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.

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!)

LA ALERT!: Kitty's back in a moving social play, "Ladyhouse Blues"

One of the founding aims of TREKLAND: The Blog! was to keep up with what other projects the far-flung Trek family has gone on to, both before the camera and behind it—or, back in the realm of live performance, both on stage and backstage.

Kitty Swink and husband Armin Shimerman have been among those here in our pages who have been happy to share a current project, so I'm happy to help Kitty wrap up the current run of a powerful play in L.A. she shared with us, Kevin O'Morrison's 1979 "Ladyhouse Blues." This Andak Theatre production ends next weekend, March 24, with 8 p.m. shows Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. matinees Saturday and Sunday—all at the small-house NewPlace Studio Theatre in North Hollywood. All the ticket and performance info you need is here.

Kitty plays Liz (in center at left), the widowed matriarch of four daughters who live in a  man-less 1919 St. Louis tenement dubbed a "ladyhouse," so named for the missing husbands and sons gone to war typical of urban areas during and right after World War I . The LA Times had a great interview with Kitty, where she joked to me "managed to talk more about Star Trek than the play." Kitty, of course, played twice on DS9: as Bajoran Minister Rozahn in "Sanctuary" (below right) and as a Vorta, Luaran, in "Tacking Into the Wind."



She has the only Trek connection in the all-female cast of "Ladyhouse Blues," although Antak co-founder Dakin Matthews did play Janeway mentor Admiral Patterson in Voyager's "Relativity."

This is your final chance weekend to catch "Ladyhouse Blues," so catch one of the last four performances, will you? It's a great revival of the 1976 play and and covers so many levels: rural to urban migration, labor activism, women's roles in transition—plus the never-ending crap of bureaucracy and poltics....all from the standpoint of a strong woman raising more just like her, in a time of great social upheaval.

Pitch in: It's Armin in drag for the Antaeus Theatre

Shades of "Profit and Lace!"

No, this is not my video—but some choice bits shared by Armin Shimerman and Kitty Swink from their current group, the Antaeus Theatre, whom we've seen and mentioned before. The Antaeus bills itself as L.A.'s classical theatre ensemble—and that goes for the obscure as well as well-known plays.

But today I wanted  to share one of three videos for the Antaeus' end-of-year tax-deductible donor season (makes a nice gift!)—this one emphasizes how the company double-casts all plays so "the show can go on" on those days when cast members might otherwise get auditions or even gigs.

You'll also spot Linda "Hoshi" Park right up front— but keep watching, and you can catch another Treklander in a dress, too ...

See the other videos and pics, read about their education classes and outreach, and make a donation at their website here.

STV: LA ALERT: Gates on TNG and her theatre's new rep

Of all of Star Trek's storied casts, not all the favorite faces are as prevalent on the con circuit for fans as others—though their popularity remains and even grows with each year.

Thankfully, the coming of so many national conventions lining up Next Generation tributes for the show's 25th anniversary means a lot of fans have been catching up this year more than usual with our own "Dancing Doctor" Crusher, Gates McFadden.

Gates' pet project—well, full-time job, actually—is her love of and return to live theatre as owner of the Atwater Village Theatre just east of Griffith Park near Glendale, and as artistic director of its resident Ensemble Studio Theatre-Los Angeles with its focus on encouraging and producing all-new original plays.

If you're in SoCal or plan to visit soon, THIS weekend on Sept. 15 opens the first of those new plays coming in rep, "Year of the Rabbit"—and the rest I'll let her brag about on video... after a requisite chat about everyone's favorite first sequel to classic Star Trek:

LA ALERT: Manu & Kipleigh in TRIGGERS this Monday

Those in the SoCal area this Monday, April 23 have a great (and economical) chance to see two Treklanders in a new film noir stage piece for Noah Wyle's Blank Theatre Company: Manu "Icheb" Intiraymi of Voyager "droneling" fame, and Kipleigh Brown, "Crewman Jane Taylor" in Enterprise's "The Forgotten" and co-star of the praised indie hit Yesterday Was a Lie (with Chase "Leeta" Masterson.)
Manu and Kipleigh are both in the cast of a one-night-only staged reading of TRIGGERS, a neo-noir psychological drama about a disgraced police detective who's haunted (literally and figuratively) by decisions in her past. Directed by Yesterday was a Lie's James Kerwin and written by Val Stulman, the stellar cast also includes Catherine O'Connor, Warren Davis, and James Ellis Lane.

