Trooping The Museum Of Science And Industry
On Saturday, January 11, a group of us from Wisconsin traveled south of the "Cheese Curtain" to visit Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. It was the final weekend of the Star Wars "Where Science Meets Imagination" exhibit, and Midwest Garrison of the 501st Legion wanted to make it a large trooping weekend Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Unfortunately, because of space issues and logistics, only twenty members were allowed to troop each day. I was able to sign up for Saturday, but then after spraining my ankle, I decided to go only as costume support/photographer, much to the dismay of the event organizer, Phyllis, who really wanted me to be in costume. I almost did; up until the time I woke up on Saturday, I told myself I'd armor up if my ankle felt up to it. It didn't, so I didn't.
Now, I had seen the exhibit before, so when we were told that due to high demand by the public, chances were that we would not be able to squeeze in to see the exhibit, I wasn't that disappointed. Truth be told, I much preferred the "Magic of Myth" exhibit that toured the country in 2000. An update to that show -- to include costumes and props from Episodes II and III -- would be highly desirable, in my estimation.
I got up at 6:00am that Saturday since I had to be at Beret's place by 7:15am. We made excellent time and got to the museum by 9:25. We were supposed to meet up at 9:30, so we were quite happy with the timing. After a short wait at the staff entrance, we were escorted to the changing area, where we saw a lot of people already starting to get into costume. Hellos and small talk were exchanged, and then we all marveled at Tom squeezing into his C-3PO costume. Now, even if I were in the right shape to fit into a protocol droid costume, I wouldn't -- that sucker is such a tight fit, there is almost no empty space inside. He has cardboard flaps placed over his ears to protect them as the front half of his helmet is attached and screwed into place. (When he gets out of the costume, he has to roll into a ball position just to let his muscles contract and expand properly again.)
Tom, I salute you for doing that; Lord knows, I wouldn't.
At 10:30, we head out into the Great Hall, and let me tell you -- it's somewhat surreal to be heading down an escalator among a bunch of Star Wars characters. And it's even more surreal to see Darth Vader and C-3PO exit an elevator.
But the looks on the kids' faces are priceless. There were many times I saw kids (of all ages) just stare in awe at Vader or the C-3PO or the Stormtrooper or Boba Fett. Parents took pictures of their kids, girlfriends took pictures of boyfriends, husbands took pictures of wives -- and the line to get a picture with Vader and the troopers was always long. I suppose the fact you could get your picture taken as you held a Master Replicas' lightsaber had something to do with that.
I think C-3PO and Vader were the biggest hits; Vader, well, is Vader -- everyone loves the Dark Lord of the Sith. And I think there are some people who don't expect Threepio to be able to interact with them, so when Tom shakes hands and waves -- mimicking Anthony Daniels' portrayal with great accuracy, mind -- it's like he's actually come from Tattooine to be there.
We took pictures until 1:00pm, took a lunch break, then headed back out until 3:00 or so. There was some confusion as we were moved around by the MSI staff; originally, we were by the gift shop, but then we were told to move to a different spot to keep traffic flowing. Then, after lunch, we were herded back to the gift shop. I fully expected staff to move us again because there was a crowd starting to form at the base of the escalators, which might have proved to be
problematic.
After the trooping event was officially done, Gregg, Beret, Sara, I and someone whose name escapes me headed to the Millennium Falcon simulation. I had been able to get a few tickets at the beginning of the day; that was the one thing I missed when I visited MSI back in November. And the interior hallway of the simulation looked great... but the cockpit wasn't much like the actual Falcon cockpit. And I didn't expect the video to be so educational, but since the entire
WSMI exhibit was talking about Star Wars technology and real-world equivalent technology, I shouldn't have been surprised.
All in all, it was a fun day, even if I wasn't in costume. I got some good pictures, got to hang out with some great friends, and I got to see some great reactions. I hope that another Star Wars traveling exhibit is created in a few years and brings more items from the Lucasfilm archives to the area.
Pictures from this event are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/skyjammer/sets/72157603661358386/.
Unfortunately, because of space issues and logistics, only twenty members were allowed to troop each day. I was able to sign up for Saturday, but then after spraining my ankle, I decided to go only as costume support/photographer, much to the dismay of the event organizer, Phyllis, who really wanted me to be in costume. I almost did; up until the time I woke up on Saturday, I told myself I'd armor up if my ankle felt up to it. It didn't, so I didn't.
Now, I had seen the exhibit before, so when we were told that due to high demand by the public, chances were that we would not be able to squeeze in to see the exhibit, I wasn't that disappointed. Truth be told, I much preferred the "Magic of Myth" exhibit that toured the country in 2000. An update to that show -- to include costumes and props from Episodes II and III -- would be highly desirable, in my estimation.
I got up at 6:00am that Saturday since I had to be at Beret's place by 7:15am. We made excellent time and got to the museum by 9:25. We were supposed to meet up at 9:30, so we were quite happy with the timing. After a short wait at the staff entrance, we were escorted to the changing area, where we saw a lot of people already starting to get into costume. Hellos and small talk were exchanged, and then we all marveled at Tom squeezing into his C-3PO costume. Now, even if I were in the right shape to fit into a protocol droid costume, I wouldn't -- that sucker is such a tight fit, there is almost no empty space inside. He has cardboard flaps placed over his ears to protect them as the front half of his helmet is attached and screwed into place. (When he gets out of the costume, he has to roll into a ball position just to let his muscles contract and expand properly again.)
Tom, I salute you for doing that; Lord knows, I wouldn't.
At 10:30, we head out into the Great Hall, and let me tell you -- it's somewhat surreal to be heading down an escalator among a bunch of Star Wars characters. And it's even more surreal to see Darth Vader and C-3PO exit an elevator.
But the looks on the kids' faces are priceless. There were many times I saw kids (of all ages) just stare in awe at Vader or the C-3PO or the Stormtrooper or Boba Fett. Parents took pictures of their kids, girlfriends took pictures of boyfriends, husbands took pictures of wives -- and the line to get a picture with Vader and the troopers was always long. I suppose the fact you could get your picture taken as you held a Master Replicas' lightsaber had something to do with that.
I think C-3PO and Vader were the biggest hits; Vader, well, is Vader -- everyone loves the Dark Lord of the Sith. And I think there are some people who don't expect Threepio to be able to interact with them, so when Tom shakes hands and waves -- mimicking Anthony Daniels' portrayal with great accuracy, mind -- it's like he's actually come from Tattooine to be there.
We took pictures until 1:00pm, took a lunch break, then headed back out until 3:00 or so. There was some confusion as we were moved around by the MSI staff; originally, we were by the gift shop, but then we were told to move to a different spot to keep traffic flowing. Then, after lunch, we were herded back to the gift shop. I fully expected staff to move us again because there was a crowd starting to form at the base of the escalators, which might have proved to be
problematic.
After the trooping event was officially done, Gregg, Beret, Sara, I and someone whose name escapes me headed to the Millennium Falcon simulation. I had been able to get a few tickets at the beginning of the day; that was the one thing I missed when I visited MSI back in November. And the interior hallway of the simulation looked great... but the cockpit wasn't much like the actual Falcon cockpit. And I didn't expect the video to be so educational, but since the entire
WSMI exhibit was talking about Star Wars technology and real-world equivalent technology, I shouldn't have been surprised.
All in all, it was a fun day, even if I wasn't in costume. I got some good pictures, got to hang out with some great friends, and I got to see some great reactions. I hope that another Star Wars traveling exhibit is created in a few years and brings more items from the Lucasfilm archives to the area.
Pictures from this event are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/skyjammer/sets/72157603661358386/.