AROUND WELLINGTON STORIES OF THE
MONTH
 Print This Post
Stars of Showtime’s WEEDS
An Inside View with Demian Bichir and Alexander Gould
By Marla E. Schwartz
Demián Bichir is a gentleman in every sense of the word but he certainly doesn’t play one on TV. Demián portrays the dastardly Major of Tijuana, Esteban Reyes, who is the love interest of the lead character Nancy Botwin, played by the effervescent Mary-Louise Parker on the Showtime hit WEEDS. Basically,  it’s the story of a woman who gets into financial trouble after the sudden death of her husband and becomes the neighborhood pot dealer in her idyllic community. This highly successful series begins its sixth season at 10 PM EST on Monday, August 16th in which audience members will finally be able to find out the fate of the shows antagonist, Pilar plated by the great Kate del Castillo. In fact, one of the final scenes last season between Nancy, Pilar and Esteban was pure acting gold, and Demián’s take on his character is something that makes the audiences come back for more and more!
The extraordinarily-gifted actor laughs a few times as he recalls one particular scene he had with Mary-Louise. This scene involves Nancy telling Esteban that she wants a cut of his next WEEDS shipment and he refuses. He feels she’s breaking the chain of command, the conversation ensues and Nancy gets punished. A spanking takes place. Well, a majorly sexy spanking, that is. It’s obvious that these two actors have chemistry – and in spades.
This scene is even a favorite among celebrities. “It’s Benicio Del Toro’s {they appeared together in Steven Soderberg’s two-part film Ché} favorite scene. He was really thrilled by it and a lot of people talk about that scene,” Demián said. “It was really hard to do because we did that scene the first week of work. Every scene I’ve had with her is really great because she takes you to a higher level and invites you to be on the top of your game.” As the spanking scene comes to an end, you can see a sly smile on Esteban’s face – it’s very well done and extremely fun to watch. If you haven’t seen it, you catch the clip on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igw9Q5-tJ08&feature=related.
“I can only say that I’m really lucky because I never really thought about doing TV and when I got the call to read for this role my former girlfriend told me that this isn’t TV, it’s something else,” Demián said. This very wise woman insisted that Demián look into auditioning for the series by saying to him, “It’s really a show that’s well written and the cast is great and you have to watch it.” He thought about her advice but had his own take on the situation. “I didn’t really want to watch anything because then I thought if I really like it then I’ll be dying to get it.” He went in and auditioned for the part. “After the audition they called me back two days after my first reading to meet with Mary-Louise and to read with her and then I thought I’ve got to do it,” he explained. “As an actor you’re always looking for not only great projects but the possibility to work opposite great, beautiful actors such as Mary-Louise and that was my chance and I’m really lucky that I got it.”
Demián is Latin America’s most beloved actor and has made significant inroads into making a mark for himself as an up and coming legendary actor who will no doubt make a significant impact on the American cinema landscape. There’s no doubt that his smoldering good looks combined with his wonderful sense of humor will keep him working for years to come. He’s a renowned stage actor who has appeared in a myriad of modern and classical productions in his home country of Mexico by performing in such plays as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard the III, The Ghost Sonata, Equus, Ah! Wilderness, Broadway Bound and The Odd Couple. In America he has appeared in numerous films such as In the Time of the Butterflies with another breathtaking colleague originating from Mexico, Salma Hayek. Additionally, Demián has received a multitude of awards for his exemplary work. His talent have brought him a Silver Ariel Award (Mexico’s version of the Oscars), as Best Actor winner for his role in the movie Hasta Morir given by the Mexican Academy of Cinematography and has garnered other prestigious honors and achievements throughout his career, including a Medal of Honor from Mexico City. Some of his other awards and nominations are as follows:
|
Screen Actors Guild Awards
|
|
Year
|
Result
|
Award
|
Category/Recipient(s)
|
|
2009
|
Nominated
|
Actor
|
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
for: WEEDS |
The Bichir side of the family, originally hailing from Lebanon, has made a major impact in the entertainment business in Mexico. His father, Alejandro Bichir is a distinguished theatrical director and his mother Maricuz Nájera and brothers Odiseo and Bruno are all famously notable actors in their own right. In fact, the Mexican “MTV Movie Awards” created a category called El Mejor Bichir en Una Película or Best Bichir in a Film. Demián received the honor.
Most recently, Demián wrapped up three films, “The Gardner”, “The Runway” and “Hidalgo”. “The Gardner, with Chris Weitz directing, is my first lead role in a studio movie and I couldn’t have been luckier because the script was fantastic and Chris is absolutely a fantastic director,” Demián said. It has also been reported that Demián is attached to a film about a young Colombian woman named Leona who becomes a powerful gang leader in South Florida. “I heard of this project almost a year ago, but I haven’t heard anything back,” Demián said. “I don’t know if the project is still on.”
It would be great to have Demián attached to a film that’s shot in South Florida. “I’ve been to Miami plenty of times,” he said. “I love the architecture along the beach, the great Cuban restaurants, the feel of the city and the people are really great,” he said.
There’s no doubt that Demián Bichir will again make an appearance in Miami and while his star continues to rise, you most certainly shouldn’t miss his ride!
There’s another prominent actor in WEEDS who also excels at portraying his character. This marvelously talented young man is Alexander Gould, and he portrays Nancy Botwin’s son, Shane Botwin, who happened to be with his father at the time he passed away. His character began as a social misfit who spoke to his dead father similarly to the way a child speaks to an imaginary friend. His mother’s ascension into the drug business slowly affected him in a way that changed his character into a bold human being who not only gets shot but appears to have committed murder in last year’s season finale. Alexander does such a splendid job in this role that he’s sure to have a long career after his role on WEEDS has come to an end.
Alexander was nice enough to answer a few questions for AroundWellington.com:
QUESTIONS FOR ALEXANDER GOULD
AW: Please explain what your character Shane Botwin is like for people who haven’t yet seen the show?
ALEX: Shane is a very disturbed character. His dad died when he was young and ever since he has been kind of the moral center of the family but is also slightly immoral himself. His big issue is that he can never quite fit in with anybody else.
AW: How old were you when you began working on WEEDS?
ALEX: I was ten and never imaged it would turn into what it is today.
AW: How old are you today?
ALEX: Sixteen.
AW: Are you driving yet?
ALEX: Yah. I get my license at the end of the month.
AW: Congratulations.
ALEX: Thank you.
AW: You probably made enough money to buy your own car, but are you allowed to buy your own car?
ALEX: I’m going to buy one, yah.
AW: Do you have a favorite scene from last season?
ALEX: A few of the scenes I was in with a couple of girl characters who I had some activity with and they were my favorite scenes to act out obviously because they were very risqué. But I really loved doing scenes with the girl characters because they were so great to work with and the actresses were really fun and it was fun to have someone my age on the set for a change.
AW: Have you finished shooting the current season or what is your schedule like?
ALEX: We’re in the last four episodes of the season. I’ve been working consistently almost every day and it has been a great season and I’m really looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be one of the best one’s yet!
AW: What does Shane think of Esteban?
