Sun Sentinel Features Authors and Ideas
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
BR Sunday, March 1, 2020 SunSentinel.comSun Sentinel | 1 SOUTH FLORIDA TRAVEL&LIFE MARCH BOOK EVENTS Albom, Coben on festivals’ lineups Bestselling authors on tap at Palm Beach, Jewish book fests By Oline H. Cogdill LIFE/E001/BR The sixth annual Palm Beach Book Festival features a stellar lineup of New York Times bestselling authors. The festi- val, sponsored by Florida Atlantic Universi- ty’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, begins 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 21 in JOAN MARCUS PHOTOS FAU’s University Theatre, 777 Glades Road, Danielle Wade as Cady Heron, from left, Megan Masako Haley as Gretchen Wieners, Mariah Rose Faith as Regina George and Boca Raton. Tickets for the full day are $75, Jonalyn Saxer as Karen Smith in the national touring company of “Mean Girls,” which will be in Fort Lauderdale March 3-15. and individual panel tickets are $20 and $25, and can be purchased at fauevents.com or call 561-297-6124. Free park- ing is included with ad- How ‘Mean Girls’ mission, and lunch will be for sale. For more information, visit palm- beachbookfestival.com or Albom call 561-297-2595. Description: Client Name: Advertiser: Section/Page/Zone: Events include “Twisted History,” Larry Loftis in conver- learned to sing sation with Louis Bayard at 10 a.m. “You Don’t Have to be Jewish (To Love This Panel)” with Patricia Marx, in conver- sation with Cathleen Schine (“The Gram- In Broadway musical marians”) at 11 a.m. The ‘O’ Oprah Magazine Panel will of beloved film, teens address the social issues of immigration and the opioid epidemic with panelists belt out inner thoughts Leigh Haber (O Magazine), Liz Moore (“Long Bright River”) and Kiley Reid (“Such a Fun Age”) at 12:10 p.m. By Rod Stafford Hagwood “Protest and Power: U.S., U.K. and #Re- alFakeNews” will feature Mark Thompson Back in the day, Lindsay Lohan was in conversation with political analysts known for her acting. And it was the Joy-Anne Reid and David Kogan at 2 p.m. whip-smart teen comedy “Mean Girls” The Palm Beach Book Festival continues that took her starlet status and blasted it into Broward as it co-presents Mitch Al- into the pop culture firmament in 2004. bom in a conversation discussing his latest That screenplay was written by Tina book “Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Fey (“Saturday Night Live,” “30 Rock,” Earthquake, & the Making of a Family” at 7 “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), and p.m. March 23 at the Amaturo Theater, almost immediately there were offers to Broward Center For The Performing Arts, turn her script into the book for a 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. In Broadway musical. You can see the “Finding Chika,” Albom recounts the story results when the national tour begins a of Chika Jeune, who was born three days two-week run on March 3 at the before the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. She Broward Center for the Performing Arts Naturally, the teenage characters use social media in the modern Broadway musical in Fort Lauderdale. adaptation of Tina Fey’s 2004 film about high school girls navigating social cliques. See AUTHORS, 2 Jeff Richmond — the composer of the stage musical, Fey’s creative partner and her husband — recalls, “We were espe- cially busy, working on ‘30 Rock.’ It laid in the back of our heads that if someone Ad Number: Insertion Number: Size: Color Type: was going to make it a musical, it’s going to be us.” IN TRAVEL Richmond says the couple come with theater backgrounds and just couldn’t resist the siren call of the stage. “We always wanted to follow our roots back to doing a theater piece,” says Richmond, who was also musical direc- tor for “SNL” and the composer of the movie score for the 2018 movie “Baby Mama,” which starred Fey and bestie Amy Poehler. Richmond met Fey met when she joined Chicago’s Second City improvisational company, where he was the musical director. CHANCE CHATS And yet Richmond adds that he was nervous about how to approach the ABOARD TRAIN music for “Mean Girls.” A2-day rail journey has its ups and “I didn’t want to write a musical full Adante Carter as Aaron Samuels and Danielle Wade as Cady Heron. of pop music, very contemporary music downs. For a frequent flyer taking that maybe kids would be listening to loved the movie obviously and, like any If you go her first Amtrak trip, her favorite today, but wouldn’t be listening to four woman with any sense, I love Tina Fey. part of the experience is getting to know her fellow travelers.11 years from now.” Where was the downside.I was such a “Mean Girls” runs March 3-15 at the The creative team signed on lyricist fan.” Broward Center, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Nell Benjamin, who did the score for Fort Lauderdale 03/01/2020 the stage version of “Legally Blonde” The book with her composer husband, Laurence Showtimes: 8 p.m. Tuesdays- O’Keefe. The show debuted on Broadway in Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays (and IN SOCIETY “I remember my first thought was, 2018, putting song to the story of high Wednesday, March. 