Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet: The King and the Beggar
In the space between the Capulet Ball and the famous Window Scene, we have a terrific mockery of love performed by an inebriated Mercutio, with a tipsy Benvolio laughing and shushing him. Early on, Mercutio tries to summon Romeo by invoking ‘love’: MERCUTIO Romeo,...
Nellie Bly Interviews Dr. Charles Parkhurst
In 1891, Dr. Charles Parkhurst, a clergyman elected president of the New York Society for the Prevention of Crime, launched a campaign against Tammany Hall's political and social corruption. He exposed their connections with the police and their role in shielding...
Nellie Bly’s Melancholy Christmas
Nellie Bly made several attempts at a regular column across her career. She was much more successful towards the end of her life, but she had a run of several months from the end of 1894 to early 1895 under the heading of "Nellie Bly Says." These seem to be nothing...
Recent Posts
Coffee with the Count, 12 Years Later
After the huge event at the Castelvecchio and the excitement of the Torino Book Fair, Jan and I were looking forward to a day to ourselves. On Sunday we took a mid-day train back to Verona, then Jan cooked a dinner for our hostess, Joyce, and Anna and Antonio. She...
Good News & Bad News
The good news is that during the week of events and promotions in and around Verona, I also found time to visit many sites, both those that have appeared in the novels to date, and ones I never knew existed. I ate traditional Veronese food, learned a lot about the...
Torino Book Fair
The day after presenting at the Castelvecchio, Jan and I took an early train to Torino for the International Book Fair. Nearly half a million people flock to the convention center in Torino each year, and my publisher La Corte Editore had a large stall just around the...
Tonight, Verona
Shortly I'll be taking the stage at the Castelvecchio in Verona, the castle built in the 14th century on the shores of the Adige river. In many ways, it's the culmination of half a lifetime of work. I first played Mercutio when I was 17. A few years later, I...
Master Of Verona week begins!
This week sees the release of the Italian translation of THE MASTER OF VERONA! IL CAVALIERI DELLA PROFEZIA DI DANTE will appear at the Torino Book Fair this Saturday. Huge thanks to Gianni La Corte of La Corte Editore for publishing it so swiftly! And equally enorous...
Next week!
I'm slowly allowing myself to get excited for the trip to Verona next week. I've had my head down, trying to finish projects or at least get them to a good holding place so that I can disappear for a week and just revel in the fun of travel and friends, old...
EVE OF IDES tonight!
2058 years ago tomorrow, Julius Caesar was assassinated. On this, the anniversary of the eve of his murder at the hands of his political rivals, the Michigan Shakespeare Festival is having a one-night-only concert reading of my play, EVE OF IDES. Directed by Jan...
Tomorrow Night – EVE OF IDES in Ann Arbor
On Friday night, March 14th, at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, the Michigan Shakespeare Festival is having a one-night-only concert reading of my Caesar/Brutus play, EVE OF IDES. Directed by Jan Blixt, the cast includes John Seibert as Caesar, Robert...
Oh, Verona!
Below is the letter I penned for the mayor of Verona, proposing the trip I'm making in May of this year. They responded immediately, which was a testament more to the hard work of Italian filmmaker Anna Lelario and her husband Antonio, who have spent the last year...
Heading to Verona!
At last I can announce two enormous pieces of news. First, an Italian-language edition of THE MASTER OF VERONA will be published by La Corte Editore later this year. I don't yet know what the title will be - my original title for the novel might do. It was...
