It’s not exactly monstrous, but the new One Book, One College initiative by Indian River State College is big enough to warrant its own geographic designation: FrankenZone. For the month of October, they’re hoping to get the college’s student body and faculty at all five campuses – plus the interested public — reading Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s “Frankenstein.” Faculty members will be lecturing on the quintessential horror story from the perspective of their various disciplines.
On the Vero campus, the festival kicks off with a talk by barrier island author Arthur Doweyko. Retired from the labs of pharmaceutical research, now a part-time professor of chemistry, Doweyko has been cranking out his own science fiction and done very well for his efforts; both “Algorithm” and “Angela’s Apple” have won Royal Palm awards from the Florida Writers Association.
Doweyko will be speaking on the science in Shelley’s novel Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in Room D-142.
Then at the end of the month, the college’s theater department will stage “Frankenstein” by Victor Gialanella, the monstrously expensive Broadway production that opened and closed on the same day back in 1981. No chance of that happening here: the play is slated for Oct. 23 and 24 at IRSC’s McAlpin Theatre in Fort Pierce.
And the 1931 film version with Boris Karloff as Dr. F’s monster screens on the Vero campus Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. with a discussion following. One topic that ought to be discussed is the fact that Mary Shelley is listed in the credits as “Mrs. Percy Shelley.” Gather ‘round children, to learn the full irony in that: Mary Shelley’s mother Mary Wollstonecraft was a renowned 18th century radical feminist whose essay “A Vindication of the Rights of Women,” spoke to the same issue Malala Yousafzai (and hopefully IRSC) address today: education is the key to women’s equality. (For a real horror story, read Wollstonecraft’s story retold by Frances Sherwood in the 1994 novel “Vindication,” so vivid you can smell it.)
IRSC’s laudable literary initiative was launched by the campus libraries, which includes a sadly under-utilized branch at the Vero campus (behind Home Depot). The Brackett library is not just IRSC’s; it’s part of our public library system. And here I hope to zap county administrator Joe Baird to life, since he promised me he’d put better signage up three years ago.
Ellen Fischer has a knack for bringing photos to life not in a lab but on canvas. In conjunction with her oil portrait show at the Center for Spiritual Care this month, she’s offering a one-day seminar in pencil sketching Saturday. A long-time instructor and former curator at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, Fischer, who also writes for this newspaper, suggests the class is “for non-professionals” working from photographs or paintings.
Participants are to bring along an 8 by 10 inch sketchbook, an eraser and a pencil. The class from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. costs $15. The Center for Spiritual Care, two blocks north of the public library downtown, has all kinds of interesting offerings and of late has become a gallery to a number of top local artists. Call 567-1233 to sign up for the class.
If the street-heavy shift in “So You Think You Can Dance” gave you the willies this season, you may need a dose of the original wilis – the ghosts of jilted maidens who lure young men to dance to their deaths. That’s the theme in the classic story ballet, “Giselle,” and Sunday, the Majestic 11 Theatre will be one of 450 movie houses across the U.S. to screen the live capture of the Bolshoi Ballet’s performance in Moscow.
Luring people to ballet is the goal of the founders of Ballet Vero Beach. Artistic director Adam Schnell and ballet master Camilo Rodriguez will be giving short talks ten minutes before the Sunday 12:55 p.m. screenings of all the Bolshoi performances at 12:55 p.m. (The Majestic will repeat the ballets on Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m.)
Majestic is also offering season tickets at a price that breaks out to one ticket free (they’re only $20 anyway.) And if you care about exactly which seat you want, you can book that, too.
The rest of the season includes Balanchine’s “Jewels” in November; John Neumeier’s “The Lady of the Camellias” in December as well as “The Nutcracker” right before Christmas; in January, a new production of “Taming of the Shrew” created for the Bolshoi; Grigorovich’s signature “Spartacus” in February; and wrapping up with “Don Quixote” in April.
AMC-24’s Fathom Events is also transmitting the ballets, but at press time, there was no mention on the mall cinema’s website on whether the Vero location is participating.
Space Coast Symphony has 19th century dance in mind as it presents a concert of piano four hands Sunday afternoon at Our Savior Lutheran Church. The Bortolin Piano Duo consisting of sisters Roberta Bortolin and Tiziana Bortolin Vigini, share one keyboard for the chamber works of J. Strauss, Verdi and Brahms, among others. The concert is at 3 p.m. Sunday; the church is at 1850 Sixth Avenue in Vero.
Vero may have had its fill of “Memphis” with Riverside Theatre’s production last spring, but the musical is playing at Melbourne’s Henegar Center this month. If anyone is curious to know just how good the community theater can be when it’s staging something more mainstream than the fabulous “Cry-baby,” this would be a good way to find out. “Cry-baby” was last spring’s community theater premier of the Broadway musical adaption of John Waters’ movie. And everyone I know who saw it thought it was ridiculously good. “Memphis” runs through Oct. 18.