Theater Thursday: SWEENEY TODD (2023 Revival)

With the current revival of Sweeney Todd due to close in just over a month (May 5th), I thought it was high time for me to post my thoughts about the performance I saw back in January.

Ticket sales for Sweeney, by all accounts, dropped quite a bit between the final performances of Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford and the first performances of Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster – and that’s a shame, because the cast we saw was unequivocally fantastic. This prevailing attitude that understudies/standbys/replacements aren’t as worthy of attention as “big name” stars is sad, in my opinion.

Nicholas Christopher’s Sweeney was everything you’d want Sweeney to be: gruff, obsessed, forlorn and yet at times kind of likeable despite, you know, the whole slitting throats thing. Christopher’s rendition of “My Friends” was moving, his “Epiphany” downright frightening. His portion of the “Johanna” sequence in act two was heartbreaking. He played the arc from revenge-driven to murder-obsessed to accepting of his fate beautifully.

Jeanna de Waal’s Mrs. Lovett was equally as layered and was the highlight of the show. I have never been a fan of “By the Sea,” but she made it an enjoyable character moment for me, the eye into just how obsessed Lovett is with Sweeney that I think the song was always intended to be, imagining a future we as the audience know is unrealistic to a fault. And boy, did she sell “The Worst Pies in London,” not just with her voice but with physical humor and facial contortions that stopped short of being over-the-top. “Wait,” a song I tend to forget even exists until it starts, displayed a subtler side of how convincing Lovett could be.

And needless to say based on the preceding two paragraphs, in the hands of Christopher and de Waal “A Little Priest” was every bit the dark, disturbing comedic tour-de-force it should be. It brought down the house.

In my opinion, the Beggar Woman is one of the more thankless roles in this or any show: the character doesn’t have any huge show-stopping number to showcase an actor’s chops. She is easily written off as more plot device than character, spending half the play being vulgar and the rest practically screaming. Ruthie Ann Miles imbued the part with the right levels of mania and anguish for us to see the Beggar Woman as a real, extremely damaged, person and thus elicit pity.

“Not While I’m Around” is my personal favorite song in the show, and Daniel Marconi as Tobias Ragg delivered it sweetly and innocently. If I have any complaint about this production, though, it’s that Marconi’s Tobias felt a little too cunning/wily while enticing customers during “Pirelli’s Magical Elixir,” at odds with the simple-minded boy who sings “Not While I’m Around.” Tobias is supposed to be a slow-witted victim, both of Pirelli’s obvious emotional and physical abuse and Mrs. Lovett’s condescension and treating him like a pet (“Isn’t it a sweet boy” – it, instead of he), which makes his awareness of Sweeney’s evil that much more of a surprise. Still, Marconi’s interpretation of Tobias’ love for his “rescuer,” Mrs. Lovett, and of his mental breakdown at the end of the play, were spot on.

Rounding out the main cast, Daniel Yearwood as Anthony and Maria Bilbao as Johanna were perfectly matched – earnest, infatuated young lovers who are obsessed with each other as Sweeney is with revenge and Lovett is with Sweeney. If I have a second complaint, it’s that I felt Jamie Jackson’s Judge Turpin, obsessed with Johanna and power, lacked any real sense of menace (although he did still come across as creepy/slimy), and that John Rapson’s Beadle Bamford was almost too flamboyant (an interpretation of the character I’ve never seen before). That said, “Pretty Women” was a highlight of the show, and “Parlor Songs” was humorous.

Full credit to the great Thomas Kail for his direction. He has a fantastic sense of when to focus on the spectacle (the final sequence) and when to focus on the characters. The set design by Mimi Lein is a minimalistically steampunk aesthetic, perfectly juxtaposed with Emilio Sosa’s period-appropriate costumes. I know there’s been some negativity about Steen Hoggett’s herky-jerky, swaying choreography but I found it to be intriguing and exactly right for the mood, especially in the opening and closing “Ballad of Sweeney Todd” numbers where it was mesmerizing. This is, after all, a horror story.

So – while you can, heed the words of the Ballad. Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater through May 5. (I would gladly see it one more time if finances and time permitted.)

I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is a new occasional series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.

Macbeth Monday: WHY?

It is no secret that Macbeth is my favorite play by Williams Shakespeare. I will see every live production I can. I have many of the filmed versions on DVD (but not all, especially if you include all the pastiches and “based loosely on…” films). I have comic book and graphic novel adaptations, and more novels and non-fiction books about both the real King Macbeth and Shakespeare’s version than I have ever managed to read.

But if I’m being honest … I have no idea when my obsession with this Shakespeare work started.

 Most of my lifelong pop culture obsessions I can trace back to my father. His love of classic black and white horror films and Abbott and Costello led to my love of all things connected to Dracula. His love of musicals (Broadway and film) and classic Disney (animated and live action) led to my love of all things Arthurian (thanks to the Broadway cast album and movie versions of Camelot and the Disney animated classic The Sword in the Stone). My wildly diverse musical taste (Barbershop Quartet to hard rock)? My love of slapstick comedy and fast-talking comedy duos? My continuing to root for the Mets and the Giants despite rarely watching sports on television anymore? All Dad’s fault.

But Macbeth? Not sure I can toss the credit/blame his way on this one. He was not a fan of Shakespeare (except when there was a musical connection, as in Kiss Me, Kate). Yes, he and his brothers were first-generation Americans of Scots descent (both of my paternal grandparents came from Scotland as adults). But he never seemed to care about his Scots heritage (possibly because of bad blood between him and my grandfather, who passed when I was young), so I doubt Macbeth would have come up in that context.

