Archive for Symphony Space
‘Selected Shorts: A Touch of Magic’ a finalist for 2010 Audie
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Congratulations to the folks at Symphony Space and the authors and cast responsible for the stories on the Selected Shorts: A Touch of Magic collection, which was announced yesterday as one of the finalists for the 2010 Audie in the “Audiobook Adaptation” category! As regulars here know, the collection features some oustanding performances of several wonderful stories, including Stephen Colbert reading the Ray Bradbury short story “The Veldt”.
From the Audio Publishers Association’s website (via the Times Union blog):
15th ANNUAL AUDIES® COMPETITION SHOWS STRENGTH OF AUDIO INDUSTRY
Winners to be Announced May 25 at The Museum of the City of New YorkThe Audio Publishers Association (APA) has announced nominations for its 2010 Audies competition, the only awards program in the United States devoted entirely to honoring spoken word entertainment. Winners will be announced at the Audies Gala on May 25, 2010, at The Museum of the City of New York in New York City.
. . .
AUDIOBOOK ADAPTATION
The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett, Narrated by Michael Madsen, Sandra Oh, Edward Herrmann and a full cast, Blackstone Audio
NPR Favorite Driveway Moments, Hosted by Renée Montagne, High Bridge Company
Selected Shorts: A Touch of Magic, Performed by René Auberjonois, Stephen Colbert, Daniel Gerroll, Dana Ivey, John Lithgow, James Naughton, Bernadette Quigley, Anthony Rapp, Maria Tucci and Jerry Zaks. Stories by Donald Barthelme, Aimee Bender, T.C. Boyle, Ray Bradbury, Kevin Brockmeier, W.W. Jacobs, Andrew Lam, Haruki Murakami, Jonathan Safran Foer and Saki, Symphony Space
Selected Shorts: Whodunit? Performed by René Auberjonois, Fionnula Flanagan, Robert Sean Leonard, John Shea, Isaiah Sheffer and Hattie Winston. Stories by Louise Erdrich, Nadine Gordimer, Dashiell Hammett, Shirley Jackson, Ed McBain and C.S. Montanye, Symphony Space
Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me! Famous People Who Returned Our Calls, Hosted by Peter Sagal and Carl Kasell, High Bridge Company
. . .
As with the last time I blogged about this collection, I can only urge people to purchase this excellent selection of recordings; it really is worth every penny, and it does not appear to be available online. (Supporting Symphony Space by buying a copy is also just a very cool move, IMO.) If you’re new to the world of Stephen Colbert readings — or if you just feel like revisiting another great performance — here’s a link to his reading of the hilarious T. Coraghessan Boyle story “The Lie”.
Congratulations to all the finalists, and we wish you the best of luck on May 25th!
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AUDIO: Symphony Space Live features Stephen Colbert
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For anyone who missed Stephen’s excellent reading of T. Coraghessan Boyle’s hilariously dark short story, “The Lie” on Public Radio International’s Selected Shorts series last year, now is your chance to address that oversight.
According to their introductory message, Symphony Space Live invites you to sample the following (internal links omitted):
Each week you’ll find new, rare, or never-heard-before recordings from your favorite artists. Symphony Space Live brings the excitement of the in-theatre experience to you. Enjoy performances from indie rocker Sufjan Stevens; television personality Stephen Colbert; GRAMMY Award-winning instrumentalist Arturo O’Farrill, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri; kids’ favorite Elizabeth Mitchell; radio host and Symphony Space Artistic Director Isaiah Sheffer; GRAMMY Award-winning fiddler Mark O’Connor; and many more.
And there’s going to be a lot more, from the look of things. The current selections include the aforementioned Stephen Colbert reading of “The Lie”, a not-to-be-missed performance. Not bad for a totally free service, huh?
Sign up at SymphonySpace.org and start listening today!