ALEX: At the beginning, when they first met, it was kind of a bitter standoff and he was at odds against Esteban because he was a new kind of father figure. And near the end of last season I think that they talked and because Shane was living with him for so long they became kind of friendly with each other and they were at a good place when we left them.
AW: The news is always reporting about how difficult it is for child stars to make the transition into adulthood and continue their careers, is this something you think about in terms of your own life?
ALEX: Definitely. I’ve been struggling because I really want to go to college and that’s coming up in a couple years and it’s hard to continue acting while I’m in college. One good thing is that I’m not coming from a young child’s place. I’m coming from WEEDS which is a very adult show and that can transfer over to acting as an adult a lot easier than say coming from something that portrays me more as a child.
AW: Do you want to continue in the entertainment business when you graduate from college?
ALEX: I definitely do. I love doing it and I don’t see myself doing anything else.
AW: Can you recall your most memorable scene so far in WEEDS or would you say it’s the same as your favorite scene?
ALEX: There are two. The scene that I think was in the second season where Uncle Andy is teaching Shane about masturbation. It’s memorable because the context was so weird and that’s the most watched WEEDS clip on YouTube. And the other one would be the scene last season when where I whack Pilar in the head with the mallet. That is probably one of my most favorite scenes to watch. It was such a fun kind of scene (to do) because I’m not a violent person by nature.
AW: Was it a hard scene to shoot? Did you have to rehearse it a lot?
ALEX: I did have to rehearse it a lot because at first I was very uncomfortable swinging the mallet. It was padded in rubber so it wasn’t actually going to hurt her.
AW: Do you have any advice for children who want to act?
ALEX: Keep doing what you’re doing and don’t be afraid to give it your all because I mean with WEEDS I’ve given it my all and there’s a lot of stuff I haven’t been comfortable doing, but you can’t be afraid to get going and do it and give it your all - as opposed to holding back.
AW: Is there anything you’d like to add that I haven’t asked you?
ALEX: I don’t think so. We’ve pretty much covered it all.
Thank you very much, Alex Gould!
Bravo to both Demián and Alex! May their stars shine brightly for many years to come.
 A native of Toledo, OH and a graduate of Kent State, Marla E. Schwartz is a Senior Writer for Miami Living Magazine and is also a freelance writer for Lighthouse Point Magazine. Her photographs have appeared in numerous Ohio publications, as well as in Miami Living, The Miami Herald, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post. She has had numerous plays published and produced around the country. Her short play, America’s Working? was produced in Los Angeles at both the First Stage and the Lone Star Ensemble Theater companies, in Florida at Lynn University and then at an off-Broadway playhouse in NYC. Her piece, The Lunch Time Café, was a finalist for the Heideman Award, Actors Theatre of Louisville. Feel free to contact her at: meschwartz1@hotmail.com.
vvv
Print This Post
Grilled Salmon
Prep: 10 min./ Cook: 15 min.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds salmon fillets
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Directions
1. Place salmon in shallow dish. Combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Set aside 1/4 cup for basting; pour the rest over the salmon. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Drain, discarding marinade. Grill salmon over medium coals, skin side down, for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Baste occasionally with reserved marinade. Serves 4.
Grilled Vegetables with Couscous
Prep Time: 20 Min./ Cook Time: 15 Min.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 zucchini
- 1 small eggplant
- 1 large sweet onion
- 3/4 cup frozen broad beans
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup couscous
- 1 cup vegetable stock
Directions
1. Remove the seeds from the pepper, and chop into strips about 1 to 2 inches long. Cut the eggplant crossways into rounds about 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick, and cut each one into 6 to 8 even chunks. Peel the onion, and chop into 8 portions. Trim the zucchini, and cut into thick slices.
2. Heat grill pan over a high heat with a generous splash of olive oil. When it is very hot, add all the vegetables to the pan. Press down occasionally to get grill lines across them. Turn occasionally to prevent burning. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are evenly browned and cooked through.
3. Stir broad beans into the vegetables. Add chopped tomatoes, and vinegar. Simmer for a few minutes while the couscous is prepared.
4. Place couscous into a medium bowl. Add boiling vegetable stock, and stir with a fork. Keep lifting the couscous occasionally to prevent it sticking. It only takes 2 to 3 minutes to become soft. Place couscous in a large bowl or serving platter, and serve the vegetables on top. Serves 4.
Red, White & Blue Refresher
Ingredients
- 1 quart pineapple or lemon sherbet
- 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- 1/2 cup white grape juice or white wine
Directions
· Divide the sherbet between four dessert cups or bowls. Top with the berries and grape juice.
Thanks to www.allrecipes.com for these yummy summer recipes.
vvv
Print This Post
Cultural Corner
Summertime, a Time for Great Books
By Marla E. Schwartz
There’s no doubt that summertime in Florida is literally just as scorching to our outsides as well as it is to our insides. It’s easy to find a way to cool down on the outside, you can jump in a pool or stay in the air conditioning - but cooling down on the inside is another matter. So when you’re sipping on a tall glass of cold water or something a bit harder, keep in mind that summer reading is every bit as indispensable to sustain us during these seemingly endless sweltering days. There are multitudes of authors and books to choose from but this list focuses on work by Floridians or books that engage Florida in their plot twists.
If you belong to a book club where monthly selections are suggested ahead of time, that’s terrific. If not, check out some of the following local groups. The Readers’ Lane Book Club (www.readerslane.net) has locations in Miramar and Pembroke Pines. Miami’s Euphoria Book Club members try to focus on themes dealing with African-American women; to enroll email Patricia at euphoriabookclub@yahoo.com. You can also join JORKOR (Coming Together) a book club for women living in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. This club focuses on social and political books affecting the lives of women of color. Contact woc_bookclub@hotmail.com for more information. And in Palm Beach County, check out the Spanish River Book Club. This group recently featured guest authors (who live in Boca Raton and were featured in last month’s issue of AW), Deborah and Joel Shlian where they answered questions about their fourth novel Rabbit in the Moon. You can get more information about the Shlian’s at, www.shlian.com, and if you’re interested in joining this book club, send an email to, spanishriverbookclub@yahoo.com. This group is discussing the book House Rules in August.
And it goes without saying that reading in the summertime begs a visit to Key West for its annual Hemingway Days Festival. The festival takes place July 20-25th and celebrates all that surrounds the great literary genius of Ernest Hemingway and the ever-lasting affect his presence has had on this Florida city. The most well-known event highlighting the festival is the Sloppy Joe’s Hemingway Look-Alike Contest where gentlemen from come far and near to compete for the exalted title of looking like the man whose zest for life seems incomparable to many of us. Other exciting events surrounding the celebration of Hemingway’s memory include the gathered Papas as they compete in the ‘Running of the Bulls’ tribute on Saturday afternoon, a three-day marlin tournament, daily tours of Hemingway’s house, the Sloppy Joe’s Arm Wrestling Contest and a Caribbean street fair.