I can’t even remember when I first encountered the play. I know it was before we studied it in high school. It may have been in the 1937 leatherbound edition of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare published by Walter J. Black, given to me in middle school by my Aunt Frances (who was not from the Scots side of the family), but did middle school me really randomly flip through the book and chance upon Macbeth some 1,100 pages in? I guess it’s possible. Or maybe it was a random Saturday or Sunday viewing of Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood, his adaptation of Macbeth, on one of the local NYC television stations that filled weekend airwave hours with badly-dubbed Japanese martial arts and monster movies (another fave of my father’s, leading to my lifelong Kaiju affection) and occasionally threw in more high-brow dubbed fare.

The first live production I remember seeing was a touring company of British actors that came to Mahopac High School my senior year (or maybe it was junior). What I remember most about that production was that men played the Three Witches, something I’d previously only seen done in the comedy of Monty Python, Flip Wilson, the Carol Burnett Show, etc... In hindsight, it seems there wasn’t much memorable about the performance other than that it was the first time I saw Macbeth live. It certainly wasn’t the last.

Okay, so don’t remember my first encounter with the play, and only vaguely remember the first live production I saw. But the title of this post is “Why Macbeth?” As in, why is it my favorite?

Young me was definitely obsessed with the supernatural elements: the Witches, the visions, the ghost of Banquo! And probably a bit with the bloodshed as well. But definitely the supernatural elements. Middle school was also when I was becoming obsessed with Dracula and read Bram Stoker’s novel for the first time, and when my love of all things Arthurian was also ramping up (most of my classmates didn’t really like reading “Gawain and the Green Knight,” but man did I love it, because supernatural doings!) The more supernatural, the better!

But while those scenes remain favorites and are looked forward to every time I see the show, I’ve also come to appreciate Shakespeare’s depth of character in all the leads (Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, and Macduff), and how they respond to prophecy and to plain fact. Even though The Bard was writing several hundred years before the British historian Lord Acton penned his famous phrase about power, I do think that Shakespeare was delving into the concept that “power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Macbeth starts the play as a loyal Thane, confused by why the Witches would address him with titles beyond his scope. It takes him a while to come around to the idea of murdering Duncan; he vacillates mightily before agreeing to do the deed. But it’s all downhill from there. Even having murdered his predecessor, he could still have been a good King, lived a repentant life – but once he has the power, he becomes paranoid and controlling, obsessed with the idea of a legacy the Witches promised to someone else. Corrupt. While at the same time, his wife descends into mental illness, depression, and suicide. Lady Macbeth’s move from enabler and co-conspirator to guilt-wracked sleepwalker is as moving as her husband’s shift from loyal Thane to genocidal despot. And in my mind, there is no doubt that they love each other deeply, from start to finish. I am NOT a fan of Shakespeare’s romances (Romeo & Juliet: ugh) but I think he manages to make it clear Macbeth and his Lady do love each other, which enables us to wonder: in different circumstances, what kind of power couple could they have been?

In his fantastic one-man show All the Devils Are Here, the actor Patrick Page traces Shakespeare’s development of the concept of the villain. Macbeth is of course included in the show. In a talk-back with the audience after the performance I saw in December 2023, Page said something that made me view Macbeth in yet another light. Responding to a question about how he finds his way into playing so many villainous roles, Page said that his first question is always “what does this person ultimately want?” And, he said, for Macbeth that is to overcome his fears. He’s afraid of the Three Witches, so he meets them head-on. He’s afraid of killing Duncan, so he does it. He’s afraid of losing the power he’s gained, so he has more people killed to protect it. He’s afraid of death, so when confronted with Macduff, not “of woman born,” but “ripped untimely from his mother’s womb,” Macbeth cries “Lay on, Macduff, and damned be he who first cries ‘hold, enough.’” I had never looked at the character, or the arc of the play, from that perspective before: conquering one’s fears.

I am also intrigued by the staging and costuming choices made by each new production. I’ve seen the show performed in “authentic” Scots dress of the period Macbeth takes place in (roughly 1040, when the real Macbeth reigned), in the dress of Shakespeare’s time, in Russian military uniforms of the Cold War, in modern dress, and more. Each choice brings distinct aspects of the script, and its relationship to our current day obsessions with power, wealth, destiny, and legacy, to light.

So. Why do I love Macbeth so much? There’s no one reason. I love the supernatural aspects, I love the commentary on power and motivation and guilt and paranoia, I love the power of the soliloquies. I also love that Shakespeare gave us what might have been the first written “alternate history” (because he knew darn well that his history of Duncan, Macbeth, and company was nowhere near the real history) with speculative fiction aspects – which might need to be the subject of a future Macbeth Monday post.

Do you also love Macbeth? Why or why not? And if not – what is your favorite Shakespeare play?

It is no secret that my favorite Shakespeare play is Macbeth. I’ve lost count of how many live productions of it I’ve seen, plus movie and TV versions I own in various formats, not to mention all the novels, graphic novels, and non-fiction books. Macbeth Monday is intended to be an occasional feature on the blog where I discuss whatever version or aspect of the story catches my attention at a particular moment.

There’s currently only one previous Macbeth Monday post, about Drunk Shakespeare NYC’s production. But I also posted my thoughts on Patrick Page’s All the Devils Are Here in a recent Theater Thursday post.

Series Saturday: THE ATOMIC KNIGHTS

This is a blog series about … well, series. I love stories that continue across volumes, in whatever form: linked short stories, novels, novellas, television, movies, comics.

