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Christmas Fair 2005 December Missive #2
(sent December 8th, 2005)
Thanks for a great second weekend! I have been told by visiting
customers and participants that the Dickens Fair is now like it was in
the "glory days" of certain years past. It's a wonderful thing to have
people tell you that your event is at it's best now, as opposed to
glowingly remembered years of yore. Congratulations on a job well done!
Thanks to all who participated in the KRON broadcast, it looked great!
We always get a great boost in attendance from these broadcasts.
Phyllis sends her regards on this, later in the missive.
There's a great article in the Marin Independent Journal on Marshall
Virello and his carousel at http://www.marinij.com/lifestyles/ci_3290597
Also remember that when you see Queen Victoria and her entourage, you
should react accordingly, with bows and "God Save the Queen's. Tell the
audience members around you about Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and
help create the awe and inspiration that should follow Her Royal
Majesty and His Royal Highness as they walk though London between 3:00
and 4:00 each day. Remember, this is the time of the Great Exhibition
(The Crystal Palace) and we are all thrilled at what Albert has
achieved in it's creation.
In This
Missive:
NFP Participant Audience Members
Private Party in Sal's Saturday Evening
Reminder About Your Character Interactions
Pay No Attention to the Privies Behind the Curtains...
Betty's Round Robin Pictures on CD
Dark Garden Corset Raffles
Timegames Thanks and Requests
Comp Tickets for Christmas Revels
NFP
Participant Audience Members
Please remember that the audience must have priority when it come to
seeing our shows. Please allow them to be seated before taking seats
yourself. The guard stationed at the door is there to assist in making
sure they are allowed seats and that the audience area is not
overcrowded. He is also there to make sure that no one under 18 is
allowed, as although Naughty French Postcards is filled with tasteful
drawing room humor, it's also rather racy. My Mother compared it to the
Moulin Rouge show she saw with my father in Paris in 1964. <Gotta
love my Mom>
Private
Party in Sal's Saturday Evening
Please be aware that there is a private party in Sal's this Saturday
evening, starting soon after closing. The food will be prepared in the
Silk Road bay and transported across two bays to Sal's, so please clear
out all three of these bays as soon as possible after closing if you
are not directly involved. The groups involved are Bruno, Broadside,
Bijou and LORS. Thanks for your assistance and cooperation.
Reminder
About Your Character Interactions
Since we're all friends here, we have the tendency to react to each
other on the streets of Dickens London, as we would to our friends. But
to your character, these people might not be your friend. For example,
you may owe Scrooge money and be nervous when wishing him a "Happy
Christmas". You might mention this to a visitor to our Fair as you walk
by. As Oliver Twist director Gwen Warfield wrote to me:
"Part of the magic my wonderful cast is able to produce comes from the
great, and accurate, reactions from everyone else. Fagin should be
treated with some suspicion and concern (unless he's being charming for
some twisted, villainous reason - then respond as you feel your
character or persona would, but please don't go over the top, as Ace,
the actor, doesn't need to be treated like a plague carrier all
day!). There are, of course, characters who may well have
business connections with him - in that case, play as you feel
appropriate.
Bill Sikes should be treated with respect for the potential violence he
carries. Gentlemen, take a care for your ladies, and ladies, please
don't flirt with Bill unless you can think of a VERY good reason to
come between him and Nancy Also, gentlemen, unless your character
has good reason to feel confident you would win in a fight (very few
characters come to mind who fit this description), please treat Bill
with the respect you would a Rottweiler just starting to lift a lip in
a growl. Those of us who know Matthew know he's a big teddy bear
(and if you don't know that, you should say hi backstage to find out!),
but Mr. William Sikes most certainly isn't.
Pay No
Attention to the Privies Behind the Curtains...
Gwen also passes this along:
Please be aware that behind the curtain pass-throughs, the illusion of
Christmas London is rather thin. When the curtains are lifted
wide out of the way for people to go through, all sorts of things
become visible from "on stage" including porta-potties, people's
changing areas, and the otherwise not-so-Christmasy underbelly of the
Dickens Fair. While it is polite to hold a curtain wide for
someone to pass, the view behind does distract from our show. So
if you lift for yourself, or lift for someone else, please try to keep
the back-stage peep show to a minimum.
Betty's
Round Robin Pictures on CD
(from Betty)
The Round Robin Panoramic Stills (.jpg) and movie (.mpg) taken by
Betty Simmons (aka Betsey Trotwood) are available on CD.
Anyone who wants to copy and share the CD can do so, that way
everyone can get the pix.
