If you love me (well, my stuff), go see OR by Liz Duffy Adams! GO TODAY to the 3 pm matinee - there are rush tix for $20 1 hr before the show and we were there yesterday to a half-empty house, so you should have no trouble getting seats.

International superspy & ardent playwright Aphra Behn, randy monarch Charles II & trousered Nell Gwynne mix it up with much gender confusion in a neo-Restoration comedy with streaks of Oscar Wilde, Tom Stoppard, Feydau, (of course, Behn herself), and many sharp lines about being a writer/actor - more opinions to come, but I know today's matinee will be easy pickings for rush $20 seats, so I rush to get this up & out for you.

And if you don't live in NYC, make plans to come - it's been extended through Dec. 13th, thanks to rave reviews.

Excerpts from The Klezmer Nutcracker Rehearsal Report #13
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

General:
1. At our last run through the show ran 1:03, Linda would like to get it down to 0:55 by opening.
Music & Book Changes:
1. Linda and Ellen made some minor but very effective cuts to the family scene today. The scene is really starting to get up to pace.
Costumes/Wigs & Make-Up:
1. Could Jason wear a bowtie?
Lighting:
1. Are you having any luck finding a flicker bulb for the magic candle?

The show opens on Dec. 5 at Vital Theatre in NYC, and runs through Jan. 3.

Why Authors Need You to Buy Lots & Lots of Books
or,
Why Most of Us Don't Quit Our Day Jobs,
or,
What is this Thing Called Royalties?

a most Excellent Explanation & Analysis by Mr. Barry Lyga, which I urge everyone who wants to understand the publishing business to read.

So we're walking home from the subway on Broadway (after the SFWA Reception, a.k.a. "Mill'n'Swill," at Planet Hollywood in Times Square - say no more! followed by drinks & many refills of the bread basket at Cafe Un, Deux, Trois), and cute young woman with a leather headband (whom I recognized from the subway platform at Times Sq.) runs up alongside us, saying, "Excuse me, madam, excuse me - Could I take your picture for my Fashion Blog?" So we stand on the sidewalk in front of Gourmet Garage and get our photos took, me in my long red boiled wool coat from Paris, Delia in her black velvet, arm in arm . . . . She asked if we were from here, and said she was from Mexico City. And ran off to join her friends.

I'll never find that fashion blog. But I'll cherish the moment.

Our pal, new media guru & fabulous guy Henry Jenkins, was kind enough to write an introduction, On the Pleasures of Not Belonging, to Interfictions 2 - and to allow us to post the entire intro on the IAF website. I thought I'd clip & post a brief selection to entice you to read the whole thing:

Over the course of the 20th century, however, genre categories have become ever more specialized as media industries refine techniques for monitoring and targeting particular clusters of consumers . . . . And where the market doesn't impose such specifications, we add them ourselves. Catherine Tosenberger has argued that the best fan fiction is "unpublishable" in the sense that it operates across the genre categories, aesthetic norms, and ideological constraints that shape commercial publishing. Fans self-publish in order to step outside those filters. Yet, the fan community also imposes its own categories, which help readers find the "right story" through author's notes that tell us, for example, which "ships" (relationships between specified pairs of characters) are being explored, offer a rough sense of their sexual explicitness or emotional tone, warn us about vexing themes, and so forth. . . . All of this focus on using genres to classify and shelve works assumes that we know where one genre ends and another begins and that genre works stay where we put them. Genres may be optical illusions, which come and go like mirages, depending on the ways we look at the texts in question.

* * *
You can read Jenkins' entire essay, and comment here.

And once you've done that, I hope you'll want to read Interfictions 2 in print or as an ebook. And don't forget the Auction!

While trolling for Vampyr on YouTube, got the bright idea of looking for the Late Night B&W Movie of Lost Content, Tower of London (with former apt-mate, currently visiting). Not only is it just as good as we remembered, but check out them eyebrows!

Favorite line as ever: "He said he wanted malmsey!"

