Art Absorbed in 2008: The Books, Music, Movies, and Plays

Here is the list of just about everything I saw, read, or listened to in 2008. Peruse the list and talk to me about the things I absorbed, this list is meant to stimulate discussion.

BOOKS I HAVE READ

PROSE

NOVELS
A is for Alibi
Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception
A Wrinkle in Time
A Wind in the Door
Ender’s Game
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
A Walk to Remember
The Horse and his Boy
Many Waters
A Swiftly Tilting Planet*
The Last Battle
The Magician’s Nephew
1984
Son of a Witch
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Twilight
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There
A Lion Among Men
A Christmas Carol
Answered Prayers
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
The Tales of Beedle the Bard**

SHORT STORIES
Quantum of Solace (For Your Eyes Only)
Harry Potter Prequel
The Unicorn In The Garden
The Wasp in a Wig (Through the Looking-Glass)
The Master Cat
House of Flowers
A Diamond Guitar
A Christmas Memory
The Thanksgiving Memory
Mojave
One Christmas
The Walls Are Cold
A Mink of One’s Own
The Shape of Things
My Side of the Matter
A Tree of Night
The Bargain
Among the Paths to Eden
Children on Their Birthdays

NON-FICTION
Velvet Elvis
Shakespeare
The Gospel of Luke
Benjamin Franklin
Esther

ESSAYS / ARTICLES
Thoughts from the Tao Te Ching (A World of Ideas)
The Qualities of the Prince (A World of Ideas)
The Origin of Civil Society (A World of Ideas)
Total Domination (A World of Ideas)
Civil Disobedience
The Allegory of the Cave (A World of Ideas)
The Sermon on the Mount
The Declaration of Independence
Genius or Dynamic Learner? Benjamin Franklin's Path to Greatness.
Benjamin Franklin: Philosopher of Progress.

SATIRE
A Modest Proposal
The Letters of Silence Dogood

DRAMA

CLASSICAL
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Tartuffe
Antony and Cleopatra
Macbeth
As You Like It
Titus Andronicus
Romeo & Juliet
Cymbeline
Timon of Athens
Henry VIII
The Tempest
The Winter’s Tale
Dido, Queen of Carthage
Doctor Faustus
The Jew of Malta
The Massacre at Paris
Tamburlaine the Great: Part 1
Edward the Second
Tamburlaine the Great: Part 2***
Twelfth Night
Hamlet

MODERN
The Coast of Utopia: Voyage
The Coast of Utopia: Shipwreck
I Am a Camera
Tevye and His Daughters
Billy Budd
The Ritz
Master Class
Laughter On The 23rd Floor
The Philadelphia Story
M. Butterfly
Glengarry Glen Ross
The Author’s Voice
Rabbit Hole
The Little Dog Laughed
Androcles and the Lion
Kimberly Akimbo
Radio Golf
The Vagina Monologues
The History Boys
The Lady From Dubuque
The Adding Machine
The Madwoman of Chaillot
Fortinbras
The Colored Museum
FOB
The Matchmaker
Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You
International Stud (Torch Song Trilogy)
Fugue in a Nursery (Torch Song Trilogy)
Widows and Children First! (Torch Song Trilogy)
Speed-The-Plow

MUSICALS
Fiddler on the Roof
Company
Cabaret
Sweet Charity
RENT
Nine

SHORT PLAYS
Botticelli (Terrence McNally - 15 Short Plays)
Andre’s Mother (Terrence McNally - 15 Short Plays)
Hidden Agendas (Terrence McNally - 15 Short Plays)
Words, Words, Words (All In The Timing)
The Universal Language (All In The Timing)
Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread (All In The Timing)
The Philadelphia (All In The Timing)
Variations on the Death of Trotsky (All In The Timing)
Foreplay, or The Art of the Fugue (All In The Timing)
A Singular Kinda Guy (All In The Timing)
Enigma Variations (Lives of the Saints)
The Mystery at Twicknam Vicarage (Lives of the Saints)
Babel's in Arms (Lives of the Saints)
Soap Opera (Lives of the Saints)
Lives of the Saints (Lives of the Saints)
Arabian Nights (Lives of the Saints)
Captive Audience (Lives of the Saints)
Long Ago and Far Away (All In The Timing)
Mere Mortals (All In The Timing)
English Made Simple (All In The Timing)
Seven Menus (All In The Timing)
Speed-The-Play (All In The Timing)
Mrs. Sorken (Durang / Durang)
For Whom The Southern Bell Tolls (Durang / Durang)
A Stye of the Eye (Durang / Durang)
Nina in the Morning (Durang / Durang)
Wanda’s Visit (Durang / Durang)
Business Lunch at the Russian Tea Room (Durang / Durang)
Sex Lives of Superheroes
The Actor's Nightmare
The House of Sleeping Beauties
A Waitress In Yellowstone or Always Tell The Truth
Blind Date
Bette and Me (Seven One-Act Plays)
Waiting For Philip Glass (Seven One-Act Plays)

