Frankie Valli (1934 - )

Legendary singer Frankie Valli was profiled in the Scranton Times/Tribune in a article titled "Jersey Boy Done Good," published in the June 26, 2007 (Section C, p. C1; C3) .

According to the article and interview, Frankie Valli (born Francis Castelluccio on May 3, 1934 in Newark, NJ) spent most of his childhood summers in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, where his mother Mary was born and raised before moving with her husband to Newark. He recalled with fondness of taking the train from Newark to Scranton to spend his Christmas vacations with his extended family back in Dunmore. He calls his time he spent at his mother's house on Oak Street in Dumore as "some of the best times of my life."

Valli first gained fame as the lead singer of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons; their numerous hit songs (starting in 1962) include Sherry, Walk Like A Man, Rag Doll, Let's Hang On, Dawn, Big Girls Don't Cry, December 1963 (Oh What A Night) . The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Valli's so hits include My Eyes Adored You, Can't Take My Eyes Off You and the title track of 1978's classic movie musical Grease.

In addtion to currently touring with the Four Seasons, Valli's music can be heard eight performances a week in the smash Tony-winning Broadway musical Jersey Boys, which dramatizes the beginnings of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Since opening night on November 6, 2005, Jersey Boys has been playing to capacity audiences at the August Wilson Theatre in New York City and remains one of the hottest tickets on Broadway.

Several CDs featuring the music of Frankie Valli -- including 20 Greatest Hits of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, My Eyes Adored You and Other Hits, and the soundtracks to 1978's Grease and Jersey Boys -- are available to borrow in many libraries throughout the Lackawanna County Library System.

To read the full article "Jersey Boy Done Good," from the Scranton Times/Tribune, click here.

"Giving You the Best That I Got" by Anita Baker (1988) Video

Stills from Anita Baker's 1988 video for her hit song "Giving You the Best That I Got."

The video was filmed at the 109th Field Artillery (AKA Kingston Armory)

in Kingston, PA.

Video stills courtesy of vh1.com

In late summer/early fall 1988, R&B vocalist and multiple Grammy winner Anita Baker made a secret trip to Wilkes-Barre, PA. She found the ideal setting to shoot the video for her first single for her upcoming LP--the title track for her album "Giving You the Best That I Got." The video was filmed in sepia tone in the huge vacant space of the 109th Field Artillery (AKA Kingston Armory) at 280 Market Street in Kingston, PA.

A few days after completing the video, an article appeared in either the Citizens Voice or the Times Leader that detailed the video shoot--if anyone has any idea of the date and paper this article appeared, please email me at refdept@albright.org

Giving You the Best That I Got became the biggest hit of Anita Baker's long and impressive career, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Top 100 and #1 on Billboard's R&B singles chart.

Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties by Steven Watson (2003)

UPDATED 7/5/07

I am a HUGE fan of Andy Warhol--his paintings, the numerous documentaries and biographies about him--and especially his films. It is common knowledge that Warhol was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania--all the way on the other side of the state from Scranton. But were you aware that even Andy Warhol has a posthumous connection to Scranton? Let me explain.

In 2003, Steven Watson wrote the definite portrait of the Warhol Silver Factory years titled Factory Made; Warhol and the Sixties. In my own humble opinion, I think this is perhaps the best book on Warhol ever written. Not only does it paint a thorough and vivid picture of Warhol's years of painting and filmmaking in the 1960s (most would agree the sixties was his most productive period as an artist), but it also gives chronological and detailed accounts and biographies of the eccentric group of actors and artists that played roles in his famous Silver Factory in New York City during that time. Everyone from Warhol himself to his superstars (including Nico, Edie Sedgwick, Mary Woronov and Ultra Violet) to his friends and assistants (Brigid Berlin and Gerard Malanga) are profiled--even his near-assassin Valerie Solanis is included.

On the final page of Factory Made (page 436, to be exact), the final paragraph of the book discusses the preservation and continued revivals of Warhol's films, (which include The Chelsea Girls, Empire and Sleep), and this is where Scranton is mentioned:



"In the meantime, the films of the Factory era are resting safely in the Museum of Modern Art's film vault in a rural setting outside Scranton, Pennsylvania. They reside at an eternal 38 degrees, and if they are to be seen, they must first spend a few days in the warming-up room. Art and artifact, they record the Sixties like nothing else."