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Selected Shorts: Stephen Colbert reads Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt”
Posted by: | CommentsFinally! I’ve been looking for this recording for years — not an exaggeration — I even asked Stephen about it at a taping of The Colbert Report I attended in early 2007. Until now, it did not seem to be available, but Symphony Space has released a new collection of its Selected Shorts series (“A Touch of Magic“), and it features Stephen Colbert reading “The Veldt”, a short story by Ray Bradbury originally entitled “The World the Children Made” (in 1950).
Some of you may recall Selected Shorts from Stephen’s reading of T.C. Boyle’s “The Lie” earlier this year; the series features notable actors from the stage and screen lending their talents to present short stories to the listening public weekly on PRI. I was never able to find their recording of “The Veldt” before now, as Stephen recorded it several years ago (in 2006, I think), but it didn’t disappoint. If you’re not familiar with Ray Bradbury’s menacingly creepy short story, you’re in for a treat. (In fact, it might even be best if those of you planning on listening to Stephen’s reading refrain from looking up any story synopses, as they’d almost certainly spoil the ending.)
So far as I can tell, the story is not available in any (free) streaming version* on the Symphony Space site; we will, of course, post a link to the audio if the theater provides one. In the meantime, you can purchase “A Touch of Magic” on CD for $28 or download the MP3 for $18. The collection includes stories by W.W. Jacobs, Saki, Jonathan Safran Foer and many more and features performances by the likes of John Lithgow and Anthony Rapp. I can absolutely assure you that it’s worth the price tag. I just listened to “The Veldt”, and I unconditionally loved it; I’m listening to the other selections even now.
Click here or on the image above to go to the Symphony Space eStore for your copy. You’ll really love it, I’m sure!
*Before anyone requests that “someone put this online”, I’d like to ask people to strongly consider purchasing the collection over at Symphony Space. I know it’s probably a lot of money for some of our readers, but theaters and Public Radio International are in the business of bringing art to the public, and they are both hurting for funds. It would be great if we could support them, even in this small way, by purchasing some of their products. — Ms I
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It’s Bloomsday – Celebrate with Stephen Colbert
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Happy Bloomsday, everyone! In what’s becoming a yearly tradition around here, we invite you to celebrate by listening to the vocal stylings of Stephen Colbert in the role of Leopold Bloom, from the 2005 Symphony Space production of “Bloomsday on Broadway”.
Click here for the audio of the Calypso and Lotus Eaters chapters of James Joyce’s Ulysses. As ever, we tip our hats to Truth at ColbertsHeroes for the media.
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Selected Shorts: Stephen Colbert reads “The Lie” by T.C. Boyle
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Heads up, everyone, and keep your eyes on the NPR page for the Symphony Space “Selected Shorts” program. This week’s edition will include Stephen Colbert’s reading of T.C. Boyle’s “The Lie” and David Rakoff’s reading of Lydia Davis’ “Alvin the Typesetter”. From NPR:
Selected Shorts
Sunday, January 04, 2009
. . .The two stories on this program are read by two VERY funny guys, the writer and public radio personality David Rakoff, and the eponymous host of late night television’s political send-up, “The Colbert Report.” The stories were read at a SELECTED SHORTS program devoted to goings-on at the workplace — that hotbed of intrigue and thwarted ambitions. First, Lydia Davis’s “Alvin the Typesetter” chronicles the travails of one office worker.
Our second story of office life is T. Coraghessan Boyle’s devilish tale, “The Lie.” “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive” cautions Sir Walter Scott, and in this story the web gets hysterically tangled, even to the point of strangulation. Stephen Colbert gives this moral tongue twister a zestful read.
. . .
The audio does not appear to be up just yet (not surprising, given the date on the NPR post and the usual release schedule), but we’ll update this post when we see any developments; alternately, you can always subscribe to NPR’s podcasts through this page.
UPDATED TO ADD: Joy! The audio has been posted earlier than usual and can be downloaded through this page. (Thanks for letting us all know, Jennie!)
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Eye Candy: Symphony Space – “A Night at the Office”
Posted by: | CommentsHappy Sunday, Zoners! I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I thought it would be nice to start off the week with a picture of Stephen Colbert, so here is a stunning photo of him at Symphony Space on October 15. It was taken by Flickr user betseeee.
