Index (and links to less active productions at bottom of the index page)  
Abe Lincoln in the 21st Century  |  Coming Together Coming Apart  |  To Kill a Mockingbird  |  The Dickens!  
Fred and Adele Astaire: The Last Dance  |  Mark Twain: Telling Tales  |  The Belle of Amherst  |  Fahrenheit 451 
Study in Scarlet
  |  Joy Comes in the Morning  |  Wait Till Next Year


 

David Houston's Literary Entertainments

 Contact: David Houston

(516) 293-2638 / DH@davidhouston.net
700 Fulton Street, M-1, Farmingdale, NY 11735

   


2009 PERFORMANCE DATES, ALL SHOWS 

 

Saturday, January 24, 2:00 p.m.: MARK TWAIN: TELLING TALES — Middle Country Public Library, Selden

Sunday, January 25, 2:00 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — West Islip Public Library

Friday, January 30, noon: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — Port Washington Public Library

Tuesday, February 3, 2:00 p.m.: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD — Jericho Public Library

Saturday, February 7, 7:00 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — The Montauk Library

Sunday, February 8, 3:00 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — The Huntington Public Library

Tuesday, February 10, 7:00 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — The Hicksville Public Library

Wednesday, February 11, 1:00 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — Manhasset Public Library 

Wednesday, February 11, 7:30 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — Emma Clarke Memorial Library, Setauket

Thursday, February 12, 2:30 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — Freeport Memorial Library

Sunday, February 15, 2:00 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — Half Hollow Hills Community Library, Dix Hills

Wednesday, February 18, 8:00  p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — Towers Country Club (tentative)

Thursday, February 19, 7:00 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — Franklin Square Public Library

Saturday, February 21, 2:30 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — Queens Public Library, Forest Hills

Friday, February 27, 7:00 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — Hillside Public Library, New Hyde Park

Saturday, March 21, 2:00 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — Mineola Memorial Library

Friday, April 3, 2:30 p.m.: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — Half Hollow Hills Community Library

Monday, April 6, 7:00 p.m.: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — Middle Country Public Library, Centereach

Tuesday, April 7, 2:00 p.m.: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — Jericho Public Library

Wednesday, April 8, 1:00 p.m.: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — Manhasset Public Library

Tuesday, April 14, 12:30 p.m.: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — East Meadow Public Library

Tuesday, April 14, 7:00 p.m.: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — Babylon Public Library 

Wednesday, April 15, 7:00 pm : WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — Port Jefferson Free Library

Saturday, April 18, 2:00 p.m.: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — North Shore Public Library

Sunday, April 19, 2:00 p.m.: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — Longwood Public Library

Tuesday, April 21, 7:00 p.m.: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — West Islip Public Library

Friday, April 24, noon: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — Port Washington Public Library

Saturday, April 25, 2:00 p.m.: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — John Jermain Memorial Library, Sag Harbor

Monday, April 27, 2:00 p.m.: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — Elmont Public Library

Tuesday, April 28, 1:00 p.m.: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — Hewlett Woodmere Public Library

Thursday, April 30, 2:30 p.m.: WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — West Babylon Public Library

Wednesday, May 6, noon:  WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR — The Rogers Memorial Library, Southampton

Friday, September 25, noon: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD — Port Washington Public Library

2008 PERFORMANCE DATES, ALL SHOWS

Monday, January 14, 2:00 p.m.: JOY COMES IN THE MORNING — Jericho Public Library

Thursday, January 17, 1:00 p.m.: JOY COMES IN THE MORNING — The Bryant Library, Roslyn

Saturday, January 19, 7:00 p.m. FRED AND ADELE ASTAIRE: THE LAST DANCE — South Huntington Public Library

Saturday, January 26, 2:00 p.m.: FRED AND ADELE ASTAIRE: THE LAST DANCE — West Babylon Public Library

Thursday, February 7, 11:00 a.m., THE COLOR OF WATER — NY State University, Farmingdale

Friday, February 15, noon: JOY COMES IN THE MORNING — Port Washington Public Library

Wednesday, March 19, 1:30 p.m.: THE DICKENS! THREE STORIES — Floral Park Women's Club

Saturday, March 29, 3:30 p.m.: THE BELLE OF AMHERST — California University, Pittsburgh