Now before you even ask, I must say that neither I nor my colleagues have any idea when the Museum of Modern Art's film vault is, in the vacinity of Scranton. It's a complete mystery to us. But if anyone can provide us with that final piece of the puzzle, please email me at refdept@albright.org.

According to the official website for the book, Factory Made is in the process of being adapted into a feature length documentary film.


Unfortunately, we do not include Factory Made in our library holdings, but portions of the book (including chapters excluded from the final edition) can be viewed online by clicking here. It's an excellent book and I HIGHLY recommend it. In addition, an excellent 2006 film covering that time period titled Factory Girl (starring Sienna Miller as Edie Sedgwick and Guy Pearce as Andy Warhol) will be released on DVD July 17th. Albright Memorial Library will have a copy of Factory Girl in its circulating DVD collection. You can place a hold on the DVD at http://www.lclscatalog.org/



UPDATE 7/5/07 "Ask and you shall receive" is my new motto. Not one, but TWO people helped me to answer the question "Where near Scranton is the MOMA film vault?" Well, the answer is Hamlin, PA-approximately 18 miles outside of Scranton in Wayne County.


The name of MOMA's film vault in Hamlin is The Celeste Bartos Film Preservation Center and it opened June 10, 1996. According to the web site, the $11.2 million film storage facility consists of two buildings on a 38-acre estate in Hamlin and houses over 14,000 of MOMA's rare film collection from 1894 to the present at a constant 38 degrees for preservation.


I want to give a big thanks to two awesome people for providing me with this last piece of the Warhol/Scranton puzzle--Brian Fulton, Library Manager at the Scranton Times and artist "The Other Michael" (whose website, http://www.xradiograph.com/, is absolutely incredible--the umbrella hats ROCK).

State Fair (1962)

State Fair is one of those rare musicals (by Rogers & Hammerstein, no less) that appeared in film version first (TWICE, actually) before being adapted as a Broadway musical over fifty years later. The 1962 version starring Pat Boone and Ann-Margaret features a passing reference to Scranton.

State Fair began as a 1933 film (non-musical) starring Janet Gaynor and Will Rogers. The film told the story of a farming family (parents, a teenage son, and a teenage daughter) who travel to the Iowa State Fair to complete in a variety of competitions. The two teenagers go off on their own and each finds love.

In 1945, Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II (who would later collaborate on the musicals Oklahoma, The Sound of Music. The King and I, South Pacific and Cinderella) were selected to write songs for a musical film version of State Fair; in addition, Hammerstein wrote the screenplay for the film). It is also of note that this was the only time the two songwriters wrote songs directly for a film musical--their subsequent collaborations were first presented on Broadway as stage musicals before being translated into film versions some years later.

The 1945 film starred Jeanne Crain (who would later star in A Letter to Three Wives, which featured a reference to Wilkes-Barre and was directed by Wilkes-Barre native Joseph L. Mankiewicz) and Dick Haymes and featured the song It Might As Well Be Spring, which has since become a standard covered by many recording artists.

Seventeen years later, in 1962, State Fair was remade by director Jose Ferrer (who also won a Best Actor Oscar for Cyrano de Bergarac in 1950). The 1962 version starred Pat Boone and Ann-Margaret (in her feature film debut) as a young couple who meet and fall in love at the Iowa State Fair.

Near the end of the film, after discovering that Wayne's (Pat Boone) parents disapprove of her, Emily Porter (Ann-Margaret) finds herself packing her trunk at her apartment to leave Wayne forever. He arrives and they have the following confrontation that includes the passing reference to Scranton:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Emily Porter: Well, what did you think was going to happen? I warned you. A few days, a few nights. Those were the ground rules. You knew that from the start.

Wayne Frake: But you changed, and after that we talked about the farm and how we were always gonna' be together.

Emily Porter: This trunk won't let us! Don't you understand? There's more than clothes in here! I'M in here, too! Read the labels. Little Rock, Ackron, Scranton, Springfield. That wouldn't leave us much time for the South 40 now, would it?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

At the time, 1962's State Fair was considered a critical and commercial flop, but the film is now regarded as a classic today.