It's all at the Blank Theatre Company's 2nd Stage Theatre, 6500 Santa Monica Blvd. (at Wilcox)
in Hollywood, 90038. Admission is a suggested donation to the theatre of $10.

I'm told there is limited space, so reserve seats soon if you'd like to go: just email info@theblank.com for reservations.

The Blank Theatre Company was founded in Hollywood in 1990 for the enrichment of Hollywood's cultural life through production of first-rate theatre, education of current and future artists, and creation of groundbreaking new works for the theatrical repertoire. TRIGGERS is part of the Blank's Living Room Series, which runs nearly every Monday night from Labor Day to Memorial Day, presenting "workshop" plays to the public.

A Quark/Worf dinner? Castle, Buffy? Big Bang visit? Bid NOW in Antaeus Theatre auction through Oct. 7

UPDATE 10/7/11: Prizes changed, date corrected: BIDDING ENDS TODAY!

Okay, kids, you have ONE WEEK left for some truly unique goodies:

Whether you live in SoCal or not, there's 86 items large and small now up for bid for an online fund-raiser auction through Oct. 7 for the Antaeus Company, L.A.'s classical theatre troupe that includes the likes of oh, say, Armin Shimerman and Kitty Swink, and a host of others you'll know.


You can bid on a dinner with DS9'ers Armin, Kitty, and Michael Dorn ... or similar dinners those from Buffy or 24 (below) ... a lunch with Castle's Seamus Deaver and show goodies ... original art from Rene "Odo" Auberjonois  ... much less a cast-hosted set visit to The Big Bang Theory (left) or Body of Proof (Jeffrey "Tahnna Los" Nordling). Or further afield: a cooking lesson with Top Chef fan-fave Fabio Viviani or an in-home fondue party with Emily Bergl of Desperate Housewives ... And many more: There's cool photos, scripts and signed items, rare cast gifts (like a DS9 Season 6 jacket), and even more live services, in-home dinners and gift certificates.

Kitty points out The Antaeus includes a slew of other actors with Trek and sci-fi connections, with but a few being Joe "Galt" Ruskin, Kurtwood "Annorax/President" Smith, Chelsea Field (Scott Bakula's partner), Richard "Admiral Paris" Herd, Gregory Itzin, JD "Toral" Cullum, Adrian LaTourelle (Rene's son-in-law), Bob Pine (Chris "Kirk '09" Pine's dad), Lawrence "Tekeny Ghemor" Pressman, Rhonda "Dixon Hill's Madeline" Aldrich, and Josh "Lt. Carey" Clark. Not to mention Tony Amendola (Stargate), Harry Groener (Buffy—and Tam Elbrun/ Nathan Samuels), Paul Eiding (voices for dozens of sci-fi games), Arye Gross (Minority Report), and Joel Swetow (Charmed).

The trustable website biddingforgood.com is handling the online auction, so you know it's in reliable hands. Check it all out today and find all kinds of genre and actor goodies up for bids to help The Antaeus—some of them on the real "up close and personal" side.

Set to open at The Antaeus Oct. 20 is the rare 1947 Noel Coward xomedy-drama "Peace in Our Time," the American debut of Coward's what-if look at his beloved England under Nazis occupation —with 22 roles, all double-cast. It is slated to run through Dec. 11.