The literary highlight of the festival is the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. Lorian, the author’s granddaughter (and herself a celebrated author, memoirist and nature writer), announces the winners at this event which takes places at Casa Antigua, 314 Simonton Street, which is where the original Papa stayed during his first trip to Key West. Go to HemingwayDays.Org for further information. This years’ festival is commemorating the 110th anniversary of Ernest’s July 21st birth. And it turns out that the Spanish-Colonial home at 907 Whitehead Street where Hemingway lived wasn’t named an official Literary Landmark until this past March. Hemingway aficionados would most certainly had hoped this would’ve happened years ago, and some swear of course, it had happened a long time ago, but finally this home, where the author lived for nine years, the most prolific of his writing life, has been given this honor, making it the eighth literary landmark in Key West, including the former home of Tennessee Williams.
It just so happens that Lorian’s brother John Hemingway recently published his poignant memoir Strange Tribe: A Family Memoir. John was born in Miami, and currently lives in Montreal, Canada. He attended UCLA and eventually moved to Italy to pursue his own writing career. Lorain wrote about her father, Dr. Gregory (Gloria) Hemingway in her 1999 book Walk on Water: A Memoir and John appeared at the 2009 Miami Book Fair International in order to speak about his current tome, which speaks volumes about what it was like for him growing up in both Florida and Montana with a schizophrenic mother and a bipolar, cross-dressing father who ultimately had a sex-change. The book examines the difficulties in life that both his father and grandfather experienced. John was born in Miami, attended UCLA where he studied history and Italian and subsequently moved to Italy. John currently lives in Montreal, Canada with his wife and children. (Let’s cross our fingers that this marvelously talented and very kind man finds his way back to South FL!) The book portrays the comparisons and struggles that his father and grandfather had and how similar they really were.
“It was after my dad had just died and I was traveling from Milan, where I lived, to Miami for his funeral. The stewardess on the flight was handing out copies of the local paper, Il Corriere della Sera, and on the front page there was an article about my dad written by their NY correspondent,” John said. “She was calling my dad’s death in the woman’s ward of the Miami Dade County Women’s correctional facility a “disgrace” to the image of my grandfather and saying that there could be no connection between the two. At the time I hadn’t started to do the research for my book, Strange Tribe, but I remember thinking that this woman didn’t know what the hell she was talking about! I knew that there was a much deeper connection between these two than either the general public or scholars were aware of. It was then that, subconsciously at least, I knew that I would have to write this book.”
John is currently working on a collection of short stories. “I’ve already published three of them and I hope to have about ten or fifteen when I’m finished, perhaps this fall,” he said. “I don’t have a title for this collection. I usually think of a title when I’m finished writing.” What is he reading right now? “I highly recommend Jeff Lindsay, he’s a great writer and also family - married as he is to Hilary Hemingway, one of my cousins,” he said.
Authors residing in the state of Florida
Jane Alison: The Sisters Antipodes (2009) {Mariner Books, part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, released the book in paperback this past April}; Natives and Exotics (2005); The Marriage of the Sea (2003); The Love-Artist (2001).
Jane, originally from Canberra, Australia is an Assistant Professor in the English Department at the University of Miami and lives in South Beach. Her deeply affecting memoir The Sisters Antipodes is about two families with similar lives that meet, tear each other apart and rebuild. Jane is currently working on her fifth book. “So far it’s untitled, but it’s inspired by the obsession that world-renowned modernist architect Le Corbusier had with fellow designer Eileen Gray. I expect it to be completed within the year.”
Liz Balmaseda: Sweet Mary (2009) {Released June 2010 in Paperback}; Waking Up in America (1999) {with Pedro Jose Greer, Jr}; I Am My Father’s Daughter (2007) {with Maria Elena Salinas}.
This Cuban born woman is a resident of Miami and is a former columnist for The Miami Herald and a journalist for The Palm Beach Post. She has received two Pulitzer Prizes, the first in 1993 for her commentary on the plight of Haitian refugees and the Cuban-American population, her second in 2001 for reporting on the federal raid involving the refugee boy Elián González. She recently was honored with the Hispanic Heritage Award in writing excellence at the Kennedy Center in our nation’s capital. Her novel Sweet Mary is based on a true story about the life of fictional Miamian Mary Guevara who is erroneously accused of being a cocaine queen and how she seeks justice by searching for the real culprit. Last summer Gloria Estefan (Andy Garcia was in the house) hosted a party at the Eden Roc to celebrate the release of Liz’s debut novel. And now that it’s released in paperback, it’s a perfect choice for your summer bookshelf.
Edna Buchanan: Legally Dead (2008); Love Kills (2007); Carr: Five Years of Rape and Murder (1979); The Corpse Had a Familiar Face: Covering Miami, America’s Hottest Beat (1991); Never Let Them See You Cry: More from Miami, America’s Hottest Beat (1992); Vice: Life and Death on the Streets of Miami (1992).
Born in Paterson, NJ and a Miami resident for years, Edna is a celebrated American mystery writer of seventeen novels and a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Her most recent novel Legally Dead has just been released in paperback and is about the life of U.S. Deputy Marshall Michael Venturi as he attempts to transport a mobster into the Federal Witness Protection Program. The mobster commits an armored car robbery, and Venturi’s life is forever changed as he tries to make his way out of this mess. He hopes an old friend in Florida can help him out.
Joy Fielding: The Wild Zone (February 2010); Still Life (2009); Charley’s Web (2008).
Joy resides in both Toronto and Palm Beach, FL and is the highly successful author of nineteen novels, seven of them taking place in Florida, including her most recently published book The Wild Zone. It revolves around the lives of two brothers who are enjoying a night out at their favorite South Beach bar. They see a woman drinking alone and place a bet on which one of them will be able to seduce her. The story soon takes a treacherous turn. You can also turn to her 2008 novel Charley’s Web for more Florida intrigue. Charley is a popular columnist for the Palm Beach Post who becomes unwittingly becomes involved in a mystery where she is placed in a situation in which she must save her son who is being targeted by a convicted child killer.
Carl Hiaasen: Star Island (July 27 2010); Scat (2009); Nature Girl (2006); Paradise Screwed (published in 2001, June 2009, new edition); Kick Ass (1999, 10th Anniversary Edition now available).
Carl, who was born in Plantation and lives in Miami has set all of his books in Florida. His name is most recognizable as the author of Strip Tease that was subsequently turned into a movie starring Demi Moore and Burt Reynolds. His new book Star Island is about a slightly competent, unmanageable pop-singer who is hounded by the paparazzo. He began writing for The Miami Herald in 1976 and you can check out his regular column at, http://www.miamiherald.com/424/index.html where he’s recently written about the BP oil spill and more. The majority of his novels have been classified as environmental thrillers and he and his wife are very active in community/charity events and have made great progress in altering people to environment concerns in the state of Florida. In 2008 his bestseller Lucky You was adapted for the stage, with music written by Loudon Wainright III and premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In addition to writing, Hiaasen also does speaking engagements and lectures. For more information go to, www.carlhiaasen.com.
Stephen King: Blockade Billy (April 2010); The Talisman: Vol. 1: The Road of Trials (May 2010); American Vampire Vol. 1 (March 2010), Full Dark, No Stars (Nov. 2010); Ur (2010); Under the Dome (2009); Stephen King Goes To The Movies (2009); Road Rage (2009); Duma Key (2008).
