Sunday, May 13, 2012

Emily Frankel Launches Website; Readings by John Cullum

Once celebrated as a modern dancer who dazzled audiences at New York’s Lincoln Center with a 70-minute, virtuoso performance of Mahler's "Fifth Symphony ," Emily Frankel continues to explore new life arenas and reinvent herself.

On stage and off -- as a dancer, choreographer, director, playwright (seven plays), and the writer of
the provocative daily blog, Em’s Talkery (www.emtalkery.blogspot.com) -- Emily Frankel has known success.

And now, as a novelist, she's fired a shot across the bow of the romantic novel genre with the publication of six dramatic, romantic, suspenseful works of fiction: "Circle of Ivy," "Heart City," "Karen of Troy," "Splintered Heart, "Three Miles East of Rose," and "Somebody: Woman of the Century."

The books, which feature strong, complex heroines who deal -- sometimes gracefully, sometimes not -- with the vagaries of life, from love and betrayal to ambition, loss, and redemption, have been published as e-books through Amazon.com, Smashwords.com and available on Overdrive.com, Barnes and Noble and other e-book outlets.

Adding even more flavor to the mix is renowned stage, television and film actor John Cullum -- who also happens to be Frankel's husband. In tandem with the books' release, Cullum has recorded dramatic readings from each of Emily’s books. The videos are available on the couple's Youtube channel, Airbroadcasting (www.youtube.com/airbroadcasting).

"Yes, there's sex in all of my six novels -- like spice -- enough to evoke a reader's interest," Frankel said. "But this sex is not meant to induce orgasms. It’s meant to advance the storyline and fill out my characters. I delve truthfully into all the stuff -- bad and good, sad, ugly, repulsive, and the courageous (because a lot of it is sexual). I don the disguises, some of them outlandish and not very comfortable, but always, as genuine as possible. I write from the spirit, soul, child dream that sent me into dancing. I know that my words -- when I write -- truly express what I'm feeling. My books offer readers a trip into someone else's life -- even though there is a lot of me in there.”

Frankel has known drama and adversity in her own life. A car crash left her almost dead, then threatened to steal away her gift and passion for dancing with a terrifying and permanent diagnosis of paraplegia. After an arduous recovery, doctors told her she would never walk again -- let alone dance! But surrender is not in Emily Frankel's DNA. With steely determination, she conquered her paralysis and lived -- not only to dance again, but to triumph! The crowning glory of her dance career was that breathtaking performance at LincolnCenter’s Alice Tully Hall.

Her story has been dramatically chronicled in Teague Jackson's “ENCORE: The Professional and Private Triumph of Emily Frankel."

Emily Frankel's daily blog, "Em's Talkery" offers her candid and frank take on what's happening in the world today -- from politics and pop culture to art and entertainment.

Together, each week, Frankel and Cullum record a videocast from their home in New York City.
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Gracewell Prodiuctions

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

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All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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