In 1996, State Fair was transferred from film to the Broadway stage for the first time. The show starred John Davidson and Donna McKechnie and ran for just over 100 performances. There is no documentation I could find that the Scranton reference was included in the Broadway production. If anyone saw the show in its brief Broadway run and knows if the Scranton reference was retained for the 1962 film version of State Fair, please email me at refdept@albright.org

The 2-disc DVD of State Fair, which includes both the 1945 version and the 1962 version (which mentions Scranton) of the film, is available to borrow from Albright Memorial Library and Abington Community Library. To place a hold on the DVD for State Fair, click here.

Douglas Carter Beane, Playwright and Screenwriter

UPDATED JUNE 18TH, 2007,

JULY 12th, 2007 & MAY 13, 2008

The "culturally with-it" Evelyn Gibbons emailed me this morning and told me of a local resident who was profiled in Sunday's Citizens' Voice for his nomination for Best Play at the 2007 Tony Awards. His name is Douglas Carter Beane, and he has lived in both the Wilkes-Barre and Tunkhannock areas of Pennsylvania.

According to the article "Tony Nominee Recalls Summers at Lake Carey," (published in the Sunday Voice on Sunday, June 10th, 2007, page A5), Douglas Carter Beane was born spent part of his childhood in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and at a summer cottage on Lake Carey in Wyoming County.

However, in another interview, this one with Oasis Magazine, Beane confirms he was actually born in Wilkes-Barre--in General Hospital, to be precise.

Beane was nominated for a 2007 Tony Award for Best Play for The Little Dog Laughed, starring Tom Everett Scott (That Thing You Do!, Dead Man On Campus) and Julie White (who won a Best Actress Tony Award for her role). The Little Dog Laughed tells the story of an up-and-coming Hollywood actor whose budding homosexuality potentially threatens his career. The play ran for 122 performances at Broadway's Colt Theatre in New York City.

Beane also wrote the screenplay for the 1995 comedy To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar; the film starred Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo as three transvestives whose car breaks down in a small town on their way to a drag queen beauty contest in Los Angeles.

Beane's most recent work was writing the book for Broadway's upcoming musical Xanadu, based on the 1980 film starring Olivia Newton-John as a muse who inspires an aspiring artist to create a rollerdisco. In previews now (in fact, I have a ticket for this upcoming Sunday's preview), Xanadu on Broadway is scheduled to officially open June 26th, 2007 at the Helen Hayes Theatre in New York City. To watch a short video of rehearsals for the show, featuring Douglas Carter Beane, click here.

Beane also serves as Writer/Artistic Director of the Drama Dept., a non-profit theater collective of actors, writers, directors, designers and stage managers--its rouster of members includes Sarah Jessica Parker, Peter Gallagher and Patricia Clarkson.

Douglas Carter Beane was also profiled in this past Sunday's Times-Tribune. The article titled, "Playwright With Local Ties Nominated for Tony Award," can be read online by clicking here.

To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar is available to borrow on both DVD and VHS from libraries throughout the Lackawanna County Library System. To place a hold on the DVD, click here; to reserve the VHS, click here.

Much thanks to Evelyn Gibbons for this reference.

www.XanaduOnBroadway.com

UPDATED 6/18/07 I attended a preview of Xanadu yesterday afternoon in New York City - and it was FANTASTIC!!!! If you're familiar with the 1980 film version of Xanadu, you'll be happily surprised that Beane only kept the songs and characters, and wrote a funny-as-heck musical comedy in place of the original film script. In addition, the Helen Hayes Theatre is a smaller Broadway theater, so every seat has a GREAT view of the stage. In additon, the theatre also offers a limited number of ON-STAGE SEATING available at the box office.

Unfortunately Douglas Carter Beane wasn't in attendence at Sunday's show, but I did have the pleasure of meeting cast members Kerry Butler (who played Kira, originated in the film version by Olivia Newton-John), Mary Testa (who plays a new character not in the original film, a muse named Melpomene) and the wonderful Jackie Hoffman (who plays another new Muse character, Calliope)--Hoffman was kind enough to pose for a picture with me and even humorously jibed me with a "YOU IDIOT!!!!" when a shaking-and-nervous me had a problem accessing the camera on my cellphone (click here to see it). I told all three actors that I hope Xanadu will be a HUGE hit.

SOME XANANEWS: The official opening date for Xanadu has been changed from from June 26th, 2007 to July 10th, 2007 due to an foot injury by lead actor James Carpinello - he has been replaced by Cheyenne Jackson.

