"Singularly Adapted To Our Needs" [MISS]

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[Editor's note: the following was submitted by Jeremy Holstein from the Post-Meridian Radio Players]

"If I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - A Study in Scarlet

In March of this year I auditioned for a local production of "The Day the Earth Stood Still."  During auditions I overheard a comment by the artistic director that they were looking to do a production of The Hound of the Baskervilles, but that they did not have a script yet. Being the life-long Holmes fanatic I am, I boldly (foolishly?) volunteered to adapt the script for the Post-Meridian Radio Players. The major caveat was that I had to bring the script in under an hour.

I didn't know what I was in for.

First thing we did was transcribe a 1977 production done for the CBS Radio Mystery Theatre. This was to be my starting point. If you've ever heard this version it's heavily abridged, with several major sequences and characters cut out. The dialog is also, for lack of a better word, paraphrased.

To fix the paraphrasing problem we subsequently transcribed every scrap of dialog from the original novel into a basic radio script.

With these two scripts in hand I set out to marry them together. My goals were as follows:

• To restore as much original Doyle dialog as possible. 
• To restore the missing sequences of the cab-chase in London and the Laura Lyons character. 
• Get it down under an hour. The producer told me, and I quote, "45 minutes would be best."

Read more...

"Rare Fits of Laughter" [STUD]

Photo credit: David Jensen

[Editor's note: This is Gordon's first post for us. He'll be covering the intersection of Sherlock Holmes and the entertainment industry. You can also find him at Blog THIS, Pal!]

Finding examples of Sherlockian parody and humor is relatively simple. So is finding a theatrical version of the Great Detective. But the combination of the two - a direct parody of the canon done for the stage? Sometimes, that can be a little bit trickier to find.

However, there is hope - currently running in Croydon is a production of Ha Ha Holmes - The Beast of the Blistervilles, a very loose adaptation of one of the key novels in the canon. (Of course, Hound is no stranger to parody, having been made into a comedy by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in the late 1970s, or even 1988's Without A Clue, my personal favorite of the Holmes comedies). This looks to be a great theatrical experience, especially for those Sherlockians who may be making a pilgrimage to the United Kingdom in the near future.

Of course, as Watson suggests in "A Scandal in Bohemia", "The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime.". Perhaps this production is one way to rectify that situation.

Even if there are plenty of jokes in between.


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"The Evening of the Third" [STUD]

Just three years ago, our friends at the Wessex Press created a sequel to their original conference Gillette to Brett. It was called From Gillette to Brett II - short and sweet. Although we argued that it should be called Gillette to Brett II: Electric Boogaloo (for those of you who don't understand the reference, check this link).

Here we are, quickly coming up on the eighth anniversary of the first wave, and Wessex Press is now preparing for From Gillette to Brett 3 (In 3D?) from November 11-13, 2011. Here's an advanced trailer to check out what they've got coming.

From Gillette to Brett 3

The previous shows dealt with radio, stage and screen, and incorporated major and minor celebrities. Who do you hope they'll be able to secure this time around?

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"A Strange Ship" [HOUN]

Here's an opportunity that might interest a number of aspiring playwrights. I received a query from a publicist who is looking for someone to write a mystery-themed play for a cruise ship audience - and there's some money involved.

Here's the official description of what they're looking for:

My company provides entertainment for several cruise lines. I have a cruise line client that is looking for a writer who can put together a Sherlock Holmes Mystery play for a cruise ship audience – this play would be performed during the cruise by the onboard cast of singers and dancers and cruise staff and would repeat every cruise. It could either take place all in one evening (like a typical Murder Mystery Event) or spread out over the course of the cruise with different things happening each day culminating at the end of the cruise. The line is initially interested in placing this show on one ship with a 12 night itinerary in Europe.

The cruise line would prefer to purchase this as a one time cost and then hire a choreographer to stage it on onboard. If it goes well, they may want to purchase additional shows down the road.

