IDOL TALK: Women Writers on Their Teen Idols

Coming in July from McFarland Books!  Check this page for updates & more…

“IDOL TALK: Women Writers on the Teenage Infatuations That Changed Their Lives.”

NOW AVAILABLE from McFarland & Company:

What began as a fun email exchange between writers Elizabeth Searle and Tamra Wilson has become the first-ever collection of essays about teen idols by some of America’s most fabulous female writers including Ann Hood, Marianne Leone, Leslea Newman, Hank Phillippi Ryan, BA Shapiro, Suzanne Strempek Shea, Susan Straight, Dolen Perkins Valdez, Stephanie Powell Watts, Oprah Book choice Breena Clarke and more.  

Foreword by Peter Noone, Herman of Herman’s Hermits.  BREAKING NEWS on PETER NOONE: Peter’s new song with Red Button — OOH, GIRL — has hit the charts in the UK!

IDOL TALK will invite readers to a Ya-Ya Sisterhood-type pajama party as authors share “true confessions” of their own celebrity obsessions. Included are deeply personal musings about such stars as Elvis, Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson and Davy Jones as well as some nontraditional idols including Bobby Orr, Baryshnikov, Humphrey Bogart and Raymond Burr and more.

IDOL TALK will bring back memories, stir up new thoughts and trigger frank talk about many a woman’s “first love,” her teen idol.

Watch our IDOL TALK page here on the blog for more.   And See: McFarland Books 

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Tonya & Nancy NYC Concert: Broadway Stars at 54Below amidst 2018 Olympics

54Below ‘NEW MUSICAL’ event: TONYA AND NANCY THE ROCK OPERA STARRING LAUREN WORSHAM AND ASHLEY SPENCER — FEBRUARY 13, 2018

***ABC showed a brief clip from TONYA & NANCY: THE ROCK OPERA during its Tonya Harding special on JAN 11, 2018– The upcoming concert was featured in BroadwayWorld and more-

What better way to celebrate the 2018 Winter Olympics than with songs from from the rock opera Tonya and Nancy? Based on the Tonya Harding/ Nancy Kerrigan Olympic skating scandal, Elizabeth Searle’s and Michael Teoli’s rock opera has drawn national and international media coverage, playing in Boston, Chicago and LA as well as enjoying a sold-out run at NYMF. Tony-nominated Broadway star Lauren Worsham (A Genleman’s Guide To Love and Murder) headlines as Nancy, alongside Ashley Spencer (Rock of Ages, Grease) as Tonya. Onstage, Tonya’s and Nancy’s ‘Mom’ (embodied by one powerhouse actress) will MC- and occasionally referee— as Tonya, Nancy and knee-attack conspirator ‘Gillooly’ belt out songs including Tonya’s “Watch Your Back” and Nancy’s aria, “Why Me?” Critics on both coasts have hailed this show as “brilliant.” Let the games begin.
www.tonyandnancytherockopera.com
Who could forget the biggest Olympic ice skating controversy of all time? This critically acclaimed musical from Elizabeth Searle and Michael Teoli takes on that epic scandal with a blend of dark comedy and surprising depth. Protect your knees!
Jack Smart, Backstage

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As The World Turns Restlessly by the Guiding Light of Our Lives: SOAP OPERA CONFIDENTIAL

SOAP OPERA CONFIDENTIAL: Writers & Soap Insiders on Why We’ll Tune in Tomorrow as the World Turns Restlessly by the Guiding Light of our Lives— Co-Edited by Elizabeth Searle & Suzanne Strempek Shea—

Out Now from McFarland Books!  Featured in The Reminder newspaper and in SOAPS IN DEPTH national magazine!

 

In this new Soapy anthology, writers and ‘soap insiders’ discuss their shared love of Soap Operas!  This book features authors like bestsellers Elinor Lipman and Ann Hood and Leigh Montville and Suzanne Strempek Shea, author-actress Marianne Leonne, soap icons Thorsten Kaye and Soap writer/actress Louise Shaffer, editors from Soaps in Depth plus Celebs in Disgrace blogger, me!

Check out our Facebook Page, our recent Book Launch on April 30th at Newtonville Books near Boston and our other upcoming readings in Northampton, MA; Portland, ME and Washington DC.  Soap fans and book readers, STAY TUNED!

(photos: Helen Peppe; Thorsten Kaye: GoogleImages; CBS.com)

Elizabeth and Suzanne are co-editors and Soap Fan soul sisters

Thorsten Kaye, star of The Bold & The Beautiful and contributor to SOAP OPERA CONFIDENTIAL

 

 

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TONYA & NANCY: THE ROCK OPERA– a Sold Out Run in NYC in 2015!

