puppetmaker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
puppetmaker) wrote2004-07-13 01:12 pm
puppetmaker) wrote2004-07-13 01:12 pm
The Rest of the Magic Dance Saga
When we last left our story our intrepid costumer was trying to figure out how she was going to finish all the costume pieces she had to finish before time was up....
Thursday
I awoke at 6:30 Thursday morning with that feeling in the pit of my stomach that I have gotten in over my head and that more water was rushing in so I will never surface. So I switched to stage management mode as I call it. One thing at a time. One crises at a time.
The one piece I have been dreading making was the chest plate for Jareth. I had done a million freeze frames on the first outfit and knew what they had done by this point. The how to do it was becoming a bit of an issue. I had several ideas which I abandoned for various reasons. A moment of clarity came to me at 3 am that morning so I slept soundly until 6:30. I sculpted the figures out of clay and paper clay. I paper mached the whole breast plate trying to get it thick enough to hold together but thin enough to bend just a bit. Took a bit longer than I though it would to finish the whole thing.
I took Ariel on the quest for the perfect Bowie Makeup. Fortunately we have a store in the area that is nothing but make up and hair care products at deep discounts. I was able to compare and contrast quite a few different brands of makeup. My limitation was that I react very badly to most makeup especially around my eyes. I went to Michaels Crafts for some leather string and one or two odds and ends.
I sat down at my sewing machine and finished everything that had to be stitched on the machine. Goblin shirts done. Velcro to everything that needed Velcro done. Peter went into the city to see Jumpers while Ariel gave me much help with Caroline who knew something was going on and wasn’t quite happy about it. At 10:00 I made the decision that all hand stitching could be done at the convention. I aged all the armor for the goblins and went to bed about 1 am with only a little packing done.
Friday
I woke up at 7:00 and rolled out of bed. I started packing up the costume pieces first and got together the kit I needed to finish the costumes. As I packed, I found one or two small things that needed the sewing machine. Fixed those and went onto the next things. I packed our regular clothing, food for the baby, the props for Monty Sauron (We had to bring the Giant Killer Bunny), and the various other things we bring on our trips to Shoreleave and Farpoint. Peter came back with the van at 10:20 and we packed and were out on the road for Maryland by 11:30 (1/2 an hour later than I wanted but what are you going to do)
Caroline fell asleep about 15 minutes into the trip. We watched “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” so Danicah could really understand Monty Sauron's Flying Nazgul. Caroline woke up about the time that the movie ended. After that we tried” Labyrinth” but Caroline objected so we put on “Finding Nemo” which she loves. We finished off the drive with “Emperor’s New Groove” and made it down to the Hunt Valley Inn in 5 hours 15 minutes which is close to a personal best.
I took the night off from costuming so I could visit with old friends and catch up on news and gossip. I took Caroline with me to get our badges and many people who see her every 6 months or so commented on how big she was getting. I started unpacking various costume pieces and gave a grateful sigh of relief that nothing had broken. The “Meet the Authors” Party was crowded and noisy so I am glad that Caroline had corked off and the girls were baby-sitting her. Peter signed a lot of autographs for fans and I signed my first copy of Negima along with Peter. Kinda Cool.
Saturday
Peter said to me, “You are off baby duty until the costumes are done. Let us take care of it.” Beth brought Caroline’s cousins Sarah (3) and Emma (1 and a bit) to visit. The cousins romped and Beth and I caught up on what had been happening in our lives while I put hooks and eyes on all the costumes that needed hooks and eyes. I used 6 of them to attach the cloak to the jerkin which held the breast plate for the Goblin King. As I finished something, I put it with the other pieces of that costume and then looked at the costume to see what needed to be finished. The cousins wore each other out and Caroline went down for a nap. Beth took Sarah and Emma off for their naps. I finished the webbing on Goblin #1 so Ariel could wear her mask during our rehearsal. She asked if I could because she had some concerns about her ability to see
We had a rehearsal at 2 pm for the actual presentation. I had asked my sister-in-law- Beth to be my second Goblin and I will always be grateful to her for jumping at the last minute and saving my bacon. Peter choreographs the sequence and has us run through it a bunch of times. Caroline does OK until we do it again the 4th time and then she has had it. We handed her off to Danicah and finished the rehearsal. The big variable was going to be Caroline.
