Home Page  |  All Dates Times and Places Scripts for Sale  | Great Scott, and Zelda
The Lost Wife  |  Abe Lincoln in the 21st Century  |  To Kill a Mockingbird  |  The Dickens! 
Mark Twain: Telling Tales  |  The Belle of Amherst  |  Fahrenheit 451   |  Christie Mysteries

O. Henry's Hundred Years and O. Henry's Christmas Gift  |  Study in Scarlet
Ben Franklin for All Seasons  |  A Rodgers and Hart Audition
  |  Like Cats and Dogs


 

David Houston's Literary Entertainments

 Contact: David Houston

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

 

Theatrical Resume  /  Communications Services Resume

   

New One-Hour Programs

« "Like Cats and Dogs!" A humorous dramatized reading in the style of radio plays,
based on "studies" of the innermost thoughts, hopes and hates of our pets—from Thurber's
"Pet Department," Eliot's "Practical Cats," Marquis's "Mehitabel"
—and revelations from
such recent epistles as "Cat-echisms," "How to Raise a Jewish Dog," and "I Could
Pee on This, and Other Poems by Cats." [Pet Month is April 7 - May 7]
David reads with Debbie Starker or Diana Heinlein (alternating)

« "A Rogers and Hart Audition" David Houston and Rick Heuthe as Rodgers and
Hart, with Melanie Lipton, Stephen Corbellini and Diana Heinlein playing fifteen
famous personalities of the 30s and 40s (Gene Kelly, Mae West, Tallulah Bankhead,
Hopalong Cassidy, Irving Berlin, and Eleanor Roosevelt are some of them), as
 they come to audition for a benefit for Britain and sing 19 timeless
 tunes from the great composer-lyricist team.
     

«"The Lost Wife" Prepared for Long Island Reads 2012 and still available. For Jewish
Holidays, Holocaust Remembrances, etc., Gail Merzer Behrens and
David Houston
present a performance reading in the style of radio drama from Alyson Richman's
absorbing love story that explores the resilience of the human spirit
—from
glamorous Prague before the occupation to the horrors of Nazi Europe
 and ultimately to a promise of new life in America. With
music sentimental and frightening from the
film scores of Bernard Herrmann.

2013 PERFORMANCE DATES, ALL SHOWS

 

Saturday, January 5, 7:00 p.m.: A RODGERS AND HART AUDITION — South Huntington Public Library 

Wednesday, February 13, 3:00 p.m.: THE LOST WIFE — JASA (Jewish Association Serving the Aging), Long Beach

Sunday, February 24, 2:00 p.m.: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES — North Babylon Public Library

Wednesday, February 27, 2:00 p.m.: LIKE CATS AND DOGS! — Jericho Public Library

Friday, March 8, 2:00 p.m.: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES — Syosset Public Library

Friday, April 5, 7:30 p.m.: LIKE CATS AND DOGS! — Manhasset Public Library

Tuesday, April 9, 2:00 p.m.: SUTTON — Hicksville Public Library

Tuesday, April 9, 7:30 p.m.: SUTTON — Port Washington Public Library

Wednesday, April 10, 2:00 p.m.: SUTTON — Jericho Public Library
Thursday, April 11, 2:00 p.m.: LIKE CATS AND DOGS! — Garden City Public Library

Sunday, April 14, 1:00 p.m.: LIKE CATS AND DOGS! — Brookhaven Free Library

Monday, April 15, 12:30 p.m.: SUTTON — East Meadow Public Library

Tuesday, April 16, 10:30 a.m.: SUTTON — Franklin Square Public Library

Wednesday, April 17, 2:00 p.m.: SUTTON — Freeport Memorial Library

Wednesday, April 17, 7:00 p.m.: SUTTON — Lynbrook Public Library

Thursday, April 18, 1:00 p.m.: SUTTON — Hewlett Woodmere Public Library

Friday, April 19, 3:00 p.m.: SUTTON — Seaford Public Library

Friday, April 19, 7:30 p.m.: SUTTON — Manhasset Public Library

Monday, April 22, 2:00 p.m.: SUTTON — Elmont Public Library

Wednesday, April 24, 2:00 p.m.: SUTTON — Long Beach Public Library

Thursday, April 25, 2:30 p.m.: SUTTON — West Babylon Public Library

Sunday, April 28, 2:00 p.m.: LIKE CATS AND DOGS! — Longwood Public Library, Middle Island

Wednesday, May 1, 1:30 p.m.: A RODGERS AND HART AUDITION — Community Club Garden City, Hempstead

Wednesday, May 15, 7:00 p.m..: LIKE CATS AND DOGS! — Sachem Public Library

Sunday, May 19, 2:00 p.m.: A RODGERS AND HART AUDITION — North Merrick Public Library