Tracy McDowell, Ryan J MacConnell and Jenna Leigh Green in the NYMF 2015 production

TONYA & NANCY: THE ROCK OPERA played a SOLD OUT run at the New York Musical Festival, drawing national and international media, including on people.com.  Ken Davenport’s Producer’s Perspective blog listed the show as one of five ‘that stand out’ at NYMF and PLAYBILL sited it as one of the ‘Top Ten Shows to See’. Broadway World spotlighted it as a PhotoFlash feature; Best of Off Broadway listed it as a Best of Fest.

The show has earned enthusiastic reviews (“Everything I wanted it to be”; “Gloriously camp and relentlessly energetic with a scandalously good cast…You will shout with glee and love for this good-natured endlessly entertaining show”). BACKSTAGE described it as “a dark comedy with surprising depth.”

NYMF Opening night party: cast and crew

Announced in Theater Mania— Media madness has followed with stories about the show in the New York Daily News, The Nation, the UK Telegraph, Playbill, Broadway World, Hamilton Spectator, MediaIte, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Seattle Times, The Times in South Africa, The New York Times, the AFP in France and Asia and more.  Details and links can be found on our new website which tells the ongoing story of our show. Two Girls Go for the Gold!  Book, Lyrics and concept by Elizabeth Searle; Music by Michael Teoli.

MediaIte wrote: “The saga of Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding is being turned into the rock opera it deserves…That is insane and wonderful and it’s about damn time it willed its way into existence!…What is Tonya Harding if she’s not a diva? And what is a diva without her opera?…. This is beautiful and perfect, and you’re just upset that you didn’t think of it first.” Jamie Frevele, MEDIAITE

Check out our NYMF 2015 review and media quotes here.

PREVIOUS MEDIA & REVIEW QUOTES: “Brilliant” Steve Almond, WGBH Boston “Absurdly FUNNY… surprisingly POIGNANT moments amidst the comedy and a ROUSING SOUNDTRACK.” Boston Phoenix.(photo: Barry Weiss)

STAY TUNED!

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Trading Places: Brian Williams & Jon Stewart Switch Jobs?

Trading Places: BRIAN WILLIAMS and JON STEWART Switch Jobs? by Elizabeth Searle

I feel bad about Brian Williams. Not that he didn’t seriously screw up.  But having seen him perform a genial professional-level Stand-Up Comedy routine at the Nantucket Film Festival, I understand why the natural-born raconteur with the movie-star looks has privately pined to replace Jay Leno.

So why not replace Jon Stewart instead? I feel bad about Jon Stewart too. No one can truly replace the comic genius who has in fact become the ‘most trusted’ and truthiest name in news. But Stewart in recent years has seemed to pine for a more ‘serious’ role in policy debate, delivering earnest speeches and directing the solemn documentary ROSEWATER.

In terms of actual interest in and passion for the News, Jon Stewart seems to me to possess more gravitas than starstruck Brian Williams. And Williams– who did stumble his stand-up act onto sacred ground when he puffed up his own role in a real military mission– has always had stars in his eyes.

He climbed up the network news ladder partly on the strength of looks and charm rather than the kind of hard-won reporters’ chops that once elevated Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite– seasoned reporters with less glamor but more gravitas than boyish Williams– into anchor chairs.

On a practical note, NBC ratings would soar if Jon Stewart took the lead anchor chair. Brian Williams might fare less well in Stewart’s ‘hot seat’– but that’s Show Biz.

(photos: adage.com, Salon.com, fcm images; GoogleImages)

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Dark Yet Perky: Elizabeth’s Blog-Book-Tour

Dark Yet Perky: Elizabeth’s Blog Book Tour by Elizabeth Searle

Welcome to my ‘Blog Book Tour’; happy to discuss my works-in-progress here and to introduce three scribes on the rise.  THANKS, first, to PAULA TREICK DeBOARD, who asked me to take part in this ‘blog book tour.’  Paula is a stellar novelist and a Stoneocast MFA alum. I knew the minute I read Paula’s workshop work that she is a born storyteller who won’t let you go once you start her compelling tales.

Check out Paula’s blog and Blog Book Tour answers:  Live from the Bean (Go, Paula!)

Suzanne Strempek Shea (right) and me at Stonecoast MFA this summer, 2014

Paula kindly ‘passed the torch’ and a Book Tour question-list to me.  In the Blog Book Tour, writers answer the questions below on their blogs and tap other writers to do the same.  So I’m happy to answer these questions below, then to introduce three terrific authors whose answers I will be eager to read: Suzanne Strempek Shea, Matthew Phillion and Eugenio Volpe.  All have new books out!