Cover art by Murphy Anderson

The Atomic Knights, published by DC Comics, (hardcover collected edition: 2010)

Writers: John Broome

Art: Murphy Anderson

Editor: Julius Schwartz

I could write a whole post (and perhaps someday I will) on how I have DC’s 100-Page Spectaculars of the 1970s (and to a lesser extent, their digest-sized reprints in the 80s) to thank for my love of most of the company’s non-super-hero content, and in particular DC’s science fiction, adventure team, and historical characters of the early Silver Age (not to mention my love of their Golden Age superheroes). On the science fiction side of things, those oversized issues were rife with reprints of the exploits of (among others) Tommy Tomorrow, Adam Strange, the Star Rovers, Space Cabby, and the Atomic Knights.

Written by John Broome, with art by Murphy Anderson, and under the editorship of Julie Schwartz, the Knights debuted in Strange Adventures #117 (June 1960) and ran intermittently in the title under #160 (January 1964), a mere 15 adventures in three-and-a-half years. But what adventures they were – and what an effect they had on pre-teen and early-teen me when they were reprinted a decade or so later. I no longer own most of the various issues those reprints appeared in, nor do I know if every single Atomic Knights story was reprinted at the time. But in 2010, DC published a hardcover collection of all 15 original stories. I recently re-read it, hence this post.

For those who may not be familiar with the Atomic Knights, here’s the set-up: it is 1986 and World War III, the Great Atomic War, is over after a scant 20 days. Amnesiac soldier Gardner Grayle finds his way to a ruined city whose citizens are desperate for food and medicine, both of which are being hoarded by a warlord calling himself the Black Baron. Grayle teams up with some of the locals (Douglas Herald, a teacher; Marene, Douglas’s sister; redheaded twin brothers Hollis and Wayne Hobard; and a scientist named Bryndon) to take down the Baron wearing ancient armor that is impervious to the Baron’s radioactive weapons. Hence, the group name. The Baron is, unsurprisingly, defeated and run off in the first episode, whereafter the Knights alternate between protecting their small city of Durvale from a variety of menaces and traveling out to explore what’s left of the United States of America.

As was typical of comics of the period, the characterizations are rather flat, with each team member designed to fill a particular role. Gardner is the square-jawed, death-defying, motivational-speech-giving, “do what’s right no matter how dangerous” leader. Douglas is the practical-minded, thoughtful second-in-command and provider of much exposition. Marene is the requisite damsel-in-distress love interest. Wayne and Hollis are the loyal, do-as-told, muscle of the group. Bryndon is the scientist, the gadget man, and the not-so-subtle reminder that science without conscience is usually not a good thing. There are moments where some of these molds are broken (Wayne and Hollis get to build gliders for the team to use, something that usually would be Bryndon’s role; Marene finally gets to go undercover and save the day in the series’ final installment, “Here Come the Wild Ones,” although Broome still can’t resist having the story end with her thinking that as happy as she is that her mission was a success, she’d be happier if she and Gardner could finally get married and start a family.) but for the most part, each character plays his/her assigned role.

The stories started out very episodic, rarely mentioning what had come before other than the team’s origin. In the early adventures, the team visits other small enclaves of surviving humans as well as the remains of New York City and Los Angeles (in later stories, they also get to New Orleans, Detroit, and Washington DC), each time facing radiation-created monsters or greedy humans who need to be defeated. With the introduction of a revived Atlantean civilization as a threat, the stories develop stronger internal continuity, and it becomes clearer that the stories are progressing in something close to real time. While the stories were published between 1960 and 1964, the characters progress from 1986 to 1992, with some amazing advances in recovery from an atomic war (or “the hydrogen war,” as it’s called in some stories). The Atlantean threat is a 3-parter which also introduces the giant dalmatians (the first giant irradiated creatures that do not pose a threat) that will serve as the Knights’ steeds for the rest of the run.

Actual aliens visit the radiation-devastated Earth in “Menace of the Metal-Looters,” one of the series’ weaker entries, but they are the only extra-terrestrial threat the Knights face – the exception that proves the series’ rule: we humans are our own worst enemies, whether through misused technology, hubris and greed, or both. Okay, that’s not 100% true. “When The Earth Blacked Out” reveals that World War III / the Nuclear War / The Hydrogen War started not because of any one nation, but because of an energy pulse sent out by an underground civilization of mole people! (It was the 1960s, and lost underground civilizations were all the rage in SF and comics.) Douglas’ declaration that “we humans still cannot escape responsibility” (because we created the bombs in the first place) feels a little tacked on, almost insincere. I get what Broome was going for, but I think it would have been better for the series overall if the actual start of the war had just been left unexplored.

Throughout the run, Murphy Anderson’s art is consistently excellent. His characters have distinct facial features and body language, his action sequences are dynamic, and even the silliest monsters (I say again: mole people!) are threatening. There’s a reason he’s one of the most highly regarded and revered artists of the late Golden and Silver Age.

The 2010 hardcover collection does not include the Atomic Knights’ later appearances in DC Comics’ Kamandi and Hercules Unbound, wherein it was revealed that all three series shared the same future world, nor their appearance in DC Comics Presents. The Kamandi and Hercules Unbound appearances are included in a black-and-white paperback collection called Showcase Presents the Great Disaster Starring the Atomic Knights (whew!), which I recently ordered a copy of. I look forward to revisiting those stories. I do own a copy of the DC Comics Presents issue where Superman “teams up” with the Atomic Knights. I’ve always been conflicted about it. On the one hand, it relegates the original Strange Adventures stories to being the dreams of a soldier (Gardner Grayle) in suspended animation, in an unnecessary attempt to explain why the series’ 1986 and the real world 1986 look different – which I think does a disservice to Broome and Anderson. On the other hand, it did pave the way for a “modern times” Gardner Grayle to join The Outsiders (one of my then-favorite titles and teams) as The Atomic Knight, which I really liked.