Edit: If you would like to read more about this event, there is an excellent write-up from Vigwig, Colbert University quizmeister, here. I meant to include the link when I created this post late last night/early this morning, but I accidentally left it out.
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Stephen Colbert reads “The Lie” by Coraghessan Boyle at Symphony Space NYC
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A sincere thanks to Colbert University quizmeister Vigwig for this report, originally published on LiveJournal and reposted with permission here:
I just returned from the show so these are my first impressions. Stephen Colbert appeared last, after the intermission.
I saw him waiting in the wings to go on, I was up close in the 3rd row, center. Isaiah Sheffer introduced him and explained how he had to rush from his TCR taping to appear and that he called him and was thinking of canceling when they cancelled his week off but Sheffer said: “NO! You gotta come!” So he did. :) As he awaited his entrance, a white pen bobbed rapidly up and down in his mouth like a piston and you could see him gathering his concentration as he stared at the floor. He came out, still chewing on his pen furiously, took it out and gave a huge sigh and began.
The story was wonderful, about a 20-something man playing hooky from his hated job as a “film frame logger” a collator of film for film editors, and his wife (who is studying to be a lawyer at night) and their young infant girl. It shows how his initial lie to get out of a day of work snowballed into a whopper of a lie: I can’t come to work, uh, it’s my baby, she’s sick, -then – she’s in the hospital, then – she died of leukemia, then I have to go to the funeral) and all that that lie eventually entailed.
Despite the story’s black premise it was quite funny and Stephen’s reading of it was incredible. Anyone who had doubts about his skill as an serious actor would have had them answered. His subtle changes of tone and facial expression, timing and rhythm were perfect. He changed his voice and accent to suit the characters in the story, including the elderly Slavic boss. He knew exactly when to pause, extend a dramatic beat, tear up (I could see his eyes actually watered) or go for a laugh. Within two minutes he had the audience in the palm of his hand. He was very impressive. He got huge applause afterwards and when he came out for his bow he pointed to the pages he had just read indicating that the writer deserved the credit, then he did his “best friend” point to the papers and exited.
Aasif Mandvi had to cancel his appearance due to his duties at the Daily show and the story “The Chairs” (excerpted from “Then We came to the End) by Joshua Ferris was read by a blonde actress (sorry I didn’t catch her name) which was a farcical story about office chairs and a dead guy that no one noticed.
David Rakoff author (This American Life, “Don’t get too Comfortable” & “Fraud”) and actor director (Strangers w/ Candy, Book of Liz Stiches, One Woman Shoe, The Little Frieda Mysteries, Capote) read “Alvin the Typesetter” by Lydia Davis (2003 MacArthur Fellow, Guggenheim fellowship and many other literary prizes). The story was a sad one about the lost dreams of a would be stand up comedian who works as a typesetter. Mr. Rakoff did a fine job of reading with a heavy dollop of ironic woe.
Also, I forgot to mention that absent his stage makeup and sporting a new hair cut how handsome Stephen looked. He soaked up the flattering soft stage light (so unlike the harsh TV lights at TCR) and beamed it back to us like a lighthouse. He stood at a simple lecturn, behind him was a small table with a vase of orange dahlias and some drinking water and glasses. You didn’t need any more, his imagination and the skill of the author were enough.
A delightful evening. I hope Symphony Space will upload the audio soon. Sorry no picture taking was allowed.
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Stephen Colbert’s Symphony Space appearance on October 15th is still a go
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After numerous people asked in the comments about the appearance of Stephen Colbert with David Rakoff at Symphony Space on October 15th, in light of the show no longer being dark that week, I contacted Brian Heck of Symphony Space. He assured me that the scheduled appearance (from 7p-8:30p) was still on.
I was also told by an official source that, as of now, no plans have been made to change the normal taping schedule of ‘The Colbert Report’ on October 15th.
I’ve been assured by both sources that if and when either of the times for these events is to change that we will be contacted so that we can post the information to this site. We’ll let everyone know as soon as we hear.
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