First: my own answers to the Blog Tour’s four questions:

1. WHAT AM I WORKING ON?

This will be my longest answer because I am always juggling many balls:

My first novel is being ‘developed’ as a feature film

*A NOVEL set on the night of the Boston Marathon bombing man-hunt, centering on one messily ‘blended family,’ a Birth Night gone wrong and a stepson on the run.  The novel alternates between a husband and wife– two characters I’ve written about for almost as many years as I’ve been married myself.  I have always wanted to take a Birth Night and the ‘stages of labor’ and concoct a novel around that.  I didn’t know this novel would also wind up involving the horrifying and riveting Boston bomber man-hunt.  But I’ve felt compelled to set my tale on that unforgettable night, since I  live in a suburb of Boston that was ‘locked down.’  I take the title of this novel-to-be from a ‘Tweet’ sent out by Mayor Tom Menino after the capture of the bombing suspect: “We Got Him”.

*THREE PERSONAL ESSAYS which will come out in THREE FORTHCOMING ANTHOLOGIES in 2015: Paper Camera from New Rivers Press; an anthology edited by Elizabeth Benedict from Algonquin Press and an anthology edited by Nina Gaby from She Writes Press titled Dumped: Women Unfriending Women, about female friendships run aground.  Also we have a reading coming up in October from my most recent anthology, Knitting Yarns, edited by Ann Hood with a super group of fellow contributors.

The LA stars of Tonya & Nancy with me in Feb 2014

*Several THEATER WORKS including the latest revisions on my ongoing theatrical adventure, TONYA & NANCY: THE ROCK OPERA (see our Website).  I have written the libretto for a new classical opera, SEVEN RABBITS ON A POLE, based on the play by John Picardi.  Stay tuned.

*FILM SCRIPT revisions on an adaptation of my novel A FOUR-SIDED BED, which is being developed by a small film company,  Creatrix Films.  See the sizzler reel at www.afoursidedbed.com

*SHORT STORIES; I have two that I hope to finish to ‘finish’ a new collection…

2. HOW DOES MY WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS OF ITS GENRE?

As you can see above, I work in multiple genres.  In fiction and scriptwriting both, I aim for high intensity.  I crave a certain mix of tones that I call ‘Dark Yet Perky.’

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TONYA & NANCY: THE ROCK OPERA comes to HOLLYWOOD

 THANKS TO HOLLYWOOD FOR TWO EXCITING SOLD-OUT PERFORMANCES OF TONYA & NANCY AT THE KING KING CLUB!  Watch the T&N website for news of upcoming 2014 runs: http://www.tonyaandnancytherockopers.com

Los Angeles Rock Opera Company

in association with HarborSide Films present:

 

The music of 

Tonya and Nancy: The Rock Opera
A Concert Performance to benefit Celebration Theatre

Libretto: Elizabeth Searle
Music: Michael Teoli
Directed and Choreographed by: Janet Roston
Additional Music: Abigail Al Doory Cross

Producer: Ryan Bergmann  Associate Producer: Rebecca Eisenberg  Executive Producer: Paul T. Boghosian
Press Representative: Ken Werther Publicity

 

Cast:

Christine Achico, Michael Ballestero, Jordan Kai Burnett, Sarah Chaney, Michael Shaw Fisher, Maegan McConnell, Jesse Merlin, Suzanne Petrela, Michael Shepperd, Jeff Sumner, Laura L. Thomas and Trance Thompson

The show was originally produced by Triangle Productions.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Brilliant…Amazing music” (WGBH Boston)….  “Something marvelous” (Portland Mercury)….  “Black Swan on ice” (Boston Herald) 

***All Proceeds benefit Celebration Theatre***

(photo from King King performance: Barry Weiss)

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‘OOPS’-Gate: The Republican Follies of 2011

Check out Elizabeth Searle‘s GIRL HELD IN HOME in the Portland Press Herald…And thanks to blog fave Lupins for these BADReporter Cain cartoons…

OOPS-Gate: The Republican Follies of 2011 by Elizabeth Searle

Was that a Saturday Night Live Skit– or was that the real Rick Perry flailing and then failing to remember the third major government agency he would cut as (as he will surely never now be) president?

In a week of ever-multiplying Sexual Harrassment accusations against Herman Cain, Republicans who can count higher than three are running out of options.  Is Newt next?  As a lifelong Democrat, I have seen my share of ‘weak fields’ and so-called ‘Seven Dwarfs.’  But those are truly drarfed by the Republican Follies of 2011.