Stephen King is famous for his remarkably prolific output of the most exceptional horror stories ever written situated in his home state of Maine. He has penned more than fifty internationally bestselling books. He and his wife Tabitha reside in Bangor during the summer and spend the remainder of their time in Sarasota, Florida. They have three children, and one of them, their daughter Naomi, is a permanent resident of Florida, making her home in Plantation, where she is a minister for the Unitarian Universalist Church of River of Grass. Stephen’s most recent novel Blockade Billy is about William Blakely, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, whose name has been mysteriously expunged from the record books. Stephen’s book The Talisman: Vol. 1: The Road of Trials, co-written with Peter Straub is a graphic novel about thirteen-year-old Jack Sawyer’s journey to find the magical Talisman that holds the secret to saving his mother’s life. King’s American Vampire Vol. 1 is the first in a new graphic novel series in which he’ll co-author the first five books with Scott Snyder. The main character is a feral vampire whose story stretches from the wild west through America’s ascension into a superpower. King’s novel Duma Key mostly takes places on this fictional reef located near Sarasota. The story revolves around Edgar Freemantle who is in a construction accident and moves to Duma Key when he inexplicably begins to create dreamlike paintings that predict the future.
Jeff Lindsay: Dexter is Delicious (Hardback, September 2010/Paperback, August 2011); Dexter by Design (2008); Dexter Omnibus (2008); Dexter in the Dark (2007); Dearly Devoted Dexter (2005); Darkly Dreaming Dexter (2004).
This extraordinary writer was born and raised in Miami and follows a highly regulated daily writing schedule at his home office in Cape Coral, FL where he lives with wife, Hilary Hemingway and their three children. Jeff’s first book in his deftly created Dexter series is Darkly Dreaming Dexter and is the basis for Showtime’s number one rated series, Dexter. The marvelous actor who brings Dexter to life is the mesmerizing Michael C. Hall, who portrayed David Fisher on the hit HBO drama, Six Feet Under. Jeff created the very first ‘loveable’ serial killer in the history of literature in his character of sociopathic vigilante Dexter Morgan. His book Dexter by Design debuted at #8 on the New York Times Bestseller List last September. And for all you fans who cannot get enough of Lindsay’s work, don’t worry, there’s more to come! “The book I’m finishing now is about cannibalism, called Dexter is Delicious. That’s one of my favorite titles,” Jeff said. “I was recently in Australia (on a book tour for Dexter by Design which was released in Australia in February 2009) and they’re crazy about him and want him to visit Australia. So I thought that Dexter Down Under would be a good title.” If you’re lucky, you can catch Lindsay at future book fairs or during his many visits to Miami at Books and Books in Coral Gables.
Brad Meltzer: The Inner Circle (January 2011); Heroes for My Son (May 2010); The Book of Lies (2008); The Book of Fate (2006).
Brad grew up in Brooklyn, NY but moved to South Florida when he was still a youngster and attended N. Miami Beach Senior High School. This down-to-earth man is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Book of Fate, as well as the bestsellers The Tenth Justice, Dead Even, The First Counsel, The Millionaires, The Zero Game, and The Book of Lies. He lives with his wife Cori and their three children right in our own backyard of Aventura where he scooped ice cream for four years at the Haagen Dazs in Aventura Mall and where he’s now known for coaching Little League games in which his children participate. You’ll have to wait a few more months to read his next thriller, so if you haven’t yet read his book Heroes for My Son, it’s a must read for inclusion in your summer reading list. I highly recommend you check out these websites for this book, heroesformyson.com/the-book, www.facebook.com/HeroesforMySon, and make sure to send out your own ‘Heroes’ video he has created to the special people in your life. This book makes a perfect gift for anyone with an upcoming special celebration. The idea for writing this book took came to Brad a number of years ago. “It began the night my first son was born. I was stuck at a red light, and I remember looking up at the black sky and thinking of this baby boy we were just blessed with,” he explained. “That’s when I asked myself this question for the very first time: what kind of man did I want my son to be? The book was just a list of silly platitudes until a friend of mine told me this story about the Wright Brothers. Every day Orville and Wilbur Wright went out to fly their plane and they’d bring enough materials for multiple crashes. That way, when they crashed, they could rebuild the plane and try again. Think about it a moment: every time they went out every time - they knew they were going to fail. But that’s what they did: Crash and rebuild. Crash and rebuild. And that’s why they finally took off. I loved that story. And that’s the kind of story I wanted my son to hear: a story that wouldn’t lecture to him, but would show him that if he was determined…if he wasn’t afraid to fail…if he had persistence the impossible becomes possible. Since that time, I’ve been collecting heroes for this book, which has been one of the most rewarding projects of my life.” Make sure you go to Brad’s website and read his blog because this is where he encourages people to send him list of their heroes. “If you have one, please send him or her along,” he insists. “I have a daughter and I’ve been working on her (book of heroes) ever since the day she was born,” Brad said. “And she asks everyday, ‘where’s my book?’ So Heroes For My Daughter is coming soon.” Brad’s website is: www.bradmeltzer.com.
James Paterson: Cross Fire (November 2010); Battle for Shadowland (October 2010); Don’t Blink (September 2010); The Postcard Killers (August 2010); Demons and Druids (July 2010); Private (June 2010); 9th Judgment (April 2010); Fang (March 2010); Worst Case (February 2010).
James was born in Newburgh, New York but lives in Palm Beach with his family. He has written sixty-five novels in thirty-three years, has had nineteen consecutive #1 New York Times bestselling novels and holds the New York Times record for most Hardcover Fiction bestselling titles by a single author (48 total), which is also a Guinness World Record. He’s most known for his Alex Cross and Maximum Ride series. His two summer releases, Demons and Druids and The Postcard Killers will no doubt thrill all his fans. Demons and Druids is the third book in his Daniel X Series in which the young protagonist finds himself with a secret power that creates objects out of thin air. The Postcard Killers, co-authored with Swedish writer Liza Marklund is a crime novel about a young American couple murdered while vacationing in Europe. For more information go to www.jamespaterson.com.
Authors that include South Florida in their books.
Betsy Carter: The Puzzle King (2009); Nothing To Fall Back On (2008); Swim to Me (2007); The Orange Blossom Special (2005).
