Tuesday, March 02, 2010

The popular public radio series Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story comes to the UNCW stage on Friday, March 19 at 8 p.m. in Kenan Auditorium. The signature literary program of New York's Symphony Space, Selected Shorts offers some of the finest actors of the American theatre reading contemporary and classic short fiction. Acclaimed actors Russell Joel Brown, Patricia Kalember and David Rakoff will read three stories by Southern writers about life in the South.

This special presentation, presented by the UNCW Arts in Action Performance Series and the Department of Creative Writing's Katherine Buckner Lecture Series, will be taped for local broadcast on WHQR public radio. WHQR is the media sponsor for the event.

An Augusta, GA native, Russell Joel Brown will read The Appropriation of Cultures by Percival Everett. Brown has appeared in the first National Tours of Smokey Joe's Café, The Scarlett Pimpernel, and Disney's The Lion King. As a bass soloist at New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, he has sung at the state funerals of Dizzy Gillespie, Arthur Ashe, Cab Calloway, and Thurgood Marshall.

Patricia Kalember will bring to life Ambush by Donna Tartt. She was a series regular on television's thirtysomething, Kate O'Brien and Sisters. Her many films include Signs, Path to War and Jacob's Ladder. On Broadway, she was nominated for an Outer Critics Award for her performance in The Nerd. Off-Broadway credits include The Vagina Monologues and the original cast of The Foreigner.

David Rakoff is a frequent contributor to This American Life and is author of the books Don't Get Too Comfortable and Fraud. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Outside, GQ and Salon, among others. As an actor and director, he has worked with Amy and David Sedaris on the plays Stiches, One Woman Shoe, The Little Frieda Mysteries, and The Book of Liz, and can be seen in the films Capote and Strangers with Candy. A Selected Shorts regular, he will host the program and read Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor.

Now in its 30^th season, Selected Shorts is produced for radio by Symphony Space and WNYC, New York Public Radio. The award-winning program is heard locally on Sundays at 7 p.m. on WHQR Public Radio (91.3 FM).

BOX OFFICE AND TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets to this special presentation are free and seating is general admission. Call Kenan Box Office at 910.962.3500 or 800.732.3643 outside the Wilmington area or visit www.uncw.edu/presents. Box office hours are Noon to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and one hour prior to the event.

About Arts in Action Performance Series
The Arts in Action Performance Series seeks to culturally enrich, educate and entertain both students and the Wilmington community through the presentation of diverse programs featuring professional, high-quality performing artists. The series is supported by grants from the North Carolina Arts Council, a Division of the Department of Cultural Resources with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Southern Arts Federation in partnership with National Endowment for the Arts.

Media Contact: Shannon Hooker, 910.962.7600