Curtin, Gleason, Sarandon Set for 'Shorts' at Westport

Jane Curtin, Joanna Gleason and Chris Sarandon will read short fiction in "Selected Shorts," a live version of the renowned NPR show of the same name and a celebration of the short story, on Tuesday, March 13, 7:30 p.m., at Westport Country Playhouse.

Presented by Arts in the House, a co-presentation between the Westport Arts Center and Westport Country Playhouse, the program will be taped for future NPR broadcast.  WSHU Public Radio is the media sponsor for the event.

"The evening's theme is enthralling stories about the unexpected consequences of secrets between lovers," state press materials.

Curtin will bring to life "Twenty Grand" by Rebecca Curtis, about a daughter's view of her parents' hopes, dreams, and one crucial dispute at a toll booth.  Ms. Gleason will read "The First Sense" by Nadine Gordimer, about a cellist and a flautist who share a life of music, during which one plays what he cannot say.  Sarandon will lend his voice to "Crazy Glue" by Etgar Keret, about a woman who tries to glue her home life together.

Jane Curtin has appeared on Broadway in Our Town, Noises Off and Shaw's Candida, and off-Broadway in Love Letters and the musical revue "Pretzels," which she also co-wrote. She starred in the television series "Third Rock from the Sun," and won Emmy Awards in 1984 and 1985 for her role in the television comedy series "Kate and Allie." She was a cast member of "Saturday Night Live" from 1975-1980, and has worked in films such as "Antz," "How to Beat the High Cost of Living," "Catch a Falling Star" and "Coneheads." She starred in the television movie "The Librarian: Quest for the Spear" and in the films Lobster Farm and The Shaggy Dog.  She appeared at Westport Country Playhouse in Ancestral Voices (2000) and Our Town (2002).

Gleason won Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her performance in Into the Woods. She received a Theatre World Award, two Drama Desk Awards and two Tony nominations for her other Broadway work, including Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Nick and Nora, The Real Thing, I Love My Wife, Social Security and Joe Egg.  Gleason's films include Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Heartburn, Fathers and Sons, Edie and Pen, Mr. Holland's Opus, Boogie Nights and The Wedding Planner.  Her recent television credits include "The West Wing," "The Practice," "Oh, Baby," "E.R." and "Bette."  She is a recurring voice on the animated series "King of the Hill," and directed CBS's "Love and War," "Louie" and "Oh, Baby."  She appeared at Westport Country Playhouse in "Come Be My Love…Love Spoken Here," and evening of poetry, with her husband Chris Sarandon, and Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman, Eartha Kitt, Charles Grodin and Philip Seymour Hoffman in February 2007.

Sarandon has appeared on Broadway in The Light in the Piazza, Nick and Nora, The Rothschilds and Two Gentlemen of Verona. His off-Broadway work includes The Voice of the Turtle, Marco Polo Sings a Solo, The Devil's Disciple and The Woods. He has been seen in films such as The Princess Bride, Fright Night, Dog Day Afternoon, Little Men, Loggerheads" and the upcoming My Sassy Girl. His television work includes "Picket Fences," "A Tale of Two Cities," "Chicago Hope," "Felicity," "E.R." and "The Court." He appeared at Westport Country Playhouse in "Come Be My Love…Love Spoken Here," in February.

Authors represented in the short fiction program are Rebecca Curtis, Nadine Gordimer and Etgar Keret.  Curtis's stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, and McSweeney's, among other publications. A recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award, she teaches in the graduate writing program at Columbia University and lives in Brooklyn. Her first book, Twenty Grand and Other Tales of Love and Money, will be published in July.

 Gordimer was born and lives in South Africa. Her many novels include A Sport of Nature, The Conservationist, Burger's Daughter, July's People, My Son's Story, The Pickup and Get a Life. She has published several collections of her stories, and edited the anthology Telling Tales to benefit the global fight against AIDS. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991. 

Keret is one of the leading voices in Israeli literature and cinema. He has published five books of short stories, including The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God and The Nimrod Flip-Out, as well as the graphic novellas collected in Jetlag, the graphic novel Pizzeria Kamikaze with artist Asaf Hanuka, two feature screenplays and numerous teleplays. His film Malka Red-Heart won the Israeli Oscar as well as acclaim at several international film festivals. His fiction has been translated into 16 different languages.

"Twenty Grand" was published in The New Yorker (December 19, 2005) and collected in the forthcoming "Twenty Grand and Other Tales of Love and Money" by Rebecca Curtis. "The First Sense" was published in The New Yorker (December 18, 2006). "Crazy Glue," with English translation by Miriam Shlesinger, was first published in "Gaza Blues" by Etgar Keret and Samir el Youssef, and collected in Flash Fiction Forward, edited by Robert Shapard and James Thomas.

Now in its 20th season, "Selected Shorts" is produced for radio by Symphony Space and WNYC, New York Public Radio.  The award-winning program is heard locally on Saturdays at 3 p.m. on WSHU (FM 91.1).

Tickets to "Selected Shorts" are $15, $20 and $25.