A real 'killer' con gig for me—for the Sooner!

Well, this is fun: There's nothing like a shoutout from your old hometown, all in the name of a good cause.

But did I just pick up another convention appearance this year?

The historic Sooner Theatre Foundation back in Norman, OK (also home to Football Ground Zero) has a recent tradition of hosting cute, themed original murder mystery dinner musicals each winter to help fund its youth programs.

And it looks like I just became a local accessory to the deed. 

Proving the geeks HAVE won, this year's extravaganza is  "Sci-Fi Murder Con," an interactive whodunit running three nights this weekend that is peppered with characters supposedly attending the USFUS, or "United Science Fiction Universe Society," per local attorney, theatre booster and onetime State Student Council Workshop mate-of-mine Ben Odom.


"The plot is Star Trek vs. Star Wars for control of the United Fan Convention—the Kirk type gets murdered, and Dr Who is the detective," Ben tells me. "I play a fan (below, at left) who dresses up as a TOS Klingon and writes fan fiction."

And here's the kicker:

In the best spirit of any Trek graphic goodie, he listed moi as the con's "keynote speaker"!


"The  'program' is a stage prop we point to at times in the show, so there is only a front and back cover to it. But I thought this would be a little in-joke for some in Norman… and a fun salute to your Trek cred !" 

"We are sold out for the three nights already," he adds. "It will raise all the money needed for youth programs for the theater."
 


And if I can be a guest at another great local con with a charity like that—who am I to quibble that it's all fictional?


Thanks, Ben, for the great nod from some of the homies who remember me—and recall that I was involved with the old Can-Do Follies at the Sooner during the depressing oil bust years of the '80s.  (In fact, the "networking" button I wore as Caleb McCoy in Allison Winter's Divine White web series was THE button we had for the troupe and the spirit-raising campaign back then.)


If you are in the area, why not check out the ticket status just in case  get yourself to downtown Norman for a great rollicking cause?  Just don't blame me if the USFUS concomm never comes to pick me up at the airport.

In Seattle? See this summer's Outdoor Trek, 'Amok Time'

If it's Trekland in the summer in Seattle, then it must be time for "Outdoor Trek"—a live Trek-in-the-park by the homegrown Hello Earth troupe that plays for donations as a non-profit, and offers an innovative, fun, Shakespeare-esque approach to minimalist staging, the Redshirts backing band, and "blind-sex" casting.

Here's my impromptu vidchat (below) with director Joy DeLyria and Kris "Kirk" Hambrick at Emerald City Comic-Con in 2014 (just before my panel!) and their goals and history—but the keys are all the same as they are for this summer's offering, "Amok Time". Listen for their intriguing thoughts about Star Trek's boldness, then and now, and translating that via today's cultural and gender points of view.

The group, with assistant to the producers Phillip Duff along (and standing just off-camera here), took their cue from Portland's "Trek in the Park," which since has run its planned five summers and ended. The Seattle crew has received good press and support locally, as well as around the fandomosphere, and has no plans for stopping with a similar five-years-only mission: The tell me that show number six is due to follow for 2016, and audience-goers once again vote by coin and cash for their choice among finalist titles for the next year's TOS script.

Check the links to the website and their Facebook for more details, both under Hello Earth (Twitter too) ...but "Amok Time" performances are 7 pm Saturday and 2 pm Sundays in Blanche Lavizzo Park, with pre-show musical guests an hour prior (Marc Okrand helped kick off opening weekend!), and food trucks on hand an hour before that. See the video for images as well from past and current park-TOS moments (Photos by This Apeture, Phil Duff, and others).



OH—and I love the live stage transporter beams.

LA ALERT: Armin's back in 'Discord' through Dec. 21

If you missed our own Armin "Quark" Shimerman in the new play last spring about three historical bigwigs who edited their own Bibles finding themselves trapped in a limbo together across time and space in a battle of wits and whys… here's your chance to see the show on a bigger stage, even more refined.

Yes, the same cast—which also include onetime Trek guest star Larry Cedar as Thomas Jefferson, to Armin's Count Tolstoy and David Melville's Charles Dickens—gets an up-tweak now at the Geffen Theatre in a run that's already won rave reviews around town and a one-month extension to boot. It plays weeknights at 8 p.m. through Dec. 21 except for Mondays, with double showtimes on weekends: 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Check out the play website and remaining tickets for Geffen’s Audrey Skirball Theatre at 10886 Le Conte, or call 310-208-5454.

For more on "Discord" itself, written by Real Time With Bill Maher exec producer Scott Carter, there's always our prior Trekland post here ... as well as our backstage, post-play chat with Armin about the play's themes and playing Tolstoy within it.  Ignore the detail s of that small-theatre run; stick with the play's core and Armin's basic thoughts about it—and Tolstoy.  You'll notice that this upgraded production has given Armin's Tolstoy a much more sophisticated makeup and costume (seen in photo at left):

STV—L.A. ALERT! Catch Armin by Feb. 16 in witty, thoughtful DISCORD on stage at NoHo Arts Center

Our vidchat is below the fold....

But if you are in SoCal over the next week, HURRY and catch Armin Shimerman as Leo Tolstoy (yes, Mr. War and Peace himself) in this witty, thoughtful and world-premiere meetup of the Count, Thomas Jefferson and Charles Dickens staged at the NoHo Arts Center, 11136 Magnolia at Lankershim, 91601.

Real Time with Bill Maher exec producer Scott Carter realized that this historical trio each rewrote their own version of the Christian gospel at one point in their life, and he's thrown them together in an unlikely and friction-filled limbo while they and we sort out the reason why—and enjoy the era and worldview each evokes. The show runs Thursdays through Sundays through Feb. 23, although Armin leaves the cast after Feb. 16.

We had the chance to catch the last preview and, as Armin says in our chat below, the bare stage is betrayed by a few simple yet clever visual tricks and projections that keep you guessing until the main thrust of their mutual bedevilment kicks in. You also learn surprises about all three men, and Armin shares those he was most intrigued to find out: the same was true with three-time Trek vet Larry Cedar as Jefferson, and the animated David Melville as an equally animated Dickens. In the script, all three famous but unrelated men of different eras are thrown into debate while holding to their value and view of theology or morality—and. in turn, offer up a deep dark secret of their own, as well.

The show's had great reviews from the LA Times, among others around town, and you can read much more about Carter's journey with the script here and at JDTProject.com. But hurry: get tickets for the last shows at nohoace.com or call 818-508-7101 (ext 6). Tell'em Larry's Trekland sentya!

And get a head start here with Armin, fresh from that last preview and full of Tolstoy surprises.... (Gandhi? Who KNEW!?)

LA ALERT: Armin's LOL in mockumentary teaser for play

As you wait for your Into Darkness tickets, SoCal, check out this offbeat trailer for a new production of Arthur Miller's classic "The Crucible," co-starring our own Armin "Quark" Shimerman. The promo trailer, that is—not the play, which he co-directs.


Miller's timeless statement about literal witchhunts has nothing to do with DS9, Buffy... or Mad Men (watch it), or even The Office ...  but Armin and co-director Geoffrey "Hot Tooth" Wade shine in this offbeat approach to promoting the play.  And the show's befuddled cast are along for the ride.

Too much fun!

So, SoCal-ers... go see another fine Anteus production weekends May 16-July 7 (see info here) from Armin and Kitty and et al's troupe, L.A.'s classical theatre company. It's not the first time we've told you about Antaeus ... or that they have stooped to such tomfoolery for attention! (And look for a cameo of wife Kitty in the tag!)