Everyone left me alone with the knowledge that I wanted to see them back in the room at 5:30. I went into overdrive trying to finish the pieces that needed to be done to finish out the costumes to my liking. The collar torque that I built to hold up the collar just didn’t work and I couldn’t make it work so I abandoned it. Danicah and Ariel showed up on time and got dressed. Ariel went down with her helmet, Goblin face, and gloves under her arm to check in for us. Danicah took care of Caroline while I sewed the last piece on the Goblin King’s cape. At 6:15, I went into the Bathroom to recreate the Bowie Make-up. Caroline wandered in and watched me put on the make-up which was a good thing because she knew after I was all done that I was still Mommy. Danicah put Caroline in her costume and took her down to the Masquerade.
I packed up my repair kit and then got dressed. I got down to the green room at 6:55 to find no Beth. I knew this was a possibility since she has two kids that needed to be put to bed. Her husband Rande agreed to watch the kids so she could do this. Since I was entered in Workmanship, I kinda needed Beth. She showed up and put on her helmet, armor, and gloves. We met with the Workmanship judge who was very nice and asked many good questions about how I had done things and how I had solved some problems.
Then we waited and waited for the Masquerade to start. Caroline started to fuss. Peter took over and she went to sleep. Then the debated started of what to do if she was still asleep when the sketch started. We decided that I would roll the dice and take her sleeping self with me on stage. It started pretty much on time after one technical glitch was sorted out. I was getting progressively more nervous. Then my chest plate started falling off. I hadn’t attached the bottom correctly and it pulled away from the glue. Peter and I debated about the breast plate and one kind individual from the Masquerade staff said, “We have a stapler.” Solution! She stapled me into the breast plate so that we didn’t have to worry about it falling off during the sketch. We lined up and marched to the holding pen. We went right after the young ones because of Caroline. #7 was ready to go.
The Sketch
We started with the MC Dave Keffer reading off a short intro over the beginning of the piece. I walked on with a sleeping Caroline lip syncing to the song ‘Magic Dance’.
“I saw my Baby crying hard as babe could cry.
What could I do?
My baby’s love had gone and then my baby flew.”
I get to center stage and turn to show off the back of the costume and that I had a live baby Toby in my arms. As I turned back around Caroline woke up, pushed off my shoulder, looked around, saw she was on stage and broke out in a big grin.
“Nobody knew what kind of magic spell to use”
I point off stage as Toby watches the crowd
“Slime and Snails or Puppy Dogs Tails?
Thunder or Lighting?”
Beth and Ariel come on as Goblins doing a funky goblin dance to the music.
“And Baby Said...”
We all freeze and look at Caroline who waves to the audience
“Dance Magic Dance Magic Dance
Put that baby’s spell on me..”
As the Goblins have the audiences attention I dance off to the wings and swap out Caroline for a doll dressed up just like her.
“Jump Magic Jump Magic Jump”
I reenter upstage of the dancing Goblins tossing the doll just a little not more that I would a real baby then I start tossing the doll very high. [gasps from the audience. For a few seconds the illusion is complete so complete that one of the tech crew screams into the headset in panic only to be told from backstage not to worry its a doll]
“Put that magic jump on me
Slap that baby make him free”
Danicah runs on as Sarah and the Goblins and I proceeded to play keep away with the doll.
Musical Bridge
I toss the doll off stage and Sarah runs after it. She reenters with Toby all smiles and none the worse for wear. We boogie off the stage to much applause.