Saturday, June 15, 7:00 p.m.: LIKE CATS AND DOGS! — The Montauk Library

Tuesday, July 30, 7:00 p.m.: THE LOST WIFE — South Huntington Public Library

Friday, August 2, 12:10 p.m.: LIKE CATS AND DOGS! — Port Washington Public Library

Thursday, September 26, 2:00 p.m.: A RODGERS AND HART AUDITION — Garden City Public Library

Friday, October 4, 12:45, p.m.: LIKE CATS AND DOGS! — Institute for Learning in Retirement, SUNY Farmingdale


2012
PERFORMANCE DATES, ALL SHOWS

 

Wednesday, February 1, 1:30 p.m.: MARK TWAIN: TELLING TALES — Community Club Garden City, Hempstead

Friday, February 3, 12:15 p.m.: A BEN FRANKLIN FOR ALL SEASONS — Port Washington Public Library

Monday, February 6, 2:00 p.m.: A BEN FRANKLIN FOR ALL SEASONS — Jericho Public Library

Tuesday, April 10, 2:00 p.m.: THE LOST WIFE — Jericho Public Library

Friday, April 13, 2:00 p.m..: THE LOST WIFE — Seaford Public Library

Sunday, April 15, 2:00 p.m.: THE LOST WIFE — Hicksville Public Library

Tuesday, April 17, 12:30 p.m..: THE LOST WIFE — East Meadow Public Library

Wednesday, April 18, 2:00 p.m. THE LOST WIFE — Long Beach Public Library 

Wednesday, April 18, 7:00 p.m.: THE LOST WIFE — Manhasset Public Library

Thursday, April 19, 1:00 p.m.: THE LOST WIFE — Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library

Monday,April 23, 2:00 p.m.:THE LOST WIFE — Elmont Public Library

Thursday, April 26, 2:30 p.m.:THE LOST WIFE — West Babylon Public Library

Wednesday, June 27, 2:00 p.m.: A RODGERS AND HART AUDITION — Jericho Public Library

Friday, June 29, 7:00 p.m.: A RODGERS AND HART AUDITION — North Shore Public Library, Shoreham

Saturday, July 14, 2:00 p.m.: THE DICKENS (THREE STORIES) — Mineola Public Library

Wednesday, July 18, 2:00 p.m.: A RODGERS AND HART AUDITION — Elmont Library

Friday, July 20, 12;15 p.m.: GOLF IN THE YEAR 2000 — Port Washington Public Library

Sunday, September 9, 2:00 p.m.: A RODGERS AND HART AUDITION — Longwood Public Library, Middle Island

Friday, October 12, 7:30 p.m.: A RODGERS AND HART AUDITION — East Meadow Public Library

Sunday, October 28, 2:00 p.m.: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES: ON THE CASE — Riverhead Free Library

Wednesday, October 31, 11:15 a.m.: A BEN FRANKLIN FOR ALL SEASONS — Molloy Lifetime Learning, Farmingdale

Sunday, November 4, 2:00 p.m.: A RODGERS AND HART AUDITION — Bethpage Public Library, Middle Island

Thursday, November 15, 2:00 p.m.: LIKE CATS AND DOGS! — Oceanside Library

Sunday, December 2, 2:00 p.m.: A RODGERS AND HART AUDITION — Hicksville Public Library

Friday, December 14, 12:15 p.m.: A RODGERS AND HART AUDITION — Port Washington Public Library

Friday, December 21, 12:30 p.m.: THE DICKENS (THE CHIMES) — Elmont Public Library
  

2011 PERFORMANCE DATES, ALL SHOWS

      

Sunday, January 30, 2:00 p.m.: ON THE CASE: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES — New City Library, New City, NY

Sunday, February 13, 2:30 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — South Huntington Public Library

Tuesday, March 1, 1:30 p.m.: THE BELLE OF AMHERST— Women's Club of Douglaston

Wednesday, March 9, 7:00 p.m.: A BEN FRANKLIN FOR ALL SEASONS — Middle Country Public Library, Centereach

Wednesday, March 23, 2:00 p.m.: ON THE CASE: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES — Oceanside Library

