EVENT: Charlie Ross: One Man Star Wars Show
DATE: January 26, 2008
EVENT COORDINATOR: Cheryl Whitaker (Whinter/TI-3127)
In July of 2007, the Midwest Garrison of the 501st and the Midwest Base of the Rebel Legion participated in the Crystal Lake Gala Parade with members of the Raue Center for the Performing Arts. For this parade, the Raue Center had created an amazing TIE Fighter float that earned them top honors from the parade judges. It was quite an event!
It wasn’t but a month later and I was contacted again by the Raue Center to see if we would be interested in coming out to the theater for Charlie Ross’s One Man Star Wars Show. Of course, I told them we would love to, and on Saturday night, January 26th, a little purple R2 droid and 10 costumed members reported for duty.
Members started arriving at approximately 5pm to start getting ready for the 7:30 show. We made our way down to the theater lobby at 6:30 to greet the guests (approximately 500 of them). Due to the cold weather, most of us stayed inside the lobby to take photos, while a few others braved the temperatures to greet guests on the street, as well as the cars passing by.
As 7:30 grew near, the lobby lights dimmed, signaling everyone to begin taking their seats. A few last photos were taken by guests and then we all took our places in the back of the theater. Helmets were removed, voice amplifiers and Vader’s breathing were quieted, chestbox lights were turned off, and the theater went dark. When the lights came back up, Charlie was on stage and his One Man tale of the saga began…. “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….”
As always, Charlie’s show was both hysterical and amazing; bringing the Original Trilogy to life again through fantastic energy and comedy. Now that the prequels have been released, he had made a few changes/additions to his show, which gave it a new touch for those who had seen Charlie perform before. After the hour long show was over and the theater started to empty, I didn’t see not one face that wasn’t smiling or laughing as they walked past us. A great time seemed to be had by all.
A few more group shots were taken in the lobby with guests after the performance, then a few more up on the stage with Charlie. Once these were done, everyone went back upstairs to change and then met up again with Charlie down the street at Georgio’s Chicago Pizzeria & Pub. There we all had dinner, drinks and CUPCAKES in honor of Rich (DadVader) and Darryl (R2-S5)’s birthdays. Hope you both had a great birthday!!!
On a more personal note, this event was pretty special for me. The first time I saw Charlie’s show was 3 years ago in St. Charles. I went by myself and was not yet a member of any of the costume groups I now belong to. And while I still really enjoyed the show, I didn’t have anyone to share the experience and memories with. It just wasn’t the same. But THIS time I was among FRIENDS, having a great time and creating a lot of funny memories. Thank you all for coming out to this event. It really made this One Man Star Wars Show viewing a lot more fun for me, as well as for the almost 500 other theater guests that attended the show.
Everyone did a great job! THANK YOU AGAIN!!!
PARTICIPANTS:
TK6254 (Dan Giese) - Stormtrooper
Princess Dee (Deidra Culp- RL) - ANH Leia
TB-0101 (Aimee Jorgensen) - Biker Scout
Shetan/ TI-7118 (Vicki Silva) - TIE Pilot
DadVader/SL-1781 (Rich Markle) - Darth Vader
TB-9442 (Chris Schwarz) - Biker Scout
TI-1296 IronManAtArms (Joseph Flores) - TIE Pilot
R2-S5/ 4050 (Darryl) - Imperial Crewman with Droid
Destiny Froste/ 6216 (Gina Martino) - Padme Snowbunny
Whinter/TI-3127 (Cheryl Whitaker) - TIE Pilot
PICTURES FROM THE EVENT:
Cheryl's Pics:
http://s180.photobucket.com/albums/x273 ... SW%20Show/
Vicki's Pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24078248@N ... rwarsshow/
Darryl's Pics: (Thank's Sage!)
http://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t64/ ... ?start=all