Blog wise man Ol’ Bill sees the field as representing the ‘rot from within‘ of the GOP– but cautions: Don’t forget the forerunner of Perry’s over hyped memory lapse: the 14 long seconds of underhyped silence from AZ’s esteemed Governor in her  campaign debate which hardly caused a ripple in her negatives and subsequent habit vote victory.

Author Kevin St. Jarre puts it this way: Perry is so bad, he leaves SNL nothing left for parody. I’m neither a Republican nor a Democrat, but I’m left wondering…when they canvas the entire country for Republicans willing to run for president, these are the best they can come up with? Perry and Cain? Clowns.

WDYT?  Will Newt Gingrich be the next unlikely darling of the flailing GOP?  Or will they resign themselves and take their Mitt Medicine?

(photos: thedailybeast.com, fitnews.com)

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NINE STAGES IN A WRITERS’ LIFE by Erica Ferencik

Check out Elizabeth Searle‘s GIRL HELD IN HOME on The Nervous Breakdown and on Prairie Public Radio.   

Erica Ferencik is the author of the 2008 satiric novel Cracks in the Foundation, called ‘hilarious’ by Alex Beam of the Boston Globe. Her work has also been featured in the Boston Globe, Salon, and National Public Radio; and her humor column appears monthly in Metrowest Daily News, a metro Boston newspaper. Her supernatural thriller, Repeaters, was released in September, to be swiftly followed in November by Radio My Way, the life story of Boston radio personality Ron Della Chiesa.  Visit Erica at Wake Up and Smell the Blog.

NINE STAGES IN A WRITERS’ LIFE by Erica Ferencik

1) Elementary School: I feel like I might be different from other kids. While everybody else is running around at recess screaming and laughing and having fun, I like to sit under a tree and write about what I did today, and what I saw, and what I thought about.

2) Junior High: My Advanced Placement English teacher, Mrs. Portnik, told me I have a gift. She says I have a way with words! I do love to read, and to write in my diary every single day. She says I should be a writer. The thing is, she’s a writer, but she doesn’t seem too happy. A lot of times she’s pretty cranky. In fact, every now and then she says she had a “late night,” whatever that means. Anyway, I love words and I’m going to be a writer when I grow up. I’m so excited!

3) College: I’m really getting into Sylvia Plath. Man, she was one dark horse. But I’m not sure I’ve got the poetry gene. I want to be a famous novelist, thank you very much. Trying to convince the parents I can make a living with my writing, but they’re not buying it. They’re all up in my business about doing something “practical.” Sheesh! I wish they would just chill. I’ll work it out. Maybe I could be a writer with a side of what, law?

4) Midtwenties: Good thing my childhood sucked because evidently that’s a goldmine! I’m going to tell my life story from fetus to recreational pot smoker, and it’s going to a bestseller. I may even stretch the truth a bit to make it more of a page turner, what the hell. Good thing I’m a barista, I get to load up on coffee before I go home and write…

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GIRL HELD IN HOME & Reality Fiction by Elizabeth Searle

Check out coverage in the Sunday Boston Globe, Word on the Street column, for GIRL HELD IN HOME– as well as an early REVIEW…

GIRL HELD IN HOME & ‘Reality Fiction’ by Elizabeth Searle

And the ‘winner’ of DISGRACED CELEBRITY OF SUMMER 2011 is… our first ever Group win, THE KARDASHIANS!  For better or worse, we live in the Reality TV nation but even by Reality TV standards, the Kardashians hit new lows this summer.  Blog fave Caitlin put their name into play, citing:

The over-the-top press coverage of Kim Kardashian’s tacky wedding, held this summer during the worst economic period since the Great Depression

  ‘Congrat’s to Kim, whatshisname the groom and Co. (photo: The HollywoodGossip.com)

Like it or not, we live in times where ‘reality’ rules.  Nonfiction books lead in sales and fiction based on ‘real events’ draws coverage.  This fall, I jump into what I call the ‘REALITY FICTION’ pool with a new novel based on a real-life crime in my neighborhood.

GIRL HELD IN HOME is out in October from New Rivers Press.  It was inspired by an incident that was a real-life ‘disgrace’ and is all too common in America today.  In our own neighborhood in Arlington.MA, in 2001, a woman was ‘held’ as an unpaid servant’ in the home of a family that controlled her visa.

In my imagined version of her story, a teenage boy discovers her situation and falls in love with the ‘GIRL HELD IN HOME’.  Thanks to NEW RIVERS PRESS, my terrific publisher, and thanks to Cholla Productions and my talented brother Bill Searle and to rocker Dann Spohn and DustJacket for this Book trailer:

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