COMIC

GRAPHIC NOVELS
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Volume 1
DC: The New Frontier: Volume 1
Pride of Baghdad
Sandman: Volume 1 - Preludes and Nocturnes
Batman: Year One
The New Teen Titans: The Terror of Trigon
Runaways: Volume 1.2^
Fables: Legends In Exile
Sandman: Endless Nights
A Contract With God
Fagin the Jew
Runaways: Volume 2.1
Runaways: Volume 2.2
Runaways: Volume 2.3^^
Fables: Animal Farm
A Life Force
Dropsie Avenue
Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers
Fables: The Mean Seasons
Fables: Homelands
Bone: Out From Boneville
Sandman: The Doll’s House
Civil War
The Plot
In The Shadow of No Towers
Fables: Arabian Days and Nights
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Volume 2
Tintin In America
The Dark Knight Returns
Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale; Volume 1: My Father Bleeds History
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale; Volume 2: And Here My Troubles Began
The Trials of Shazam! Volume 2
The Sandman: Endless Nights
Fables : Wolves

SHORT GRAPHIC NOVELS
The Princess and the Frog (Will Eisner)
Moby Dick (Will Eisner)
Sundiata, A Legend of Africa, The Lion of Mali (Will Eisner)
The Last Knight, An Introduction Don Quixote By Miguel De Cervantes (Will Eisner)

ONLINE COMICS
Zot! Online: "Hearts and Minds”
I Can’t Stop Thinking!
My Obsession With Chess
Making Comics

COMPILATIONS
Across The Universe: The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore
The Best of The Spirit

NON-FICTION
Understanding Comics
Reinventing Comics

POETRY

The Lady of Shalott
Sonnet 22
The Hunting of the Snark

FRIENDS

S. Bradford Long
A Diary of Saint Sebastian (Non-Fiction)

David Brendan Hopes
Edward the King (Drama)
Gilgamesh (Drama)
Hat (Drama)^^^
The Beautiful Johanna (Drama)
Four for the Gospel Makers (Drama)
Awake, Awake, Deborah (Drama)

Rob Taylor
Honeymoon (Drama)
Kidnapped (Drama)
American Royalty (Drama)

Greg R.-Gassler
A Christmas Carol (Drama)
Mysteries of the Underworlders (Drama)

John Rowan (Father of Bill Rowan)
A 1944 Christmas in Stalag Luft III (Short Story)

*Completed “Time Quartet”
**Completed Harry Potter Literature
***Completed “Plays of Christopher Marlowe”
^Completed “Runaways Volume 1”
^^Completed “Runaways Volume 2”
^^^Completed “Crown of Shadows”

MUSIC I HAVE READ

POP / ROCK
In Utero
TOMMY
Modern Times
The Definitive Bob Dylan
Best of Bowie
Castaways and Cutouts
Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day’s Night
HELP!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Magical Mystery Tour
Yellow Submarine
Let It Be
The Beatles 1
Pet Sounds

THEATRE
March of the Falsettos
Spiderman: The Musical Demo
In The Heights Off-Broadway Demo
Kismet Lincoln Center
Parade (Jerry Herman)
Adding Machine
A Catered Affair
Shrek: Orchestra Tests
Cry Baby Demo
Evening Primrose
Legally Blonde Opening Night Gift
Lestat Demo
The Threepenny Opera: NYSF
The Little Mermaid OBCR
Chicago - The Composer’s Demo
Sweet Charity Re-mastered OBCR
Company OBCR
The Producers OBCR
Sunset Boulevard Premier American Recording

COMEDY
Kathy Griffin: For Your Consideration

MOVIES I HAVE SEEN

FILMS
Atonement
Ms. Pettigrew Lives For A Day
Redwall: The Movie
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Anastasia
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Dark Knight
Shakespeare In Love
Mamma Mia!
Get Smart
Titus
Twelfth Night
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Hamlet 2
Stardust
Finding Forrester
Moulin Rouge!
The Birdcage
Garden State
Wilde
Les Diaboliques
Romeo and Juliet
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
STAR WARS Episode IV: A New Hope
STAR WARS Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
WALL-E
Doubt

