Nancy McDonald "If You Can Play Scranton" Book Signings

Author Nancy McDonald has scheduled 2 book signing events in Scranton during the next few weeks to promote the recently published revised edition of her book If You Can Play Scranton:

Saturday, January 28, 2012
1-3 p.m.
Library Express
The Mall at Steamtown
300 Lackawanna Avenue
Scranton, PA 18503
(570) 558-1670

Friday, February 3, 2012
6-9 p.m.
Wendell and Company
in the former Ritz Theater
222 Wyoming Avenue
Scranton, PA 18503

IfYouCanPlayScranton.com

Miller's Tale, Jason Miller Documentary, Now Available To Purchase on DVD

Miller's Tale, Rebecca Marshall Ferris's excellent documentary on the life of Scranton native Jason Miller, is now available to purchase on DVD. In addition to the 56-minute documentary, the DVD also includes the film trailer, additional interviews with William Friedkin and Stacy Keach, and an interview with director Rebecca Marshall Ferris.

Click here to purchase a copy of Miller's Tale on DVD.

millerstalemovie.com
www.facebook.com/millerstale

Jason Miller's Second Film, 1974's The Nickel Ride, Now Available On DVD

My colleague Evelyn Gibbons emailed me a New York Times article that announced the release of a DVD featuring Jason Miller's second film appearance (after The Exorcist). The film, 1974's The Nickel Ride, was directed by Robert Mulligan (To Kill A Mockingbird) and is paired as a double feature with 99 And 44/100% Dead on the DVD, released on December 13th by The Shout Factory.

In The Nickel Ride, Cooper (Jason Miller), known as the key man because of his large ring of keys, manages several warehouses containing the Mob’s stolen goods. When the Mob has stolen so much that they are running out of space, they send Cooper to negotiate for a new warehouse. His boss gets nervous and, believing the big-hearted key man to be more of a risk than an asset, orders him to be watched. The film also stars Linda Haynes (Coffy, Rolling Thunder) and Bo Hopkins (The Wild Bunch).

Click here to read the New York Times article regarding the DVD release.

Click here for more information on the DVD release from The Shout Factory's website.

Much thanks to Evelyn Gibbons for this reference.

Nancy McDonald, Author of "If You Can Play Scranton" Book Signing Dec. 24th at SNHS

Book Signing

Saturday, December 24, 2011
11 a.m.
Steamtown National Historic Site
150 South Washington Avenue
Scranton, PA 18503
(570) 340-5200
Click here for more information.

IfYouCanPlayScranton.com

Click here to place a hold.

Click here for a previous blog entry on If You Can Play Scranton.

Was Scranton Ever Mentioned In A Holiday Film? Yup! 1940's Little-Seen Remember The Night, And We Have It On DVD!

Scranton is mentioned in passing in the 1940 holiday classic Remember the Night, written by Preston Sturges and featuring the first onscreen pairing of Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray.

Remember the Night tells the story of a repeat shoplifter (Barbara Stanwyck) who goes home to Indiana for the holidays with the lawyer who is also prosecuting her (Fred MacMurray). The film also features a brief passing reference to Scranton.

Albright Memorial Library also has a copy of Remember the Night available to borrow on DVD. To place a hold, click here.

Perez Hilton Namedrops Scranton

Broadway's Critically Acclaimed Venus in Fur, Directed By Scranton Native Walter Bobbie, Will Re-Open February 2012 For Limited Engagement

The Broadway production of the David Ives play Venus in Fur, directed by Scranton native Walter Bobbie and starring Nina Arianda and Hugh Dancy, will take a break after ending its run at the Manhattan Theater Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theater on Sunday, December 18th and resume performances at the Lyceum Theater on Feb. 7, 2012, for a limited engagement through June 17.

Venus In Fur originally premiered Off-Broadway in January 2010; originally scheduled to run a month, the play was extended multiple times and closed March 25th, 2010. The original lead -- 2011 Tony nominee Nina Arianda (Born Yesterday) -- reprises her role of Vanda that she originated Off-Broadway. Actor Hugh Dancy plays playwright Thomas (originally played Off-Broadway by Wes Bentley).

Venus in Fur opened on Broadway November 8th for a limited one-month engagement but, due to popular demand and critical raves, it will will reopen on February 7th, 2012.

From Broadway.com:

"As David Ives’ new play begins, we meet a modern-day playwright/director who has written an adaptation of Venus in Fur, the 1870 novel by Leopold Sacher-Masoch that became infamous when the author’s last name inspired the term “sado-masochism” to describe the interplay of sex and power in the book. An actress arrives to audition, her bag filled with S&M gear and period costumes. Soon the playwright is drawn into reading his own script with this mysterious young woman, with breaks to argue about the meaning of the story and the motivation of the characters."