L.A. ALERT: Hurry! Glorious "Solitude" with Robert Beltran is back through this weekend

What does this tell you: the all-sensual theatre piece "Solitude" is back for a short run through THIS Sunday June 19, and this week we saw it for the third time. For one of those earlier visits, we'd even paid for the tickets!

That's meant to be a great compliment. Our own Robert "Chakotay" Beltran is even better than the September 2009 first run, as is the entire cast—as is all the glorious music, gilt title projections, and "dance of life" choreography. The cast includes playwright Evelina Fernandez, too—who discusses it here, with a video to boot. Robert made a playful YouTube pitch to Trek fans for the 2009 run, too, which I posted here back then.

The play is being reprised as part of the RADAR international theatre festival going on this week in L.A., but plans are to take it on the road. I've not enjoyed such an all-immersive treat for the senses from a stage in ages, if ever—we just love that wall of music as the characters individually line-dance into each new scene, and even reset the stage. (And yes, it's 98% in English.)

Tickets are still out there for today and Sunday! You won't regret it! And you'll learn who Octavio Paz is, to boot.

LA ALERT: Your weekend? Theatre with Armin & Kitty, dinner with Cirroc!

This should be a no-brainer if you're in SoCal looking for a great weekend Trekland date:

So, let us review:
First, get tickets for Armin and Kitty's Irish play "Juno and the Paycock" at the Odyssey Theatre that we chatted and told you about, near Wilshire and Sepulveda (half-priced tickets at Goldstar) ...




... and then head just south, down Sepulveda to Jefferson, and have "before" or "after" dinner with Cirroc and his lovely Sara at their self-named Cafe Cirroc and Sara the Wine Cellar, as he described to us last fall (And yes, there's a very good chance he'll be there pleasing patrons):

STV: LA ALERT: See Kitty and Armin in Irish classic "Juno and the Paycock"

Talk about timeless: According to Armin "Quark" Shimerman, Irish national playwright hero Sean O'Casey's 1920s classic "Juno and the Paycock" is a comedy set against the Irish civil war—or as he says, "The Honeymooners during the U.S. Civil War"—and has something to reflect on about all the conflicts today at their root affecting local folks. What's more, Kitty has the title lead as matriarch Juno; Armin plays the "paycock's" best friend and enabler.

The show runs through June 5 at the Odyssey Theatre in South LA along Sepulveda— but here, let Arin and Kitty tell you about it ...and the other Treklanders involved!:



Did you catch Armin and Kitty's convention appearance list for 2011 in there, too?

The Odyssey Theatre also has an excellent preview trailer up on YouTube:

LA ALERT: Hurry!—See Robert Beltran in "Devil's Advocate"

Apologies for being slow with the note... but if you SoCal fans want to see Robert Beltran in a whoie new light from his Chakotay persona of Voyager fame—run don't walk downtown this weekend to LATC for Devil's Advocate, a mix of bravura performances and a take on recent secret politics I fear is all too real.

In its U.S. premiere here by the Latino Theater Company, the play captures the astounding true events of late December 1989, when Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega finally went too far and triggered an American invasion to capture and return him to trial on lowly drug charges in Miami. Between the invasion and the capture, however, Noriega first sought refuge in the Vatican embassy in Panama City—and there, under the ostensible "protection" of papal ambassador Archbishop Jose Sebastian Laboa, is the two-day time frame of the play. Laboa was also still carrying the medieval Vatican title of "devil's advocate"—and hence the all-too-ironic title of the play, and his own agenda—one theory as to how Noriega was finally broken. Playwright Donald Freed is known for the sharp political point and dialog of his plays; director Jose Luis Valenzuela is known simply for his recent honored hits at LATC.

Oh, did I mention the two actors? The only two? Yes, Robert and Tom Fitzpatrick (above) share the stage the entire 90 minutes of the two-act play. Add to that a casting hiccup that brought Fitzpatrick to the show only two weeks shy of the delayed opening, and the intensity is all the more amazing. It's really a tour de force for Robert... or as SoCal.com says: "If, however, you are up for being entertained by some great acting and expert directing, both of which are enhanced by a beautifully designed set, then be assured that this show embodies that theatrical trinity."  