Overall, my reread of the hardcover collection cemented why the sometimes-silly post-apocalyptic Atomic Knights series was, and remains, one of my favorite non-superhero DC runs.

If you enjoyed this post, check out some of my previous DC comics-related Series Saturday posts:

Silverblade, First Issue Special, Nathaniel Dusk, Young Heroes in Love

Theater Thursday: OLIVER! at City Center May 2023

I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is a new occasionally series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.

I saw the City Centers Encores! production of Oliver! On May 6, 2023. Encores! productions traditionally run for only two weeks (although in 2024 they’ve increased that to three), and I managed to see the opening Saturday matinee performance, which included a cast-and-crew “talkback” after the show. With Encores! runs of Into the Woods and Parade having transferred to Broadway shortly after closing, I had hopes that this would follow suit, but we’re well into 2024 with no announcements so that’s probably not happening. A shame because this production deserved a larger audience.

The character of Fagin, and the original performances by Ron Moody and Clive Revill (we had the movie and Broadway cast albums in my house growing up, and I loved both), makes such a large impression on the audience that it is easy to forget Fagin doesn’t appear until near the end of Act One. Raul Esparza’s Fagin was equal parts gleeful and woebegone, every number a real treat (none more so than his “Reviewing the Situation,” where he interacts with the first violin as another character (all in his head, of course). I realized during the talkback that Esparza was fighting something (a head cold? The flu?) but you would not have known it from the performance he gave.

Tam Mutu’s Bill Sikes was perhaps the scariest interpretation of the character for me since Oliver Reed in the 1968 film. (Oliver Reed had a habit of scaring the pants off me as a kid – I’ve still not been able re-watch The Curse of the Werewolf. I really should…) Brad Oscar and Mary Testa provided pitch-perfect comic relief as Mister Bumble and Widow Corney (as did Thom Sesma and Rashidra Scott as the funereal Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry), not necessarily easy in a show that gets as dark as Oliver! does. Still, Oscar and Testa’s “I Shall Scream” was dysfunctional courtship at its finest, and as I am a fan of dark humor, I really enjoyed Sesma and Scott’s “That’s Your Funeral.”

But the standout among the adults, for me, was Lilli Cooper as Nancy. Her “As Long as He Needs Me” must be the new standard to strive for when performing the song. Her Nancy is strong, self-aware (she knows exactly what kind of relationship she’s in with Sikes), but also stuck in the pattern society allows for a woman of her socioeconomic status and making the best of terrible things. Her “It’s a Fine Life” and “Oom-Pah-Pah” are full of the joy of life, and her interactions with Oliver, Dodger and the boys in “I’d Do Anything” were as loving and sweet as Fagin’s during “You’ve Got To Pick A Pocket or Two” and “Be Back Soon” are self-serving and skeevy.

Speaking of the kids. Julian Lerner’s comedic timing made it easy to be charmed by his Artful Dodger, the leader of Fagin’s group of extremely energetic and talented group of boy dancer/singers (who were all wonderful, but I have to call out the incredibly acrobatic Michael Cash, whose in-place high-speed back-flips during “Who Will Buy” got a huge response from the audience when he was done. I have no idea if he can tap-dance, but if Billy Elliot comes back to Broadway before Cash gets too much older, he’s got to be a shoo-in for the lead). Benjamin Pajak’s performance as Oliver was every bit as innocent and lovable as one would want, with a crystal clear, emotive voice. His “Where Is Love” stopped the show, and everyone around me had tears in their eyes (including me). Oliver, like Annie and Matilda and Billy Elliot, is on stage for most of the show, and Pajak shouldered that responsibility with energy, poise, and genuine emotion. He more than held his own on stage with some Broadway powerhouses, and I’m sure he’ll be working consistently (as he seems to be with showcases and staged readings of various musicals featured on his Instagram).

I also really enjoyed the talkback after the Saturday matinee performance (photo below). I cannot recall the name of the City Center producer who read questions submitted in advance by audience members,  but the talkback featured director Lear DeBessonet, musical director Mary-Mitchell Campbell, most of the adult leads (Esparza, Cooper, Mutu, Oscar, and Testa), and Michael Cash representing the kids in the cast. (I assume Pajak and Lerner, being leads, had mandatory relaxation time between performances.) The cast were frank in their discussion of the darker themes of the play – misogyny, child abuse (Oliver is sold into child labor; the orphan boys are trained by Fagin to steal), domestic abuse (Sikes’ physical and emotional abuse of Nancy is not downplayed or avoided, although thankfully her death occurs off-stage), among others, and DeBessonet was open about her discussions with the cast and creative crew in how to present those sensitive issues to a modern audience. Esparza and DeBessonet also talked about how the show portrays Fagin’s Jewishness in comparison to the original novel (in which Dickens employed every horrible stereotype he knew, and usually referred to the character simply as “the Jew”), and how they worked to not make this Fagin a stereotype. Esparza’s story about being at the sitzprobe (first meeting of cast and orchestra), hearing the violin intro to “Reviewing the Situation” and saying “Oh, a Klezmer band! So we’re doing this…” got a great reaction from the audience (and as mentioned, his interactions with the first chair violin were perfect).

Oliver! is one of my favorite shows, for the music alone, and a sentimental favorite because I auditioned for (but was not cast in) a production at An Evening Dinner Theater back in the early 80s. Yes, the book has problems (Act One is almost completely songs, which is fine, but the transitions between those songs are awkward at best; and again, there’s those dark themes that aren’t explored as fully as they could have been). But I’m glad to have seen the Encores! production with this terrific cast.