10 CDs will be left at the desk in the operations trailer after 10:00Am
on Saturday. First come, first served. Ideally, each group will pick up
one and share it.....honor system!
Dark
Garden Corset Raffles
(from Nathalie)
As many of you have heard, Dark Garden held two corset raffles as our
way of thanking everyone who loves our corsets, and helping a few of
you to get your own, your very own Dark Garden corset. Both
raffles were held during Mad Sal's Finale and we would like to
congratulate our winners. Saturday's winner of a custom corset was Gini
<no last name given> and Sunday's winner of a ready-to-wear
corset was Mad Sal's own Miss Polly Amory (aka Tanya Anguita).
We had such an outpouring of support with the raffles that Dark Garden
is raffling off another custom corset, fitted to you, in your choice of
our available fabrics. Tickets will be on sale at the Dark Garden Booth
for $5 each starting at 10:00AM on Saturday. Please note we are
only selling enough tickets to cover the cost, and as soon as we have
sold enough we will hold the drawing at the Mad Sal's Finale. The
drawing (not the results) will also be announced at the French Postcard
show. You do not need to be present to win and the gift certificate
will be redeemable for either a male or female corset. You can buy a
raffle ticket for your friend or sweetheart and we've even had people
sending these tickets through the telegraph office. Since Christmas is
a time for giving, all the tickets that have been entered in any of
this season's drawings will be entered into a second chance drawing to
win another ready-to-wear corset from Dark Garden.
Please note that we will not start selling tickets till 10AM, so please
do not come to us and ask for them earlier. If you have any questions
feel free to contact Nathalie from Dark Garden at 'Musique174@aol.com
Timegames
Thanks and Requests
Henry Tenenbaum thanked the stalwart 100+ of you and extolled your many
talents and attributes more profusely and succinctly than I can! It
would be great if any of you remember at least pieces of exactly how he
praised you all last Sunday for your Channel 4 triumph. I missed some
of it when I ran back to pick up our gift to him - the Victorian
Traveling Box (Thank you Surrey Blackburn for knowing its proper
English name.) Henry's crew and he were given boxes of truffles too as
an added tribute to their fine work (and "in boxes" that Henry might
not have truffles melt in his drawers - I watch too much Jon Stewart!)
Please send me any of Henry's quotes you remember and we will missive
them and keep them in our memory book - do we have one?
My emergency for these last two weekends is needing four more people
for one hour each in order to have Timegames be properly and
successfully played. The hours for which these four are most needed:
one hour each fair day between 11:00 and 1:00, starting in the lobby
where those presently presenting the assumed name game to our potential
players are stationed. Next, more people are needed at least until two
o'clock to check on how the whimsical token rewards are working
throughout the fair and to sign up patrons who missed the game in the
lobby. There are several Time Travel stations scattered throughout the
fair. Without more "tour directors" fewer patrons and their families
will win the wondrous whimsical prizes I have picked out for
token-holders.
"Will you? Won't you?" Will you join this Timegame to carry it to its
highest and best level? Also, please email me if you have played with
badged patrons; please tell me about how you made it work well. Email
phyllis@timegames.org. or phone 415-892-0162.
Help! Help! Help! Help make the fair a more memorable "You Are There"
experience for our patrons. Also, see the website at timegames.org. FYI
this is all walkaround-the-fair encouraging unbadged patrons to pick
their assumed names and occupations. The perk is that you will truly
SEE the fair!
With All Sorts of Regards,
Phyllis Patterson
Chief Instigator
Comp
Tickets for Christmas Revels
(from Dirk Burns)
I would like to invite your cast and crew to attend opening night 12/9
or the second Friday night 12/16 of The Christmas Revels: A Theatrical
Celebration of the Winter Solstice. For our 20th anniversary we will
feature the songs, dance and stories of medieval England. Please
visit our website at www.calrevels.org.
I think it's a natural for both Rennaissance Faire and Dicken's Fair
enthusiasts. I have complimentary tickets available for the
opening night performance, Friday, December 9th and Friday December
16th at 7:30pm. The show takes place at the Scottish Rite Theater
on Lake Merritt at 1547 Lakeside Drive in Oakland. It's about 7
blocks from the 17/19th Street Bart Station and there are several
parking lots in the area too.
For tickets please email your request to me and include the following:
1) Your Name
2) Your Phone #
3) Number of tickets you want (limit 4 please)
4) Note that you are with the Dickens Faire or Red Barn Productions.
I will confirm by email and tickets will be held at willcall.
Please send your requests to
dirk@calrevels.org
Thanks and have a happy yule season!
Dirk Burns
Executive Director
California Revels
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