But hurry—the 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday shows and 2 p.m. Sunday matinee was extended but will close April 24 at the Los Angeles Theater Center, 514 S. Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles.  General admission is $35,  students and seniors $20 at 866-811-4111 or http://www.thelatc.org —or try half-price general tickets via Goldstar.

Best of all—we just saw where Valenzuela's wonderfully organic 2009 production of Solitude last year, which included Robert in the cast, is back with the original cast for a June 14-26 revival run back at LATC this year, prior to a hoped-for national tour. Stay tuned, but do NOT miss it if you can!

LA ALERT!: Ethan Phillips in world premiere "WIREHEAD", closes March 14

Hey, our own Ethan "Neelix" Phillips is currently in the world premiere of Echo Theatre's "Wirehead," running at Stage 52 (5299 W. Washington Blvd. in LA, 90016) and the reviews are raving. Ethan sat down to talk before the premiere about this rarest of plays, a sci-fi story, and his "shock jock" role as Rip—plus lots more work... so much so that here's just Part I:



We want to thank Ethan and Stage 52's Chris Fields for having us in for "Wirehead" on opening night: it's funny but edgy, with some barebones but clever staging and effects. Stop me if you've heard this before, Treksters, but the play follows two work buddies and their women forced to ponder how we hang on to our humanity in the midst of rampant technology and change? And is too much a danger—especially if it "improves the species"?

But let Ethan tell you all about it, and then hurry for tickets: with perfs on Fridays, Saturday and Sundays, this "comedy thriller" has just six shows left until its scheduled closing on Sunday, March 14. A great way to spend some weekend hours in gutsy live theatre with a rare sci-fi core.

And stay tuned for Part 2 with Ethan, and his thoughts on Trek then and now.

L.A. ALERT: Go see Jeff and Robert: 2 incredible shows

The stars must have aligned this week —no pun intended—for Treklanders in theatre, and us to be able to go see them! For anyone in SoCal now, lemme give you a two-fer entry about two must-sees the next few weeks that just floored us:

Jeff Combs' one-man play Nevermore as Edgar Allen Poe is incredibly wide-ranging and engaging for the one-man format—and just got extended again through October to Halloween! More with him later here ... but see details for now...

And then Saturday night I tweeted "great, unexpected, stylized show!" after seeing Robert Beltran waaaaay far from Chakotay in the world premiere of Solitude at Los Angeles Theatre Center downtown, with the playwright in the cast. It runs Thursdays thru Sundays til Oct. 4; check it out!

And check out this special "Solitude" shout-out to Trek fans from Robert ... in his own wry style ...

"Misalliance": Armin does Shaw!

Fresh off his time on the debut session of "Spirit of Star Trek," Armin "Quark" Shimerman passes along info for his next project: an ambitious stage production of George Bernard Shaw's "Misalliance," a delightful romp about the chased and the chaser—and a very modern view of women that's years ahead of its time, but in that crisp, veddy British fun way.

The Rosalind Productions show is done in period style—and as Armin told me, it's a "centennial celebration": the classic first opened in London on May 31, 1909, right at a hundred years ago. At right, Armin plays Lord Summerhays opposite Abigail Rose Solomon (Christopher Moscatiello photo), just one of the English countryside couples who are set into wacky matrimonial motion amid old- and new-money fortunes, a crashed pilot and his Polish acrobat/aviatrix, and some Victorian ideals turned inside out all around!

Fo SoCal'ers who can make plans to go, "Misalliance" opens today with a run through April 19 at the Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles 90025: shows are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. The large cast also include Greg Mullavey (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and The Bold and The Beautiful) and Nick Mennell (the new Friday the 13th). Tickets are going fast, plus the March 26 show is a "pay what you can" performance. Check out the website or call the theatre at 310-477‐2055, or 310-358-2789 for more info.