Friday, I went down to Chicago to watch the taping of my good friend Steve Marmel’s new TNN talk show, Pop Across America. It starts airing in late August, and it’s very, VERY funny. I’ll update things here as they go.If you get a chance, check the show’s taping schedule (it travels to various cities) and try and catch it. It’s a great time!
Saturday, Judith and I went to watch the Madison Savoyards perform Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe. It was excellent. I was very impressed. The company performs a G&G piece once a year, and I’m very sorry I haven’t seen more of them. My cartooning partner Liz Rathke (Newbies, SnapDragons) did the set design, and her sister Susan was part of the male (!) chorus. I snagged a Gilbert and Sullivan T-shirt. I’m such a goober sometimes.
Then we went to watch the final Madison show of System In Station, the band my wife’s cousin Ryan fronts. They’re moving to Portland, Oregon, and Madison will miss them. If you’re into power trios with an edge, this is definitely a band you’ll love.
Finally, I HAD to make sure I didn’t leave for GenCon without posting these pictures. They’re from the first-ever Dork Tower Live Action Theater production that I’ve ever heard about, held at the Demon Con convention in Nürnberg, Germany a few weeks back.
I really love visiting Germany, and the fact that Dork Tower seems to be popular there is wonderful.
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Oliver Graute of Feder&Schwert as Sith, Dark Lord of Mudbay… In the background we can see Gilly. The ears are fabulous! (Feder&Schwert is the company that released Dork Covenant in German. They’ll also be importing the entire Dork Tower line into Germany! Woo-Hoo!) |
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The dramatic scene where our favorite RPG group follows the Demon Lord into hell (note Carson sitting between Ken and Igor).
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Igor doesn’t impress Matt, his next victim. This is a scene from "Night In The City," from Dork Tower #2 and Dork Covenant. This is my favorite of all the pictures because I knew *exactly* what scene it was just from the expressions on the actors’ faces. That’s Tobi Putzofrom the Dork Tower Mailing List as Ken. The full list of actors is below.
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"Drat! Disaster! Discovered! Time to turn invisible!" (From the same story). Note Carson in the background behind Ken, plus giant nose!
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Letraset the Vampire (Igor) uses all his powers against Willi, playing Igor, is the local game store owner. He shaved off his beard for the role. Now THAT is method acting! |
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The unfortunate but deserved demise of Carson, as Jar-Jar Binks, from Dork Tower #6 and Dork Covenant.
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A close-up of Carson/Jar-Jar, as he meets his fate!
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DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Matt – Matthias Wiedemann (who is nicknamed “Matze”; coincidence?)
Igor – Stefan “Willi” Will
Ken – Tobi Putzo
Carson – Sandro Salaris
Gilly – Marlis Polziehn
Clan Toreaspelling Harpy – Jezebel Richter (Jezebel – a REAL name for a goth)
Matt’s Date – Astrid “Kiwi” Hopf
Princess of Darkness – Sinja Neubauer
Walden/Sith – Oliver Graute
If you can’t tell, I’m over the moon about this. It is just SO cool! I wish I had been there to see it! But thanks to everyone for doing this, and a special thanks to Juergen Mayer for the photos!
See you at GenCon!