Douglas Carter Beane was profiled in yesterday's New York Times in an article titled "Returning to Broadway on Celestial Roller Skates." The full article can be read online by clicking here. In addition, he also narrates the article in a slideshow of photos from Xanadu exclusively on the New York Times website. You can access the slideshow by clicking here. In addition, to view another rehearsal video for Xanadu, click here.

In summary---if you happen to be in NYC, have 90 minutes (with no intermission) to kill, and want to have a really great time - not to mention see a really fun piece of theatre by an alumni of this area, check out Xanadu on Broadway!

UPDATED AGAIN JULY 12TH, 2007: Xanadu had its offical opening Tuesday, July 11th and received a rave review in Wednesday's New York Times. To read the review, click here.

UPDATED May 13th, 2008: Congratulations to Douglas for earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical for Xanadu. For more info, click here.

Also, to see the infamous "You Idiot!" photo of me and Jackie Hoffman described above, it's posted on the offical Xanadu photo blog. Click here to see it (I look like a deer crossed in the headlights, but Jackie looks awesome!).

Angela and Kevin from NBC's "The Office" To Appear at Scranton's Mall at Steamtown on Saturday, May 19th (UPDATED MAY 21ST)

Actors Angela Kinsey (left) and Brian Baumgartner (right) with Jenna Fischer (center) in a still from NBC's The Office. Both Kinsey and Baumgartner will be appearing at the Mall at Steamtown this Saturday.

THE OFFICE RETURNS TO SCRANTON !

(UPDATED MAY 21ST)

Following in the footsteps of Rainn Wilson (who visited Scranton last December), two (count 'em, TWO) cast members from NBC's hit show The Office (which, of course, takes place in Scranton, Pennsylvania) will be visiting Scranton itself this weekend.

Angela Kinsey (Angela) and Brian Baumgartner (Kevin) will be appearing at the Mall at Steamtown in Scranton on Saturday, May 19th. The Mall at Steamtown is planning a full day of events to celebrate the visit of the Dunder Mifflin employees, including an autograph session in the mall's Center Court from 1 PM to 4 PM, as well as a VIP Celebrity Breakfast from 9 to 11 AM with both Angela and Brian (proceeds benefit the planned Office Convention in Scranton).

For more information about this "Office" party, visit the Mall at Steamtown's website or view the official flyer of the event. To read a full article from last week's Electric City detailing this weekend's events, click here. And for this week's EC cover story, click here.

www.NBC.com/TheOffice

UPDATE 5/21/07:

Saturday's "Office Day" was a huge success in Scranton. A couple of links are available with more information:

For video clips and photos from the Times-Tribune, click here.

To read the article "'Office' Actors Party in Scranton" from Yahoo! News, click here.

For more information on the recently-announced upcoming Office Convention, which will take place October 26-28, 2007 in Scranton, PA, click here.

To check out other YouTube videos from this past weekend's visit, click here.

http://www.theofficeconvention.com/

Actor/Comedian Chris Barnes to Present Night of Improv in the Reference Department

Actor/comedian Chris Barnes & Company will be presenting a night of comedy and improv in the Albright Memorial Library Reference Department on Thursday, June 14th at 7:30 PM.

Chris Barnes was born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania. After moving to New York at the age of 17, Barnes wrote for both MTV and Saturday Night Live.

A veteran of Chicago's Second City and, later, Second City West in Los Angeles, Barnes has appeared in numerous television series such as Who's The Boss, Seinfeld, According to Jim, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Law & Order. From 2002-2004, Barnes starred as Marv the cue card guy on ABC's Life With Bonnie.

Chris Barnes & Company perform comedy and improv every Friday night at 8 PM at the Scranton Cultural Center.

http://www.comedydojo.com/

Matthew Lesko (1943- )

You've most likely seen him on TV commercials or in late-night informercials telling you how to get free money. You probably recognize him on sight for his Riddler-like suit covered with question marks and his other wacky antics. Well, his name is Matthew Lesko and he is a native of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Matthew Lesko was born in 1943 and spent his boyhood in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Lesko earned Bachelors Degree at Marquette University, served in the US Navy in Vietnam, and earned his Masters Degree in Computer Science from American University in Washington DC.

