MARK AUERBACH
From The Page to the Stage
In our area, The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford is an important stop on many author book tours. (Its best equivalent is The Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley). Two people with ties to Southern New England launch their new book tours at the home and museum of one of America’s greatest writers.
WFSB news anchor Kara Sundlund introduces her autobiography “Finding Dad: From “Love Child” To Daughter” (published by Behler) on November 11.
Kara Hewes had never seen her father, Rhode Island Governor Bruce Sundlun, until one transformational moment when she awoke in the middle of the night as a TV news anchor announced his candidacy. One look at his picture and she knew she needed to find him.
Her letters and phone calls went unanswered, so at seventeen, Kara hired a lawyer and announced her paternity suit before a packed press conference. In the middle of the media frenzy, Governor Sundlun did the unexpected and invited Kara to come live with him so he could get to know her better. Kara knew that in order to move forward with her father, she had to make the choice to forgive the past. It was her unconditional love that broke down the barriers separating father and daughter.
WILLIAM MANN
Kara Sundlun is an Emmy Award-winning television journalist. She anchors the news for WFSB-TV, the CBS affiliate in Connecticut, and hosts two shows: the popular daytime talk show Better Connecticut and Kara’s Cures, a guide to health and spirituality. Kara is also a contributor for the Huffington Post. She was named “Best Reporter” by Hartford Magazine and “Top 40 under 40” from Hartford Business Journal and Connecticut Magazine. She and her husband, fellow news anchor Dennis House, live in Hartford, Connecticut, with their two children.
William J. Mann, the New York Times bestselling author and Connecticut native William J. Mann discussing his just-published book ”Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood” (published by Harper) on November 13.
“The Day of the Locust” meets “The Devil in the White City” and ”Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” in this juicy, untold Hollywood story: an addictive true tale of ambition, scandal, intrigue, murder, and the creation of the modern film industry.
JEREMY DENK
By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America’s new favorite pastime, and one of the nation’s largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence. Yet Hollywood’s glittering ascendency was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies, including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.
Mann draws on a rich host of sources, including recently released FBI files, to unpack the story of the enigmatic Taylor and the diverse cast that surrounded him-including three beautiful, ambitious actresses; a grasping stage mother; a devoted valet; and a gang of two-bit thugs, any of whom might have fired the fatal bullet. Overseeing this entire landscape of intrigue was Adolph Zukor, the brilliant and ruthless founder of Paramount, locked in a struggle for control of the industry and desperate to conceal the truth about the crime.
Mann is an American novelist, biographer, and Hollywood historian best known for his studies of Hollywood and the American film industry, especially his 2006 biography of Katharine Hepburn, “Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn”. Mann’s first novel, “The Men From the Boys”, was published by Dutton in 1997. Mann has written the nonfiction books “Wisecracker”, a biography of film star William Haines;’”Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood” and “Hello Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand”. He got his start as editor of Hartford’s Metroline, one of the first area LGBT news magazines.
Both events are free, but reservations are required. A book sale and signing follows the presentations. For details: 860-280-3130 or www.marktwainhouse.org.
Road Trip: Brattleboro
Brattleboro, VT, that funky small town on The Conncecticut River, hosts a variety of arts events this month. The 3rd annual Brattleboro Film Festival runs through November 9 at the historic Latchis Theatre, showcasing over 30 unique and films. Northampton filmmaker Chris Landry will screen his new documentary, “Joanna Macy and the Great Turning”. Meanwhile, Kurn Hattin Homes for Children celebrates its 120th anniversary, by opening its extensive archives in a new exhibition called “A Legacy of Caring: Adapting to the Changing Needs of Children and Families”. That exhibit opens November 6 and runs through the month at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden. For Film Festival Information: www.brattleborofilmfestival.org. For information on the Kurn Hattin exhibit: www.kurnhattin.org.
Plan Ahead
Broadway For Kids For Free! The Broadway League has announced its 19th Annual Kids’ Night on Broadway returning January 9-15, 2015. Kids ages 6 to 18 can see a Broadway show for free, when accompanied by a full-paying adult. Tickets to participating shows will be available on November 5. Participating Broadway shows include “Aladdin”, “Wicked”, “On The Town”, and If/Then, among others. For details: http://www.kidsnightonbroadway.com/
The Bushnell is keeping the skies over Hartford/Springfield red and green this month, so Bradley air traffic control, make note ! Green witches fly nightly in “Wicked” before the red noses arrive. The Bushnell presents a stage version of the 1964 TV classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical,” on November 25-30. The world’s most famous reindeer and a holly jolly cast of iconic characters, including Hermey the Elf, Yukon Cornelius and the Abominable Snow Monster, help Santa save Christmas this holiday season. There are plenty of matinees for the young set. For tickets: 860-987-5900 or www.bushnell.org.
Keep in Mind…
***Jeremy Denk, the award-winning, multi-faceted, and compelling pianist, performs in recital at UMass Bowker Auditorium in Amherst on November 13. Winner of a 2013 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2014 Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical America’s 2014 Instrumentalist of the Year award, Denk will perform a diverse classical repertoire including selections from Schubert , Janácek, Haydn, Mozart, and Schumann. For tickets: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMASS or www.fineartscenter.com.
Mark G. Auerbach studied theatre at American University and the Yale School of Drama. He’s worked for arts organizations and reported on theatre for newspapers and radio.