2024 Reading and Viewing Challenges

New Year, New Challenges!

Perhaps I am a glutton for punishment. I always set myself more than one reading challenge per year. Some carry over from year to year, and some are new. Some are broad and some are themed. And in many cases, books read will help me meet more than one challenge. But still: in the past few years, I set myself perhaps too many challenges that were difficult to overlap. So this year, I’ve cut a couple that I’ve totally blown in the past few years, and decreased the number of books for others.

Of course, I’m also making some formal movie, television, and live theatre viewing challenges this year because why the heck not? (Although at least one of them is simply formalizing a goal I have every year: more live theatre!)

 So, in order from “most expansive” to “least expansive,” here are my 2024 Challenges. I’ll start with the reading, then move on to the viewing.

TO BE READ CHALLENGE

The idea (formulated by RoofBeamReader at his blog several years ago) is to pick 12 books (plus 2 alternates in case you find yourself unable to finish a couple of your main choices) that have sat unread on your bookshelf for a year or more. Books published in 2023 wouldn’t be eligible, nor would re-reads. This year, I’ve decided to include audiobooks and e-books in the challenge (in the past it’s been mostly, if not all, print books), and so I’m listing three alternates (one for each format) instead of two. I did not do well on this challenge in the past three years, but here’s hoping 2024 will break that streak. Titles are not listed in any intended reading order. Books title followed by an asterisk are books that were on my 2023 list, but which went unread. Here’s the list:

1.       Ice Land, by Betsy Tobin (2008) *

2.       Let Me In, by John Ajvide Lindqvist (2004) *

3.       The Mystery of the Sea, by Bram Stoker (1902, reissued in 1997) *

4.       The Book of Lost Saints, by Daniel José Older (2019) *

5.       Dune, by Frank Herbert (1965/2014) *

6.       Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir (2019) *

7.       The Mythology of Salt and Other Stories, by Octavia Cade (2020) *

8.       Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas (2020) *

9.       Pangs, by Jerry L. Wheeler (2021) * (2023 alternate title, moved to main list)

10.   Becoming by Michelle Obama (2018)

11.   Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda (2005)

12.   The Unwanted by Jeffrey Ricker (2014)

ALTERNATES:

1.       All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business, by Mel Brooks (2021) (audio alternate)

2.       Golden Boy: A Novel, by Abigail Tarttelin (2013) (e-book alternate)

3.       Merlin’s Booke by Jane Yolen (1986) (print book alternate)

I plan to come back to this post and add “date completed” for each book, and a link to a review if I post one.

366 SHORT STORIES CHALLENGE

Every year, I challenge myself to read one short story per day. Some years I keep the pace pretty well, and some years I fall behind and then scramble to catch up (and some years, I catch up and fall behind again, and some years I blow past the goal handily). 2024 is a Leap Year, so the goal is 366 short stories. I used to post thoughts on each individual story over on my now-defunct LiveJournal. This year I plan to revive my “Sunday Shorts” feature and review a story or two in-depth each Sunday. I’m defining “short story” as anything from flash fiction to novella-length.

GOODREADS CHALLENGE

Goodreads allows members to set a challenge. In previous years, I’ve set goals ranging from 125 to 150 books. For 2024, I’m setting a goal of 120 to start with (10 books per month), and we’ll see what happens. Of course, any book read for the TBR Challenge, or the other challenges mentioned in this post count towards this one.

GRAPHIC NOVEL CHALLENGE

I own far more graphic novels and trade paperback collections of classic comics than I’ve read. In 2017 I started trying to turn that around, and I’m again setting a goal in 2024 of reading one graphic novel per week, so 52 for the year.

NON-FICTION CHALLENGE

As with graphic novels, I tend to get intrigued by and purchase far more non-fiction books than I end up reading. In an effort to clear some shelf-space, justify the money spent, and increase my knowledge a bit, I’m going to challenge myself to read at least 12 non-fiction books, but I’m not going to make a list. There are already 3 non-fiction books (all memoirs) on the TBR Challenge which will count towards this.

READ THE BOOK / WATCH THE MOVIE CHALLENGE

I have so many books in my collection that are the basis for classic (and sometimes not-so-classic) movies that I thought it would be fun to read some of them and then see how the movies compare. In previous years I didn’t do so well on this challenge, but I’m game to try again. I intend to write reviews/comparison posts as I’ve done previously, under the Page-to-Screen feature title and tag. I’ve never set a numeric goal for this challenge, but let’s aim for 12 “Page-to-Screen” posts this year.

MOVIE CHALLENGE

I own a lot of DVDs. (I know, you’re shocked. Shocked!) Every year I say, “This is the year I’m going to make an effort to watch them!” And then, somehow, I … don’t. One year, I did a list of 12 and two alternates as I do for the TBR Challenge, called it the TBW Challenge … and failed it miserably. So this year, I’m setting myself a challenge akin to my graphic novel challenge: one movie per week, 52 for the year. This includes movies on DVD, streaming services, and any trips to an actual movie theater (which have become rare for me).

TELEVISION CHALLENGE

Did I mention I own a lot of DVDs? And that I’m subscribed to a lot of streaming services? I did? Well, you won’t be shocked to know that it’s not all about the movies. So I’m setting myself a “TV Series Watch” challenge akin to my Short Story Challenge: an average of one full episode of a television series (regardless of length) for each day in the year, which (again) this being a Leap Year means 366 episodes.