Saturday, April 2, 7:00 p.m.: THE BELLE OF AMHERST— Montauk Library

Sunday, April 3, 1:30 p.m.:SAG HARBOR — Brookhaven Free Library

Monday, April 4, 12:30 p.m.: SAG HARBOR — East Meadow Public Library

Monday, April 4, 7:00 p.m.: SAG HARBOR — Islip Public Library

Tuesday, April 5, 7:00 p.m.: SAG HARBOR — Plainedge Public Library, Massapequa

Wednesday, April 6, 2:00 p.m.: SAG HARBOR — Long Beach Public Library

Monday, April 11, 3:00 p.m.: SAG HARBOR — Freeport Memorial Library

Tuesday, April 12, 2:00 p.m.: SAG HARBOR — Oceanside Library

Thursday, April 14, 2:00 p.m.: SAG HARBOR — Garden City Public Library

Thursday, April 14, 7:00 p.m.: SAG HARBOR — Manhasset Public Library

Friday, April 15, 10:30 a.m.: SAG HARBOR — Franklin Square Public Library

Friday, April 15, 2:00 p.m.: SAG HARBOR — Jericho Public Library

Sunday, April 17, 2:00 p.m.: SAG HARBOR — Longwood Public Library

Thursday, April 21, 1:00 p.m.: SAG HARBOR — Hewlett Woodmere Public Library

Monday, April 25, 2:00 p.m.: SAG HARBOR — Elmont Public Library

Thursday, April 28, 2:30 p.m.: SAG HARBOR — West Babylon Public Library

Wednesday, May 11, noon: ON THE CASE: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES — Rogers Memorial Library, Southampton

Monday, May 16, 7:00 p.m.: A BEN FRANKLIN FOR ALL SEASONS — Mt. Olive Public Library, Flanders, NJ

Thursday, June 23, 1:00 p.m.: ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY — Hempstead Senior Services, Merrick

Monday, August 1, 2:00 p.m.: ON THE CASE: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES — Jericho Public Library

Sunday, August 7, 2:30 p.m.: MARK TWAIN: TELLING TALES — Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay

Friday, September 16, noon: ON THE CASE: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES — Port Washington Public Library

Sunday, September 18, 2:00 p.m.: ON THE CASE: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES — Longwood Public Library

Saturday, October 15, 2:00 p.m.: ON THE CASE: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES — Hicksville Public Library

Wednesday, October 19, 7:00 p.m.: ON THE CASE: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES — Franklin Township Public Library, NJ

Thursday, October 20, 6:00 p.m.: ON THE CASE: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES — Douglaston, Queens Library

Saturday, October 22, 1:00 p.m.: MURDER AND MADNESS AND POE — Huntington Library, Station Branch

Thursday, October 27, 2:99 p.m.: ON THE CASE: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES — Garden City Public Library

Monday, October 31, 1:00 p.m.: ON THE CASE: CHRISTIE MYSTERIES — East Meadow Public Library

Saturday, November 5, 2:00 p.m.: A BEN FRANKLIN FOR ALL SEASONS — Seaford Public Library.

Sunday, December 4, 4:00 p.m.: THE DICKENS! "A Christmas Carol" — Peconic Landing, Greenport

Wednesday, December 7, 2:00 p.m.: A RODGERS & HART AUDITION — Oceanside Library

Wednesday, December 14, 11:00 a.m.: O. HENRY'S CHRISTMAS GIFT — Shelter Rock Public Library


 

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 (Rick 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 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; ABE LINCOLN IN THE 21ST CENTURY with Houston as a light-hearted Honest Abe; ON THE CASE: CHRISTIE MYSTERIE with readings of three short stories plus a one-act fully staged "Getting Away With Murder" featuring Diana Heinlein as Miss Marple and Rick Heuthe as Hercule Poirot; A BEN FRANKLIN FOR ALL SEASONS with Houston as the funny, bawdy and profound founding father; plus new editions of THE DICKENS! featuring "A Christmas Carol" and “The Chimes.”  In addition to original plays, Houston's group 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 of the love story from JOY COMES IN THE MORNING with Houston and Gail Merzer Behrens, a dramatic reading of the trial of Tom Robinson from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD with Houston and Heinlein; Houston and Heinlein are teamed for O. HENRY'S HUNDRED YEARS and O. HENRY'S CHRISTMAS GIFT readings of short stories; and A RODGERS AND HART AUDITION, with Houston as Richard Rodgers and Rick Heuthe as Hart, and Melanie Lipton, Diana Heinlein and Steve Corbellini playing 15 auditioning celebrities, including Mae West, Desi Arnaz, Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Crocker, the Lunts, Hopalong Cassidy and others.  

For Long Island Reads in past years, Houston has provided readings "in the style of radio drama": 2003 HOW THE GARCIA GIRLS LOST THEIR ACCENTS, with Houston and Lipton; 2004 SNOW IN AUGUST with Houston and Matt Stashin Stashin; 2005 Houston ’s solo reading from Steinbeck’s TRAVELS WITH CHARLIE; 2006 Houston’s solo reading from Mark Mills’s AMAGANSETT; 2007 James McBride's THE COLOR OF WATER with Houston and Debbie Starker; 2008 a solo reading from Chang-rae Lee's ALOFT; 2009 Heinlein and Houston read from WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR by Doris Kearns Goodwin; 2010 Houston in a solo reading as Teddy Roosevelt in RIVER OF DOUBT; 2011 Houston reads from Colson Whitehead's SAG HARBOR with notes and music from the history of the village; 2012 Houston and Gail Merzer Behrens read from Alyson Richman's THE LOST WIFE.