11); 1 p.m. Sundays. ‘Please hire me,’ ” Benjamin says. “That school girls negotiating a take-no-pris- Tickets: $33 to $140. To order, call ■ Leaders honored at South Florida LGBT is absolutely what I thought. I think I oners game of social cliques. 954-462-0222 or go to Philanthropy Awards. 4 got the news from my agent, who had BrowardCenter.org. ■ Morikami Museum’s moonlit gala its heard a rumor about the musical. I See MUSICAL, 2 first in a decade. 5 SPRING BREAK GETAWAY. HIDEAWAY. PARTYWEEKEND PLAYAWAY! rwbimini.com Resorts WorldResident DJ Laz March 27 –29 Publication Date: This E-Sheet confirms that the ad appeared in Sun-Sentinel on date and page indicated. You may not create derivative works, or any way exploit repurpose content displayed contained electronic tearsheet. 2E | Sun Sentinel SunSentinel.com Sunday, March 1, 2020 BR cal. There are actual conse- MUSICAL quences for everyone, Continued from Page 1 which I think people gloss over sometimes.” Essentially the musical’s And there are little book mirrors the plot things, too, small moments. points of the movie, which No spoilers here, but Rich- was inspired by the 2002 mond hints, “Here’s some- nonfiction book “Queen thing that’s hilarious that Bees and Wannabes - Mean slips by: During [the act Girls” by Rosalind Wise- one song] ‘Apex Predator,’ man. watch Karen during the The story follows Cady, a animal transformation teenager who moves with moment. Priceless.” her zoologist parents from One of the big differenc- the wilds of Africa to subur- es between the movie and bia in the United States. the show is that social Cady has been home media has been added to schooled and is spectacu- the musical’s book, giving larly unprepared for the the work a whole new intrigue and maneuvering zeitgeist peg to hang from. of high school hierarchy. Of course the other big Cady does manage to change is that now the make friends with Janis characters have songs to and Damian, who explain externalize their inner to her that she should steer thoughts. clear of the Plastics, a trio of popular girls led by queen The music bee Regina, who rules over all the students with her Benjamin says, “The lieutenants, Gretchen, an great thing about lyrics is insecure suck-up, and you have a little more time Karen Smith, a stereotyp- to root around in the char- JOAN MARCUS ical dimwit. acter’s brains and their Mary Kate Morrissey as Janis Sarkisian and the company of the national tour of “Mean Girls,” which will play Fort Lau- After falling in with the thoughts and bring them to derdale’s Broward Center for the Performing Arts March 3-15. Plastics, Cady goes from the stage.” gathering intel for Janis, For example, the lead to give her language back. Damian. We tried alterna- right ballpark for that, [we] to us through these charac- who wants to destroy the character Cady is a “math- That’s a beautiful arc for a tive, dark, grungy, a rock just freshen that sound up, ters? clique, to emulating all lete,” something she hides lyricist.” anthem. Suddenly her voice dripping with sexy seduc- “The movie has this LIFE/E002/BR their worst traits (partially trying fit in with the Plas- For his part Richmond came alive.” tiveness. Everything is great message about not because of her pursuit of a tics and to get the attention says he had to find the right The queen bee Regina bigger. In Bond films, the being mean to one another. first-time boyfriend, of a boy. “She’s a great style and sound for each of took more time. villains are bigger.” But there is another layer Aaron). character for a lyricist,” the main characters. “I remember when we Benjamin says she was that is just saying, ‘Hey “Pay attention to what explains Benjamin. “She’s a “For Damian, he’s a high first started writing it I was mindful of the message. girls, don’t be mean.’ And happens to her,” points out smart young woman with school nerd. It didn’t feel thinking, ‘What is she going “I will say Tina and I, what it is about is relational Danielle Wade, who was in lots of vocabularies since right that he would be to sound like when we first having daughters around aggression.