Although Betsy was born and currently resides in NYC, she spent her formative years in Miami. Because she was exposed to the colors, unique splendor and unusual qualities (Seminole Indians wrestling alligators behind gas stations) that make this city so combustible she has written about Florida in all of her books, except her most recent one, The Puzzle King. This historical novel takes place in New York and Kaiserlautern, a small town in Germany. Her official website for the book, www.betsycarter.net, includes a Q & A with the author in which she discusses why she didn’t include Florida in this book and where she came up with the idea for it. “The story of The Puzzle King has been kicking around all of my live,” she said. “It’s based on the history and mythology of my family. My parents were German Jews who narrowly escaped Hitler through the heroic efforts of my great aunt and uncle.” She thought her great uncle Morris Einson, whom the character of Simon Phelps in the novel is loosely based upon, invented monopoly, but discovered he really made his fortune, enabling him to save the lives of her parents and others, by creating jigsaw puzzles out of cardboard. But just because Florida isn’t a main theme in this book, is certainly is mentioned in the book when the character of Seema, trying to cover up the fact that her boyfriend is married, and lies to her family, telling them that she and her boyfriend were spending time in either Havana or Florida. And once you’ve devoured this historical novel, make sure you read her other books. Her memoir, Nothing To Fall Back On was a national bestseller; Swim to Me is a whacky and fun story about a young girl named Delores Walker who leaves the Bronx for Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida and becomes the featured mermaid in an underwater show, and The Orange Blossom Special spans twenty-years, beginning in 1958 when widowed Tessie Lockhart decides to leave Carbondale, Illinois and reserves two seats, one for herself and the other for her teenage daughter Dinah, on a passenger train to Gainesville, Florida. Betsy is a contributing editor of O: The Oprah Magazine and writes for Good Housekeeping, New York, and AARP and has been an editor at Esquire, Newsweek, Harper’s Bazaar and was the founding editor of New York Woman.
Patricia Cornwell: “Kay Scarpetta” series – Book of the Dead (2007), Scarpetta (2008), The Scarpetta Factor (Released October 2009); “At Risk / Win Garano” series - At Risk (2006) {originally a serialization for The New York Times} debuted on the Lifetime Channel April 10, 2010 and The Front (2008) which was also adapted to television on the Lifetime Channel on April 17, 2010.
Cornwell, crime novelist extraordinaire, was born in Miami and currently lives in Massachusetts. Her series of novels featuring medical examiner Kay Scarpetta basically takes this character from her home in Florida to Virginia, back in Florida, returning to Virginia, moving back to Florida taking a job as the head of the National Forensic Academy in Hollywood then relocating to Charleston, South Carolina, then moving to Massachusetts and now in The Scarpetta Factor is working in NYC. She’s currently a senior forensic analyst for CNN and her boss creates a TV show called The Scarpetta Factor. It’s about Kay’s so-called mythical ability to solve her cases. Cornwell recently spoke privately with Angelina Jolie to discuss writing a film script as a vehicle for this Academy-Award winning actress to star in where she’ll portray Scarpetta for the big screen. For more information go to www.patriciacornwell.com.
For those book lovers looking for more to read once summer is over, the next Miami Book Fair International takes place November 14-21 at Miami Dade College. Many of the author’s in this summer reading series appeared at last year’s (or previous ones) fair, but confirmed authors for this year’s highly anticipated literary extravaganza haven’t been announced yet. This information will ultimately be accessible at www.miamibookfair.com.
A native of Toledo, OH and a graduate of Kent State, Marla E. Schwartz is a Senior Writer for Miami Living Magazine and is also freelance writer for Lighthouse Point Magazine. Her photographs have appeared in numerous Ohio publications, as well as in Miami Living, The Miami Herald, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post. She has had numerous plays published and produced around the country. Her short play, America’s Working? was produced in Los Angeles at both the First Stage and the Lone Star Ensemble Theater companies, in Florida at Lynn University and then at an off-Broadway playhouse in NYC. Her piece, The Lunch Time Café, was a finalist for the Heideman Award, Actors Theatre of Louisville. Feel free to contact her at: meschwartz1@hotmail.com.
vvv
Print This Post
City Theatre’s Summer Shorts Festival
Interviews with Songwriter Lisa Loeb and Playwright Marco Ramirez
By Marla E. Schwartz
This summer marks the 15h Anniversary Season for Miami’s magnificent world-renowned Carbonell Award winning City Theatre’s Summer Shorts Festival. If you have yet to drive to Miami for this program, make the time to head on down to the Magic City and if you’ve already been, you won’t want to miss this year’s exciting line-up! “The festival has become a nationally recognized event and a must-see/must-be-seen-there social outing for South Florida audiences,” Stephanie Norman, Co-Founder and Producing Artistic Director said. “In fifteen-years City Theatre has produced over three-hundred original “short” plays by the nation’s top  playwrights. In honor of this milestone season, we commissioned Camp Kappawanna to set new artistic benchmarks and, as a family musical, create a rockin’ gift for many generations to celebrate summer.” This summer City Theatre will perform at and in association with the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami from June 3 – 27, 2010 followed by a new summer residency at the Epstein Center for the Arts at Nova Southeastern University in Davie to celebrate the holiday weekend, performing July 1 – 3, 2010. For ticket information go to: http://www.citytheatre.com/ or call (305) 949-6722.
The acclaimed annual Summer Shorts Festival will feature two shorts series this year: SIGNATURE SHORTS, the original series that put “shorts” on the map; and UNDERSHORTS, a late-night series of shorts for adults that is edgy, irreverent, and completely hilarious. “Mr. Summer Shorts” Stephen Trovillion, a veteran of seventy-one roles in thirteen previous festivals, and the comedic genius of the gifted Elena Maria Garcia, who has appeared in thirty-two roles in six previous festivals, will again delight you with their outstanding performances.
Stephen began his acting experiences with City Theatre in a most auspicious way. “I taught acting for three years at the University of Miami back when Summer Shorts was performed at the Ring Theatre,” he began to explain. “One day the City Theatre people (Stephanie Norman and Susi Westfall) were auditioning my students and several of them were late. I was embarrassed that no one was there to audition so I offered to do a monologue. It was truly an impulsive offer to fill time but I guess it worked out for the best. We’ve been together ever since.”
It turned out for Stephen that being in the right place at the right time eventually earned him the moniker ‘Mr. Summer Shorts’. How do you think he feels about this nickname? “Well, of course it’s a wonderful compliment, brought about by the fact that I’ve been here a long time! I did my first season of Summer Shorts in 1998, so I’ve been around almost as long as the festival and I still enjoy it every year,” he said. “Sometimes when I’m out in the lobby talking to friends or family after the show people will come up to me and say hi – they feel they know me after seeing me on stage for so many years and that’s terrific! I’m glad they come back year after year and even more happy that they like my work. The Summer Shorts group is like a family, both backstage, onstage and those audience members who come every year and compare notes on which plays they like the best. We always welcome them back – if you haven’t been yet, come and join us! As we always say, if you don’t like this play, wait ten minutes and there’ll be another one!”
And after Mr. Summer Shorts takes his leave of Miami until next season he goes back to his teaching job up North. “I’m the Coordinator of the BFA Acting program at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. I teach acting and direct as well. It’s a very rewarding and very demanding job,” Stephen said. “I’m a tenured professor and I’m proud to say that this year I was promoted to full professor! Unfortunately, I’m in Wisconsin all winter long when it’s beautiful here and cold there, then come down here in the summer just when it gets beautiful there and hot as heck here! Is there a name for the reverse of a snowbird? Whatever it is, that’s me, but I always love coming to Miami for the terrific work and to see all my great friends. I can’t wait for the festival to open!”