TV
Black Adder Series
Return to the Batcave
The Thanksgiving Episodes of F*R*I*E*N*D*S
Truman Capote - A&E Biography
J. K. Rowling - A Year in the Life

OTHER
Star Wars: Empire of Dreams
Free To Be... You And Me
Dressed to Kill
Circle
The Beatles Anthology


THEATRE I HAVE SEEN

LIVE
References To Salvador Dali Makes Me Hot - NCSC / Scapegoat
Bat Boy - HART
Annie - ACA
The Philadelphia Story - ACT
The Asheville Shakesperience - The Montford Park Players
I Hate Hamlet - ACT
On the Verge / Below the Belt - NCSC / Immediate
Chesapeake - NCSC
The Best Man - ACT
Song of Robert - NCSC / Corpus
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) - Montford
out there, out here - NCSC / Catalyst
Defiance - NCSC
Doubt - NCSC
Free To Be... You And Me - NCSC / TheatreUNCA
Two Rooms - NCSC / Catalyst
The Apple Tree (The Apple Tree) - Montreat
Miss Julie - AB Tech
The Bernstein Brothers’ Christmas Spectacular - NCSC / In the Moment
No Shame Theatre Asheville, NC January - NCSC
No Shame Theatre Asheville, NC February - NCSC
No Shame Theatre Asheville, NC March - NCSC
No Shame Theatre Asheville, NC April - NCSC
No Shame Theatre Asheville, NC May - NCSC
The Best of No Shame Theatre Asheville, NC 2007-2008 - NCSC
No Shame Theatre Asheville, NC July - NCSC
No Shame Theatre Asheville, NC September - NCSC
No Shame Theatre Asheville, NC October - NCSC
No Shame Theatre Asheville, NC November - NCSC
No Shame Theatre Asheville, NC December - NCSC

RECORDINGS
Saints At The River - AB Tech (Recording)
Camelot (Recording)
Putting It Together (Recording)
Edward the King (Recording)
Gilgamesh (Recording)
Hat (Recording)

No Shame December 2008

No Shame was on Saturday, following the last show of "The Bernstein Brothers' Christmas Spectacular." True to last year there were a number of people who were not there because of it being so close to the holidays, but it was a much bigger house then last year in general, with a huge number of virgins (which surprised me). It was also fun because my friend Adam Kampouris was there, who was also a No Shame virgin. He had a blast and did practically everything one could do. He sat on the front row, was in two pieces, one of of which was written specifically for him.

The song was done by the cast of the "Bernstein Brothers'," performing their Act 1 finale "All I Want For Christmas (Is A Couple A' Ho's)." As in the show it was hilarious, and a perfect way to start the show. In the "Bernstein Brothers'" there is a door set piece (used in a gag in "All I Want For Christmas") which was left up for No Shame, which just about everyone used to their advantage. My piece "Red Tape and Writing" was one of the earlier pieces and it went over great. The piece is about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer writing a smutty novel and asking Santa to publish it. I got Darren to play Santa, which was exciting because I did not precast him and usually you have to in order to have someone as popular as he is in your piece. It was also fun because it was the first time Darren had done one of my scripts.

There were a lot of great pieces that night, making for a well rounded evening. Some of my favorites included "XXXmas" by Jason Williams, and also another excerpt from "Rock Saber" by Julian the Vorus. "Rock Saber" is a play that started as a stand alone No Shame skit, and the play is going to be produced in its entirety at the Asheville Fringe Festival by Chall Gray. I am looking forward to seeing it, make sure you go and check it out.

My second piece of the evening was called "Post Tragic Shakespeare Disorder." This sketch was born out of two ideas. One came to me at Steph's holiday party, and that was to write some thing for Adam Kamouris, Trinity Smith, and I to perform at No Shame. The second went all the way back to playing Mardian in "Antony and Cleopatra." Mardian is the one member of Cleopatra's inner court that is supposedly still alive at the end of the play. Trinity jokingly told me that he went to a bar with Benvolio, since Benvolio shares a similar fate in "Romeo and Juliet." Well it can be quite dangerous to joke with me, because I end up writing plays. And that is precisly what I did here. In the play, Mardian (Me), Benvolio (Trinity), and Horatio (Adam) all go to a bar for Christmas and commiserate over their fates. It all ends in a group hug. The scene went great. I loved performing with the two of them and I felt like the audience enjoyed it. I wanted to have the scene bookended by "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles, but the CD didn't work. C'est la vie.