Think you've got what it takes? The contact for this is Robin Cahill and she can be reached at robin [AT] doncasino [DOT] com or (305) 931-7552.

If you know of anyone with the talent to pull this off, please let them know by clicking on that little green "Share This" button below the post - you'll be able to email them, bookmark it, or post it on other sites. What a great opportunity this is for the right person!

"One Theatre Party" [MISS]

Friend and fellow Irregular Paul Singleton ("Covent Garden") does his fair share of acting. With letters like SAG, AFTRA and AEA after his name, he's obviously serious about it. He even has a web site to prove it.

If you've ever been to the BSI Weekend festivities and attended the Gillette Luncheon, you will have seen Paul performing after the meal, usually with some combination of Andrew Joffee, Sarah Montague and Elyse Locurto. And occasionally I get notices from Paul about his theater appearances in New York.

Paul just sent an announcement about an evening of O. Henry and Sherlock Holmes:

The Blue Carbuncle with Sherlock Holmes & The Gift of the Magi
Adapted from stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle & O. Henry
By Andrew Joffe
Directed by Kathleen Brant
Musical Direction: Jeffrey Buchsbaum
With Paul Singleton as Sherlock Holmes
Dec. 6 - Dec. 22, Tues thru Sat.
At: The WorkShop Theater Company
312 West 36th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY

I have no doubt that this will be an excellent show, as Andrew's works are always engaging and entertaining, and Paul's performances are thorough, accurate and believable. In preparation for the production, the company is holding an event:

A Fundraising Party For the upcoming production of The Blue Carbuncle & The Gift of the Magi
(Two great stories, rooted in the Holiday season, with music)

Suggested Donation $30 (cash or check at door; tax-deduction receipt is available)

At: Moran’s Chelsea
146 Tenth Avenue (at 19th St.)
Monday, October 22, 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.

There will be food: passed hors d’oeuvres of Sesame Chicken, Steak Kabob, Vegetable Quesadilla, Mini Crab Cakes / stationary hors d’oeuvres table of fresh fruit and cheese board, vegetable pasta, fried Calamari

And don't forget the music & entertainment: a scene from The Blue Carbuncle, design presentations

Raffle: Free tickets to the show and other prizes!
Rub elbows with the actors, designers & director!
Special visit from Sherlock Holmes!

Cash Bar; free soda/juice/coffee/tea

Sounds like a great opportunity to hob-nob with some glitterati of the Sherlockian stage.

"Their Secret Was Out" [GREE]

I'm sure there are a few Jeremy Brett fans who are regular readers of this blog. If so, you may know that in the late 1980s he commissioned a play from Jeremy Paul, one of the writers for the Granada Television Series (he wrote "The Speckled Band," "The Musgrave Ritual," and "The Naval Treaty" among others). That play was The Secret of Sherlock Holmes and it ran for a year in the West End and toured for three months around England, starring Brett as Holmes and Edward Hardwicke as Dr. Watson.

One of Brett's wishes was to bring that play to the United States. And for nearly 20 years, that wish has gone unfulfilled. Until now.

Shakespeare & Company decided that it would honor the 120th anniversary of Sherlock Holmes being in print (1887-2007) by running the two-act two-man play from September 28 - October 28, 2007 at the Founders Theater in Lenox, Massachusetts. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling (413) 637-3353. For full details of the play, please see their page.

I've posted an interview with the two actors and the director over on I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. It's about 50 minutes long and is an insider's view as to how an actor prepares for such a role, what makes this play different and why a Shakespearean company is putting it on. It's really a nice episode. If you like, you can download the episode or listen directly by clicking here. And you can check out some photos from the production by heading over to their gallery.

What's more, the weekend of October 19-21, 2007 will feature a number of Sherlockian events and speakers.

On Saturday, October 20, the Sherlockian speakers and collectibles begin to pile up. Sally Sugarman will be in to speak about the influence of Sherlock Holmes on children's literature, Leslie Klinger will unravel why we have a fascination with a 120 year-old detective, and I'll speak about Sherlock 2.0 - the great detective and his followers in the 21st century.