After researching government grants for over 25 years, Lesko began to write and publish books about getting free grants and other financial assistance from the US Government.

Several of Matthew Lesko's books - including Free Money to Pay Your Bills, Free Legal Help, and Free $tuff for Seniors - are available to borrow for libraries throughout the Lackawanna County Library System.

www.matthew-lesko.com/

Jerry Orbach (1935-2004)

If you happen to catch this week's 20th anniversary screenings of Dirty Dancing, keep in mind the fact that one of the cast members - legendary stage, screen and Emmy-nomimated TV actor Jerry Orbach - spent several years of his childhood in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Jerome Bernard Orbach was born in the Bronx in New York City on October 20, 1935. According to a Scranton Times article from 2003, Orbach's family moved frequently throughout his childhood, even settling for a time in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where his grandfather worked as a coalminer, when he was six years old. The Orbach family also lived in Scranton, PA for a year and a half in the Hills section; furthermore, according to the Internet Movie Database, Orbach also lived for a time in Nanticoke, PA. Orbach's family eventually settled in Waukegan, Illinois.

Orbach studied drama at both University of Illinois and Northwestern University; upon moving back to New York, he studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.

Orbach's first major Broadway role was as a replacement for the character Smith in the original 1955 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera (his co-star Bea Arthur would later reunite with Orbach in an episode of The Golden Girls). Orbach's extensive stage career includes starring in the original 1960 off-Broadway cast of The Fantasticks, his Tony Award-winning performance in the 1968 musical Promises, Promises and creating the role of lawyer Billy Flynn in the original 1975 Broadway production of Chicago. He also starred as Julian Marsh in the original 1980 Broadway production of 42nd Street.

Orbach has had a successful film career since the 1950s and has starred as Martin Landau's shady brother Jack in Woody Allen's Crimes & Misdemeanors (whose production designer was Wilkes-Barre native Santo Loquasto), tough corrupt cop Gus Levy in 1981's Prince of the City, the voice of candlestick Lumiere in Disney's Oscar-nominated Beauty and the Beast, and, of course, as Baby's father in the 1987 classic Dirty Dancing.

Orbach's most popular TV work is his role as Detective Lennie Briscoe on Homicide: Life on the Streets; the character was later spun off in the popular television drama Law and Order.

Sadly, Jerry Orbach passed away on December 28th, 2004 in Manhattan after a courageous battle with prostate cancer.

The 20th Anniversary edition of Dirty Dancing starring Jerry Orbach will be showing Tuesday, May 1st and Wednesday, May 2nd, at Cinemark in Moosic.

Several films and television series starring Jerry Orbach - including several seasons of Law and Order, the films Crimes and Misdemeanors, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Dirty Dancing, the special Broadway's Lost Treasures II (featuring Orbach as Billy Flynn in Chicago) and CDs including the original soundtrack for Broadway's 42nd Street - are available to borrow on DVD from the Lackawanna County Library System. Furthermore, the Reference Department's collection includes a Local History Vertical File on the actor.

To read Rich Mates's October 26, 2003 Scranton Times article "'Law' and Orbach: 'Law & Order' Detective Proud of Scranton Roots," click here.

Naked by David Sedaris (1997)

Humorist David Sedaris, author of such bestselling essay collections as Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim and Holidays on Ice, as well as a regular guest on The Late Show With David Letterman, included a somewhat unique reference to the city of Scranton in his 1997 collection Naked. Naked is a collection of nonfiction essays in which Sedaris write about his unusual life experiences.

The title essay in the book details Sedaris's weeklong trip to a nudist camp. Upon his arrival, the camp residents stare accusingly at Sedaris (a New York resident) for supposedly bringing the cold front from "the lakes" with him.

"'I don't know anything about any lakes.' There was a rising panic in my voice. 'It was hot and sunny when I left New York this morning, really, it was. It turned cold around Scranton, but I didn't even get off the bus. It's the truth, you can ask the driver.' It was ridiculous to stand before a group of strangers denying my responsibility for the weather, but surrounded by their stern accusatory faces, the charges seemed frighteningly plausible."

Naked by David Sedaris is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System; to place a hold on the book, click here.

NASCAR Driver (and Berwick Native) Jimmy Spencer to Speak in Scranton May 21st

Berwick native and former NASCAR champion Jimmy Spencer will be speaking in Scranton on Monday, May 21st at 7 PM at the Scranton Cultural Center in Scranton, PA.

