Showing posts with label theater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theater. Show all posts

Sunday, June 23, 2013

WARP! The FIRST Sci-Fi Epic on Broadway!

In 1971, Chicago's acclaimed Organic Theatre Company produced a trio of plays inspired by Marvel Comics, particularly Dr. Strange and Mighty Thor, under the umbrella title WARP!
Billing the trilogy as "the world's first science fiction epic-adventure play in serial form", the three plays did boffo box office and won numerous Chicago theatrical awards.
It seemed like a no-brainer to take the production to New York, where local talent could enhance both the production values and on-stage talent.
The first of the three plays, "My Battlefield! My Body!" opened in February, 1973.
Unfortunately, it closed that same month.
Considering the talent involved in this project, including original writer / director Stuart Gordon (ReAnimator), NY production art director Neal Adams (Batman / X-Men / Green Lantern & Green Arrow) and actors John Heard (Sopranos, Prison Break), Keith Szarabajka (Equalizer), Stephen Williams (X-Files, 21 Jump Street), it's astounding that it didn't take off like (dare I say) a rocket!
But, it didn't, and all that survives today are some playbills and the incredibly-hard to find poster, illustrated by Neal Adams!
We have one of these posters, acquired in the late 1970s, and decided to make a couple of shirts emblazoned with it for ourselves and friends.
The response has been so overwhelming ("Where did you get that? Can I get one?") that we are now offering it to other pop culture aficinados!
If you're a fan of Broadway theatre, sci-fi, comics, or just like a kool shirt, have a look!
Or, if you'd like a reproduction poster, click HERE!

(Note: there was a spinoff comic book series from First Comics in the 1980s which adapted the trilogy and provided an ending to the story.)

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

IN THEATRES: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians!

Back in a digitally-restored "Special Edition"...
This cinematic Christmas stocking is loaded with retro-cool presents of all kinds.
There are two cartoons from the brilliant Fleischer Brothers, Max and Dave - Christmas Comes But Once a Year (1936), in which that whimsical inventor Grampy creates a whole Santa's workshop worth of toys for some poor orphans; and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1948), the first animated version of this classic tale about the outcast little deer who saves Christmas.

But there's more!

From a Christmas adventure starring that sensation of Fifties TV Howdy Doody to a couple of visits with Ozzie and Harriet to a holiday salute from ventriloquist Shari Lewis and her hand puppet Lambchop.
These - as well as a bunch of "Greetings From The Theater Management" trailers made for movie theaters (they are actually dated by year and its fun to see color ones introduced in the Sixties) - will inspire a kind of unsettling nostalgia among Baby Boomers who'll surely remember this when they were kids.
For their kids and grandkids these mind-boggling artifacts will seem either surreal or cheesy - or both.
That's the real fun of this show.
The biggest, most brightly-wrapped gift under this gaudy and colorful Christmas tree is the unforgettable (even if you try) 1964 feature film, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.
Of course, connoisseurs of bad B-movies consider this one of the worst, which means it's one of the funniest, as we pointed out HERE.

Click HERE to go to the re-released movie's website for dates and theatres in your area!
PLUS: our "brother" RetroBlog™, Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™ is re-presenting the comic book tie-in for the movie HERE!
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Monday, July 18, 2011

Captain America ComicCon Blanket

Soft fleece blanket perfect for those long periods when you're waiting on a cold, dirty movie theatre or convention center floor!
A generous 50" x 60", it might even be big enough to share (wink wink) with a fangirl (or guy).
Features the poster art from Captain America's FIRST movie appearance in 1944!
(Talk about retro-kool!) Full-color ink won't run, fade or distress on this machine-washable item!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Concerts & Comics Conventions Collectibles

We're expanding our line of kool kollectibles to include a line of shirts with even BIGGER image areas on the front (and where applicable) the back.
This new line of shirts has an image area of up to 11" wide by 17" high, plus they're made by ethically-conscious American Apparel and Anvil KnitWear!
This particular assortment is based on various pop-culture occurrences like comic conventions, theatrical productions, protest marches, and musical concerts!
Choose from...
Buy 'Em! Trade 'Em! Collect Them ALL!