Wednesday, April 2, 7:00 p.m.: ALOFT — Patchogue-Medford Library

Wednesday, April 2, 10:30 a.m.: JOY COMES IN THE MORNING — Woorbury Jewish Center

Thursday, April 3, 1:00 p.m.: ALOFT — Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library

Sunday, April 6, 2:00 p.m.: ALOFT — Bellmore Public Library

Monday April 7, 7:00 p.m.: ALOFT — Middle Country Public Library, Centereach

Tuesday, April 8, 1:00 p.m.: ALOFT — Manhasset Public Library

Wednesday, April 9, 2:30 p.m.: ALOFT — Half Hollow Hills Community Library, Dix Hills

Thursday, April 10, 11:00 a.m.: ALOFT — Shelter Rock Public Library

Friday, April 11, noon.: ALOFT — Port Washington Public Library

Saturday, April 12, 2:00 p.m.: ALOFT — North Shore Public Library, Shoreham

Sunday, April 13, 2:00 p.m.: ALOFT — The Oceanside Library

Monday, April 14, 2:00: ALOFT — Elmont Public Library

Tuesday, April 15, 12:30 p.m.: ALOFT — East Meadow Public Library

Wednesday, April 16, 2:00 p.m.: ALOFT — Jericho Public Library

Sunday, April 20, 2:00 p.m.: ALOFT — Massapequa Public Library, Massapequa Park

Monday, April 21, 7:00 p.m.: GREAT SCOTT & ZELDA — Rogers Memorial Library, Southampton

Thursday, April 24, 2:30 p.m.: ALOFT — West Babylon Public Library

Friday, April 25, 2:30 p.m.: ALOFT — Freeport Memorial Library

Sunday, April 27, 2:00 p.m.: ALOFT — Glen Cove Public Library

Monday, April 28, 2:00 p.m.: ALOFT — Long Beach Public Library

Friday, May 2: FAHRENHEIT 451 — Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School, Matawan New Jersey

Sunday, May 4, 2:00 p.m.: JOY COMES IN THE MORNING — Workman's Circle at Nassau Cultural Center, East Meadow

Saturday, May 17, 2:00 p.m.: FRED AND ADELE ASTAIRE: THE LAST DANCE — The Bryant Library, Roslyn

Sunday, May 18, 2:00 p.m.: LET'S DO IT! — North Merrick Public Library

Wednesday, May 21, 7:30 p.m.: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD — Freeport Memorial Library

Saturday, June 7, 2:00 p.m.: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD — John Jermain Memorial Library, Sag Harbor

Monday, July 28, 12:30 p.m.: MARK TWAIN: TELLING TALES — East Meadow Public Library

Tuesday, July 29, 8:30 p.m.: JOY COMES IN THE MORNING — Workman's Circle at Circle Lodge, Hopewell Junction, NY

Thursday, August 21, 4:00 p.m.: MURDER AND MADNESS AND POE — Middle Country Public Library, Centereach

Saturday, September 27, 7:00 p.m.: FRED AND ADELE ASTAIRE: THE LAST DANCE — The Montauk Library

Sunday, September 21, 2:00 p.m.: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD — Longwood Public Library

Sunday, October 19, 4:00 p.m.: STUDY IN SCARLET — Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay

Friday, October 31, 2:00 p.m.: STUDY IN SCARLET — Jericho Public Library, Roslyn

Tuesday, November 4, 2:00 p.m. ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — Jericho Public Library, Roslyn

Saturday, November 8, 2:00 p.m. ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — John Jermain Memorial Library, Sag Harbor

Sunday, November 9, 2:00 p.m.: FRED AND ADELE ASTAIRE: THE LAST DANCE — The Riverhead Free Library

Friday, November 21, 8:00 p.m.: GREAT SCOTT AND ZELDA — Port Washington Public Library

Sunday, November 23, 2:30: THE DICKENS! THREE STORIES — South Huntington Public Library

Wednesday, December 3, 1:30 p.m.: THE DICKENS! THE CHIMES — Glen Cove Senior Center

Saturday, December 6, 11:00 to 1:00, THE DICKENS! FOUR STORIES (2 hrs) —  Port Jefferson Free Library

Sunday, December 7, 7:00 p.m.: FRED AND ADELE ASTAIRE: THE LAST DANCE — The Farmingdale Library