LIVE THEATRE CHALLENGE

I did pretty well with this one in 2023, even though I never posted about it (because I posted extraordinarily little here in 2023, but that’s a subject for another post), so I’m making it official for 2024: I want to see at least 1 live theatrical performance per month. Most of them will be in New York City, but I’ll count any play, musical, opera, ballet, or staged reading I see anywhere, regardless of whether it’s fully professional productions, college, community theatre, whatever. (Music concerts, author signings, and conferences/conventions do not count towards this.)

ACCOUNTABILITY

So how am I going to hold myself accountable? I’m planning to bring back my monthly Reading RoundUps. I’m not going to rename/rebrand because I like the alliterative title (which falls well in line with Series Saturday, Sunday Shorts, and a few other blog series I’m hoping to make regular features in 2024), but those posts will also track the Viewing challenges.

I would love to hear what YOUR Reading, Writing, or Viewing Challenges are for 2024. Let me know in the comments!

So Who Publishes Novellas These Days?

When genre readers think of novellas, they tend to think of either TorDotCom, who release a steady stream of awards-nominated novellas every year (including this week’s release Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo, which I’ll be reviewing later today, and next week’s The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi), or of magazines like Asimov’s, AnalogSF, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction which have regularly featured novelettes and novellas in their monthly content over their decades of publication.

But there are plenty of other magazines and small press publishers bringing out novellas every year in a variety of genres, and I’d like to mention some of them. This is far from a complete list, and I encourage readers to mention any I don’t in the comments!

Neon Hemlock Press puts out novellas in the horror/SF/fantasy genres, with a focus on LGBTQIA+ creators and stories. They are currently in the last days of their annual novella crowdfunding event, where you can back (a.k.a. preorder) their 2023 slate in print and/or e-book formats. Go check them out before the crowdfunding effort ends on Thursday, March 16th at 4pm.

Speaking of queer-focused publishers: several items in the catalogs of both Lethe Press (including Octavia Cade’s The Stone Weta) and Rebel Satori Press are novella-length, spanning all the genres of speculative fiction and moving into historical, romance and mimetic fiction as well.

Looking novel-length queer romance? Check out Bold Stroke Books. I’m a particular fan of ‘Nathan Burgoine’s “Little Village” novella series, and I’ve been meaning to check out some of their lesbian romance novella collections.

Stelliform Press’s novellas focus on the on-going climate emergency and intersectional views of environmental justice, and range in genre from horror (The House of Drought by Dennis Mombauer) to fantastic science fiction (Weird Fishes by Rae Mariz), and every point in between. Their latest, Another Life by Sarena Ulibarri, comes out May 25th.

If the classics and mimetic fiction are more your thing, look no further than Melville House Publishing. Their “Art of the Novella” collection reissues classic novellas, some in solo book form for the first time ever. They also have a “Contemporary Art of the Novella” series if you’re looking for modern mimetic works at novella length.

Aqueduct Press’ Conversation Pieces series brings feminist science fiction to the demanding reader. While not every volume in this long-running series is a novella (some are poetry or short story collections, others works of non-fiction), quite a few are. Recent releases include To The Woman in the Pink Hat by LaToya Jordan and Apollo Weeps by Xian Mao.

On the mystery side of things, The Mysterious Bookshop’s Bibliomysteries series are usually novelette length excursions into everything from noir to cozy mysteries.

And in addition to the magazines listed at the start of this post, I would be remiss in not mentioning Clarkesworld, which also regularly includes novellas in their pages.

SERIES SATURDAY: Pellucidar: Across Savage Seas

This is a blog series about … well, series. I love stories that continue across volumes, in whatever form: linked short stories, novels, novellas, television, movies, comics. It’s been on hiatus for a while, but returns this week with the first of two posts about new content from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

Pellucidar: Across Savage Seas,

Publisher: American Mythology, 2022 (in conjunction with Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.)

Story: Christopher Paul Carey

Writer/Editor: Mike Wolfer

Pencils and Inks: Miriana Puglia

Colors: Periya Pillai

Letters: Natalie Jane

In Pellucidar: Across Savage Seas, Gretchen von Harben (all grown up her from last appearance as a twelve-year-old girl in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins) narrates to an unseen audience her first visit to Pellucidar, the hidden world at the Earth’s core. Accompanying adventurer Jason Gridley on the airship Favonia as a college student, Gretchen is knocked loose when the Favonia is attacked by a flock of pterosaurs. She parachutes to a remote, uncharted island with only a pistol and limited ammo. There she encounters beings fans of the Pellucidar books will recognize (human Gilaks and ape-like Sagoths) as well as entirely new races that this series adds to the official Burroughs canon (Kratalaks and Azlaks). Gretchen faces a lot of peril over the course of four issues, and in the tradition of the strong female Burroughs characters who have preceded her (Jane Porter-Clayton, Dejah Thoris, Duare, and more), she more than rises to the occasion. This may be Gretchen’s first recorded adventure as an adult, but I certainly hope it’s not the last. She’s an engaging and dynamic character who deserves to be featured (along with the supporting cast that’s been built around her) in many more stories.

Christopher Paul Carey crafted the general story of Gretchen’s first adventure in Pellucidar, originally intending it to be a novel. Writer Mike Wolfer did a wonderful job converting the story to comic book form, pacing the story perfectly across four issues. Fewer issues would have rushed the story too much, and I think five or six issues would have padded the story out too much. Reading the series as it was issued in monthly (or as close to monthly as the publisher could get given various supply chain issues plaguing small independent publishers these days), I was very satisfied with where each issue left off – cliffhangers, of course, as befits a story that could easily have been told as a classic 1940s movie serial – and never felt like the drama of the end of a chapter was unearned. Carey is a Burroughsian scholar of the highest level, and Wolfer matches him well in creating a story that Burroughs would be proud of. For instance, I have no idea how much of the dialogue was in Carey’s original plot, how much the writers crafted together, and how much is purely Wolfer – but regardless, each character’s voice is distinctive and clear while still being perfectly Burroughsian in style.

