Elevator Repair Service, a New York company with a decided literary turn, has brought its lengthy but satisfying staging of Hemingway's first novel, 'The Sun Also Rises,' to Shakespeare Theatre Company's Landsburgh stage for a healthy Washington run. For Hemingway fans, this is reason enough to make a pilgrimage downtown; for theatre enthusiasts, even those who wouldn't normally touch Hemingway with a 10-foot-pole, the sheer exuberance and creativity of the ensemble should be a huge draw.
On April 1, 2017, R. Scott Williams will release 'An Odd Book: How the First Modern Pop Culture Reporter Conquered New York,' a biography of the life of Oscar Odd McIntyre, the first modern pop culture and entertainment reporter. It will be available on Amazon.com and through IngramSpark.
As the highest-paid and most-read columnist of his era, Odd McIntyre achieved great fame and fortune in the early twentieth century. Raised in Gallipolis, Ohio, eventually he moved to New York and became close friends with many of the leading personalities of the day, including writers Edna Ferber, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald; entertainers Fred Astaire, Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., Billie Burke, and Will Rogers; composers George Gershwin and Meredith Willson; actors Rudolph Valentino and Charlie Chaplin and many others.
In his daily column, 'New York Day by Day,' and in national magazines like Cosmopolitan and Life, Odd captured a time and place undergoing great transition and innovation in communication, politics, art and entertainment. As the country shifted from the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era and through the Great Depression, new technologies and methods of communication were being quickly adopted around the world, as were new ideas regarding journalism and the role of media in American politics and society. Odd, living and writing in New York, was at the epicenter of this new modern age.
'Odd documented the stories of what was happening backstage and behind the scenes with popular culture around the world,' said Williams, who is the chief operating officer of the Newseum in Washington, D.C. 'Odd was there as the telegraph changed the news business, and then as radio changed everything. He covered live entertainment as it shifted from vaudeville to something new and exciting on Broadway, and he had a literal front-row seat as moving pictures evolved first to nickelodeons, then to silent films, and finally to talkies.'
As a young journalist and editor in Ohio, Odd was one of the very first reporters to interview the Wright brothers in Dayton, and he worked side by side with early muckrakers to fight government corruption in Cincinnati. After moving to New York and working briefly as an assistant editor for Hampton's Magazine, he got a job as a Park Row newspaper reporter. One of his first assignments was interviewing Titanic survivors as they stepped onto the pier in New York. Later, McIntyre began working for music publisher Leo Feist on Tin Pan Alley, promoting songwriters, vaudeville and Broadway performers, musicians, and 'song pluggers.'
His success there led to many years as the press agent for Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., where he got to know many of the most popular performers of the day. In Paris, he became friends with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and others who came to be known as the 'Lost Generation,' while back in New York, he had a long-time feud with members of the group known as the 'Algonquin Round Table.'
His experience and connections in New York allowed him and his biggest champion, his wife Maybelle McIntyre, to start a daily column that they mailed from their small New York apartment to newspapers around the country. Eventually, Odd's column grew to reach more than seven million readers each day, making him a media superstar. In his 1938 obituary, a reporter for The New York Times wrote, 'His greatest stock-in-trade was his incarnate rapture at the glories of a New York recognizable to none but himself. To him the towers of Manhattan were studded with minarets and the neon lights of Broadway flickered like jewels.'
Only Odd's wife and closest friends knew his biggest secret. Throughout adulthood, he struggled with social anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and severe depression that were likely brought on by undiagnosed pernicious anemia. Despite the extroverted 'man-about-town' image he projected to the world, his disorder eventually drove him to a reclusive lifestyle. He left his home only at night, and observed New York's nightlife from the window of his chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce.
A special launch event will take place on Saturday, April 22, 2017 at the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in Odd's hometown of Gallipolis, Ohio where The Ohio Valley Symphony will perform Meredith Willson's 'O.O. McIntyre Suite.'
In anticipation of the book, Williams has also launched several social media initiatives to help the public learn more about Odd McIntyre and his work. Photos of the people, places and pop culture icons that Odd covered in his daily column will be featured at Instagram.com/ anoddbook, and short excerpts from Odd's articles will be shared on Twitter.com/anoddbook.
Williams noted, 'Because Odd's writing style frequently included short, cleverly written sentences, they still resonate remarkably well today in the 140-character Twitter format.' Additional content about Odd McIntyre and 'An Odd Book' will be shared on YouTube and at Facebook.com/anoddbook.
Links to these social network accounts, along with much more information about Odd McIntyre and the book launch, can be found at AnOddBook.com.
