very amusing. They were followed by Divine Decadence's performance of a song from "Evil Dead: The Musical". When Brad held up a gun and said, "This ... is my BOOMSTICK!", the place went nuts.
Finally, they did a Trixie Revue, which Trixies from around the country had signed up to perform in. They cleverly took several different-language recordings of "Science Fiction/Double Feature" and spliced them together, so it was like having an international Trixie performance. It was very well done!
And then at last, it was time for "Shock Treatment". I was Bert Schnick for the entire show, which was really cool. It hit home just how much I've trimmed down recently when I put on the costume: the formerly too-small shirt, vest, and jacket are now all too big! I'm sure I can replace the black vest fairly easily, but I'm not sure about the yellow ruffled tux shirt and garish yellow jacket, which I had modified using electrical tape for the black piping. The wig looks strange on me now, too. It's too puffy or something. I should look into a different one. Last year, it was hard to tell just by looking at me whether I was male or female when I was in costume; now I think it's obvious. Bit of a shame, really. I liked not being recognized.
The 360 set worked really well, at least in my estimation. It eliminated the need for super-fast set changes (which are myriad in Shocky) and made the audience feel they were in the middle of the action, as they essentially are in the movie. It wasn't perfect, but I think it's well worth doing again for future shows if possible.
We had discussed staying for the after-party, but we had some trouble getting our bags after the show (and inadvertently got caught up in another cast's drama), so we decided to just head back to Northridge. After all, we were going to be staying even later on ...
SATURDAY
We had plans to spend the day with mandersmouse, my dear friend from college whom I hadn't actually seen in nearly a decade. Our original plan was to hang out in Santa Monica. However, when I checked my e-mail that morning, I found a missive from mistermerlin. He was co-starring in a new musical called "Lost in Hollywoodland: or, the Slugwoman from Uranus". It had four preview performances scheduled in L.A. before moving on to the New York Fringe Festival, and the first performance was that very afternoon. A few quick phone calls and discussions later, we decided to change plans and see his play before heading back to the convention.
We drove to Hollywood, parked near the theater, and met up with Mandy. After checking to see when the box office would open, we set off in search of lunch. We walked two long blocks without finding anything before we decided to double back and go to a restaurant called Grub, which I had found in a quick internet search before we left the house.
For some reason, I found it kind of neat to walk around the back of studios and pass by a large film vault. It was like looking at Hollywood from behind. Jeb, who had never been to L.A., was excited to see the famous sign up on the hill. (And funnily enough, that sign played a fairly significant role in the play we were about to see.)
We found the restaurant and were seated outdoors. We gave our orders and chatted while we waited. The food took a while to arrive, but it was quite worth it when it did! (I also discovered that Betty Fraser, one of the owners, was a contestant on season 2 of "Top Chef", which was pretty cool.)
Because of how long we took to find a restaurant and finish lunch, we made it back to the theater only 5 minutes before the show was scheduled to begin. Luckily, they hadn’t opened the house yet. And since it was open seating, we got front-row seats!
The play was about people who will do anything - including literally sell their souls - to make it in Hollywood. Jesse played Edwin McManoff, an unemployed Shakespearian actor who's forced to take a role in a B-movie called "The Slugwoman from Uranus". It was a fun, silly romp. I especially enjoyed the malaprop-spouting devil and his two assistants, Abra and Cadabra.
After the play, we talked for a little bit with Jesse. He thanked us for coming and informed us that we were crazy to come to an un-air conditioned theater on such a hot day. (It wasn't that bad, though, really.) Then we said our goodbyes to him and Mandy, and went back to the con.
We had hoped to get to the boat by 5:30pm, in time for Sal's raffle. However, we needed to stop back at Bobbie's, and then got caught in traffic behind an accident, so we didn't make it there until 7:00pm. We arrived to find some big radio station event going on, which made parking considerably more problematic. We ended up parking on the top level of the cruise ship terminal garage. (We got lucky, actually; people who didn't arrive until the show found no parking at all!) Thankfully, everyone helped me carry in all my costuming and makeup, which was considerable.