Complimenting the writing, Miriana Puglia’s artwork is wonderful. Her clean lines and fluid body language convey action and emotion with equal clarity. Fight scenes have a flow and symmetry that makes them easy to follow, and upon multiple reads tiny details stand out. And when it’s time to go creepy (as one almost inevitably must when adventuring in Pellucidar), Puglia absolutely rises to the occasion. There’s one particular page in issue 4, for example, which made me a bit nauseous (trust me, this is a compliment.). Colorist Periya Pillai keeps the action well-lit with a mix of bold and quiet colors as appropriate to the scene; even moments in dark caves or underwater are easy to follow because Pillai’s colors don’t go so dark that they subsume Puglia’s art.

In recent years, Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. has made a concerted effort to expand the official canon of the ERB Universe with new novels and comics series like this one, that bear the “Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe” banner across the top of the cover as well as an “Official ERB Universe Canon” stamp and hew as closely to Burroughs’ original interconnectedness universe as possible. In the novels of the current “Swords of Eternity” Super-Arc, readers have been introduced to an intrepid young woman traversing time and space named Victory Harben. Yes, there’s a direct connection between the Gretchen von Harben of Pellucidar: Across Savage Seas and the Victory Harben who has been appearing in those novels: it’s not a spoiler to reveal here that Victory is Gretchen’s daughter and is the person to whom Gretchen is narrating this story. Along with appearing in the novels/novellas already released, Victory will take center stage in her own novel later this year – but before that, she’s also been the star of another American Mythology / ERB Universe comic book mini-series: Beyond the Farthest Star: Warriors of Zandar, which will be the subject of next week’s Series Saturday post.

First Annual ToBeWatched Challenge!

In preparing my lists for this year’s “To Be Read” Challenge, I got to thinking about how many DVDs/Blu-rays I own that I haven’t watched, which got me to thinking about how many of them are movies I’ve actually never seen, in a theatre or on television, but which I bought because I thought I’d want to see them, and then never got around to watching them. Which then got me to thinking about movies I’ve wanted to see but also have never bought in physical or digital format…

My mind does wonderful things when I’m procrastinating, doesn’t it?

So I put the idea out on Facebook and Twitter about a 2022 “To Be Watched” Challenge: twelve movies you’ve always intended to see but have never gotten around to it, plus two alternate titles in case one or two of your main choices turn out to be “unwatchable”. The only catch: the movies must be at least one full year old, meaning nothing originally released in 2021 or 2022. There are no restrictions on genre or length or what form you’re going to watch it in (DVD, streaming, etc.), and no judgements on what you choose.

Feel free to post your list as a comment on this site or post it on your own blog and share a link in the comments. I would like to offer some kind of raffle-prize for those who finish the challenge, the way Adam does on his RoofbeamReader “To Be Read” Challenge, but I’m not sure quite how to make that work just yet.

I’d love other people to participate, but this is all for fun, and to motivate myself into finally seeing some of the movies on my “I should watch that eventually” list.

This list could easily be two or three times as long, but here are my twelve, with their original release dates in parentheses:

1.       My Boy Jack (2007)

2.       The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

3.       Alice Adams (1935)

4.       Macbeth (Orson Welles version) (1948)

5.       The Producers (Nathan Lane/Matthew Broderick version) (2005)

6.       The Last Picture Show (1971)

7.       In Cold Blood (1967)

8.       Mr. Holmes (2015)

9.       The Night of the Hunter (1955)

10.   Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)

11.   The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Lon Chaney Sr. version) (1923)

12.   Logan (2017)

And my “alternates:”

A.      Twelve Angry Men (1957)

B.      Seven Samurai (1954)

I’ll come back to this post as I watch each film and change that movie’s text to italics, followed by the date I watched the movie.

2021 Viewing Round-Up

Two days ago, I posted my annual summary of every book and story I read/listened to in 2021. Today, I’m summarizing every television show and movie I watched in 2021, as well as the few live events I attended. This is only my second year tracking this info in any concrete way.

Live Events:

I attended 4 live events this year (thanks, COVID-19!), two online and two in person.

·       The Firflake (a full-cast performance of my Christmas novel, aired on YouTube)

·       The Comedy of Errors (full-cast performance, on Zoom)

·       74th Annual Worldcon / DisconIII (5 days, at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington DC)

·       Assassins (at the Classic Stage Company theatre in New York City)

As I said in my 2020 summary: I miss live theater and live music.

Movies:

I only watched 35 movies this year (8 more than 2020!), totaling approximately 71 hours. The shortest were one hour long and the longest was three hours. Of these, 26 were movies I viewed for the first time, the rest movies I’ve seen before. I gave 12 of these a 3-star rating, 10 a four-star rating, and 13 a five-star rating.

The breakdown of what I watched where:

·       8 on DVD

·       5 in the theatre

·       1 on live television

·       21 on digital platforms

The genre breakdown was thus:

·       Science Fiction: 2 (Dune; Logan’s Run)

·       Action/Adventure: 5 (Casino Royale; Quantum of Solace; Spyfall; Spectre; A Time to Die)

·       Comic Book (Non-Super-hero): 1 (Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World)

·       Concerts: 3

o   2 Musical (Not the Messiah; John Barrowman in Concert)

o   1 Stand-Up Comedy (Bo Burnham’s what.)

