Nora Ephron to Speak at Smart Talk, 1/24

A screenwriting legend, a real estate mogul, and the team captain of the First American Women's Everest Expedition, will be among the celebrities sharing stories, experiences and triumphs during the SmartTalk ConnectedConversations^TM 2011 series in New Brunswick.. A celebrity-based spoken word series, SmartTalk connects the most intriguing and influential women of today with audiences in an intimate theatrical setting. 
 
One speaker will share her public experiences and private struggles with women once each month, January through May, in five cities throughout the country. The 2011 series at the State Theatre in New Brunswick will include: 
 
Nora Ephron
Behind the Scenes
January 24, 2011
 
Barbara Corcoran
Barbara's Rags to Riches Story
February 15, 2011
 
Alison Levine
Oxygen Not Included
March 16, 2011
 
Liz Murray
Breaking Night: My Journey from Homeless to Harvard
April 12, 2011
 
Anna Deavere Smith
The Risks and Rewards of Success
May 24, 2011
 
Season subscriptions starting at $99.99 are available through The State Theatre and www.smarttalkwomen.com.  The State Theatre Ticket Office is located at 15 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick  and can be reached by phone at (732) 246-7469.
 
BIOS
 
Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron started her career as a newspaper reporter for the New York Post and then became a magazine writer for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, and New York Magazine. After gaining a reputation as a journalist, Ephron turned to screenwriting and directing. Her break out success came in 1989, with the release of When Harry Met Sally, followed four years later with another box office hit, Sleepless in Seattle, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. This film, which Ephron also directed, grossed over $200 million worldwide and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Ephron again teamed up with Hanks & Ryan for You've Got Mail which was also an international box office hit. Ephron's play, Imaginary Friends, debuted on Broadway in 2002 and was followed by a play she co-wrote with her sister, Love, Loss and What I Wore. Her most recent film was the critically acclaimed Julie & Julia starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller I Feel Bad About My Next: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman and I Remember Nothing and Other Reflections.
  
BARBARA CORCORAN 
Barbara Corcoran's credentials include straight D's in high school and college and twenty jobs by the time she turned twenty-three.  It was her next job that would make her one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country when she took a $1000 loan to start The Corcoran Group.  She parlayed that loan into a five-billion-dollar real estate business which she sold in 2001 for $70 million. Barbara is the real estate contributor to NBC's TODAY Show where she comments weekly on trends in the real estate market. Barbara is also an investor/shark on ABC's reality hit Shark Tank. In the first season, Barbara bought eight young businesses which she's shepherding to success. Barbara is the author of If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails, an entertaining business book that has become a national best-seller, and several other books. 
 
ALISON LEVIN
Alison Levine is no stranger to risk-taking. She has climbed peaks on every continent and has survived sub-zero temperatures, hurricane-force winds, sudden avalanches, and a career on Wall Street. Surprisingly, Alison was born with a life-threatening heart condition that precluded most demanding physical activities. As a teenager, her health was so unstable that she was not even allowed to do such basic things as drive a car or walk up stairs. But 13 years after her initial diagnosis, she had surgery that changed her life and climbing stairs soon gave way to climbing mountains, a passion that Alison continued to pursue despite her initial health setbacks. Over the next several years as she continued to climb the corporate ladder, Alison also pushed her limits on the world's highest peaks and soon became one of the most experienced female mountaineers in the country. In 2002, Alison was invited to serve as the team captain of the first American Women's Everest Expedition, a history-making climb that would put her heart and her spirit to the test. Her success in extreme environments is noteworthy given Alison suffers from Raynaud's Disease which causes the arteries that feed her fingers and toes to collapse in cold weather, leaving her at extreme risk for frostbite.

LIZ MURRAY
The child of drug-addicted parents who routinely ate from dumpsters and sought refuge at all-night subway stations to survive, Liz Murray was homeless at age 15-and fending for her life. Determined not to be defined by her circumstances, she recognized education as the key to a fresh beginning and a whole new way of living. She earned her high school diploma in just two years and won a scholarship to Harvard University that would turn her bleak circumstances into a future filled with limitless possibility. With sincerity, maturity and graciousness, Murray takes audiences along on her personal journey from street smarts to classroom triumphs, instantly becoming an inspiration to both student groups and business audiences alike in need of the motivation to overcome their own obstacles. The subject of Lifetime Television's Emmy-nominated original film Homeless to Harvard, Murray completed her degree at Harvard and recently released her memoir Breaking Night, which made The New York Times best-seller list in its first week of release.
 
Anna Deavere Smith
Anna Deavere Smith is said to have created a new form of theater. She has won numerous awards, among them two Obies, two Tony nominations, a Drama Desk Award, the USA Susan V. Berresford Award from United States Artists, and a MacArthur fellowship. She was runner up for the Pulitzer Prize for her play Fires In the Mirror. Her work combines the journalistic technique of interviewing her subjects with the art of interpreting their words through performance.  She is founding director of Anna Deavere Smith Works, a nonprofit that convenes artists whose work addresses the world's most pressing problems. Television and movie credits include Nurse Jackie, The West Wing, The American President and others. Honorary degrees include those from Juilliard, Northwestern and a Radcliffe Medal. She is a professor at New York University.
 
ABOUT SMART TALK
A wholly-owned subsidiary of SmartTalk Media LLC, SmartTalk ConnectedConversations^TM series provides its audiences with inspirational, connected conversations -- from renowned entertainers, political figures and other accomplished individuals. Since 1992, SmartTalk has presented captivating stories from such remarkable women as Julie Andrews, Barbara Walters, Mary Tyler Moore, Gloria Steinem, Lady Margaret Thatcher, Maya Angelou, Whoopi Goldberg, Erin Brockovich, Lauren Bacall, Susan Sarandon, Goldie Hawn and Priscilla Presley. The performers share their real, very personal views and life experiences in a way that is intimate, empowering and, above all, connected to the lives of women everywhere. For more information, please visit www.smarttalkwomen.com.