This year’s festival also presents plays written by Christopher Durang, Rich Orloff, Adam Sandler, Dan Dietz (Florida State University Professor who is this years’ Heideman Award winner – Actors Theatre of Louisville for his play Lobster Boy) and Rolin Jones (a writer for the hit Showtime series Weeds) and also features the spectacular acting chomps of some of south Florida’s most gifted thespians including Scott Genn, Breeza Zeller, Chaz Mena, Laura Turnball, David Hemphill and Erin Joy Schmidt. Shorts directors this year include the imitable talents of City Theatre Founding Artistic Director Gail Garrisan along with noted directors Avi Hoffman, Marjorie O’Neill-Butler, John Manzelli, Barry Steinman, James Samuel Randolph and Hugh Murphy. City Theatre’s production team for all three of the series which is under the direction of Festival Consultant Gail Garrisan and Associate Festival Coordinator John Manzelli, includes scenic designer Sean McClelland, lighting designer Sevim Abaza, sound designer Steve Shapiro, and properties designer Jodi Dellaventura.
This year for the very first time City Theatre presents a full-length  musical Camp Kappawanna for children that’ll be unveiled for audiences as part of its summer line-up. Stephanie tapped multi-Heideman Award winning playwright Marco Ramirez to write the book and Grammy Award-Nominated Singer/Songwriter Lisa Loeb to write the music and lyrics. Camp Kappawanna will especially delight youngsters of all ages and adults will be able to relate their personal summer camp experiences to the ones taking place on stage. Camp Kappawanna is the story of Jennifer Jenkins an endearingly self-conscious twelve-year-old who is trying to discover her true self. She’s leaving home for the first time to attend an overnight summer camp. This season marks Marco Ramirez’s eighth City Theatre production. “We’ve produced seven of Marco’s plays on our stages, starting with his first professional production and leading to many accolades as one of the nation’s rising talents,” Stephanie said. “His writing is smart, funny and strikes the right chord with kids and adults.” Ramirez comes to Camp Kappawanna from training at the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts and The Juilliard School, and is currently a staff writer on FX’s Sons of Anarchy. The Camp Kappawanna ensemble includes the immeasurable acting talents of Melanie Leibner, Troy Davidson, Jameson Hammond, Tom Anello, Renata Eastlick, Mary Sansone and Gerardo Pelati and is directed by Sean Paul Bryan who is a faculty member in the Drama Department at Ransom Everglades School.
Lisa Loeb started her career with the platinum-selling No. 1 hit song ‘Stay (I Missed You)’ from the film Reality Bites and has parlayed  this feat into a multi-dimensional career encompassing music, film, television, voice-over work and children’s recordings. Lisa has recorded two award-winning children’s CD’s Camp Lisa as well as Catch the Moon with noted children’s musical artist Elizabeth Mitchell. She has also appeared in and produced two television series, Dweezil and Lisa for the Food Network and #1 Single, a dating show on the E! Network. In conjunction with her CD Camp Lisa she launched her own non-profit, The Camp Lisa Foundation, that helps underprivileged kids attend summer camp through its partnership with Summer Camp Opportunities, Inc. Camp Kappawanna is inspired by the same CD (with music and lyrics written by Lisa Loeb, Michelle Lewis and Dan Petty) is making its debut in Florida.
Lisa Loeb became involved with City Theatre in last season’s festival. “Stephanie Norman last summer asked if they could one of our songs called ‘Best Friends’ in one of the summer shorts,” Lisa began to explain. “It seemed like a real cool theater festival and so we agreed to let them use it in one of their shorts. That was my first contact with them; of course after we did that we found out that we had different friends and family members from different places that already knew about the theater festival.”
“I’ve always wanted to do a musical theater piece so this has been a perfect collaboration and with the summer camp album Camp Lisa my goal was really to bring summer camp to as many people as possible so I think a family musical is a perfect format for that,” she continued. “We used a handful of songs from the CD (for the musical) and then we wrote a number of new songs once Marco had written the play. We started thinking about what kind of songs we needed to write to further the story of the play. I know from my Camp Lisa record all of the proceeds go to the Camp Lisa Foundation to send kids to summer camp and my manager is going to make sure we have something set up so there will continue to be funds to send kids to summer camp (from this production) and we’re working on the details right now.”
Lisa is over the moon with enthusiasm when she speaks of this collaboration that one cannot help wonder if she attended summer camp as a child. “I did – for years and years as a child,” she said. “At a certain point I started to go to sleep away camp. I think there’s always a tiny bit of trepidation before the summer started which would always convert itself into a feeling of accomplishment and fun; but the idea of going off on a school bus where you’re going to have to meet all new people and try all these things and eat different food and learn new songs and have different challenges that were not typical things I’d do at school where I excelled it was a little bit of a challenge. But by the end of the summer I always had a tan, which was weird for a pale person like me; I could swim farther and longer than I could at the beginning of the summer; I had new friends as well as not losing my regular school friends, but I had a group of new friends, new experiences, learned new recipes, new crafts, and just had a full experience that meant a lot to me; especially in contrast to school which was filled with assignments and doing what you had to do.”
“I loved sleep away camp,” she explained. “Although you get a sense of it when you’re a really little kid going to day camp, a sense of the fun and the challenges, and sometimes fun competitions between campers, one of the things at sleep away camp is that it gives you a sense of independence. You get to be away from your parents in a place that’s safe, where you get a chance to explore new things and even in just getting to know yourself a little bit better in a different way . . . And instead of having just a locker at school you get to have your own bunk.”
Transferring this personal fervor to the stage and working with an award-winning playwright that she hadn’t yet met was something new – yet the challenge allowed her to explore another side of her seemingly endless multi dimensional sense of artistic exploration. “Initially Marco was presented to us by Stephanie as the playwright for the show and we looked at his plays he already wrote and we thought he had a really great voice,” Lisa said. “He has a great sense of humor, is very current, smart, and really great references to current culture and has a timeless element as well. He proposed an outline and we went with it and from there he started developing the characters and then as much as I could here and there I’d pitch in or make comments and participate in trying to help develop the characters in a way that seemed real to me. In rehearsals we do a lot if side sessions and it gives us a sense of how things are playing out and how they feel and if the songs are working right.”
And Floridians - a very, very special treat awaits you because Lisa Loeb will be in town for the show! “I’ll be at the first performance and some of the last rehearsals and I’ll also be appearing on a lot of TV and radio stations, at Barnes & Noble, Summer Camps, schools and all kind of things are lined up. I’m also going to be singing the National Anthem at a Marlin’s Game.”
Born in Bethesda, Maryland and growing up in Dallas, Texas Lisa came from a family that cherished music of all kinds from modern rock to musical of all kinds. “Musical theater was a big part of how I grew up,” she explained. “I listened to the radio a lot, but there were also some musicals that were very popular when I was a kid, like Annie, Grease and my friends and I loved Bye, Bye Birdie and my parents were very much of the generation where that kind of music was listened to in the house along with Oklahoma and West Side Story and all those classic shows.”
For more information on this electrifying artist, you can find her on twitter @lisaloeb4real, you can check out her website www.lisaloeb.com and follow her on Facebook at, www.facebook.com/lisaloeb.