Tickets are FREE with your Lackawanna County Library System library card; to apply for a card online, click here.

Tickets are available at any Lackawanna County Library System Library, the Scranton Cultural Center box office, and the Everhart Museum.

Documentary Filmmaker Gregory T. Matkosky to Appear at Meet The Authors April 18th, 2007

Documentary filmmaker Gregory T. Matkosky (Stories From The Mines; An Empty Place at the Table; Looking to the River) will be at Albright Memorial Library on Wednesday, April 18th at 7 PM as part of "Meet the Authors" and National Library Week.

Stories From the Mines (both a documentary and a book co-authored by Matkosky, who was born and raised in Northeastern Pennsylvania) traces the miners’ epic human rights battle from their arrival in the United States to the Great Strike of 1902 (in Scranton, PA) and the inception of the United Mine Workers. The film blends dramatic reenactments and never-before-seen archival footage and photographs to recount a conflict that inspired the involvement of Clarence Darrow and Theodore Roosevelt.

An Empty Place at the Table documents an exhibit of table settings, the empty chairs representing victims of domestic violence.

In addition to his work as a filmmaker and author, Matkosky is also the creative director of WVIA.

For more information on "Meet the Authors 2007," click here.

Call to register at 570-348-3000, x3043.

Click on the image above (by Michele Murphy) for more information.

NBC's The Office The Subject of 3 (Count 'Em, 3) Articles in Today's Citizens' Voice

(cover image courtesy of www.citizensvoice.com)

Though it isn't my intention to make the Scranton/W-B Entertainment blog something devoted exclusively to NBC's The Office (set in Scranton, Pennsylvania), regular readers of this blog can see that the numerous references to Scranton on the hit sitcom are abundant and almost impossible to ignore.

Today's Citizens' Voice (serving Wilkes-Barre and other areas of Luzerne County) has devoted three articles and an interactive multimedia page (website only) in today's edition (April 5, 2007) to The Office. The articles are linked below:

"Office" Cast Imagines What Scranton Is Really Like (cast members imagine what the real Scranton is like)

A Peek Into 'The Office' (this article lists several Scranton-related items, locations, etc. that were featured in episodes)

It's Just Another Day At 'The Office' (two writers from Times-Shamrock newspapers visit the set of The Office)

'The Office' Multimedia Tour of Scranton (includes video interviews with cast members)

www.citizensvoice.com

Live With Regis & Kelly (Monday, March 19, 2007)

Isn't it weird when you're half-watching a morning talk show and, out of the blue, someone drops the word Scranton? As with The Ellen Degeneres Show a few months back, the city of Scranton was referenced on this morning's Live With Regis & Kelly by guest Rainn Wilson, star of NBC's hit sitcom The Office (that, of course, is set in Scranton, PA).

Rainn Wilson was interviewed this morning by Kelly Ripa and guest co-host Howie Mandel. When discussing Mendel's success on the popular NBC game show Deal Or No Deal, Wilson quipped, "I'd be a guest if they held it at a Scranton mall." No doubt Wilson was referencing his recent visit to the Steamtown Mall in Scranton this past December.

Scranton Native/Author Lauren Weisberger to Speak in Scranton September 6th

Scranton native and bestselling author Lauren Weisberger (The Devil Wears Prada; Everyone Worth Knowing) with return to the city of her birth in September as a guest speaker of the Lackawanna County Library System 2007 Library Lecture Series.

Weisberger will be speaking on Thursday, September 6th at 7 PM at the Scranton Cultural Center. When available (I'll post a message in the blog when they become available, which should be sometime in August), tickets will be free with a Lackawanna County Library Card and will be available from any Lackawanna County Library, the Scranton Cultural Center box office and the Everhart Museum.

For our previous blog entry on Lauren Weisberger, click here.

www.LaurenWeisberger.com

Photos of Lauren Weisberger and book jacket courtesy of press page on Miss Weisberger's official web site.

UPDATE 7-26-07 FREE TICKETS FOR LAUREN WESIBERGER ARE AVAILABLE NOW AT THE CIRCULATION DESK!