The Awards
We then take pictures and my brave Goblins become people again. We go in to see what we can see of the costume contest. Then there is the waiting for the judges with the various 1/2 time stuff some of it good some of it... some fans enjoy it just not my cuppa. My eyes are starting to really bother me. I thought if I used makeup that I hadn’t been allergic to before, I’d be OK this go around. Apparently not.
They give out the workmanship awards first. I have never won one of those at Shoreleave or Farpoint so that was one goal. I received a workmanship award for my sculpting of various parts of the costume. Yea me! We go up on stage leaving Caroline with Peter. She starts to protest. Peter puts her on stage and she runs to me to be picked up and smiles at the audience some more.
They move on to the category awards. Peter thinks we have a shot at 4. We don’t get first place fantasy which is the one I though we might get. Peter looks at me with concern and asks me if I am crying because we didn’t win that category. No, it is because my eyes have reached their limit with the make up and are tearing and starting to swell just a bit. Other awards are given that Peter thought we had a shot at. Then “Best Recreation” is announced. That is the one I want out of all the awards being given. Recreation means that you have recreated both the costumes and a moment of the original in people’s minds. I know I don’t have a snowball chance in the Sahara of getting best in show. I saw what was going to win there. I hear my name and I grab Caroline and got on stage with my crew. I let Danicah accept the award on our behalf since Michael Welch of “Joan of Arcadia” and “Star Trek; Insurrection” was giving out the award and she thinks he is cute. The rest of the awards are announced and many pictures were taken. I was happy but my eyes were getting worse.
The Rest of the Evening
We went to the room and I washed my face twice. Everyone was very happy with the wins. Danicah and Ariel got ready to go to 10 forward (the Saturday Night Dance) and Peter and I got dinner. Caroline was still very awake so we decide to go to 10 forward too. I had no pockets in the Jareth pants so I put my room key, $20 and my drivers license behind my badge. Something I had done a bunch of times. This time my badge somehow falls off probably from pushing through the crowd. I don’t notice this until I want to go back to the room because my eyes are screaming at me. The staff helped me look for the badge. I really didn’t care if someone took the $20. Room keys can be changed. The driver’s license is the pain in the butt to replace. So I inform the staff that it is missing and the hotel in case someone finds it when cleaning up. I go to bed and Peter deals with the munchkin until she goes to sleep.
Sunday
I emerge from my room and see the convention for more than 10 minutes. I go to Mystery Trekkie Theater first. My husband makes an announcement about my missing badge right before they start along with a few others. After Mystery Trekkie, I go to the Masquerade wrap up. I get my workmanship award and we discuss the contest as a whole and the individual costumes. I was too late to see the review of my costume group. I go down to see Peter on the way I am informed that my badge was found and I get it and my driver’s license back. The $20.00 is gone but a small loss compared to the license. I get to hang with some friends and have lunch with Beth, Rande and the Kids. We then go see “Monty Sauron’s Flying Nazgul”. They did a great job with Peter’s script and it was fun to watch. We went to dinner with the Greenburgers and the Welchs at a great restaurant called Gibby’s and a fun time was had by all. We got back to the Hotel. I packed as Peter kept Caroline out of my hair and tried to get her back to sleep. The girls ran off with Robbie and Katie Greenberger, Michael and Sarah Welch to play poker until all hours of the morning.
Monday
Finished packing and then drove back in the flash flood downpours that peppered the return journey. Took a bit longer to get home but we made it back and were very happy to be there.
All in all, I had a great time and I am very glad that I did the costume. It was one that I had wanted to do for years. This was my last chance since Caroline is growing at a rapid pace and by the next convention will probably be too big for it. This was my swan song. I probably will still do costumes for the David girls, may even be in a few but this is the last one I am taking point on. It was THE COSTUME to me. To be able even to recreate of the movie for others even for a moment was something that I achieved. I had a number of people telling me that they were going home and going to watch Labyrinth again. I made magic and I am happy.
