We are happy to post this press release; this short film was screened in October 2007 at Dorothy Parker Day in Long Branch, Mrs. Parker's birthplace. It is a fine film. The release:
You could call it Sex and the City circa 1928. Ms. Parker's tale takes place during the Roaring Twenties but the timeless story could have easily been written yesterday.
Set in upper class Manhattan the day after a chic cocktail party, Adam (Mario Brassard) insists on knowing why Evelyn (Darlene Violette) is giving him the silent treatment. Could the seductive Florence Leaming (Stephanie Szostak) be to blame? With Ms. Parker's biting dialogue and acerbic wit, all's fair in love and war when the two meet in a battle of The Sexes.
The Sexes was directed by Bridget Palardy (currently producer for Nylon TV) and features Mario Brassard (As The World Turns, Spin City), Darlene Violette (30 Rock, Law & Order) and Stephanie Szostak (The Devil Wears Prada, The Sopranos). Mario Brassard also produced the film and adapted the story with Darlene Violette.
If you have not made up your mind if you want to attend our next big Dorothy Parker Society party, just read who will be attending. We have 4 fantastic actors who will be at the splashy party on May 14 to celebrate The Ladies of the Corridorcoming back to bookstores. The party is free and open to the public at Hurley’s, 232 W 48th St. (between Broadway and Eighth). It is right next door to the Longacre Theatre, the same place The Ladies of the Corridor debuted in October 1953. The party starts at 6:30 p.m.
Editor Marion Meade will give a brief talk, the new book will be available, and there will be a cash bar. We will have a staged reading of two selections from the play. The actors we have lined up are: Glenn B. Stoops, Maureen Van Trease, Natalie Wilder, and Verna Pierce. Their brief biographies:
Glenn Stoops has worked with many NYC based companies including Boomerang Theatre Company, Quest Theater Ensemble, Blunt Theater Company, Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre, Banned in Warwick Productions, Trinity Players, and Theatreworks USA. Regional credits include NJ Rep (where he is a member), Shadowlawn Stage, Civic Theatre of Central Florida (Orlando, FL), Beechwood Theatre Company (Newport, RI), Playhouse on the Square (Memphis, TN), Sterling Renaissance Festival (Sterling, NY), Nebraska Theatre Caravan (Omaha, NE), EPCOT Center, and Universal Studios Florida. He can currently be seen on Liberty Island performing his one person show based on the life of Auguste Bartholdi.
Maureen Van Trease, member of AEA, is currently in a production of "No Man Can Serve Two Masters" with Third Eye Theatre Company at Times Square Arts Center through May 10th, where she has the pleasure of playing a sociopathic, delusional housewife. A fledgling playwright and a big Dorothy Parker fan, her latest project is entitled "Those Whistling Lads: The Poetry and Short Stories of Dorothy Parker", an adaptation for the stage of five of Dorothy's short stories and five of her poems that also explores the events in her life that led to these works. A full production of which is set for the near future.
Natalie Wilder -- (AEA/SAG) – New York credits include Mouth in NOT I, Phaedra in the NY premiere of PHAEDRA’S LOVE by Sarah Kane, Olivia in TWELFTH NIGHT, Lady Macbeth in MACBETH, Lady Anne in RICHARD III, Hypatia in MISALLIANCE, and Beth in DINNER WITH FRIENDS. Natalie is a member of NJ Repertory Company, where she has appeared as Diversion in SPAIN, a co-production with Playwrights Theatre of NJ and where she originated the role of Rachel Gold in the world premiere of APOSTASY. She is also a member of Oldcastle Theatre Company, where she has appeared as the Bogle in JACOB MARLEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL, multiple roles in HARD TIMES by Charles Dickens, and where she will appear this fall playing multiple roles in A TALE OF TWO CITIES. Regional credits include Maria in EL GRANDE DE COCA COLA, Celia in THE CURATE SHAKESPEARE AS YOU LIKE IT, and Janet in THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW. Natalie is a proud member of The Dorothy Parker Society.
Verna Pierce is a member of Equity.
The party is free and open to the public. To attend please RSVP to: KEVIN (AT) DOROTHYPARKER (DOT) COM by May 12.
I came across this blog post about a restaurant named Dorothy Parker in Buenos Aires. I asked about it, and I learned it was located at the corner of Acune de Figueroa and Costa Rica. It went out of business... A good thing, as one commenter says:
The one time I was there I ordered the Pollo Especial (Special Chicken) and got a dry breast without so much as even salt on it. The white wine arrived warm and the service was lousy. I never went back. The only thing Dorothy Parker had going for it was the name. Like the real Dorothy Parker, this place attempted suicide. Unlike the real Dorothy Parker, they succeeded.
