Celebrity Series of Boston Blog

David Sedaris on The Daily Show

David Sedaris returns to the Celebrity Series this coming October 12 at Symphony Hall (www.celebrityseries.org). Here is Sedaris promoting his latest book on The Daily Show with John Stewart.

The Herald on Sedaris

Jenna Scherer reviewed David Sedaris' Friday evening reading for the Celebrity Series at Symphony Hall for today's Boston Herald:

"Friday night’s performance rang with all the bizarre observations ('It is not unpleasant to hold someone else’s warm teeth in your hand'), descriptions of everyday activity ('I take dried-up bees and dress them in suits of armor made of tinfoil') and quotables ('Nothing irritated my father quite like the sound of his children’s happiness') we’ve come to expect from Sedaris."

Read all of Sedaris' hilarious tales shift perfectly from page to stage.

Craisin cravin' with David Sedaris

One of the revelations at David Sedaris's reading last night was a revelation not for the audience, but for Sedaris. Karen Brown, our Associate Director of Performance Operations, made oatmeal cookies for the backstage crew using craisins (that is to say, dried cranberries). Craisins were a completely new idea for Sedaris and it popped up throughout the evening: "You leave the country and things happen," he said.

Here's a report from Karen about the signing after the show:

"Sedaris asked about every third person in line at the signing tonight a Craisin related question. Recipes. Horror stories. Love stories. All about the dried cranberries. But, the very best part of the night was when 3 people from the marketing firm for Ocean Spray came up to the signing and had 3 bags of Craisins and got them signed by David Sedaris. One of the bags is now going home with David as a gift to Hugh."

UPDATE: "Can you sign our Craisins?" - one of the folks who brought Craisins for David Sedaris to sign lets us peer into the marketing bunker...

Music Sarah Vowell digs on Paper Cuts

Author, radio commentator, and the voice of Violet from The Incredibles, Sarah Vowell ponied up a personal playlist (Tom Waits, Randy Newman, Ben Webster, N.W.A., Rostropovich, Eddy Arnold...) for the July 25 edition of Living With Music, a feature on The New york Times' Paper Cuts blog. The comments on her list, which range from marriage proposals to wan disapproval, are also a fun read (unless I was just in an odd mood).

Ms. Vowell shows up at Cambridge's Sanders Theatre on February 8 with author David Rakoff. You won't be sorry.

George and Winston, Best Friends 4Ever

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring
a friend.... if you have one."
—George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there
is one."
—Winston Churchill, in response

Thx to JP-Prose-Writers Group for reminding me of this bit of fun...

"Warm with showers," The Phoenix on Cirque Eloize's "Rain"

Marcia Siegel reviewed Cirque Eloize for The Boston Phoenix. Here's a bit of her review:

"Early in the evening, a woman stands in a dogmatic downlight and asks, “What’s with this new circus anyway? It’s so cerebral . . . ” Another woman wanders in and tries to explain: “New circus explores the unconscious.” While they’re debating æsthetics, an object that looks like a size 14 sneaker falls out of the flies and thuds to the floor. Then another and another. “That’s beautiful!” the young woman remarks in an aside, as the argument continues."

Read all of Warm with showers.

National Phil. of Russia, Cirque Éloize will perform tonight

Two planes full of Russian musicians and one truckload of their instruments have arrived in Boston. Tonight's performance by the National Philharmonic of Russia is ON.

And so is tonight's scheduled performance by Cirque Éloize at the Cutler Majestic Theatre.

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor big, scary weather graphics on the local news will deter us from our appointed, etc, etc. Come on out!

Same "Rain," different day

My earlier post , A "Rain" Review, is, doubtless, causing some of you to become confused (I know this because I, too, am one of "the often confused"). We do expect a Boston Globe review of Cirque Eloize's Rain - now running at the Cutler Majestic Theatre - in the next day or so. I will be posting that review and any others that pop up...

UPDATE: Never did find that Globe review, it was a good one, though...here's Marcia Siegel from The Boston Phoenix on Cirque.

Cirque Eloize "ringer" to visit Boston with the whole Cirque gang

Lexington native Jonas Woolverton doing his thing for Cirque Éloize

Tenley Woodman had a chat with Lexington High School graduate and Dresden Dolls...well, doll, I guess, Jonas Woolverton, of Cirque Éloize for yesterday's Boston Herald:

"Woolverton, 29, is a four-year veteran of the Montreal-based arts troupe. He splits his time contorting his form in “Rain” - which begins a six-day run at the Cutler Majestic Theatre on Tuesday - and performing with the Boston rock duo Dresden Dolls.

'It’s this ongoing collaboration,' Woolverton said of his work with the Dolls’ Amanda Palmer, who was a classmate at Lexington High School.

Hopefully with Rain I bring some of that rock ’n’ roll, fiery element to it. With the Dresden Dolls I think what we are trying to do is bring our experiences as actors and clowns (to the stage). To do a circus act in the middle of a rock club, people don’t expect that at all."

Read all of Lexington-raised Woolverton is Cirque's 'Rain' man

Cirque Éloize and Jonas Woolverton begin their run at the Cutler Majestic Theatre tomorrow evening and continue through Sunday.

A "Rain" review

More than just "it rains onstage," although that's a lot

This 2005 review of Cirque Eloize's Rain (March 13-18, Cutler Majestic Theatre) from Angela Jones for DanceInsider.com caught my eye today:

"I hate everything... generally. I'm a typical ex-modern-dancer-turned-downtown cynic who starts by looking for the predictable in every show. But Cirque Eloize's "Rain,"...blew me out of the water (quite literally). It somehow managed to pull me in and hold my attention from start to finish by being charming, utterly surprising, engaging, evocative, humorous, playful, poignant, and aesthetically pleasing to boot."

The review is a rave (natch), but what struck me about it as a relative circus neophyte is this bit and the buildup to it:

"If you read the circus trade journals, you will notice a lot of discussion about questions like: What is circus? What is the new circus? When is it theater, and when is it circus? Eloize not only captures the essence of really good circus with its amazing acts, but more importantly it manages to capture the heart of circus, the memories and pictures of joy which come from each of our own pasts."

First of all, "circus trade journals"? And in the plural? And second, who knew there was so much to know about the circus beyond, "how do they do that?"

Oh, and there's a bit of video available on this page, which coincidentally also has a link to buy tickets...