But there's so much more to the weekend than these presentations. As the site states:

On the weekend of Oct. 19, 20, 21, we welcome all to share several Sherlock topical events, including a unique Victorian era sherry, chocolate and dessert reception quite befitting the Holmesian tradition. On Saturday there will a series of presentations by special guests, including Leslie Klinger, America’s foremost Sherlock expert and editor of the New Annotated Sherlock Holmes. There will also be memorabilia and collectibles on display. There will be a performance on Saturday night, and on Sunday a Sherlockian English brunch with specialty items such as scrambled quail as suggested in the canon.

Check out the full listing and pricing on the Shakespeare & Company page.

I hope I'll be able to see you there. It promises to be a unique weekend. And the foliage is lovely in the Berkshires that time of year...

"Between and Around These Scattered Points" [HOUN]

If it seems like it's been a while since I've posted the HTML links from Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, you're right. The last time I did so was April. It's not that Peter Blau hasn't been kind enough to share his newsletter with me in a timely fashion; rather, I've been deluged with other activities (which you may have gathered by my less frequent posting).

Well, rest assured that I'm trying to get back on the wagon and give you the updates and the links that it is my duty to supply. Herewith then, the links for Peter's latest issue:

• The Museum of Jewelry uses names from English literature to title some of their products, which include "Moonstones of Baker Street Earrings" and "Arnsworth Castle Earrings"
• The Hans Sloane of our age is a chocolatier: The Sir Hans Sloane Chocolate and Champagne House is the first chocolate studio in the UK to have its own in-house chocolate conching machine
• Eye of the Crow: The Boy Sherlock Holmes is the first in a series of books about an adolescent Sherlock Holmes; there's a nice interactive web site at http://www.boysherlockholmes.com
  
• Oscar Wilde and Lillie Langtry seek advice from Sherlock Holmes in the People's Light & Theatre Company's production of Katie Forgette's Sherlock Holmes & the Case of the Jersey Lily in Malvern, PA in June, 2008
• The American Theatre Wing has two video great seminars with Frank Langella, who portrayed Sherlock Holmes twice
• Working in the Theatre, September, 1984
• Working in the Theatre, April, 2002
  
• And they also have an interview with Langella as an audio file from XM Satellite's Downstage Center
• The Friends of Gillette Castle State Park will hold a celebration on Oct. 6 benefiting the restoration of William Gillette's locomotives
• Laurie R. King now has a Virtual Book Club; it's really a discussion forum on her web site
• Look for an appearance of Mycroft Holmes as Thursday Next's uncle in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next: First Among Sequels
• Quill & Brush Books offers a handy guide to identifying first editions
• The Sherlock Holmes Collection at the Marylebone Library is always worth taking a look at; and from now until October 31, they're running a competition to win a copy of Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters
• Randall Stock has an informative and comprehensive site put together about the new book, including a background FAQ and a list of press mentions
• Speaking of books, To Keep the Memory Green, a collection of essays about the life of Richard Lancelyn Green is available for order from The Quartering Press, a joint effort between the Baker Street Irregulars and the Sherlock Holmes Society of London
  
• The Meadow Brook Theatre's season opens with Stephen Dietz's Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure in Rochester, MI from October 10 to November 4
• Recognize this suave gentleman? It's Basil Rathbone, as Commissar Dimitri Gorotchenko in the 1937 film "Tovarich" and shown in his entry for Wikipedia
• MC Black offers Detective Walks through London that he has personally researched
• The DVD of Sherlock Holmes and Baker Street Irregulars has been released and is now available on Amazon
• The Sherlock Holmes Resume Service (1-800-5-SHERLOCK)

"My Collection of M's is a Fine One" [EMPT]

As you may know, the Norwegian Explorers hosted a wonderful event two weekends ago in Minneapolis, called Victorian Secrets and Edwardian Enigmas. The buzz from the event is still palpable and many Sherlockians attended from around the globe.