In addition to Venus In Fur and Chicago, Walter Bobbie's other Broadway directing credits include White Christmas, High Fidelity, Footloose, and the 2005 revival of Sweet Charity (which includes a reference to Scranton in one of the lyrics).

Click here for a previous blog entry on Walter Bobbie.

http://venusinfurbroadway.com/

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling (2011)

Mindy Kaling, writer and co-star of the NBC sitcom The Office (set in Scranton), has recently published a collection of humorous essays about her life and work titled Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), in which she includes a brief reference to Scranton.

p. 117

"Many people assume The Office is shot in Scranton, Pennsylvania, because we take pains to shoot on locations that are green and East Coast-looking."

Kaling has made two visits to Scranton -- she made a solo appearance in the city in July 2008 to launch The Official Office Board Game, and she was also in Scranton with most of the cast of the show for The Office Convention in October 2007.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling is now available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System; click here to place a hold.

Wilkes-Barre Native Santo Loquasto Is Scenic Designer For Broadway's Relatively Speaking

Three-time Tony winner and Wilkes-Barre native Santo Loquasto is the Scenic Designer for Broadway's Relatively Speaking, which opened last night (Thursday, October 20th) at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in NYC.

Directed by John Turturro, Relatively Speaking is a series of three one-act plays written by Elaine May, Ethan Coen and Woody Allen (Loquasto was Production Designer on all of Woody Allen's movies from 1987 to 2003, and most recently worked with Allen on 2009's Whatever Works).

To purchase tickets for Relatively Speaking, click here.

Click here for a previous blog entry on Santo Loquasto.

RelativelySpeakingBroadway.com

Historic Conversations on Life With John F. Kennedy by Jacqueline Kennedy (2011)

"Well, I don't remember talking with him (JFK) about Scranton."
Jacqueline Kennedy
Wednesday, June 3, 1964

Referencing William W. Scranton (1917 - ), former U.S. Representitive (1961-1963), Pennsylvania Governor (1963-1967) and US Ambassador to the United Nations (1976-1977). William Scranton's family members were the founders and patriarchs of the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Historic Conversations On Life With John F. Kennedy
page 346
Disc 8, Track 7, @6:44

Click here to place a hold.

Wayne County Native Josh Fox Wins Emmy For Directing Gasland

Congratulations to documentary filmmaker and Wayne County native Josh Fox for winning an Emmy for Outstanding Direction for Nonfiction Programming for his film Gasland.

In Gasland, Josh Fox received an offer to drill for natural gas under his property in Pennsylvania; in response, he did what few landowners think to do--he conducted his own research into the drilling process. The film won the 2010 Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

To place a hold on the DVD of Gasland, click here.

www.gaslandthemovie.com

The Medusa Amulet by Robert Masello (2011)

My colleague and fellow avid reader Michele L. told me about "the most random reference to Scranton" she ever came across in a novel--Robert Masello's latest book The Medusa Amulet.

Check out the description below and you'll see why:

"In this new spine-tingling thriller by Robert Masello, the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of Blood and Ice, a brilliant but skeptical young scholar named David Franco embarks on a quest to recover a legendary artifact: a beautifully carved amulet that was created by Benvenuto Cellini, the master artisan of Renaissance Italy. What begins as a simple investigation quickly spirals into a twisting, turning tale of suspense and intrigue, a race against time that carries Franco across continents and centuries in a desperate search for this ultimate treasure—and a work of unimaginable power . . . and menace.

Aided only by a beautiful young Florentine with a conspirator’s mind and dark secrets, Franco is soon caught up in a life-and-death struggle from which there is no escape. Relentlessly pursued by deadly assassins and demons of his own, in the end he must confront—and defeat—an evil greater than anything conjured in his worst nightmares."

The two Scranton references appear towards the very end of the novel:

p. 437 "Finally, the professor in front decided to pick up where he'd left off. 'I used to teach art in Scranton,' he said, and the group seemed to breathe a sigh of relief."


p. 439 "'That statue represents the apogee of Cellini's career,' the professor from Scranton was declaiming, and quite happily."

The Medusa Amulet is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System; to place a hold, click here.

Much thanks to the ever-amazing Michele L. for this reference.

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson (2006)

This reference comes from Brian Fulton, Librarian at the Times-Tribune and webmaster of the Pages from the Past blog of their website. In a blog entry he wrote on May 18th, 2011, Brian wrote a great piece on the 2006 "nonfiction novel" Thunderstruck by Erik Larson and its connections to Scranton, PA. Click here to check it out.

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System in a variety of formats: standard book, large print, CD audiobook, and downloadable audiobook.

Much thanks to Brian Fulton for this reference.