Kaboom!

Last night was the Big Night! I've been working for about 3 months on bringing Doktor Kaboom! to Winston-Salem for a performance. I first noticed last spring that many of my high school friends were commenting on Doktor Kaboom on FB--and a discreet inquiry to a friend revealed that David Epley, NCSSM Class of 1985, had indeed morphed into Herr Doktor.

I serve on the board at SciWorks, and so I proposed a fall fundraiser that would be family-friendly: a Doktor K show in town.  So of course I'm asked to chair the committee. Many months and committee meetings and logistical details later, my dream came true. It was not without hitches: we didn't get the level of sponsorship we had hoped form, and on-line ticket sales were slow. The day was cold and dark and rainy.  Friends planning to attend from the Triangle had urgent issues that nearly or did prevent attendance.
 
So we went to Reynolds Auditorium, and the people came!  On-site ticket sales were robust--two lines, 10-15 people deep, for half an hour. And OH, what a SHOW! I had watched every video snippet, news cast, and web review of Doktor K, but NOTHING prepared me for the hilarity that ensued. The act was better than Toy Story--engaging for the kids, with lots of silly and sophisticated humor for the adults.

Several of our high school buddies came to the show, as did some of David's UNCG and Renaissance fair friends. As he put it, he was thrilled to have his science geeks, his theater geeks, and his ren geeks all under one roof. Thing 1 (who in all honestly was being assessed for his ability to launch things when we stopped by the auditorium during set-up) was selected as one of the first volunteers--the holder of the giant t-shirt "rocket" that looks EXACTLY like an enormous jock strap.

So today, I have the tired satisfaction and contentedness of one who has thrown a good party. There is still chaos in my life from other work neglected during the final rush for the show, but I can say for certain two things:
1) I'm proud of David and his work inspiring youth to DO science, and I'm glad I knew him when....and
2) I noticed that he is performing in Gastonia on January 17th. Road trip, anyone? 'Cause I will be there.

Kaboom!