Playwright Marco Ramirez grew up in Hialeah and attended Coral Reef High School and was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts in 2001. A year later his play Singing Stan was produced in City Theatre’s Summer Shorts Festival, followed by Pipo and Fufo: 1969 I Am Not Batman, The Big Brain on Bobby Martin and Becky Meets Mordecai Baxter. Marco is a two-time winner of the Latino Playwriting Award at the Kennedy Center’s American College Theater Festival for work he did while an undergrad at NYU’s Tisch  School of the Arts. In 2007, he won the prestigious Heideman Award for short plays as part of the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville not once, but twice, in 2006 and 2009. He did graduate work in the playwriting program at Manhattan’s prestigious Juilliard School. He studied with many well-known playwrights including Pulitzer-Prize winner Marsha Norman (she won for ‘night, Mother, after beginning her career at Actors Theatre). He used to be the Literary Manager at City Theatre and Mad Cat Theatre has produced his play The Beast and recently premiered his play BroadSword at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.
Marco Ramirez was kind enough to take a few moments of time out of his extremely hectic schedule to answer a few questions for Around Wellington readers.
AW: How did you get involved in this project (the Camp Kappawanna)?
MR: It was essentially Steph Norman’s idea. At some point last year, she approached me and said “Instead of looking for a bunch of shorts for kids this year, I’m thinking of doing one longer – stand-alone piece.” She handed me a copy of Camp Lisa (Lisa Loeb’s summer camp record for kids) and asked, “Maybe there’s a story in there?”
AW: How did you work with Lisa Loeb on this musical? Did you meet in person, email drafts to each other, talk on the phone?
MR: We did a lot of emailing back and forth in the beginning. Our first challenge was nailing down a storyline we all agreed on. I spitballed two or three ideas to Steph, and we presented those to Lisa and her manager, and what they liked, we went with. We met in person only a couple times, but phone conferences and even Skype helped communication along the way.
AW: Did you go to summer camp and if so did any of your personal experiences reflect into this play? Did you have to do any particular research to write this script? Do you have a favorite character in this play?
MR: I didn’t go to summer camp (don’t tell anyone), but I think personal experiences definitely seeped their ways into the play. I think - when you look at me, and look at Lisa - there aren’t TONS of similarities there, but one thing we do have in common is at some point in our lives we had to turn around and face our friends and family and say, “I think I wanna do this artist thing, like forever”. That’s made its way into the show. It’s definitely kind of a prequel/origin story for someone LIKE a Lisa Loeb. When we were going back and forth, Lisa shared lots of her experiences, what camp meant to her, what being a singer/songwriter means, etc. Those made their ways in there, I think. Re: research. I did some. But what came across as more important to me wasn’t depicting the actual summer camp experience, it was answering the question: “Why do people remember it so fondly?” I tried to figure that out while writing. Re: favorite character: He’s not onstage all that much, but the villain is probably my favorite character. He’s got a CRAZY AWESOME song that Lisa wrote for him, and he gets a real moment of tenderness at the end of the play.
AW: Have you had an opportunity to work with any of the actors appearing in the production in your past productions at City Theatre?
MR: Troy Davidson is the man. An all-around great guy. He has SUCH a gift for children’s theatre. Kids just melt. They see him, they know he GETS it. Unfortunately, I don’t know many of the other actors.
AW: How did you decide you wanted to enter the realm of playwriting? I know you were young when you wrote your first play, but how young – and what led you toward the stage? Do you have any writers in your family?
MR: I was 16. I was (am) obsessed with Star Wars. I genuinely thought I wanted to do special effects for movies. As special effects got more and more technically advanced, I realized I wasn’t in love with the effects at all - I just loved great stories. I had always been a reader - the quiet-type loner. Why plays as opposed to short stories? I dunno. I think the collaborative element of it excited me. I think the fact that a short story exists on paper and a play exists on Friday night at 8 o clock made it somehow more alive to me.
AW: Do you find it difficult to switch gears from writing a musical for kids to going back to the writer’s room of ‘Sons of Anarchy’?
MR: I got through most of the writing on the Camp piece right before writing for Sons started.
AW: How did you get the job writing for the television show ‘Sons of Anarchy’?
MR: At school I was lucky enough to sign with a big agency.
AW: Do you have any projects in the works at the moment? Perhaps this is a silly question.
MR: A couple. I’m writing a play about horror movies in the 1940s. I’m also working on a couple screenplays and a TV pilot. Keeping busy, yes.
AW: How many times have you won the Heideman Award and for what plays? Do you think you’ll enter again – or will you begin developing full-length works with Actors Theater of Louisville?
MR: I was lucky enough to win it twice. Once for a play called I AM NOT BATMAN and once for a piece called 3:59AM: a drag race play for two actors. I don’t think I’ll enter it again soon - but you never know. If I stumble across an idea for another ten-minute play I’d like to write, I’d gladly send it in. The people at Actors Theater are fantastic. I’ll take any chance I can get to work with them again.
AW: Who has been your most profound mentor(s)? Please tell me why he/she or more than one mentor has been important to you and why.
MR: Marsha Norman was a great mentor during my time at Juilliard. All the lessons she taught me I carry with me everyday. She has a great sense of why storytelling is important - and why doing it WELL is important. And in addition to being a Pulitzer Prize winning dramatist for serious plays like ‘night Mother, and in addition to writing the book for beloved musicals like The Color Purple and The Secret Garden - she’s a sci-fi/fantasy literature fan. So that was awesome.
AW: You’ve already written a substantial amount of plays – do you have a favorite so far and if so what is it and why?
MR: I don’t think I do. I definitely have LEAST favorites. But favorites? Not so much. I really like I AM NOT BATMAN. I think at some point on page three in that play I “figured out” a lot of what writing IS. I also like a kid’s play I wrote called CHESTER WHO PAINTED THE WORLD PURPLE that unfortunately has never been produced in Miami. The Kennedy Center commissioned me to write a bunch of short plays, this one was my favorites - it was a great experience.
AW: Do you have any advice for people just entering the realm of playwriting?
MR: Go watch plays. Don’t just read them. Watch them. And watch all KINDS of plays. Don’t just stick to things you think you’ll like. Go see things you think you won’t like. You might be surprised.
In partnership with Actors Theatre of Louisville, the nation’s pre-eminent theatre festival, the City Theatre Summer Shorts Festival offers the best in new short plays, a little of this, a little of that: dramas, comedies, musicals, farces, mysteries-an experience that covers the emotional landscape. This company truly enriches the lives of all the children and adults who have an opportunity to be audience members.
The festival is also sponsored in part by Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A.; Florida Department of State Division of Cultural Affairs; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs; The Mayor and the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners; Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Affairs Council; The Children’s Trust; America’s Capital Partners; Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts; Shepard Broad Foundation; Citizens Interested in the Arts; Carnival Cruise Lines; Dramatists Guild Fund; Dunspaugh-Dalton Foundation; Wille Family Foundation; Funding Arts Broward; Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust; IBM; Islander News; Manny and Ruthy Cohen Foundation; Miami Salon Group; Northern Trust; The University School Art Institute at the Epstein Center for the Arts; Wachovia and WLRN.