I stowed everything backstage at the Royal Theater, where the evening events were taking place. We met up once again with our new friends on Divine Decadence and had a quick dinner back at the Promenade Café before I hightailed it back to the Royal Theater to start getting into costume prior to the run-through of the All-Star show. (Thanks, Brandon and Mark, for letting me slip backstage to get ready even though the theater was still in preparation stage!)
joykinz was in charge of the run-through. She was also the other Janet that night, so I was very grateful she was there to show me where to put my stuff and which side of the stage to be on when!
We practiced the Floor Show kickline several times, since that's one of those things that every cast does just a little bit differently. Joy taught us a technique wherein we dip down and up at the end of each line during the "twist dance" part of it, which was very helpful! I'm going to teach it to my cast before our Reno show.
The festivities began shortly after 10:00 with a Cabaret-style dance number from MI which was very hot! After that, they showed a video of Sins' special - and extra-bloody - performance from the 2001 convention, "Science Fiction" (AKA "Quentin Tarantino Presents RHPS").
Next it was time for what is usually the Big Con Event: the costume contest. I entered Best Janet, wearing the pink dress. I did my best to play up the character while showing the details I had, like the ring and necklace. I was shaking when I left the stage, I was so nervous! I quickly slipped backstage to change into Janet's purple outfit, since I was performing the opening scene.
After the contest came a tradition of MI's: the David Awards. These are given to people whom MI feels have contributed to the betterment of the RHPS community, either locally or in general. The award is a statuette of Michelangelo's David, with his nails painted red and a small speaker glued to him, so he looks like one of the statues from the movie.
This year, they decided to give a posthumous David Award to Dan Britt, AKA "Nad is Dog". He joined the Bawdy Caste as a Brad and our unofficial photographer back in 1997. He became well-known for being able to make just about anything. Among other things, he made the awesome Plexiglas trophies that were awarded to the costume contest winners at the '98 Las Vegas con. (Those who were at the 2000 Bay Area Con may also remember that he made a 'Starship Honeycomb' and rigged it to dispense different-colored drinks.) His track record in RHPS circles was admittedly not spotless, but he knew how to have fun and was always up for a good time. He was also an excellent Brad and Frank (and Rest Home Ricky when we performed Shocky).
Sadly, Nad was killed by a drunk driver a few years ago. Since I was his friend and am now the co-director of the cast he belonged to, they asked me to accept the award in his name, which I did. I hadn't really thought out a speech, but when Mark handed me the statuette and the microphone, here is what I said:
"Dan Britt, also known as 'Nad is Dog', was an asset to the Rocky Horror community, a valued member of the Bawdy Caste, and I'm proud that I got to call him my friend. He was the first guy to grab my ass on a regular basis. Whatever needed doing, he always had a plan to do it - whether it was coordinating 15 airline tickets to get us to New York for the 1998 convention, or making the trophies for the Las Vegas Con that same year, he was always eager to solve the problem. I miss him, and it makes me happy to know that he is somewhere right now playing Naked Twister."
I surprised myself with how emotional I got during the speech. I hadn't thought about Nad in quite a while.
After the awards presentation, they announced the costume contest winners. I was on pins and needles. Thankfully, I didn't have long to wait; they announced Best Janet second.
"And Best Janet is ..." I held my breath ... "Julie!"
Yay! My fellow BC'ers cheered loudly while I went up onstage. I got a small box filled with pins and magnets - one of which said "Winner, Best Janet, July 2007". Even cooler than that, though, was my "Janet-to-Janet" prize. MI has a tradition wherein whomever plays each role on their cast comes up with a prize to give to their contest-winning counterpart. Joy had actually made a heart-shaped pillow that was mocked up to look like Janet's pink dress. It's so awesome! I don’t know if I want to display it or cuddle it or both. (I DO know that I need to find a place to put it so it's out of Mollie's reach!) I held it up so everyone could see, posing the way Janet does when she catches the bouquet. I did NOT shout, "I got it! I got it!" because I felt that would be rude to those who hadn’t won. Someone in the audience shouted "She got it!", though.
The rest of the prizes were awarded, and then ... movie time! I was performing for about half the movie, and I was very excited! I did wedding scene and "Dammit Janet," then reveled in the fact that I had more than 90 seconds to change costumes before going back out for "Sweet Transvestite". I stayed out until the end of creation scene, then went back to change for Floor Show.
