Mara Davi, Rory O'Malley, Susan Blackwell, Christine Pedi Set for Reading of ...

The Project Shaw series will continue July 18 with a reading of George Bernard Shaw's Fanny's First Play.

The reading at the Players Club in Manhattan will feature the talents of host Gordon Cox, narrator Peter Filichia, Bradford Cover, John Martello, Daniel Davis, Mara Davi, Michael Feingold, Adam Feldman, Patrick Pacheco, Flawner Bannal, Jason Zinoman, Hal Robinson, Rory O’Malley, Susan Blackwell, Amy Rutberg, Christine Pedi, Jack Gilpin and Marc Vietor. Show time is 7 PM.

David Staller, the acclaimed singer-actor who has produced and directed all of the Project Shaw offerings, will continue to do so for the upcoming reading.

"A satire of theater critics, whose characters were based upon Shaw's own detractors, it features a play within a play," according to press notes for Fanny's First Play. "Originally, Shaw had the play produced without letting anyone know who actually wrote it. Ironically, this rarely seen 1911 play was Shaw’s first real commercial success, which he finally admitted to writing. The plot involves the daughter of a man who refuses to live in the present. She writes an incendiary play, anonymously, and invites a group of critics to review it." For this performance, the four critics in the play will be portrayed by four New York theatre critics.

Past participants include Blair Brown, Mark Kudisch, Kerry Butler, Tyne Daly, Jonathan Hadary, Daniel Jenkins, Rebecca Luker, Michael Cerveris, Karen Ziemba, Michele Pawk, Bruce Vilanch, Jack Gilpin and George S. Irving.

The Players Club is located in Manhattan at 16 Gramercy Park South. Tickets, priced $25, will be available beginning July 1 by calling (212) 352-3101. For more information visit www.projectshaw.com.

Literary Escapism » Dear Christine Feehan…

At the top of my list for a multitude of reasons: the lush, detailed, vibrant worlds you create; the depth of the emotions every character feels; the intense battle scenes that keep readers on the edges of their seats; and the love that practically drips off of every page.

I have to say that I was way too young when I had my first introduction to the Dark Carpathian world via Dark Hunger , but you hooked me from the very first sentence and I devoured every other book and novella you had already published. Then I would sit on pins and needles waiting for your next book to be released (often times rereading your books to help make the wait more bearable).