Accept no substitutes - particularly not the 1962 version with Karloff - so hilarious in 1939 as the Limping Henchman Mord (or is that "Maude"?) - as RIII. Not even.

This Friday night at 9:30, I'm introducing a film at the Rubin Museum of Art's pretty amazing Cabaret Cinema film series inspired by their current exhibit, Carl Jung's Red Book.

Perhaps this public forum is not the place to announce that I know absolutely nothing about Dreyer or German Expressionist Cinema - or even much about Carl Jung . . . I can vamp on Vampires some, but for now I'm, ah, looking for inspiration, insight, and a few good factoids (besides those easily found on Wiki). Anyone?

Here is a very cool flyer about the event.

If you're around, you should come! There's a bar, and free gallery admission, and a scary movie - and me!

The Interstitial Arts Foundation's Shameless Commerce Division (well, OK, it all goes to support a non-profit dedicated to tearing down genre boundaries, but I couldn't resist), headed by Auction Guru ktempest Bradford, is making an offer you'd be mad to refuse:

1. Browse the images of art and jewelry we’re auctioning off and pick 1 – 3 favorites. Then share these favorites on your blog or social network of your choice. Tell your friends and family why you chose the pieces. Don’t forget to include a link back to IAFAuctions.com.

2. To enter, post one comment in the AUCTION'S POST HERE (not my LJ post) for each of the places you mentioned your favorite pieces.

3. Recipients of the free books must promise to review them (honestly & without bias) on their blogs/websites.

For more details, links & instructions: Read the Fine Print in this Auction post - and while you're in there, check out all the amazing pieces coming in every day!

Is this the coolest thing in the Interfictions Auction?

Yes, it is a bee. Made of felt. "Carrying" an embroidered cleaver. Because that's what's in glvalentine's Genevieve Valentine's IAF Annex story, "To Set Before the King," by wool sculpture artist Lisa Bergin.

But I've held it in my hands, and it is justabout the most cunning object in creation. Cuddly & cunningly wrought. It's a felt Bee with Cleaver.

Of course, you may disagree. There are many beautiful and cunning objects currently on display, and more coming each day. There is a skein of yarn hand-spun of words and silk and mohair. There is an expandable book of handmade paper. There is a necklace of memory. Go take a look and see which piece you think is the coolest thing in the auction - or the one most meant for you.

[NOTE to Miss T--- B---: Stop bidding against me on that Key! Or you will get no more chocolate cake. Ever.]

Back from WFC & the triumphant Interfictions 2 debut week, I've now been to a few of the first rehearsals for the new cast of this year's production of my Golden Dreydl for Vital Theatre, The Klezmer Nutcracker, and done a number of revisions to the script - some during the rehearsal itself: on Saturday, Sara, the Fool and I did improv on their lines until we got something we all liked. Most of the cast are genuine dancers - there will be many entrances on pointe, my friends, with pirouettes galore, this year! The Queen of Sheba will OWN every 9-yr-old in the audience when she does her Arabesque . . . . Sara & the Fool are "merely" tumblers - watching them egg each other on to cartwheels with a "Comaneci Finish" was pure bliss! - they have great chemistry together already, and what's more, they Get the Fantasy . . . When the director asked, "So, how does the Fool know that the Peacock was supposed to be guarding the Demons?" (See? I told you I was revising lots!), one said, "Well, he's mythic - he just does!" and the other, "It's a small Land; all the magical people know each other." Mwa! The ensuing discussion made me pontificate on the fact that Fantasy has to work on 3 levels, all at once: the Mythic, the Metaphoric, and the Real. (As Delia pointed out when I told her: This means that [all together now] Fantasy is Harder!)

I missed this morning's rehearsal, but the Production Manager, Leah, faithfully sends out a Daily Report. To give you some sense of how groovy this year's show will be, I present here the bit on
Costumes/Wigs & Make-Up:

1. [We just lost a cast member, who got a job with a touring production, so] L-- will replace V-- as the Autothith in the riddle scene.

