Tuesday, December 29, 2009

JAN 2010: Sherlock Holmes Radio Play, Web Cam Jam, Sheila Kohler, Blues Singer Carol Sellick

8 PM, Sat. & Sun. Jan 2 & 3
THE FINAL PROBLEM
By Arthur Conan Doyle
Theatrical Adaptation by Alex Dawson
With Carlyle Owens, Jeff Maschi, and Laurence Mintz

Like your Sherlock Holmes bucking and brawling (a la Guy Ritchie's flagrant makeover)? Or perhaps you prefer your detective more faithfully portrayed. Either way, this loyal adaptation of Holmes' most famous dustup is for you! With several attempts on his life having already taken place, Holmes asks Watson to accompany him on a roundabout Continental "holiday" designed to thwart the relentless pursuit of the Napoleon of crime himself, Professor Moriarty. The story, which was to be, as the title implies, Doyle's last, culminates with a fateful square off at "a dreadful cauldron of swirling water and seething foam" known as Reichenbach Falls. Although Moriarty appeared in only of one of the sixty Doyle adventures featuring the consulting detective, Holmes' attitude towards the criminal genius gained him the popular impression of being Holmes' arch-nemesis. Indeed, as "The Final Problem" clearly states, Holmes spent months in a private battle against Moriarty's criminal operations. "Never have I risen to such a height, and never have I been so hard pressed by an opponent...if I could beat that man, if I could free society of him, I should feel that my own career had reached its summit." Period Costumes! Theatrical Lighting! Live Sound Effects! FREE!

Please Note: Our staged radio plays are among our most popular events i.e. in order to guarantee yourself a seat, RSVP w/the number in your party and the night (Sat. or Sun.) you'd like to attend. Ages 9 & up welcome!


8 PM, Fri. Jan 22
Sheila Kohler
Reading/Signing
BECOMING JANE EYRE

As many of may know, I'm getting my MFA in Creative Writing and Literature at Bennington College. Ms. Kohler, who I hosted at the shop in August, is one of my professors and I had the pleasure of hearing her read again at my January residency. Being South African, she pronounces her English phonemes with a strong Dutch inflection, which makes her an absolutely exquisite reader. It's been said that actor Christopher Plummer could captivate an audience by reading the phone book and, indeed, so could Sheila. But instead she'll be reading from her brilliant new novel BECOMING JANE EYRE. The year is 1846. In a cold parsonage on the gloomy Yorkshire moors, a family seems cursed with disaster. A mother and two children dead. A father sick, without fortune, and hardened by the loss of his two most beloved family members. A son destroyed by alcohol and opiates. And three strong, intelligent young women, reduced to poverty and spinsterhood, with nothing to save them from their fate. Nothing, that is, except their remarkable literary talent. So unfolds the story of the Brontë sisters. Delicately unraveling the connections between one of fiction's most indelible heroines and the remarkable woman who created her, BECOMING JANE EYRE will appeal to fans of literary fiction and, of course, the millions of readers who adore Jane Eyre. BECOMING JANE EYRE is Kohler's 10th book. Her novel Cracks, a feverish mash-up of Lord of Flies and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, was recently turned into a film starring Eva Green. FREE! Complimentary wine. Books on sale at event. To read the recent NY Times review of Becoming Jane Eyre, click HERE. To watch Sheila's August reading at The Rac, click HERE.

8 PM, Fri. Jan 29
BLIND LEMON CELLO

Featuring Carol Selick and guitarist Felix Buccellato. With cellist Eric Jorgenson.
With a keen instinct for finding suitable material, Selicks's wonderfully lush, blues-rimmed voice, Buccellato's sinuous slide guitar, and Jorgenson's aching cello wrap themselves around a a dozen or so potent covers culled from a shrewd mix of writers ranging from Memphis Minnie to Bonnie Raitt. Blusion--it all grows out of the blues, just doesn't always end there.FREE! Comp wine.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

HOLIDAY PARTY TONIGHT !! SNOW OR SHINE

Like gold medal boudin noir? How about prunes soaked overnight in cognac? Or a terrine of apples and pig tongue set in a warm bath and cooked in a gentle oven? No? Well, how about cookies? Lots and lots of cookies...

7:30 PM, Sun. Dec 20
THE RACONTEUR HOLIDAY PARTY
Featuring Robert Kaplow.

NPR alum Robert Kaplow’s novel Me and Orson Welles, a beautifully rendered and hilarious valentine to the burly thespian, was recently turned into a movie by indie filmmaker Richard Linklater (Dazed & Confused). Set in 1937 New York, Kaplow's novel tells of a teenager hired to star in Welles' production of Julius Caesar. Opening wide in a week, the film stars Zac Efron, Claire Danes, and Christian Mckay as Welles. The New York Times described McKay's performance as one of "seductive power and full bore charm," Roger Ebert called the picture, "one of the best movies about theater I've ever seen," and the New Yorker's David Denby just included it in his "Top Ten Films of the Year." The most recent review, from The San Francisco Chronicle, said: "Christian McKay, as Orson Welles in Me and Orson Welles, gives what I believe is the most exact and uncanny screen portrayal of a historical figure, EVER." (the buzz is that McKay will snag an Oscar nom). Naturally, Kaplow will read and sign, but he'll also narrate a slide show of unseen production/opening night photographs and field questions about the book and film. Find out how a cantankerous bouncer at a local New Brunswick band bar discovered the unagented actor playing Welles (seriously) and what exactly the "O" stands for in Robert O. Kaplow. The film's period music has also received a lot of praise and Kaplow promises to burn a CD of swing hits from the film to soundtrack our party. Books on sale at event. Signed books make great holiday gifts! To read the Times review of the film, click HERE.

Expect a variety of spiked nogs, puissant punches, and a withering concoction called Yukon Cornelius, along with a range of baked, roasted and boiled dishes (capon anyone?), marinated tench, and an edible lifelike scene sculpted in colored marzipan. Plus Cream Wafers, Date Drops, Honey-Filled Biscuits, Cinnamon Stars, Zucker Hutchen, Fattigmands Bakkels, Drumkake, and Buttery Nut Rounds. FREE!