A native of Toledo, OH and a graduate of Kent State, Marla E. Schwartz has been a professional journalist since her teenage years and is a Senior Writer for Miami Living Magazine, and a freelance writer for CRAVINGS South Florida in Aventura, as well as Around Wellington Magazine and Lighthouse Point Magazine. An avid photographer, her images have appeared in numerous Ohio publications, as well as in Miami Living, The Miami Herald, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post. She has had numerous plays published and produced around the country. Her short play, America’s Working? was originally read at First Stage in Los Angeles and in the same city produced at the Lone Star Ensemble. It was then produced at Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL and then taken to an Off-Broadway playhouse by its producers Adam and Carrie Simpson. Her piece, The Lunch Time Café, was a finalist for the Heideman Award, Actors Theatre of Louisville. Feel free to contact her at: meschwartz1@hotmail.com.
***
City Theatre Photos by George Schiavone.
City Theatre’s 15th Anniversary Season
City Theatre and the Adrienne Arsht Center present
15th ANNUAL SUMMER SHORTS FESTIVAL
SIGNATURE SHORTS
June 3 - 27, 2010
Carnival Studio Theater (in the Ziff Ballet Opera House)
Signature Shorts is the series that put City Theatre’s “shorts” on the map! A “short” is a one-act play running 5-20 minutes. Now celebrating it’s 15th anniversary season, this year’s Signature Shorts features South Florida’s finest talent in a brand-new mix of hilarious comedies and heartfelt dramas in one fast and furious program. Signature Shorts plays in conjunction with City Theatre’s edgy and provocative undershorts. See one program or see them both! City Theatre’s Summer Shorts is the hottest ticket for the coolest night in town.
undershorts
June 4 - 26, 2010
Carnival Studio Theater (in the Ziff Ballet Opera House)
undershorts is City Theatre’s late-night series of short plays for adults only that are provocative, irreverent, and hilarious. A “short” is a one-act play running 5-20 minutes. Featuring an all-new roster of edgy plays performed by South Florida’s finest talent, undershorts pushes the envelope with social and political material reflective of the times in one fast and furious program. Adult content, language, and nudity. undershorts plays in conjunction with City Theatre’s Signature Shorts, a mix of hilarious comedies and heartfelt dramas. See one program or see them both! City Theatre’s Summer Shorts is the hottest ticket for the coolest night in town.
City Theatre and the Adrienne Arsht Center present
CAMP KAPPAWANNA – WORLD PREMIERE!
June 17 – 27, 2010
Carnival Studio Theater (in the Ziff Ballet Opera House)
City Theatre and the Adrienne Arsht Center bring something completely new to families this summer with Camp Kappawanna – a world premiere musical that celebrates timeless camp experiences with hip, cool music penned by Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb and a book by rising national star and South Florida native, Marco Ramirez. Camp Kappawanna creates an interactive environment that, from start to finish, makes everyone in the audience feel as if they are joining in the fun of summer camp! Appropriate for ages 7 and up.
Returning to the Festival this year is City Theatre’s 2nd Annual Art Contest, THE CAMP KAPPAWANNA ART CONTEST. Children in grades K – 8 may visit www.citytheatre.com/campkappawanna to download a template and registration form to enter. The contest runs April 1 – May 15 and winning entries will be enlarged and displayed at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and Epstein Center for the Arts as an exhibit of Florida’s finest young artists.
The End of the Perfect Game (Southeastern Premiere)
SPORTS COMEDY: It’s the last inning of the last game of the World Series and the pitcher, Al “Train Wreck” Sexton must face down his last batter and an existential crisis!
Matterhorn by Rich Orloff (Revival: 15th Season Festival Favorite)
ROMANTIC COMEDY?! Standing still online while waiting to get on Disneyland’s Matterhorn takes Jerry and Arleen on a wild ride as they consider the hilarious ups and downs of love and marriage – in the most magical place in the world.
Look at Me by Susan Westfall (World Premiere)
Sexy Drama: A young wife tries to bring her injured and bewildered husband back to bed and back to life when he returns home from war.
Poor Shem by Gregory Hischak (World Premiere)
OFFICE COMEDY: Co-workers make an awful discovery when something in the 8.5 x 11 bypass jams in the company copier, and they face the moral dilemma whether to call a priest, a repairman … or just keep copying!
Lobster Boy by Dan Dietz (Southeastern Premiere)
FAMILY DRAMA: A boy hatches a plan to cure his younger brother, who was born without the capacity for pain, in this haunting play about the things we just can’t feel.
Iddle Minglish by John Olive (World Premiere)
SWEET COMEDY: Two strangers from different centuries can’t talk to each other, until they understand they must fight a duel for the woman they love!
Euxious by Bridget Carpenter (Southeastern Premiere)
CONTEMPORARY DRAMA: After a bloody car crash, a Hollywood producer is too terrified to answer her ringing cell phone.
Not a Creature Was Stirring by Christopher Durang (Southeastern Premiere)
WACKY FAMILY COMEDY: Father tries to pass off a classic Christmas poem as his own. Unfortunately his version swaps attack-bats for the traditional reindeer, turning the holiday spirit upside down into a hilarious battle of life and death!
City Theatre’s Undershorts!
Banging Ann Coulter by Michael Elyanow (World Premiere)
BAWDY POLITICAL COMEDY: Ann Coulter’s MANY lovers can’t wait to kiss and tell and compare sex notes. Ann finds out … and it isn’t pretty.
Daddy Took My Debt Away by Bekah Brunstetter (Southeastern Premiere)
A TIMELY FINANCIAL FAIRY TALE: They’re slackers, they’re in debt … and they work in the call center for a student loan payment center. They’re Ty and Ned, and they’re in over their heads after one very unexpected phone call.
Beds by Susan Cinoman (World Premiere)
A GOOD-IN-BED FARCE: Two couples in bed together must tangle and untangle their very tangled relationships.
It Was Fun While It Lasted or I Wouldn’t Drink That If I Were You or You have 4 Hours to Vacate the Premises by Laura Eason (World Premiere)
CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL SATIRE: A frazzled messenger arrives in a loyal bureaucrat’s office to tell him the jig might be up. Not just any jig. Our country is being abandoned. Now. The party’s over - and there’s not much time left!
The Pap by Joshua James (World Premiere)
A GYNECOLOGICAL COMEDY: is in the stirrups for a bumbling young doctor’s first day on the job. This is every woman’s worst nightmare.
Piece of Shit Car by Adam Sandler (Theatrical Premiere)
AN AUTOMOTIVE MUSICAL COMEDY: One of the cultures most original makers of musical mayhem’s keen Caribbean observations on car ownership (complete with back-up singers). It’s reggae, it’s rockin’ … and it’s a “Piece of Shit Car!”
Extremely by Rolin Jones (Southeastern Premiere)
EXTREMELY FUNNY ACTION COMEDY: Two dudes take on life, friendship and injuries in a series of extreme adventures
vvv
AW Stories of the Month - Archives
|