2. Now that we’ll only have one toy in the first scene we’ve decided to ditch the Transformer and just have a dinosaur-type creature.

3. Luke would like to play the Guardian of Flame as a very short person with shoes on his knees, is it possible to get him some knee pads for rehearsals?

4. The Carob Man’s costume will need a pocket for his carrot.

La, la, la (Sing:) . . . There's no business like show business!

And now I really must go type up the revisions I promised for tomorrow.

You didn't think I was blogging because I didn't have something more important to do, did you?

The Interfictions Auction is up & running, with 6 fabulous pieces, and a new one every day!

I have bid on several. But there is one piece I seriously want, and do not intend to lose.

Can you guess which one?

As you may know, I'm a co-founder, currently serving as President, of the Interstitial Arts Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the support, and promotion of interstitial art: literature, music, visual and performance art found in between categories and genres – art that crosses borders.

We have just published our second anthology of original writing, Interfictions 2, edited by Delia Sherman (deliasherman) & Christopher Barzak, and we're celebrating with a multi-city chain of readings, signings, and musical collaborations.

TOMORROW (Friday) night we kick off the East Coast jam! I hope you can join me there: ( NEW YORK CITY )

This is Brian's baby: He enthralled KGB audience a few months back with a a words/music mix, and I can't wait to see what he does with the potent combo of all those Interfictions writers + his band. Here's a sample of some of Brian & band's past improv readings.

It really is art without borders.

Not in NYC? No fretting: Brian & a bunch of writers & musician pals are doing another show in Boston next Friday, Nov. 13th at Lily Pad in Cambridge!

Tonight at 7 pm I'll be at Borderlands Books, celebrating the Book Birthday of Interfictions 2 with a reading/signing by book co-editor deliasherman, and authors Anna Tambour, Ray Vukcevich & Amelia Beamer. We'll follow it up with a Q&A, so bring your deepest interstitial questions for us to answer!

What's our craziest Book Birthday present so far? Gotta be the listing of Interfictions 2 in the Amazon.com Top 10 SF&F Books of 2009!

And the IAF Auction is in full swing . . . new work going up every day! You'll want it, trust me.

This morning was the first rehearsal for the new production of my Klezmer Nutcracker. I blush to say I've been Tweeting it, including a rehearsal photo, over at:
http://twitter.com/EllenKushner

I should say more here, but I have to go finish packing for World Fantasy Con in San Jose & SF/CA (you'll find my schedule in an earlier post), and then do my best to get to tonight's Interstitial Arts Salon run by the mad bad ktempest, who also has to pack for WFC but somehow manages to do it all, not excluding a wonderful page previewing the Auction. Some people.

The story is finished. It's told in alternating paragraphs from two points of view, Alec's & Sofia. I couldn't resist throwing them up on http://www.wordle.net to see how they'd come out:








I apologize for torturing you with unpublished work. I'll let you know as soon as it's sold. And I'm hoping to talk Delia into reading it with me in counterpoint when we do our NYRSF reading here on Dec. 8.)

Today is the 13th Anniversary ofdeliasherman's & my first ("illegal") wedding in Cambridge, MA. "Lace Anniversary." She's in a big house in a small town in Mexico on writer's retreat. I hope they have lace there. I'm going to dinner with a friend at our fave Chinatown noodle dive. Bliss.

Also bliss that this is the first night I am coming home without a serious deadline hanging over my head (except packing for WFC, I guess. But that doesn't involve getting words to line up and do tricks). I will Skype Delia, and maybe watch something stupid on TV.