The event was hosted at the Elmer L. Andersen Library at the University of Minnesota, which is noted for its remarkable Sherlock Holmes Collections, one that is unrivaled anywhere else in the world. The Collections were established in the 1970s with the purchase of James Iraldi's remarkable collection of first editions, then solidified with the bequest of the collection of Dr. Phillip Hench, who owned four copies of the Beeton's Christmas Annual, which contained the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes. It was solidified with the addition of the Frederic Dorr Steele collection of artwork, the Edith Meiser collection of original radio scripts, and John Bennett Shaw's comprehensive collection of - well, everything.

Victorian Secrets and Edwardian Enigmas: the Riddles of the Rooms of 221B Baker Street was more than a conference, though. It is also a major exhibit at the Andersen that is on display until August 20, 2007, and features miniature and life-sized recreations of 221B Baker Street. You can download a full exhibit catalog in PDF form, containing a warm tribute to the late S. Allen Mackler, BSI.

I had known Allen for many years by his frequenting the BSI table, which I man in the Vendors' Room during the BSI Weekend. Diminutive and unassuming, he was friendly and humble and would always purchase whatever books the BSI had to offer. So imagine my surprise when I read in the catalog that Allen's estate is the largest bequest ever received by the Collections: some five to six thousand volumes of books, as well as numerous videos & DVDs, and original art. One of the prizes is this original drawing of Sherlock Holmes by Sidney Paget, created for "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League."

"All the afternoon he sat in the stalls...enwrapped in the music at St. James’s Hall..." [REDH]

This was entirely appropriate, as Allen's investiture was "Sarasate" and he was first a record librarian for WETA of National Public Radio, later becoming an on-air host for several classical music programs.

While I have not yet had the pleasure of visiting the Sherlock Holmes Collections, I have been lucky enough to meet Tim Johnson, the curator. Tim is erudite and extremely knowledgeable, and the collection is in excellent hands with Tim at the helm. If you'd like to get to know Tim and the collection, I a unique opportunity for you.

WCCO in Minneapolis did both a television and a radio interview with Tim, which also featured Chris Kehoe, who portrays Holmes in the play Sherlock's Last Case from June 15 - August 25, 2007. On WCC0 830 AM, Don Shelby - a radio host and TV anchor who really knows his Sherlock Holmes - interviewed Chris and Tim for his show on June 29. You'll hear him dig deep for the interview and acknowledge that he's been involved in this scene for some time. In fact, he was instrumental in convincing Edith Meiser to send her papers to the Collections.


And if you'd like to see the exhibit for yourself, hurry out to Minneapolis before it concludes on August 20th. I'm sure Tim Johnson would love to hear from you - make sure you stop by their web site and see everything they have to offer.

"Where Are the Slippers Now?" [VALL]

If you happen to be in Connecticut or New York at all this summer, there's a play you might consider seeing. Not that it's a Sherlock Holmes play, by any stretch of the imagination. But the casting - at least in one regard - is very Sherlockian.

Al Rosenblatt, BSI ("Inspector Bradstreet") has informed me that Paxton Whitehead will be appearing at the Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, CT from July 12 - July 27, 2007 in Relatively Speaking, a comedy.

According to the site, the plot goes something like this:

Greg falls madly for Ginny whose affections are elsewhere. Greg follows Ginny when she goes on an unexpected visit to ‘see her parents.’ Meanwhile, Philip suspects his wife, Sheila, is having an affair. Sheila is not the least bit suspicious of Philip. Could Sheila and Philip both be wrong? Who are Philip and Sheila’s unexpected guests for Sunday lunch?

A marvelous mixture of misunderstandings, mistaken identities and incriminating slippers.

No word whether Mr. Whitehead is playing Greg or Phillip (or Ginny or Sheila, for that matter). For those of you unfamiliar with his work, his stage credits can be found on the Internet Broadway Database and his film and TV work can be found on the Internet Movie Database.

Tickets are available through the Westport Country Playhouse site, phone and online orders.