About R. Scott Williams
R. Scott Williams is the author of 'An Odd Book: How the First Modern Pop Culture Reporter Conquered New York,' available April 1 on Amazon.com and through IngramSpark. Williams is the chief operating officer and senior vice president of sales and marketing at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Williams earned his degree in journalism from the University of Memphis. He then held positions at several advertising agencies and organizations, including Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. He currently serves on the board of the D.C. chapter of the American Advertising Federation and on the board of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. He lives with his wife and daughters in historic Arlington, Va. Passionate about discovering and sharing forgotten stories from the past, in his spare time he explores the history of the American South, especially around his home in West Tennessee. His first book was 'The Forgotten Adventures of Richard Halliburton: From Tennessee to Timbuktu.'
High-resolution photos available on the book's press page at AnOddBook.com/press.
Welcome to the world of Ernest Hemingway's Paris in the 1920's. Just like with any of the Cafe Nordo shows, the instant you walk into Nordo's Culinarium you're transported to another time and place but they seem to have outdone themselves with their current collaboration with Book-It Theatre with "A Moveable Feast" and the rich sensorial delights they've concocted.
Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) will host acclaimed theatre ensemble Elevator Repair Service and their production of The Select (The Sun Also Rises) at the Lansburgh Theatre (450 7th St NW) from February 18-April 2, 2017.
Ten years after their critically acclaimed collaboration on King Lear, Artistic Director Robert Falls and stage and screen star Stacy Keach-both 2015 Theater Hall of Fame inductees-reunite for the world premiere of Pamplona by Jim McGrath.
Rena Blades, President & Chief Executive Officer of the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, today announced that the third Conversation of this season's CULTURE & COCKTAILS series attracted more than 165 people last week to The Colony Hotel Pavilion, located at 155 Hammon Avenue in Palm Beach. Scroll down for photos from the event!
In an artistic collaboration with Cafe Nordo in Pioneer Square, a four-course meal will deliciously underscore a signature Book-It theatrical experience.
It only took thirteen episodes, but thinks are finally starting to take shape on TIMELESS. In what is easily the biggest reveal of the series, we learned that Lucy's father is the man behind Rittenhouse - the organization she's been fighting against all this time. Talk about a conflict of interests. To make matters worse, Wyatt realizes that, despite successfully changing history and stopping his wife's killer from being born, his wife is still dead, and there's nothing he can do to change that.
In an artistic collaboration with Cafe Nordo in Pioneer Square, a four-course meal will deliciously underscore a signature Book-It theatrical experience. Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast captures what it meant to be young and poor and writing in Paris during the 1920s.
Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) will host acclaimed theatre ensemble Elevator Repair Service and their production of The Select (The Sun Also Rises) at the Lansburgh Theatre (450 7th St NW) from February 18-April 2, 2017.
Rena Blades, President & Chief Executive Officer of the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, today announced that the popular series CULTURE & COCKTAILS will be back next month at The Colony Hotel Pavilion in Palm Beach.
'All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know,' were Hemingway's wise words about overcoming writers block in his famed novel 'A Moveable Feast.' Writers whose work needs a kickstart in the New Year will find the help they need with that sage advice and more at the Left Bank Writers Retreat in Paris, June 11-16, 2017. The annual six-day combination writing workshop and literary tourism experience provides ample writing time, personalized instruction and prompts, as well as a guided exploration of favorite Paris literary landmarks. The retreat also is known for its inspirational effect on attendees' creativity.
Rena Blades, President & Chief Executive Officer of the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, today announced that the second Conversation of this season's CULTURE & COCKTAILS series attracted more than 140 people last Monday to The Colony Hotel Pavilion, located at 155 Hammon Avenue in Palm Beach.
Mark St. Germain's solo play about celebrity sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer received it's World Premiere at Barrington Stage Company in June 2012. The production was met with much success and went out to play at TheatreWorks Hartford before moving to New York. In October of 2013, Becoming Dr. Ruth received its Off-Broadway premiere at the Westside Theatre. Actress Debra Jo Rupp, who originated the role Off-Broadway, received both Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award Nominations for her portrayal of Dr. Ruth.
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini's international bestselling novel and film, is a powerful story of friendship spanning cultures and continents, following one man's journey to find redemption.
After two successful runs on the Big Island of Hawaii, A Night at the Stork Club moves to Hollywood's Three Clubs for a limited run January 7-8, 2017. The original production featured critically acclaimed vocalists Justin John Moniz and Ashley Lambert, alongside New York City jazz pianist, Phil Kadet. A Night at the Stork Club's upcoming remount will feature the addition of Los Angeles based singer/actress, Laura Hughes, fresh off the North American Tour of Mamma Mia!, where her portrayal of 'Tanya' received acclaim in theaters across the country.
In an artistic collaboration with Cafe Nordo in Pioneer Square, a four-course meal will deliciously underscore a signature Book-It theatrical experience.
As the world alternately mourns or celebrates the passing of one of the most dynamic and controversial leaders of the 20th century, Fidel Castro's legacy is memorialized in his famous words, History Will Absolve Me. Brian Latell, a CIA analyst who studied and tracked Castro since the 1960s, recently released his third book on Cuba and the Castro brothers, which breaks considerable ground with new material provided by declassified files.