It's hilarious that we seldom observe our anniversary anymore - after all, we have so many: the Legal Event (August 24, 2004, officiated by Rabbi Cherie Koller-Fox in our backyard after our annual clothing swap/barbecue); the First Kiss (after years of circling each other, being friends . . . this is a Moveable Feast, as it occurred on the first night of the Lowell Folk Festival. Yes, Cambodian street food, a Zydeco Marching Band and roots music under the stars can drive you to undreamed of feats of romantic daring as you sit in the driveway preparing to say good-night) . . . . The original wedding was a huge do, at Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, a former records room with a marble floor & carved archways & a balcony. We had nearly 300 guests from all corners of both our lives. It was a perfect blue clear New England autumn day - very much like today in NYC, actually! We handed out press-on tattoos with our wedding sigil (oak & ivy intertwined, like the ring in this UserPic, my wedding ring). There was a great deal of food and music and dancing - we called it a "Party with a Ceremonial Interruption" on the invitation. And so it was. I remember smiling so much and for long that my face actually hurt at the end of the day. I'm smiling now.

[Friday] Saw some amazing talent at Vital's KlezNut auditions today. Now, because of various schedule conflicts, the director, choreographer & I won't meet up until 8pm to make final choices ... at a mutually (in)convenient anonymous midtown Starbuck's. The Glamorous Life!

[Followup]: Most of our first picks have said yes! It's going to be a glorious, glamorous cast - all the women (except Sara) are also ballet dancers, so this year's production will feature some major toe shoe action. Swoon. The woman playing the Dreydl Princess did her kind of like a pantomime boy, very cheeky & swaggering - I'm in love! The Peacock is an amazing combo of Marilyn Monroe & Rosalind Russell, and moves like a dream - hilarious! As my director muttered to me: "She gets what you put in every line of that speech" -- "And a little extra!" I added.

First rehearsal is this Weds., and last night I turned in what I profoundly hope but greatly doubt will be my last set of revision. Performances will run Dec. 5- Jan. 3, all daytime this year, I think.

Here's where deliasherman & I will be during World Fantasy Con in San Jose next weekend:( EK/DS WFC Schedule )

. . . and then we go to San Francisco for a Group Author Signing at Borderlands Books on Monday night Nov. 2 - do come and make us feel loved! - followed the next day by what promises to be a memorable INTERFICTIONS reading/signing on the official pub day of IF2 (!!): Tuesday, Nov. 3rd, also at Borderlands, featuring Amelia Beamer, Delia Sherman, Anna Tambour, and Ray Vukcevich.

UNMITIGATED RAPTURE!!!! not only did my dimwitted online researches & subsequent guesses prove to be unexpectedly right on, but our MD friends Eric & Elka just walked me through the entire accident, diagnosis, procedure & recovery so I can put the details right in my story. We did it on Skype, with lots of hand gestures. I am a Happy Writer.

Many readers will now hate me more than tongue can tell, as I proceed to torture Alec & Richard nearly to extinction. (The guy Alec is working on is but a Simple Villager, not Richard. Tho' E&E pointed out that it's also a lovely way to kill a man with a sword.)

mwa ha.

No, I'm not going to post the new scene* - but here's their description of how the medical bits work:

( DRAINING BLOOD OR AIR FROM THE CHEST )
* * *
*I gotta go to Boston tom'w for my Sound & Spirit talk at MGH on Weds. 1pm (wow - haven't been that person in a while!). Must revise this now before I go to bed!

Thanks for your many helpful suggestions for Alec's surgery (last post)! I think I may go with an emergency laryngotomy (instructions here - though this comes closer to what I'd first imagined - but how does it work? My deepest thanks to thumbelinablues for the invaluable resource! I still owe her a bottle of wine, and banjo strings). Meanwhile, thought you might enjoy seeing the "placeholder" version of the Surgery Scene; this is what I wrote when I was deep in the story and wanted to get the emotions and the rhythms right, before tackling the actual physical crisis. The revised version will be altogether different, so I figure it's OK to put this up here now. Also, I think it's a very prettie piece of writing, and I'm annoyed that I can't actually use it . . . . At least, this way, someone will see it! This scene occurs halfway through the story. Or maybe towards the end.

( Outtake: The Man with the Knives )