Are you interested in cosplay, costume design, or special-effects makeup? So are we! We’ll be talking to some of the top industry professionals in town, as well as some local cosplay legends, about transforming yourself with costume. Panel guests include:
Comic book author and artist Donna Barr, best known for The Desert Peach and Stinz
Shannon Cosgrove and Naomi Alstrup, co-Founders and Directors of PA Panto and Nemesis Theater Productions
Richard Stephens, local artist and costume programming track leader of NORWESCON
Tia Stephens, local artist, cosplayer, and director for Sequim High School
Kevin "Baelin" Ward of the Washington State Chapter of the Mando Mercs Costume Club
This panel will be held in the upstairs dining room of Smuggler’s Landing Restaurant. Your $10 ticket includes a fountain soda or small cup of coffee/tea. Additional food is available for purchase after the panel. Space is limited; click here to reserve your seat.
NAOMI ALSTRUP
Naomi Alstrup is always chasing the good life, and she’s found it here. Co-owner of Nemesis Theater Productions and PA Panto, she spends her days working her day job and her evenings perfecting pie crusts and buttercream frosting with just a hint of brandy. You can also find her teaching jazz, tap, and musical theater at The Dance Center in Sequim. Choreography is one of her passions and she’s choreographed many local theater productions as well well as award winning competition dance pieces. She is the parent of a daughter so magnificent she didn’t need siblings. Naomi lives to create and intends to die in Scotland, but not any time soon.
DONNA BARR
Donna Barr is one of the classic authors of the 1980's black-and-white comic book phenomenon. Her most successful series are The Desert Peach, and Stinz. She ran - by herself - the Clallam Bay Comicon, for seven years, and assisted at the Forks RainCon. More details at www.donnabarr.com
SHANNON COSGROVE
SHANNON COSGROVE has been cosplaying a human woman for several decades. In her time in Port Angeles, she has created Nemesis Theater Productions and PA Panto. She writes, directs and produces original theater for her adopted hometown and parts of Canada. She also writes fiction but doesn’t want to talk about it.
RICHARD STEPHENS
Richard Stephens has been actively involved in fannish costuming and cosplay for over thirty years. Currently he is head of the wardrobe department at the PA Community Playhouse where he designs and builds costumes there as well as for Olympic Theatre Arts in Sequim and Peninsula College. A lover of all things costume related, Richard is a sought after guest speaker at sci fi conventions and he regularly gives talks and lectures on Fashion Anthropology and other related costume and media topics.
"I am super excited that Port Angeles finally has its own fan celebration and I can't wait to watch (and help) it grow!"
TIA STEPHENS
TIA STEPHENS has been working on cosplays since she could hold a hot glue gun. When she’s not modeling her cosplays, she is directing plays at Sequim High School, or helping others create their own fantasy photos. Find her work @jinnytonix
KEVIN "BAELIN" WARD
KEVIN “BAELIN” WARD has over 20 years of costuming and prop building experience. He's also a long time member of the Mando Mercs Costume Club. www.mandalorianmercs.org