Mondy Carter and Karen Stobbe took No Shame 2008 out with, appropriately enough, the improv game "Next." I thought it was a fitting end to the year until I realized with horror that I have the very first No Shame piece of 2009, when I do the song in January.

Yours daunted,
Nathan H. Adams

The Bernstein Brothers' Christmas Spectacular

Hello ladies and gents. I recently went and saw "The Bernstein Brothers' Christmas Spectacular" as a part of the Catalyst Series at North Carolina Stage Company. It was fantastic. I thoroghly enjoyed watching the cast perform, which included Monday Carter, John Crutchfield, Jonathan Frappier, Darren Marshall, David Ostergaard, Karri Ostergaard, Trinity Smith, and Vivian Smith (no relation). The first act was a series of different holiday themed pieces, and the second act was "A Twisted Carol." The people behind the show and the stage were Chall Gray, Karen Stobbe, Jason Williams, Jonathan, and Julie Holliday Carter. I really enjoyed the show, and I can't wait for it to come back next year. Not only was it excellent, it was all original and local. And if you know me, you know how much those two things excite me. The peices were written Dylan Bolin, Sara Fields, Anthony Wood, Mondy, Jonathan, and Dan Harmon (who is apparently famous). I would tell you to ge see it, but I caught one of the last shows. There's always next year though, so go see it! A big kudos and thanks to Mondy, Karen, Chall, and Jonathan.

Logo by Sean David Robinson.

Merry Christmas,
Nathan.

Orbiting Update

Here's an update on the things orbiting my life right now.

1. No, I have not seen "The Bernstein Brothers' Christmas Spectacular," but yes I am going to. I will be ushering at the 4 P.M. show on Saturday. I am very excited to go see it and please don't spoil it for me.

2. No Shame is on Saturday and I will be there! Looking forward to it. I have been slaving over the perfect pieces to bring.

3. I have been cast in the Montford Park Players production of TITUS ANDRONICUS, directed by Jason Williams. I am really excited to be working with Jason and my cast mates. I know what I have been cast as, but since Jason is still trying to get his cast list together, I will wait before plastering it all over the internet. But I will probably tell you if you ask in person.

"Free To Be . . . You And Me" in "The Apple Tree" singing "A Christmas Carol."

Hello! I am going to post about two shows I saw that have closed, both of which I enjoyed.

The first was "Free To Be . . . You And Me" which was co-produced by North Carolina Stage Company and TheatreUNCA. (Which I am tempted to start calling "TUNCA.") The show was staged in the Carol Belk Theatre in the full round, which was very interesting because I had never seen a show in the round. I had a lot of friends in the cast. Stephanie H., Trinity Smith, and Willie R. were all in the show. "Free To Be . . . You And Me" is based on the 1970's children's special of the same name (All of which can be found on YouTube starting here.). The show was quite fantastic, all of the performers handling their sections amicably. It was a lot of fun, especially the Atalanta sequence. I plan to steal some of the ideas (and perhaps actors) for my version. 

The other show I saw was a workshop production of "The Apple Tree" (The first act of the Bock-Coopersmith-Harnick musical of the same name.) at Montreat College. I am going to be attending Montreat College next semester, and I was very pleased to discover that the theatre department over there seems to be quite excellent. First I saw the Catalyst Series production of "Two Rooms," which was directed by the department head (See here for further thoughts on that production.), and then I saw this. The production itself could be best described as "just right." It was performed in a chapel, with just enough sets and costumes to make it interesting but not distracting. The performers were quite excellent. The play is incredibly sexist, but it was written in the 1960's, so I forgave it this fault. It was an excellent evening, and I look forward to participating in the theatre program next semester. 

I have just opened/closed the 32nd Annual Production of "A Christmas Carol" by the Montford Park Players. I portrayed the Ghost of Christmas Present and had a blast. I am going to miss my show-mates, and look forward to future shows with them. 

The special end-of-year announcement I mentioned in my previous blog is that once the year is done, I will be posting a list of EVERYTHING I have read/seen/heard this year. Please feel free to comment once it is released. I love conversation about literature/movies/TV/music/theatre.