FOLIO
by kellie abrahamson
This month we have a fine selection of lit-based entertainment to choose from. Kids, history buffs, sweethearts, theologians and comic book geeks are all being catered to in May and the stuff on the menu is (mostly) well worth both seeing and reading about. Here’s a look at what’s coming up!
on stage
Southern Stories (May 7 – 9, Thrasher-Horne Center, 276-6750)
Inspired by: Various works by Southern authors
This intriguing Reader’s Theatre piece explores the South through the eyes of various famed authors. Pieces by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Eugenia Price, Tennessee Williams and others will all be presented. This is a wonderful opportunity to get to know these authors and the place we call home. Tickets for Southern Stories are $15.
Magic Tree House (May 10 – 11, Florida Theatre, 353-3500)
Inspired by: Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne
Recently, author Mary Pope Osborne met local fans at Barnes & Noble in the St. Johns Town Center to introduce them to the latest in her best-selling Magic Tree House book series. The short novels, designed for new readers, follow the numerous adventures of siblings Jack and Annie, who discover their tree house and the books in it can take them to other worlds. This month the best-selling books come to life on the Florida Theatre stage. Tickets range from $7-$30 depending upon the day.
on screen
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May 1)
Inspired by: Barry Windsor-Smith’s comic serial “Weapon X” (1991), Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s 1982 limited series “Wolverine”
Set roughly 20 years before the first film in the series, X-Men Origins: Wolverine delves into Logan’s complicated, violent past. Screenwriter David Benioff has long been a fan of Marvel’s X-Men comics but drew inspiration from specific books, including those by Barry Windsor-Smith and Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. While finding decade’s old comics can get tricky, thankfully both of these landmark series’ were recently reissued and can easily be found at Amazon.com.
The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (May 1)
Inspired by: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
This rom-com offers a new take on Dickens’ classic tale of greed and the ghosts who haunt those guilty of it. But instead of a money-hungry miser, Matthew McConaughey plays a womanizing creep who finds himself haunted by several jilted exs on the eve of his brother’s wedding. Will he be able to figure out what love is all about before it’s too late?
Angels & Demons (May 15)
Inspired by: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
Dan Brown found success with the wildly popular, highly controversial novel and film The DaVinci Code. Angels & Demons is the prequel to the book and will be hitting theaters this month. In it, Tom Hanks reprises his role as Robert Langdon, who is called to investigate a murder thought to have been committed by the Illuminati. While Angels & Demons was printed years before The DaVinci Code, the film is being treated as a sequel and will differ somewhat from its literary alter ego in plot.
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