The big request had been for us to wear the Floor Show makeup. For a regular show, it's very difficult to get the full makeup on in time, but for this show we were given plenty of time in which to do it. I got into my costume - including my newly-sequined corset - and put the makeup on. I must say, I was pretty pleased with the effect I saw in the mirror! (Still hoping to see pictures.)
Floor Show is where I feel least confident, in part because of the 5-inch heels that I wobble in precariously (and that pinch my feet). But I got through it, hopefully well. And I was very proud of the applause I got at the curtain call!
It took me forever to get all my stuff together and drag it out of the theater after the show. Luckily, my friends helped me once again. We stopped at Denny's for some post-show refreshment, then headed back to Bobbie's, exhausted.
SUNDAY
We took our time in getting up and getting ready to leave for the final con event: the Sunday picnic, to be held at Rainbow Harbor across from the ship. We planned to get there around 1:30, but got caught in yet AOTHER post-accident traffic jam (gotta love L.A. ...), and then went the wrong way once we got to the harbor and walked around the wrong area for quite a while. So by the time we found the group, it was 3:00 and any food there might have been was gone.
Gah! We were starving! We hung around for about an hour, saying our goodbyes, and went over to the harbor in search of food. We ended up at an African-themed sports bar, where we finally had lunch at around 4:30. Then we topped it off with ice cream, did some quick shopping, and drove back to Bobbie's, where even MORE food awaited ...
Bobbie's birthday was on Tuesday, so she decided to hold a backyard BBQ and pool party Sunday night. Oh, the spread! Burgers, hot dogs, chicken, chips, potato salad, sodas ... and topped off with white chocolate chip cookies that were AMAZING. (Must get recipe ...) Plus, her neighbors surprised her with a birthday cake. We were stuffed by the time it was all over! (In hindsight, we should have eaten a light snack at the harbor and saved more room for dinner, but who thinks straight when they're hungry?)
We hopped into the pool after dinner (flaunting that whole "wait one hour" thing, because we're rebels). I couldn't get warm in the water, though, no matter how acclimated I got to it. So I ended up sitting on the steps and shivering for quite a while before I gave up and toweled off. The others joined me after a bit, and we chatted while we sliced into the birthday cake we had all been too full to eat before.
We pitched in to help Bobbie clean the kitchen, a task which became monumental when she opened the refrigerator door and a poorly-secured bowl of BBQ sauce tumbled out. It got everywhere! It's funny now, but at the time we were pulling our hair out trying to clean the mess up. Then we definitely wanted to just stumble into bed, since we had a long haul ahead of us.
MONDAY
On Thursday, we passed by Magic Mountain on our way to L.A. I'd remarked that I kept meaning to stop there on the way home from my trips, but hadn't yet. On a whim, we decided to do exactly that. As an added bonus, there was a great online sale happening, so we paid $25 each for the $50 tickets!
So we got up, stopped at IHOP for breakfast, and drove to the park. My goal, of course, was to ride as many of the park's legendary roller coasters as possible. And we started off in a BIG way by riding X, billed as "the world's first 4th-dimenional roller coaster". The cars sit off to either side of the track, and they spin a full 360 degrees! Unfortunately, the line took over an hour, which we should have anticipated. Once we were on the ride, though - whoa! I've never actually lost track of my feet on a roller coaster before.
The long wait cut fairly significantly into our time, though, so we didn't get to as many coasters as I'd hoped. We missed Tatsu, the flying coaster, and Superman and Riddler's Revenge and Batman and Goliath. We did go on Colossus, the famous double-tracked wooden coaster, and Scream, their floorless coaster, which was my favorite of the day.
At one point, we passed by a blue and green coaster that I recognized from the "Roller Coaster Tycoon" computer game series. (They have licensed Six Flags coasters in the games.) "I've seen that coaster before," I remarked ... then I laughed when I realized I had just said that about a coaster named Deja Vu.
We did a few other rides, then had dinner at the Mooseburger Lodge before departing at around 6:00pm.
Jeb drove most of the way home, for which I was grateful; I was pretty tired! Brittany and Rachel sat in the back reading entertainment magazines. (Rachel: "Anyone want to know why Cameron Diaz can't find love?" Me: "No, I want to know why *I* can't find love. Let Cameron Diaz worry about herself.")
Finally, shortly after 11:00pm, we arrived back home. I took what I could carry upstairs, and pretty much just collapsed into bed. What a weekend! So, when's the next convention?