So, as some of you may know, I attended a rehearsal of Don Giovanni earlier this week, courtesy of the Portland Opera. The company runs this great outreach program where cartoonists come and live sketch rehearsals in the days leading up to the show. I’m no opera buff, but the experience was fantastic. Stellar cast, dramatic staging, and no shortage of saucy thrills. If you’ve been wanting more bang for your operatic buck, this is the show for you.
Unfortunately, these sketches fail to capture the pathos and emotional torment of the show itself. I have, instead, chosen to focus mainly on the boning. There’s a lot of that.
Don Giovanni, his peasant rival, Masetto, and Masetto’s ridiculous hat.Leporello, unwilling servant to Don Giovanni. This was the happiest I saw him in the entire production.Most of the time he looked like this.With good reason.Giovanni spends a fair amount of time attempting to blame Leporello for his own sexual dalliances.Masetto is rarely pleased with Giovanni’s party tactics.Frustrated by his master’s shenanigans, Leporello threatens to leave Giovanni’s service.Giovanni, however, convinces him to stay and switch clothes with his master, in order to go seduce some more babes. The disguise is somewhat lacking.Meanwhile, Giovanni completely fails to impersonate Leporello.Leporello learns that being Don Giovanni has its upsides.Meanwhile, the grisly evidence of Giovanni’s murderous tendencies (displayed to their fullest at the very top of the show), continues to slide down the set.Don Ottavio, fiance to the ravishing Donna Anna, is shocked when his beloved expresses her attraction to Don Giovanni.At Giovanni’s party, he tries a new tactic.Donna Anna, however, is too busy belting it like a rockstar to notice her fiancé’s change of attire. (Seriously. The women in this show fucking KILLED IT.)In the process of lamenting her father’s murder at the hands of Don Giovanni, she makes an alarming discovery.The Commendatore sings accusingly at Don Giovanni from beyond the grave! (Or does he?)Leporello fears the Commendatore’s fiery gaze, but Giovanni knows the truth.Don Ottavio makes a last ditch effort to grab the attentions of his beloved.The Commendatore rises from the grave to deliver a striking revelation! (Also Giovanni gets whisked away to eternal damnation and there’s a big moralistic finale or something I wasn’t really paying attention to anything but the Merkin Mystery at this point.)
And they all lived happily every after!
***
Seriously, folks, with the flippancy of my goofy sketches aside, I suggest you all go check out this show. I had a wonderful time. To sweeten the deal, those of you in the know (i.e. everyone reading this blog) can get your tickets for the Thursday (11/8) show at 50% off! Head over here and enter the password MOZART to get in on the action.
If you enjoyed this you can find other excellent commentary, artwork, and cheap gags from the evening’s cartoonists and live bloggers on Twitter under the hashtag #pdxgiovanni.
Bad-ass Baggywrinkles reader Aaron Meyers recently asked me to do a commission of ROM the Spaceknight. Who was I to refuse? My apologies to Mr. Meyers, Mr. Gosling, and anyone whose childhood memories I have defaced by creating this thing.
In other news, the first print run of Baggywrinkles #3 is SOLD OUT! Gonna reprint that sucker ASAP, but expect a delay of a couple weeks as I sort out some print quality issues and juggle other comics work. Also: today was my first day hanging out at Periscope Studio, where I’ll be interning for the next three months alongside some of Portland’s finest comics folk. Words don’t really convey how excited I am to be in a place that looks like this:
Also: huge thanks to everyone who showed up at Comics Underground last night to hear Baggywrinkles #3 performed with a live cast and sound effects. It was such a treat to perform in front of all you nice people. Here’s a blurry picture of me being sassy about the Lady Washington (Thanks, Cory!):
I write to you from not-very-sunny-at-all San Francisco, where I’m settling in for a weekend of crazy awesome goodness at APE! For those in the area, APE will be taking place at the Concourse Exhibition Center this Saturday and Sunday from 11-7 and 11-6 respectively. Passes are $10 for one day or $15 for the whole weekend and it’s gonna be OFF. THE. WALL. Here’s a map of the whole exhibit floor:
And here’s the weeny little corner where Baggywrinkles Headquarters (that’s myself and the incredible Mr. Sam Alden of Gingerland Comics) will be rockin’ out at Table 718:
Speaking of which, Baggywrinkles #3 is OFFICIALLY COMPLETED!
It was a crazy couple weeks in there, especially considering that I waded through a 100 degree fever and a debilitating neck injury while trying to ink the last 10 pages of the comic, but as my mother always said “You can’t keep a good nautically-inclined cartoonist lady down.”
So here it is! 20 pages of hand-sewn, lip-smackin’ nautical comics goodness. I only printed a limited number for the show this weekend, so if you want one, be sure to stop by early. If I don’t sell out, I’ll be putting the remainder online in the store when I get back and start the full print run.
That’s all for now, Baggies and Wrinklers. I can’t wait to see some of you out this weekend!
100 Hands to match the 100 Feet I did a while ago. For those that haven’t heard, I started a blog so we can all tackle these massive exercises together. If you’re interested in a weekly challenge, head over to the Artistic Veggies tumblr. The latest is Fifteen Bicycles!
In other news, I’m halfway through inking Baggywrinkles #3! SO MUCH EXCITEMENT.
Many thanks to Kevin Kirkemo, who snapped these beautiful shots, and to my sexy models: Kathleen Conahan and Denis Lemeshenko. If you’d like to snag one of these body-swaddling babies for yourself, you can find both Ladies’ and Men’s styles right over here.
