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Decatur Book Fest: The Big Read for “Gatsby”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Amidst all the hoopla of the AJC Decatur Book Festival, don’t overlook the Margaret Mitchell House’s tent on Ponce de Leon near Starbucks. They will be launching their “Big Read” program to get the community to read and discuss “The Great Gatsby.”
The Mitchell House’s Big Read is more ambitious than a lot of other cities’, says director Julie Bookman, thanks in part to a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. As the project unfolds through next year, high schools will be brought into the mix (it’s required reading for high school juniors, and for once the curriculum pitches a book at the right age group).
“Gatsby” is one of those unassailable icons of literature. I’ve read it 5 or 6 times, and I love it. And yet I can’t help but wish maybe the Big Read had tackled something a little more challenging. I know, make it too challenging and people won’t want to read it.
Still, I’d like some input. What book do you think would be a good canididate for a project like this?
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‘Ugly Duckling’ at Center for Puppetry Arts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW. Grade: C+
The little duck pops out of an egg and takes a look at the world. He peeps. He squeaks. He listens to his tomboyish, flute-playing, nature-worshipping new friend. And then he does what any newborn in his situation would do. He yawns.
My sentiments exactly, little guy.
Michael Haverty’s “The Ugly Duckling,” a world premiere at the Center for Puppetry Arts, is that rare bird of a show in which the lead character actually falls asleep before making a discernible dramatic splash. So delicately paced as to be soporific, this sweetly gentle adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson tale strikes me as a perfectly ducky thing to do with toddlers.
Solo performer Amy Rush creates the character of a young nature lover with her own secret pond. Part narrator, part explorer and Huckleberry friend of frogs, ducks and fireflies, she toots her pennywhistle, plays with critters and manipulates all the objects (mostly table-top puppets). Working in the form known as “overt puppetry,” the actor is plainly visible and essential to the story. Rush may not be the most vivid personality we ever did spy, but she’s a nimble technician and likeable enough in a country-waif kinda way.
Her big challenge is to bring energy to Haverty’s lullaby approach. As the writer and director, Haverty has some nice details in his tool kit — especially when suggesting that the duck pond is a microcosm of living, chirping, wing-flapping inhabitants. Loved the cattails that double as tubular bells (ping, ping).
But the writing — the production overall — lacks wonder and magic. The wicked Owl that swoops down and insults the Ugly Duckling may be a naughty and vicious bird. But at least she brings a little drama.
Otherwise, for adults who’ve grown accustomed to the Center’s sophisticated and imaginatively designed puppetry, there’s not a lot here to make you say: “Well, I’ll swan.”
The 411: 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Fridays. 11 a.m. Saturdays. 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sundays. Through Sept. 14. $16. Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring St., Midtown. 404-873-3391, puppet.org.
Bottom line: Quack, quack. This little ducky needs to wake up.
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Decatur Book Fest: Who do you want to see?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It now looks like the weather will be gorgeous for the Decatur Book Festival Saturday and Sunday, which is great news. Even if there isn’t any particular author you want to see, just hanging out at the festival on a pleasant day beats the heck out of cleaning the garage. Am I right, as my old friend Jordy Ray used to say.
But of course there are plenty of cool authors to go see. Eric Jerome Dickey, Pearl Cleage, John Dean (the Watergate one), Emily Giffin, Karen Abbott, Roy Blount Jr., Robert Sabuda (the popup book guy), Kathy Reichs, Mary Kay Andrews, Robert Olen Butler, Bill Curry (as in Ga. Tech), Louis Bayard, and so on. Whew!
So who are you planning to see at the Decatur Book Festival, and why?
And while you’re there, swing by the AJC tent on Ponce de Leon. I will be there from 3-5 p.m. Saturday to talk about books, blogging, and whatever, and we will have laptops so you can post comments from the site. Anyone who happens along can post their five favorite novels to one blog we’re running, or post their impressions of the festival to another blog.
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Update on Broadway’s ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While Kenny Leon polishes August Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean” at the Alliance Theatre, Todd Kreidler, his True Colors associate artistic director, is cooking up Leon’s “Dinner.”
We’re talking, of course, about “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” Kreidler’s adaptation of the classic 1967 film that starred Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Kreidler has spent the last year toiling over his and Leon’s next Broadway project.
No “Dinner” date has been set for Broadway. “But we’re still aiming to go in the fall,” Kreidler says. “Right now, we’re planning to gather for a reading in New York after Labor Day, then hopefully begin rehearsals in October.”
Meanwhile, “Gem” starts previews Aug. 30 at the Alliance, and “Radio Golf,” the final installment of Wilson’s epic 10-play cycle, begins previews at the Woodruff Arts Center playhouse on Aug. 29. Alliance associate artistic director Kent Gash directs “Radio Golf.” The two-play repertory’s official opening is Sept. 6.
Kreidler, a close personal associate of Wilson, was dramaturg for both “Gem of the Ocean” and “Radio Golf,” which played regional theaters before eventually moving to Broadway under Leon’s direction. The Chicago-based artist will arrive in Atlanta in mid-September, presumably to check out the bookended dramas.
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Decatur Book Fest: So you think you know Harry
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the Decatur Book Festival highlights for younger readers may be the “Harry Potter Trivia Quiz,” in which a limited number of kids, all under age 18, will be invited onstage to test their wizarding skills and win prizes, including deluxe editions of Potter books and gift certificates to Decatur’s Little Shop of Stories.
It happens at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Target Children’s Stage.
The fest has tapped Cheryl Klein to judge the quiz. Klein was Scholastic Books’ continuity editor on the Potter books, which made her one of the leading experts on all things Harry. I talked to her recently about her unique gig.
She explained:
“Continuity editor is a title we made up to describe what I was doing on the Harry Potter books, which was keeping track of all the facts. There’s copy editing facts, like Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. Every time that it appears, does Every Flavor have a hyphen in it? Do we take out the “u” from “flavour” for the Americanized spelling? And I also help the primary editor keep track of where all the characters are, where all the magical implements are, ’cause the plotting is so intricate.”
Q: Did you ever catch a mistake that Rowling made, like a line where Snape has three kids named Moe, Larry and Curly?
A: Changes like that did come up. Talking about them is a little like violating lawyer-client privilege. It’s the author’s job to talk about those.
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From the Big Read website, The Grapes Of Wrath might be a timely book to discuss, but if I were choosing on my own, I’d pick Markus Zusak, “The Book Thief.” He appeals to a wide audience and he’s a great writer.... read the full comment by margaret | Comment on Decatur Book Fest: The Big Read for "Gatsby" Read Decatur Book Fest: The Big Read for "Gatsby"
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There isn’t a deficit of culture here; it’s more of an attention deficit to culture. The Center for Puppetry Arts is an internationally respected institution. Here’s a quote from a recent NY Times story on the donation by Jim... read the full comment by BPJ | Comment on 'Ugly Duckling' at Center for Puppetry Arts Read 'Ugly Duckling' at Center for Puppetry Arts