Remember the first ever full-length opera delivered entirely in Klingon?  Apparently, that wasn’t such a novel idea as I first thought it was.  Early this morning, as I was gulping down my first cup of coffee, I saw a tweet from Neil Gaiman himself (@neilhimself).  This is what it said: “RT Absolutely not. @jenusellis: Any chance for a shout-out for Klingon Christmas Carol in St. Paul & Chicago?”  Naturally, I had to click on the link to see what it is all about.

Dubbed A Klingon Christmas Carol, this full-length play is delivered in tlhIngan Hol. If you think this is a new thing, then think again.  The guys behind the production – Commedia Beauregard – have been doing this since 2007! The involvement of IKV RakeHell of the Klingon Assault Group is also instrumental to the success of the production.

Unfortunately for those of us who are in other parts of the world, the play is only held in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.  This year, the play will be shown at the Landmark Center.  An additional run will be conducted in Chicago as well, at the Greenhouse Theater Center.  Lucky people from the area!!! (Not that I can understand a lick of Klingon, but hey, the mere idea of seeing a classic in an alien language is awesome in itself!)

Lest you have forgotten what A Christmas Carol is all about, here is a teaser from the production’s web site:

Scrooge has no honor, nor any courage. Can three ghosts help him to become the true warrior he ought to be in time to save Tiny Tim from a horrible fate? Performed in the Original Klingon with English Supertitles, and narrative analysis from The Vulcan Institute of Cultural Anthropology.

The Dickens classic tale of ghosts and redemption adapted to reflect the Warrior Code of Honor and then translated into tlhIngan Hol (That’s the Klingon Language).

Now I wonder if we’re going to see more of these productions.  Maybe in another language this time.

The Sandman, for the uninitiated, was an epic comic penned by Neil Gaiman and published by DC/Vertigo between 1989-1996. It is one of the most highly acclaimed comics of all time, and the only comic to ever win the World Fantasy Award. Even Entertainment Weekly rated it as one of the best reads in recent decades. In print, The Sandman has major staying power.

On screen, things aren’t so sure. There’s undoubtedly potential for the story of the Lord of Dreams, who must repair his kingdom after years of neglect, to translate extremely well to the television medium. Since most of The Sandman takes place independent of the DC comics universe in which it resides, there’s not a whole lot of back story one must be in-the-know to understand. It also has tremendous appeal for its dark horror and fantasy spin, which should make it a shoe-in for more grown up cable programming.

But The Sandman has been subjected to numerous rumors of movie adaptations, and has been the object of desire for many a Hollywood figure. Nevertheless, it’s failed to make the transition. The reasons why are not entirely clear (although Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn, when discussing a desire to bring The Sandman to HBO last spring, pointed out that the 75 issue series is too broad to condense to a traditional film length). Whether or not those reasons would throw up roadblocks to the series’s success on television – or make the television adaptation impossible altogether – remains to be seen.

Warner Brothers TV would be bringing the comic to life as yet without Neil Gaiman’s participation, as it’s been reported that the early stages of the project don’t include him. This is a red flag for many fans. It’s always preferable to have the author involved in an adaptation of his work. In fact it is, for most of us, the reason we are so confident The Walking Dead will be a well-made series, since writer Robert Kirkman has been on board from the start.

The man slated to make it all happen? Supernatural creator Erik Kripke. Or at least he’s the apparent first choice, as Warner Brothers TV is still in negotiations with DC Entertainment for the television rights, so no firm decisions about writers and producers have been made.

So, as ever, the fate of a Sandman adaptation remains in the balance, but this latest development is far more promising than the failed silver screen dreams. Provided, of course, that the comic isn’t totally ruined by a lack of Gaiman’s input, should things develop that way. The best possible outcome is The Sandman made with Neil Gaiman, brought to life faithfully and creatively, on a channel that’s unafraid to think outside the box and be bold. For now, the worst case scenario is that The Sandman negotiations will fall through…which is, in essence, a familiar circumstance for fans. [via io9]

Other Neil Gaiman goodness here at ForeverGeek: Shakespeare and Geeks

Anyhow, even if it has been several days since this date, I thought it would be fun to point out how you could celebrate the life of one of the greatest – if not THE greatest – writers who lived. Geekosystem has compiled a pretty cool list of ways by which you can celebrate the bard’s birthday. While it’s a bit late for that, I found out some pretty interesting links between geek culture and William Shakespeare.

For one, did you know that Star Trek has been influenced greatly by Shakespeare? You might have noticed that Captain Jean Luc Picard had a habit of quoting from Shakespeare’s work. Many Star Trek titles are also influenced by him. And, yes, the great William Shatner was trained as a classic Shakespearean actor. If that’s not incentive for you to grab one of Shakespeare’s play, then I don’t know what is!

Another icon linked to Shakespeare is Neil Gaiman. Who is not familiar with his Sandman comics? Well, the news is that he is a huge Shakespeare fan. As an aside – a friend recently sold her complete set of Sandman for dirt cheap. I shouldn’t have hesitated and grabbed it!

For people who scoff at the thought of “Shakespearean English,” this might just be your chance to expand your vocabulary (and horizons). Some of the most respected geeks held Shakespeare in high esteem. That’s saying something, isn’t it?

Putting a Gaiman work on film is exciting enough but there are now plans to also make games based on the novel and movie. D3 Publisher has announced that it will make Coraline games for the Wii, PS2, and the DS and this will be made available by January next year, a month before the movie debuts in America.

This is great news for Gaiman fans, and you can count me as one of ‘em.

Directed by Henry Selick, Coraline will be the filmmaker’s first full-length stop-motion animated film since he first established himself with the classic The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. As with James, Selick will be working from the source material of a well-respected scribe. The original novel Coraline was penned by Neil Gaiman, author of the seminal Sandman series of comics as well as Stardust, a novel adapted to the big screen last year.

In the film, a young girl discovers a doorway to a fantastic alternate reality in her house. However, when her alternate world turns sinister, she must marshal her wits to escape the predicament and return home to her old life.

Coraline has not yet been rated and is under development by Papaya Studios (Medal of Honor: Airborne, Larry Boy and the Bad Apple) and Art Co. (Shaun the Sheep, Gunpey for DS).

The story is entitled “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?”. If you’re a big comicbook fan you’ll immediately know why anticipation is so great for this project. The title is an homage to Alan Moore’s “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”, a two-issue story that basically closed a whole chapter on Superman, effectively closing his Silver Age roots and preparing him for the amazing reboot that John Byrne was readying for him. The story is considered as one of the greatest Superman stories ever told.

Hopefully, Gaiman and Kubert will equal this feat with the Dark Knight.