Pictures can be found at
http://homepage.mac.com/kathodavid/PhotoAlbum15.html.
Thursday
I awoke at 6:30 Thursday morning with that feeling in the pit of my stomach that I have gotten in over my head and that more water was rushing in so I will never surface. So I switched to stage management mode as I call it. One thing at a time. One crises at a time.
The one piece I have been dreading making was the chest plate for Jareth. I had done a million freeze frames on the first outfit and knew what they had done by this point. The how to do it was becoming a bit of an issue. I had several ideas which I abandoned for various reasons. A moment of clarity came to me at 3 am that morning so I slept soundly until 6:30. I sculpted the figures out of clay and paper clay. I paper mached the whole breast plate trying to get it thick enough to hold together but thin enough to bend just a bit. Took a bit longer than I though it would to finish the whole thing.
I took Ariel on the quest for the perfect Bowie Makeup. Fortunately we have a store in the area that is nothing but make up and hair care products at deep discounts. I was able to compare and contrast quite a few different brands of makeup. My limitation was that I react very badly to most makeup especially around my eyes. I went to Michaels Crafts for some leather string and one or two odds and ends.
I sat down at my sewing machine and finished everything that had to be stitched on the machine. Goblin shirts done. Velcro to everything that needed Velcro done. Peter went into the city to see Jumpers while Ariel gave me much help with Caroline who knew something was going on and wasn’t quite happy about it. At 10:00 I made the decision that all hand stitching could be done at the convention. I aged all the armor for the goblins and went to bed about 1 am with only a little packing done.
Friday
I woke up at 7:00 and rolled out of bed. I started packing up the costume pieces first and got together the kit I needed to finish the costumes. As I packed, I found one or two small things that needed the sewing machine. Fixed those and went onto the next things. I packed our regular clothing, food for the baby, the props for Monty Sauron (We had to bring the Giant Killer Bunny), and the various other things we bring on our trips to Shoreleave and Farpoint. Peter came back with the van at 10:20 and we packed and were out on the road for Maryland by 11:30 (1/2 an hour later than I wanted but what are you going to do)
Caroline fell asleep about 15 minutes into the trip. We watched “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” so Danicah could really understand Monty Sauron's Flying Nazgul. Caroline woke up about the time that the movie ended. After that we tried” Labyrinth” but Caroline objected so we put on “Finding Nemo” which she loves. We finished off the drive with “Emperor’s New Groove” and made it down to the Hunt Valley Inn in 5 hours 15 minutes which is close to a personal best.
I took the night off from costuming so I could visit with old friends and catch up on news and gossip. I took Caroline with me to get our badges and many people who see her every 6 months or so commented on how big she was getting. I started unpacking various costume pieces and gave a grateful sigh of relief that nothing had broken. The “Meet the Authors” Party was crowded and noisy so I am glad that Caroline had corked off and the girls were baby-sitting her. Peter signed a lot of autographs for fans and I signed my first copy of Negima along with Peter. Kinda Cool.
Saturday
Peter said to me, “You are off baby duty until the costumes are done. Let us take care of it.” Beth brought Caroline’s cousins Sarah (3) and Emma (1 and a bit) to visit. The cousins romped and Beth and I caught up on what had been happening in our lives while I put hooks and eyes on all the costumes that needed hooks and eyes. I used 6 of them to attach the cloak to the jerkin which held the breast plate for the Goblin King. As I finished something, I put it with the other pieces of that costume and then looked at the costume to see what needed to be finished. The cousins wore each other out and Caroline went down for a nap. Beth took Sarah and Emma off for their naps. I finished the webbing on Goblin #1 so Ariel could wear her mask during our rehearsal. She asked if I could because she had some concerns about her ability to see
We had a rehearsal at 2 pm for the actual presentation. I had asked my sister-in-law- Beth to be my second Goblin and I will always be grateful to her for jumping at the last minute and saving my bacon. Peter choreographs the sequence and has us run through it a bunch of times. Caroline does OK until we do it again the 4th time and then she has had it. We handed her off to Danicah and finished the rehearsal. The big variable was going to be Caroline.
