Theatre Scene: Such A Pretty Little Picture

Is it the fall weather? There are three prime Dorothy Parker productions going up in the next six weeks in the Big Apple, the Sun Belt, and the Blue Grass State.

Parker No. 1: The first production will find Dottie fans on a trek to the mega-cool, lets-get-pierced-and-drink-cheap Lower East Side of Manhattan. Every couple of months there is a Parker play or reading someplace in New York City, and this looks like a winner: An adaptation of Big Blonde -- which won Dottie the 1929 O. Henry prize for best short story of the year -- is being produced by Expanded Arts at 113 Ludlow Street (just above Delancey). The production opens this Thursday, Sept. 23 and closes Oct. 10. Showtime for Big Blonde is 7:00 p.m. -- Thursday through Sunday. Expanded Arts has a fabulous reputation. They produced the all-male Romeo and Juliet that received so much attention last year, and they have been doing free Shakespeare "In The Parking Lot" for five years.

Parker No. 2: The next two Parker presentations are both one-woman shows. The Sunshine State is a long way from Ludlow Street, but Dotheads will want to hit the Hollywood Boulevard Theatre as it opens its 1999-2000 season with the Southeastern premiere of The Singular Dorothy Parker. It is written by Rory Seebert, stars Ellen Simmons, and is directed by Phillip Church. The Singular Dorothy Parker opens on Friday, October 1 and continues until October 31. Ellen Simmons is a veteran of stage, screen and television having performed in New York and Connecticut for many years -- Simmons had a recurring role on One Life to Live. There will be a special section in the HBT lobby of photos and articles devoted to Mrs. Parker's life and career. Books and Books of Coral Gables will have a display of Parker books on sale. The Singular Dorothy Parker opens Friday, October 1 at 8:00 p.m. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. General admission tickets are $20. Senior tickets are $18 and student tickets are $12. Special group rates are available upon request. Call the box office at 954-929-5400 for reservations and information, or online at www.hbtheatre.com or e-mail jerry@hbtheatre.com. The Hollywood Boulevard Theatre is located at 1938 Hollywood Boulevard in the heart of the historic Downtown Hollywood district.

Parker No. 3: Writer Barbara H. Franklin journeyed to New York for Parkerfest last month all the way from Kentucky, so we think you should support the play she meticulously researched and wrote about Mrs. Parker, Beyond Dorothy Parker, a one-woman play starring Michele Ruby. It is at the Victory Jory Theatre/Actors Theatre of Louisville October 7 through 10. Tickets are $16 and $14 for seniors and students. Call 584-1205 or 1-800-4ATLIX for reservations. Beyond Dorothy Parker is a "Marie of Roumania Production" with the Jewish Community Center.

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Tuesday, September 21, 1999 at 10:09 PM | Permalink

List Lovers

We got a wonderful message to the Web site this week from Melanie Rigney, editor of Writer's Digest magazine. It looks like another Millenium list is coming out, and Dorothy Parker is on it. Hopefully, she cracked the Top Ten! Ms. Rigney writes: "Writer's Digest in its November issue will list the 100 Best Writers of the 20th Century as determined by our readers, staff and editorial advisory. Nominees were rated on their influence on the writing world; the quality of their work; and the degree to which their writing exhibits originality or experimentation. Dorothy Parker is among the writers on the list. At our Web site (www.writersdigest.com), we plan to run the names of the 100 Best writers along with links to sites about the writers. We plan to include your site in the list about Dorothy Parker. The November issue will be shipped to subscribers Sept. 27 and will be on sale at newsstands Oct. 19. We anticipate the Web site links will be available in very late September or early October."

Cool!

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Sunday, September 19, 1999 at 11:40 PM | Permalink

Don't Miss Magazine

What do Dorothy Parker and Ben Affleck have in common? They are both sharing the cover of the October 1999 Vanity Fair. Dottie is the subject of an excellent story by Christopher Hitchens which delves into one side of Mrs. Parker that the casual fan may not be aware of: her deep belief in civil rights and stopping prejudice. This is the best magazine article on Mrs. Parker written in 10 years.

The four-page story (loaded with great photos too) explores how she was speaking and writing about civil rights and equality among the races long before it was in fashion. Anyone who knows "Arrangement in Black and White", written decades before the civil rights marches in the South, knows that Dottie believed racial intolerance was wrong. Hitchens, one of the magazine's top writers and a big Parker fan, goes on to explain something that is helping others more than 30 years after her death. Her literary estate was left to Dr. Martin Luther King, which then rolled over to the NAACP upon his death. The NAACP has a memorial garden and Dorothy's ashes at their headquarters in Baltimore.

Hitchens visits the garden and movingly describes what it is like. He closes by saying that he contacted Julian Bond about the possibility of rededicating the memorial. A great idea. Eighty years after Vanity Fair fired Dorothy Parker, it does a great service to her everlasting memory by running such a terrific article. Be sure to buy a copy of the October issue.

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on at 4:12 PM | Permalink

Auction Action

The savvy Dothead knows that online auctions are a great place to track down rare books and collectibles. Prowling through Ebay and Amazon.com auctions, who knows what rare First Editions of Sunset Gun will pop up? This past week saw the auction of a reputed "Dorothy Parker autograph" from 1951 on Chateau Marmont letterhead. Bids opened at $75 and the winning bid was $217. See the autograph here, and determine for yourself if it is real or not. Maybe someone with a signature can compare it to this one and see if they match?

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Saturday, September 18, 1999 at 9:36 AM | Permalink

More Parkerfest Photos Online

There are some new photos online from Parkerfest.

Many people have asked if we are going to make the event an annual affair. It looks like we will, the response has been very good...

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Saturday, September 11, 1999 at 6:45 AM | Permalink

Hollywood Is Here

We used Labor Day to labor on the site. Now visit the Hollywood Pages with some of Dorothy Parker's former residences and hangouts. This is supposed to be a New York site, but I could not pass up the great photos sent in by Kurt VanderSluis from L.A. Really cool to have more new locales on there!

Note: I need recommendations for bars in L.A. that Dottie would drink at.

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Monday, September 06, 1999 at 9:50 PM | Permalink

Parkerfest Report!

The first Parkerfest was a big success on August 28. There are some photos online from the day, with more coming soon.

The response was so good that we will more than likely make it an annual event.

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Saturday, September 04, 1999 at 6:23 PM | Permalink