W-B/Scranton In Entertainment Blog Now Available as RSS Feed via Feedburner

The Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in Entertainment Blog is now available to subscribe to via a RSS feed through Feedburner.

To subscribe to the Scranton/W-B Entertainment Blog, click here.

To learn more about RSS, click here.

Daniel McDonald (1960-2007)

Being a huge fan of Broadway, I was shocked and saddened when I read yesterday that Scranton native and Broadway actor Daniel McDonald died on February 15th at the age of 46. In addition to his Tony-nominated work on the New York stage, McDonald made several appearances on TV and in film.

Daniel McDonald was born in Scranton, PA on July 30, 1960. He was raised in Romulus, NY and was the youngest of seven children (his brother is actor Christopher McDonald (Thelma & Louise, Quiz Show). He graduated from Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY and also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

McDonald's work on the Broadway stage includes 1997's Steel Pier, a Kander and Ebb musical set in Atlantic City, which earned him a Best Actor Tony nomination; he also won the Theatre World Award foor best Actor for the role. McDonald also starred in the stage version of Cole Porter's High Society in 1998. His most recent work on Broadway was as a replacement in the role of Sam Carmichael, one of Sophie's three possible dads in the smash musical Mamma Mia!

He also wrote and starred in Chesterfield, a one-act inspired by Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, which played in both New York and Los Angeles.

McDonald made his film debut in the 1984 sex comedy Where The Boys Are '84, co-starring Lisa Hartman. In a 2001 interview on Broadway.com, McDonald looked back fondly and humorously on the making of his debut movie. His other roles include 1985's The Falcon and the Snowman, starring Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton, 1993's What's Love Got To Do With It? starring Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne, and Ang Lee's 1997 film The Ice Storm, starring Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Tobey Maguire and Christina Ricci.

McDonald's television credits include episodes of Law and Order, D.C., Sex & the City, and CSI: Miami.

Daniel McDonald died Thursday, February 15th, 2007 in New York City after a long and brave battle with brain cancer. He is survived by his wife and two children. His obituary has appeared in newspapers across the country, including USA Today and the Broadway magazine Playbill.

According to Broadway.com, McDonald was recording a CD of standards from the American songbook including two songs from Steel Pier. That album is due to be released in April.

One of Daniel McDonald's songs, First You Dream, from Steel Pier (a duet with Karen Ziémba), is featured on a CD titled Broadway in Love, which is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System by clicking here.

To make a donation in Daniel's memory to Team Continuum, which cares for the immediate needs of cancer patients from all over the world, click here.

The Reference Department sends our heartfelt condolences to Daniel McDonald's family on the passing of this truly talented Scranton native.

"South of Scranton" by Peter Blume (1931)

Peter Blume (American, born Russia, 1906–1992)

South of Scranton, 1931

Oil on canvas; H. 56, W. 66 in. (142.2 x 167 cm)

George A. Hearn Fund, 1942 (42.155)

© Estate of Peter Blume/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Image Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC

In addition to film and music, Scranton, Pennsylvania also has a history as inspiration of fine art, as depicted in Peter Blume's 1931 surrealist painting South of Scranton, which was inspired by a car trip he took here in the Spring of 1930.

Artist Peter Blume (1906-1992) was born October 27, 1906 in Smorgon, Russia; he and his family emigrated to the United States in 1911 and settled in New York City.

Burke died on November 30, 1992 in New York City. He studied art at the Educational Alliance Art School from 1919 to 1924, at the Art Students League of New York and at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design. He had his first one-man show in New York City in 1930.

Blume's art first gained fame and notoriety with the exhibition of his 1931 painting South of Scranton. Taking about a year and a half to complete, the painting was inspired by a car trip Blume took across Pennsylvania. Often stopping for repairs, Blume was inspired by the coal mines, locamotives and steel mills he encountered along his trip. He told reporters at the time, "I moved in my mind from Scranton to Bethlehem to Charleston.... Things lost their logical connection as they do in a dream."

South of Scranton was awarded first prize at the 1934 Carnegie International Exhibition; its selection for the prize evoked both harsh criticism and glowing praise from the art world. In 1942, South of Scranton won the second prize at the Artists for Victory Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. During World War II it was sent to the Tate Gallery in London by the U.S. Government as one of a group of outstanding works by living American artists.

Peter Blume died in New York City on Nov. 30, 1992.