Everyone left me alone with the knowledge that I wanted to see them back in the room at 5:30. I went into overdrive trying to finish the pieces that needed to be done to finish out the costumes to my liking. The collar torque that I built to hold up the collar just didn’t work and I couldn’t make it work so I abandoned it. Danicah and Ariel showed up on time and got dressed. Ariel went down with her helmet, Goblin face, and gloves under her arm to check in for us. Danicah took care of Caroline while I sewed the last piece on the Goblin King’s cape. At 6:15, I went into the Bathroom to recreate the Bowie Make-up. Caroline wandered in and watched me put on the make-up which was a good thing because she knew after I was all done that I was still Mommy. Danicah put Caroline in her costume and took her down to the Masquerade.
I packed up my repair kit and then got dressed. I got down to the green room at 6:55 to find no Beth. I knew this was a possibility since she has two kids that needed to be put to bed. Her husband Rande agreed to watch the kids so she could do this. Since I was entered in Workmanship, I kinda needed Beth. She showed up and put on her helmet, armor, and gloves. We met with the Workmanship judge who was very nice and asked many good questions about how I had done things and how I had solved some problems.
Then we waited and waited for the Masquerade to start. Caroline started to fuss. Peter took over and she went to sleep. Then the debated started of what to do if she was still asleep when the sketch started. We decided that I would roll the dice and take her sleeping self with me on stage. It started pretty much on time after one technical glitch was sorted out. I was getting progressively more nervous. Then my chest plate started falling off. I hadn’t attached the bottom correctly and it pulled away from the glue. Peter and I debated about the breast plate and one kind individual from the Masquerade staff said, “We have a stapler.” Solution! She stapled me into the breast plate so that we didn’t have to worry about it falling off during the sketch. We lined up and marched to the holding pen. We went right after the young ones because of Caroline. #7 was ready to go.
The Sketch
We started with the MC Dave Keffer reading off a short intro over the beginning of the piece. I walked on with a sleeping Caroline lip syncing to the song ‘Magic Dance’.
“I saw my Baby crying hard as babe could cry.
What could I do?
My baby’s love had gone and then my baby flew.”
I get to center stage and turn to show off the back of the costume and that I had a live baby Toby in my arms. As I turned back around Caroline woke up, pushed off my shoulder, looked around, saw she was on stage and broke out in a big grin.
“Nobody knew what kind of magic spell to use”
I point off stage as Toby watches the crowd
“Slime and Snails or Puppy Dogs Tails?
Thunder or Lighting?”
Beth and Ariel come on as Goblins doing a funky goblin dance to the music.
“And Baby Said...”
We all freeze and look at Caroline who waves to the audience
“Dance Magic Dance Magic Dance
Put that baby’s spell on me..”
As the Goblins have the audiences attention I dance off to the wings and swap out Caroline for a doll dressed up just like her.
“Jump Magic Jump Magic Jump”
I reenter upstage of the dancing Goblins tossing the doll just a little not more that I would a real baby then I start tossing the doll very high. [gasps from the audience. For a few seconds the illusion is complete so complete that one of the tech crew screams into the headset in panic only to be told from backstage not to worry its a doll]
“Put that magic jump on me
Slap that baby make him free”
Danicah runs on as Sarah and the Goblins and I proceeded to play keep away with the doll.
Musical Bridge
I toss the doll off stage and Sarah runs after it. She reenters with Toby all smiles and none the worse for wear. We boogie off the stage to much applause.