I find it hilarious that a restaurant in South America named itself Dorothy Parker, and it served bad food. I have heard of people naming their cats, dogs, and babies after Parker, but never a restaurant. I love it.
Here is a video of actress Annmarie LaRocca reading Dorothy Parker's classic "General Review of the Sex Situation." The video is part of I Blame Poetry's online poems project.
One of Dorothy Parker’s most overlooked pieces of writing is coming back to print on April 29. The Ladies of the Corridor is a 1953 Broadway drama she co-wrote with Arnaud d’Usseau, a Hollywood and Broadway veteran.
Today we launched new section of the web site with information about the book and play: * An overview of the play, which includes an audio clip of Dorothy Parker herself talking about it; * A 1989 interview with Arnaud d’Usseau (he died in 1990) and a brief audio clip of him discussing Parker and the play; * An interview with Marion Meade, Parker’s biographer. She wrote a new introduction for the book.
But it would not be the Dorothy Parker Society without a splashy party, right! Of course we are hosting the launch party! Save the date: Wednesday, May 14, 6:30 p.m. at Hurley’s, 232 W 48th St. (between Broadway and Eighth). It is right next door to the Longacre Theatre, the same place The Ladies of the Corridor debuted in October 1953. We will be on the third floor for the party, which is cash bar. Hurley’s is a fantastic spot, and beloved by those in the theater business. The book will be available. We also have lined up actors who will perform a brief staged reading of parts of the play.
The party is open to the public. To attend please RSVP to: KEVIN (AT) DOROTHYPARKER (DOT) COM by May 12.
Next week on the News Page we will have more information on the fantastic actors who are going to be at the party. It will certainly be one of the most fun book parties the DPS has ever hosted. It isn’t every day a new Dorothy Parker book comes out.
The new chapter of the Dorothy Parker Society is up and rolling in Los Angeles. An officer's meeting was held at the venerable and famous Chateau Marmont recently. With a "no photos, please" policy we do not get any cocktail action inside. But from all accounts, Adrienne and Brian of L.A. and visitors Kate and Rob from out East had a swell time.
And do not forget the first big DPS in L.A. gathering is Thursday, April 24, at 9:30 PM at Smutzig, a 20s themed burlesque cabaret that occurs on the last Thursday of each month at El Cid, 4212 Sunset Blvd. in Silverlake. Just scroll a little down to see the info from Adrienne, the indefatigable organizer.
This is so exciting to have a real chapter on the Left Coast to balance us out!
If you missed our perfomance at Mo Pitkin's in October, here's another chance! Potable Productions & We Three Productions present an encore performance of the "Third Edition" of
THE POTABLE DOROTHY PARKER A Literary Cocktail
A reading series featuring the works of Dorothy Parker
with Katarina Boudreaux Celia Bressack Andy Horan & Stephanie Sellars as Mrs. Parker
Monday, April 14, 2008 at 8pm $5 suggested donation
The Backroom Lounge at the Telephone Bar & Grill 149 Second Ave (between 9th and 10th Streets) Dinner Available pre/post reading - excellent food! (212) 529-5000
It is fitting that a chapter of the Dorothy Parker Society launches in Los Angeles this month. Mrs. Parker spent about 30 years going back and forth from New York to Hollywood when she was a screenwriter. Her houses there were not small, and neither were her paychecks. The highlight of her career was the Academy Award nomination for co-writing A Star Is Born (the original Janet Gaynor-Fredric March version).
Now we have word that at DPS chapter is being born this month! It is kicking off in high style, with a gin-fueled evening of music and burlesque. Thanks to the new chapter president, Adrienne, it is launching at a monthly Twenties theme party. She writes:
"Welcome to the LA Chapter of the Dorothy Parker Society. We're just getting started. The first meeting will take place on Thursday, April 24, at 9:30 PM at Smutzig, a 20s themed burlesque cabaret that occurs on the last Thursday of each month at El Cid, 4212 Sunset Blvd. in Silverlake. The doors open at 9:30 and show happens around 10 PM. There's some nudity but all breasts are covered with pasties. Can you handle that?
Let's meet at 9:30 and we can stay after the show. There's an outdoor patio for the smokers. There's a full bar and tapas menu. I will try to reserve a table but it's pretty easy to get a table if we are there early."
El Cid 4212 Sunset Blvd. Between Fountain and Santa Monica Blvd in Silverlake, just west of Sunset Junction $12 door cover; $9 if you come in 20s attire.
Good luck to the LA Chapter. The New Yorkers will be there in spirit. Please send us pix!
