LOCAL Houston | The City Guide April 2018 | Page 40

FOOD | ARTS | COMMUNITY | STYLE+LEISURE
GISH
AT THE
THE BOOK REPORT
MOVIES “CLEO” EXPLORES THE EXPLOSIVE
LOVE AFFAIR DURING “CLEOPATRA”
AS READERS, OUR DEEPEST CONNECTIONS WITH BOOKS ARE OFTEN WITH THE ONES WE READ AS CHILDREN. THE CLASSICS, LIKE A WRINKLE
IN TIME OR DR. SEUSS’S WORKS, ARE ALWAYS WITH US, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CONTEMPORARY GEMS? HERE, JOY PREBLE RECOMMENDS
SOME GREAT NEW BOOKS THAT WILL BECOME THE CLASSICS OF THE FUTURE.
Joy Preble is the Children’s Specialist at Brazos Bookstore. She also teaches creative writing at Writespace Houston
and is the author of numerous books for young adults, including Finding Paris and It Wasn’t Always Like This.
The scandalous romance between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor
seems almost quaint today, in our world full of paparazzi, infidelity and dra-
matic entanglements. But in 1963, the love affair between the two stars of
the blockbuster film “Cleopatra” was global news and is credited with ush-
ering in the age of “tabloid celebrity.” Their love was full of ups and downs
but had a timeless quality – Burton wrote a final love letter to Taylor that
she received after returning home from his funeral. Audiences loved their
on-screen chemistry and have been fascinated with their off-screen drama
for decades. Both actors were married at the time their relationship ignited
on the film set and their affair brought condemnation from the Vatican and
the United States Congress.
The Alley Theatre (www.AlleyTheatre.org) is presenting the world premiere
of “Cleo” from April 6–29. Set during the filming of “Cleopatra,” it is the
story of the affair between Taylor and Burton and the worldwide scandal
that followed. “Cleo” playwright Lawrence Wright is a Texas-based author,
screenwriter and playwright; and the director is nationally renowned
actor, author, producer and director Bob Balaban. New York-based Lisa
Birnbaum is Elizabeth Taylor and Los Angeles-based actor Richard Short
will be Richard Burton.
“Cleopatra” was one of the most expensive films ever made (it cost $334
million when adjusting for inflation) and even though it was the highest
grossing movie of 1963, it was considered a bomb because of the cost,
which almost bankrupted 20th Century Fox. The film was a massive under-
taking; there were 26,000 costumes (with 65 costume changes for Taylor!)
and 79 sets. True to the style of the film, the Alley production also features
lavish sets and costumes as the story goes behind the scenes of the film
and explores what sparked the sexual revolution in Rome in 1963. It will
certainly be delicious to see!
By Sarah Gish | www.gishcreative.com
WANT TO SEE MORE ART FILMS?
CHECK OUT THESE VENUES
14 Pews (www.14pews.org)
Alamo Drafthouse (www.drafthouse.com)
Asia Society (www.asiasociety.org/texas)
Aurora Picture Show (www.aurorapictureshow.org)
Blaffer Art Museum (www.blafferartmuseum.org)
Café Brasil (www.brasilcafehouston.com)
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L O C A L | 4 . 2018
Contemporary Arts Museum (www.camh.org)
Discovery Green (www.discoverygreen.com)
DiverseWorks (www.diverseworks.org)
Holocaust Museum (www.hmh.org)
Jewish Community Center (www.erjcchouston.org)
Landmark River Oaks Theatre (www.landmarktheatres.com)
Menil Collection (www.menil.org)
Miller Outdoor Theatre (www.milleroutdoortheatre.com)
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (www.mfah.org/films)
Orange Show (www.orangeshow.org)
Rice Cinema (www.ricecinema.rice.edu)
Looking for a great read-
aloud picture book? Then try
the very charming My Pet
Wants a Pet (Henry Holt
& Company) by New York
Times bestselling author Elise
Broach, about the humorous
chaos that occurs when a lit-
tle boy gets a dog and then
decides that the dog also
needs a pet.
Moxie (Roaring Brook
Press), by Houston’s own
Jennifer Mathieu, is a joyful
and uplifting novel in which
sixteen-year-old Vivian anon-
ymously protests the sexism
in her small Texas town high
school and ends up starting a
feminist revolution.
Prefer a little gentle magic? Houston’s own
Anna Meriano’s debut novel, Love Sugar
Magic (Walden Pond Press), will fill the bill.
Leonora hopes that this year will be the year
her parents let her help out at the family bak-
ery. When she discovers that her mother, aunt
and four older sisters are actually brujas and
that the extra ingredient in all the baked good
is a little magic, everything gets a bit hectic. A
sweet, warm-hearted and magical read!
On the hunt for a new mid-
dle-grade or chapter book
destined to become a new
classic? Check out Houston
author
Crystal
Allen’s
Magnificent Mya Tibbs
series (Balzer and Bray).
Books one and two are in
paperback now, and the third
installment arrives in October.
Wordy Birdy, by award-winning
author Tammi Sauer (Doubleday Books
for Young Readers), will also tickle your
funny bones while emphasizing the need
to pay attention. It’s the adorable story of
a bird who loves to talk but not to listen
and the crazy shenanigans that result.
In the Young Adult category, a must-read
that’s getting lots of well-deserved buzz and
accolades is The Hate U Give by Angie
Thomas (Balzer and Bray). Long-listed for
the National Book Award, this ripped-from-
the-headlines debut novel is the story of Starr
Carter, whose tenuous balance between her
poor neighborhood and her elite private
school is upended when she’s witness to a
police shooting of an old friend. Powerful
and raw.
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