The Awards
We then take pictures and my brave Goblins become people again. We go in to see what we can see of the costume contest. Then there is the waiting for the judges with the various 1/2 time stuff some of it good some of it... some fans enjoy it just not my cuppa. My eyes are starting to really bother me. I thought if I used makeup that I hadn’t been allergic to before, I’d be OK this go around. Apparently not.
They give out the workmanship awards first. I have never won one of those at Shoreleave or Farpoint so that was one goal. I received a workmanship award for my sculpting of various parts of the costume. Yea me! We go up on stage leaving Caroline with Peter. She starts to protest. Peter puts her on stage and she runs to me to be picked up and smiles at the audience some more.
They move on to the category awards. Peter thinks we have a shot at 4. We don’t get first place fantasy which is the one I though we might get. Peter looks at me with concern and asks me if I am crying because we didn’t win that category. No, it is because my eyes have reached their limit with the make up and are tearing and starting to swell just a bit. Other awards are given that Peter thought we had a shot at. Then “Best Recreation” is announced. That is the one I want out of all the awards being given. Recreation means that you have recreated both the costumes and a moment of the original in people’s minds. I know I don’t have a snowball chance in the Sahara of getting best in show. I saw what was going to win there. I hear my name and I grab Caroline and got on stage with my crew. I let Danicah accept the award on our behalf since Michael Welch of “Joan of Arcadia” and “Star Trek; Insurrection” was giving out the award and she thinks he is cute. The rest of the awards are announced and many pictures were taken. I was happy but my eyes were getting worse.
The Rest of the Evening
We went to the room and I washed my face twice. Everyone was very happy with the wins. Danicah and Ariel got ready to go to 10 forward (the Saturday Night Dance) and Peter and I got dinner. Caroline was still very awake so we decide to go to 10 forward too. I had no pockets in the Jareth pants so I put my room key, $20 and my drivers license behind my badge. Something I had done a bunch of times. This time my badge somehow falls off probably from pushing through the crowd. I don’t notice this until I want to go back to the room because my eyes are screaming at me. The staff helped me look for the badge. I really didn’t care if someone took the $20. Room keys can be changed. The driver’s license is the pain in the butt to replace. So I inform the staff that it is missing and the hotel in case someone finds it when cleaning up. I go to bed and Peter deals with the munchkin until she goes to sleep.
Sunday
I emerge from my room and see the convention for more than 10 minutes. I go to Mystery Trekkie Theater first. My husband makes an announcement about my missing badge right before they start along with a few others. After Mystery Trekkie, I go to the Masquerade wrap up. I get my workmanship award and we discuss the contest as a whole and the individual costumes. I was too late to see the review of my costume group. I go down to see Peter on the way I am informed that my badge was found and I get it and my driver’s license back. The $20.00 is gone but a small loss compared to the license. I get to hang with some friends and have lunch with Beth, Rande and the Kids. We then go see “Monty Sauron’s Flying Nazgul”. They did a great job with Peter’s script and it was fun to watch. We went to dinner with the Greenburgers and the Welchs at a great restaurant called Gibby’s and a fun time was had by all. We got back to the Hotel. I packed as Peter kept Caroline out of my hair and tried to get her back to sleep. The girls ran off with Robbie and Katie Greenberger, Michael and Sarah Welch to play poker until all hours of the morning.
Monday
Finished packing and then drove back in the flash flood downpours that peppered the return journey. Took a bit longer to get home but we made it back and were very happy to be there.
All in all, I had a great time and I am very glad that I did the costume. It was one that I had wanted to do for years. This was my last chance since Caroline is growing at a rapid pace and by the next convention will probably be too big for it. This was my swan song. I probably will still do costumes for the David girls, may even be in a few but this is the last one I am taking point on. It was THE COSTUME to me. To be able even to recreate of the movie for others even for a moment was something that I achieved. I had a number of people telling me that they were going home and going to watch Labyrinth again. I made magic and I am happy.
Pictures can be found at
http://homepage.mac.com/kathodavid/PhotoAlbum15.html.
no subject
no subject