South of Scranton is part of the Permanant Collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Mary McDonnell (1952- )

Actress Mary McDonnell is a renowned stage and screen actress with two Academy Award nominations to her credit. She has appeared in several critically acclaimed films, Broadway plays, and television series. She was also born in Wilkes-Barre.

Mary McDonnell was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on April 28, 1952. However, she was raised in Ithaca, New York.

McDonnell began her professional acting career in 1980 as Claudia Colfax on the long-running soap opera As The World Turns. She soon moved to film work in supporting roles in such films as Garbo Talks (starring Anne Bancroft) and Tiger Warsaw (starring Patrick Swayze). Her first major film role was in the 1987 independent film Matewan, directed by John Sayles (Sayles would also direct McDonnell in 1992's Passion Fish, which earned her a Best Actress Academy Award nomination).

McDonnell has been nominated for two Academy Awards - - Best Supporting Actress for her role as Stands With A Fist in Dances With Wolves (1990), directed by and co-starring Kevin Costner, and Best Actress for Passion Fish (1992), directed by John Sayles and co-starring Alfre Woodard (Betty Applewhite from the hugely popular ABC series Desperate Housewives) and David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck).

McDonnell's other film credits include 1991's Grand Canyon (directed by Lawrence Kasdan and also starring Steve Martin and Kevin Kline), 1992's Sneakers (starring Robert Redford), the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day (starring Will Smith), and 2001's Donnie Darko (starring both Jake Gyllenhaal and Maggie Gyllenhaal).

McDonnell's most recent work has been on two successful television series - she portrayed Eleanor Carter in the 2001-2002 season of ER, and she starred as President Laura Roslin in the Sci-Fi Channell's reimaging of the television series Battlestar Galactica from 2004-2006.

In addition to her work in film and on television, McDonnell has also appeared in a number of Broadway plays including The Heidi Chronicles (1990) and Summer and Smoke (1996).

Several of McDonnell's films, including Dances With Wolves, Passion Fish, Matewan, Grand Canyon, Independence Day, and Donnie Darko, are available on DVD and VHS from several libraries in the Lackawanna County Library System. Seasons One and Two of Battlestar Galactica (as well as the original 2004 miniseries that kicked off the television series), are available though the library catalog.

James Karen (1923- )

Have you ever seen an actor in a movie or on TV, then see him again and again in other movies and on other TV shows and think, "Wait a minute! I've seen this guy before...but WHERE?" One of the most prolific of such actors is James Karen, who is a native of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Karen is a veteran character actor whose work has been seen in numerous films, TV shows, and the Broadway stage.

James Karen was born Jacob Karnufsky in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on November 28, 1923.

Karen began his acting career on the Broadway stage in 1948, and his stage work includes work as a standby for both characters George and Nick in the original 1964 Broadway production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Karen would go on to stage work in such plays as Cactus Flower and The Country Girl.

Karen's television and film career began with an episode of Car 54, Where are You in 1962. He made his first film two years later in 1965's Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster. From 1967 to 1970, Karen's image became familiar for soap opera fans in his role as Dr. Burke on the long-running As The World Turns; Karen also became a regular on All My Children in 1970 as Linc Tyler.

Throughout the 1970s, Karen made appearances in episodes of several iconic shows of that decade such as Starsky and Hutch, The Waltons, The Streets of San Francisco, The Bionic Woman, Macmillan & Wife, Eight is Enough, One Day at a Time, and The Rockford Files.

The 1970s and 1980s brought about memorable appearances in films such as Poltergeist, The China Syndrome, Frances, Wall Street, and The Return of the Living Dead.

Karen's TV work continued in memorable episodes of The Golden Girls, M*A*S*H, Dynasty, Seinfeld, The Practice, and Judging Amy. Karen even made an appearance on the Scott Baio sitcom Charles in Charles, whose title character hails from Scranton, Pennsylvania.

His most recent film appearaces include the recently released The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith, Superman Returns (his scenes with Eva Marie Saint were cut from the final film, but can be seen in the deleted scenes section of the DVD), Any Given Sunday (directed by Oliver Stone), and Mulholland Dr. (directed by David Lynch).

It's quite possible that James Karen has appeared in everything!

James Karen was recently profiled by Leonard Maltin as one of Hollywood's best-kept secrets on Reelz Channel's Secret's Out.