Wednesday, December 10, 6:00 p.m.: THE DICKENS! THE CHIMES and SKIES AND NANCY — LI University, Brooklyn 

Saturday, December 13, 7:00 p.m.: THE DICKENS! A CHRISTMAS CAROL — Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay

 

Literary Entertainments

David Houston's series of small-scale theatrical productions, on themes of history and literature, got its start in 2000 when he portrayed Charles Dickens, circa 1867, at a New York theatre and gathered impressive reviews. In 2001 he toured THE DICKENS! to Long Island libraries, where interest in additional plays was expressed. Houston—an accomplished writer and experienced actor—jumped at the opportunity. He wrote, produced and directed GREAT SCOTT AND ZELDA, with Melanie Lipton and Steve Corbellini, which toured libraries during the 2002 “Long Island Reads” celebration of THE GREAT GATSBY.  Since then he has added other original plays to the repertoire: LILLIE ALONE, a one-woman tour-de-force starring Mary Ellin Kurtz as Lillie Langtry backstage in 1900 as she prepares lies to tell an interviewer and presents monologues from her classic stage successes; MARK TWAIN TELLING TALES, in which Houston, as the elderly Twain, gives a lecture on humor and wit, derived from Twain essays and stories; MURDER AND MADNESS AND POE, starring Rick Heuthe as Edgar Allan Poe attempting to secure a lucrative lecture tour in 1848, quoting and reading poetry and stories in the process; LET'S DO IT!, developed at the request of the Port Washington Library, a one-act musical in which Noel Coward (Houston) and Cole Porter (Heuthe) test material for Coward’s cabaret debut in Las Vegas, ending with Coward's outrageous lyrics for Porter's "Let's Do It"; JAZZ BABY JOAN, with Melanie Lipton as Joan Crawford in 1934 defending her career and reliving her childhood, based on Houston's Crawford biography Jazz Baby (St. Martin's Press); THE GHOST OF DOROTHY PARKER with actress Diana Heinlein as the famed Algonquin Round Table wit trying to make sense of her turbulent life through her poetry and stories; WALT WHITMAN, TO BEGIN WITH in which Houston impersonates Whitman and his critics; FRED AND ADELE ASTAIRE: THE LAST DANCE, starring Melanie Lipton and Steve Corbellini, in which, backstage in 1932, Fred and Adele reminisce in song and dance as she leaves their famous act for good; and new editions of THE DICKENS! featuring "A Christmas Carol" and “The Chimes.” In addition to original plays, Houston's group currently presents Melanie Lipton as Emily Dickinson in William Luce's Broadway play THE BELLE OF AMHERST; Houston in a reading of the first Sherlock Holmes novel STUDY IN SCARLET; Houston in readings of three short stories of ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER; a three-actor "radio style" dramatization of Ray Bradbury's FAHRENHEIT 451 with Houston, Lipton and Matt Stashin, a reading from JOY COMES IN THE MORNING with Houston and and Gail Merzer Behrens, and a dramatic reading of The Trial of Tom Robinson from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, with Houston and Diana Heinlein.  For Long Island Reads in past years, Houston has provided "dramatic readings in the form of radio drama" in 2003 HOW THE GARCIA GIRLS LOST THEIR ACCENTS, with Houston and Lipton; 2004 SNOW IN AUGUST with Houston and Stashin; 2005 Houston ’s solo reading from Steinbeck’s TRAVELS WITH CHARLIE; 2006 Houston’s solo reading from Mark Mills’s AMAGANSETT; 2007 from James McBride's THE COLOR OF WATER with Houston and Debbie Starker; and for 2008 a solo reading from Chang-rae Lee's ALOFT.

[Wait Till Next Year 46, Lincoln 43, Mockingbird, 42, Coming Together 45, Fred and Adele Astaire 36, Let's Do It! 24, Poe 18, Scott and Zelda 9, Belle 19, Joy 40, Dickens 4, Scarlet 23, 451 27, Twain 12]

Index (and links to less active productions at bottom of the index page)  
Abe Lincoln in the 21st Century  |  Coming Together Coming Apart  |  To Kill a Mockingbird  |  The Dickens!  
Fred and Adele Astaire: The Last Dance  |  Mark Twain: Telling Tales  |  The Belle of Amherst  |  Fahrenheit 451 
Study in Scarlet
  |  Joy Comes in the Morning