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J. Paul Getty Museum’s “Selected Shorts” series to revive storytelling through actors

J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM

Leonard Nimoy will be performing at this year’s “Selected Shorts” at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

By Lynn Chu

March 2, 2012 12:03 a.m.

Correction: The original photo caption contained an error. Leonard Nimoy will be performing at this year’s “Selected Shorts” at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Knights in Camelot, faraway places, enchanted creatures and giving trees: storytelling as many people know it ““ or as children at least.

This weekend, New York’s Symphony Space and the J. Paul Getty Museum will revive the magic of storytelling in the form of the co-sponsored program “Selected Shorts,” a literary performance series returning to the Getty Museum for its 21st year.

Although this program is meant for adults, “Selected Shorts” brings back the storytelling people remember as children through a reinvented art form that combines literature and performance, said Laurel Kishi, the performing arts manager at the Getty Museum.

Each year’s series features an original subject that is meant to provoke the audience to respond, said Katherine Minton, the director of literary programs for “Selected Shorts.” In the past, Symphony Space has even developed themes around exhibitions at the Getty, intertwining photography and paintings with voice and performance to instigate a curiosity for exploring the layers of these media.

According to Isaiah Sheffer, founder of Symphony Space, this year’s theme is “Objects of Desire,” a topic that probes the implications of having certain possessions in our lives, examining objects that might seem insignificant but which hold powerful, touching and even humorous messages.

“(We have one short story) called “˜The Empty Room’ in which a family moves into a house and declares that one room will always be empty,” Sheffer said.

“You can go in there and do things, (but you must) take (those) things out afterwards. (In a way), if you have an empty room, it’s like having a life and potential, (but) what are you going to do with it? What will you put into it?”

But Los Angeles is not the only city that “Selected Shorts” visits. Although the readings are broadcast by public radio stations in more than 150 cities nationwide, the show first began at Symphony Space in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York.

Today, “Selected Shorts” travels to several cities including Boston, Dallas and Chicago where radio fans and story lovers alike can appreciate the experience of a live reading.

According to Minton, it is the actors who masterfully command their voices to the subtle nuances and rhythms of specific texts that make “Selected Shorts” even more interesting.

“I would say that making those matches (between the story and the actor) and seeing how they play out is great and inspiring. When you pick a good story and make a good match with an actor, it’s really exciting,” Minton said.

Past performers have included recent Oscar-winner Meryl Streep, John Lithgow and Alec Baldwin. However, Minton said that “Selected Shorts” usually has a mixed showcase of big-name celebrities as well as up-and-coming actors.

This year’s series will feature Kirsten Vangsness (“Criminal Minds”), Jane Kaczmarek (“Malcolm in the Middle”) and Robert Sean Leonard (“House M.D.”), among others.

According to Sheffer, “Selected Shorts” has come to be as enjoyable for the audiences as it has for the actors. Performing a 30-minute monologue on a classic or contemporary piece of fiction allows them the free range of emotions and control that are sometimes limited on screen.

At the same time, these actors would not enjoy performing without an audience that chooses to be great listeners, Sheffer said.

“Maybe it’s our mothers or fathers reading to us when we’re little or maybe it’s the tribal elders (who told stories) around the campfire. Whatever it is, there is something deep within our DNA that makes people eager (to be read to),” Sheffer said.

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Lynn Chu
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