The Masquerade was a highlight of CONvergence. I saw the usual wizards and faeries, a grim-faced Wednesday Addams ("the original Goth girl") — and, improbably, a woman dressed as Strawberry Shortcake, the scented doll popular in the early 1980s. I wasn't close enough to the stage to see if she smelled authentic, but she sure gave me flashbacks. Sister-san, as a young 'un, had a huge collection of Strawberry Shortcake critters, each with a different aroma. Apple Pieman (or whatever his name was) was one of my favorites because he smelled like apple pie laced with cinnamon. My least favorite was a thing that looked like a slug and reeked of fake maple syrup, contributing to my lifelong dislike of that scent and flavor. It stank up the whole upstairs of the house.
Anyway. At conventions, prizes are awarded not only for the workmanship of the costume, but also for presentation. Entrants wanting to score big put together a performance piece, complete with narration, music and lighting effects. This year's efforts included a saucy can-can dance by a woman in a Moulin Rouge dress and a ballet depicting the demise of a moth.
My second favorite performance was a hilarious re-enactment of the climactic showdown duel between Yoda and Count Dooku from the latest Star Wars movie. The count, who had to look tall, was played by an actor riding on a friend's shoulders, a long cloak concealing their bodies. Yoda was played by the local convention mascot, an inflatable green dinosaur named Rex, dressed in Jedi robes. Rather than go all hi-tech, this group provided its own special effects via stagehands dressed in black. When the duelists used the Force to hurl objects at each other, the stagehands would pick the thing up and carry it around the stage so it appeared to be floating. They depicted bolts of electricity by stretching bands of something shiny between the two opponents. One crew member did nothing but carry Yoda around, putting him through flying flips and spins for the aerobatic final sequence, and bending his ears forward at strategic moments to make the great Jedi look thoughtful. Never underestimate the crowd-pleasing power of an airborne dinosaur.
Out of habit I've saved the best for last, but in the show this act came on first. Remember the old, old Sesame Street sketch where two big fuzzy aliens land on Earth? There's one red and one blue. They have huge goggly eyes, antennae, and no limbs. Nonetheless, they manage to be quite expressive. They gibber "yip yip yip" a lot. The first Earth creature they encounter is a black telephone. They approach it and greet it in their best English: "Hello. Yip yip hello." Though they repeat their greeting several times, the phone does not respond. Perplexed, they consult their Earth Book and realize they've made a mistake. "Cow!" they decide. "Yip yip yip. Moo. Moo." Still the phone does not respond. As they consult the book again, however, the phone finally speaks. "Brrring!" The aliens are astonished but quickly recover their wits and enter into conversation with their new friend. "Brrring! Brrring!" they say as the phone rings back at them. And that's the end.
This was always one of my very favorite Sesame Street skits, so seeing it live on stage was a huge treat. The rest of the audience thought so, too; as soon as the aliens appeared onstage, the crowd erupted in delighted cheers. Just goes to show ya, sometimes the old and simple ways are best.
Unfortunately, the judges only partially agreed and awarded the aliens second place, I think, in the performance category. First went to the balletic moth, who managed to get up en pointe despite huge wings and the fact that the human body just isn't meant to do that. Oh well. Maybe next year.