Happy Friday!
I can't believe it's the Christmas season already. The older I get, the faster time seems to fly by. I was telling my daughter Carolyn that the first 25 years of your life go by at a snail's pace. The second quarter century flies past in the wink of an eye.
Lots going on this week. I open my Christmas solo play, THE JEWELRY BOX, tonight at the Marsh San Francisco. It runs Fridays at 8 and Saturdays at 5 through December 15. Jewelry is my favorite play to do. It's the true story of my quest to earn $11.97 to by my mom a jewelry box from the old Oakland White Front store on Hegenberger Road in 1970 when I was 6. It's a story about hope, dreams and Christmas miracles that's great for the whole family (ages 12 and up).
For tickets, go to https://themarsh.org/jewelrybox/brian-copeland-3/
Purchase by midnight using the code COPIE and pay just $10 for this weekend's shows!
I'm also doing a special performance at the Marin Center on Sunday, December 9 at 7 PM. For tickets, go to https://tickets.marincenter.org/eventperformances.asp?evt=246
Here's what I got to this week...
READING
Throughout my life, I have periodically tried to read novels that are considered classics or “books everyone should read before they die.” A while back, I tried to read Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. Try as I might, I couldn't get through it. Nabokov can use all of the
flowery language he wants, but I couldn't get past the fact that this story is about a pedophile abusing a young girl. There's nothing romantic here. I think that's what attracted me to the book, The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World by Sarah Weinman.
Although he never admitted it in his lifetime, it turns out that Nabokov appropriated the tragic story of Sally Horner, a fifth grade honor student from Camden, New Jersey who was kidnapped by a child molester named Frank La Salle in June of 1948. La Salle traveled the country with Sally, passing her off as his daughter by day and abusing her at night. 21 months later, the girl, who had developed Stockholm Syndrome, finally called authorities when La Salle moved her to San Jose. Sally's abduction and rescue were national news yet it would be decades before anyone realized that the book that made Nabokov rich was exploiting the pain of a child.
It's a sad, tragic and fascinating story that I couldn't put down.
READ IT.
THEATER
I never saw the movie A Bronx Tale, although I've always wanted to. The story of its creation is inspiring. Chazz Palminteri was a struggling actor in the late 80s who'd just lost his job as a bouncer when he decided that the best part he'd ever get would be the one he wrote
for himself. To that end, he created a one man show that told the story of his childhood in the Bronx in the 1960s when he was befriended and mentored by the neighborhood “godfather,” much to the chagrin of his hardworking, straight arrow, bus driver dad. Palminteri did the show for months in LA and soon the buzz brought offers to buy the film rights that got as high as a million dollars. Palminteri wouldn't sell unless he got to write the screenplay and play the mobster. He
eventually moved the play from LA to Off Broadway and, as Palminteri puts it, “One night, Robert De Niro walked in and the rest is history.”
The film launched Palminteri's career as a writer, director and actor and he brought the solo play back to Broadway followed by a national tour. Then, he decided to make it into a musical and it was a smash on Broadway. I was lucky enough to catch opening night at the Golden Gate Theater this week and I've got to tell you that it's marvelous. Just wonderful. The thing that struck me was how “tight” this show was. There isn't superfluous line or a a wasted note. The performances are superb and the show sucks you in from the start and holds you spellbound until curtain call.
I'm going again! So should you! A Bronx Tale is at The Golden Gate Theater through December 23. For tickets, go here.
EATS
If you've got a recommendation for a good cheeseburger place in the Bay Area I should check out on my quest, send it to me at copie@briancopeland.com.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Copie
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