·       Documentary: 1 (For the Love of Spock)

·       Horror: 3 (The Black Cat; White Zombie; Brides of Dracula)

·       Kaiju: 1 (Godzilla vs. King Kong)

·       Musicals: 9 (Tick, Tick …Boom!; Sweeney Todd (Angela Lansbury, George Hearn); Pitch Perfect; Dear Evan Hansen; Everybody’s Talking About Jamie; Come from Away; In the Heights; Allegiance; Godspell 50th Anniversary)

·       Mystery: 1 (Knives Out)

·       Romantic Comedy: 1 (Single All the Way)

·       Shakespeare: 2 (Henry IV, The Tempest (Donmar Warehouse productions))

·       Super-Hero: 4 (Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; Spider-Man Far from Home; Eternals) (wow, ALL Marvel…)

·       Thriller: 1 (The Gift)

·       Western: 1 (The Harder They Fall)

Television:

I watched approximately 411 hours of episodic television (almost double 2020’s viewing!). Taken alphabetically, the shows were:

·       Animaniacs (13 episodes)

·       DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (21)

·       Doctor Who (7)

·       Hawkeye (6)

·       Live From Lincoln Center (3)

·       Locke & Key (10)

·       Logan’s Run (14)

·       Loki (6)

·       Only Murders in the Building (10)

·       Paul Lynde’s Halloween Special (1)

·       Penn and Teller: Fool Us (1)

·       Route 66 (1) (Halloween episode with Karloff, Lorre, and Chaney)

·       Schmigadoon! (6)

·       Stargirl (13)

·       Star Trek: Discovery (20)

·       Star Trek: Lower Decks (20)

·       Star Trek: Prodigy (5)

·       Supergirl (18)

·       Superman and Lois (15)

·       Superman and Lois: Legacy of Hope (1)

·       Suspense! (1) (Bela Lugosi in “A Cask of Amontillado”)

·       Sweet Tooth (8)

·       Telephone Time (1) (“backdoor pilot” for The Veil)

·       The Kennedy Center Honors (1)

·       The Tony Awards (1)

·       The Beatles: Get Back (3)

·       The Book of Boba Fett (1)

·       The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (6)

·       The Flash (23)

·       The Goes Wrong Show (12)

·       The Muppet Show (118)

·       The Ready Room (8)

·       The Veil (11)

·       The Wheel of Time (8)

·       WandaVision (9)

·       We Are Who We Are (1)

·       What If (9)

Genre breakdown for television watched:

·       Comedy/Variety: 144 episodes / 4 shows

·       Super-Hero: 127 episodes / 11 shows

·       Science Fiction: 75 episodes / 7 shows

·       Concerts: 3 / 1 show

·       Horror: 23 episodes / 4 shows

·       Mystery: 10 episodes / 1 show

·       Magic: 1 episode / 1 show

·       Drama: 2 episodes / 2 shows

·       Musical: 1 episode / 1 show

·       Awards: 2 episodes / 2 shows

·       Documentary: 3 episodes / 1 show

·       Talk: 8 episodes / 1 show

·       Fantasy: 8 episodes / 1 show

All were live action except for 3 animated shows (Animaniacs; Star Trek: Lower Decks; Star Trek: Prodigy).

13 episodes were watched on live television (while in hotels traveling for work) and 18 episodes were on DVD; the rest were on digital platforms.

133 episodes were “rewatches” (Logan’s Run, The Muppet Show, and the Paul Lynde Halloween Special), all the rest were first viewings.

Next post will be my (very brief) summary of the writing, proofreading, and editing work I did in 2021.

The Firflake Performed Live!

I haven’t been very good about talking about this here on my own site, but my novelette THE FIRFLAKE: A CHRISTMAS STORY has been adapted for the stage by Theatre Box of Floral Park, New York and director Kate Lenzo.

Kate and I are old college friends, and when she was looking for a project to work on with her community theater during the ongoing Covid pandemic that has shut down live theater and music venues, she approached me about doing a stage adaptation of The Firflake. It took me all of about 3.5 seconds to say “go for it.” She took a first pass at turning the book into a script and put her cast together. After the first rehearsal (and after the second, and after the third…) we made tweaks to the script (things that read well in your head don’t always translate well to live performance). Then the cast performed on Zoom and Kate recorded and edited, adding opening and closing credits and wonderful music (composed by Frank Sanchez, who really understood the whole “Rankin-Bass claymation special” feel I was going for).

And now, the performance is ready to be viewed by the public!

The Firflake: A Christmas Story is about the legend of the first snowflake of winter and also about how the elves met Santa. It’s also about family, tradition, and the friendships we build that carry us through hard times. It is wonderfully brought to life in this staged reading by a multi-generational cast from across Long Island.

Clicking the below link will take you to Theatre Box’s website. While the production is free, we’re asking for a donation of some kind (seriously, even $1.00!). Full disclosure: donations go to the United Methodist Church of Floral Park, which is the physical home of Theatre Box of Floral Park. Like many live theater, live music, and other gathering-places, UMC of Floral Park has had financial problems thanks to the pandemic. If the church closes permanently, so does the theater. A donation to view The Firflake benefits both the church and the theater, and increases the odds that both will be around when theaters are allowed to reopen. The hope is that in December 2021, we’ll be able to bring you a fully staged production of The Firflake!

In the meantime, we have this filmed reading. Once you make a donation, you will be taken directly to the performance, which is approximately 45 minutes long.

If you’re interested in viewing the Zoom-reading of The Firflake, CLICK THIS LINK.