In “The Orange,” by Benjamin Rosenbaum, a citrus fruit rules the world. The reader is John Cameron Mitchell. In “The Man, The Restaurant, and the Eiffel Tower,” by Ben Loory, performed by Stana Katic, a father’s children conspire to make him happy. In “I, Gentile,” by David Gordon, performed by Michael Urie, a reluctant Jew falls in love with the wrong girl.
In “The Orange,” by Benjamin Rosenbaum, a citrus fruit rules the world. Rosenbaum is the author of the collection The Ant King and Other Stories. His stories have been nominated for Hugo, Nebula, Theodore Sturgeon, BSFA, and World Fantasy awards, among others, and have been featured in publications such as Nature, Harper's, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Asimov's Science Fiction, McSweeney's, and Strange Horizons.
The reader is John Cameron Mitchell. Mitchell is the writer and original star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The recent revival of Hedwig won four Tony Awards, including Best Revival and a Special Tony Award to Mitchell for reprising the role. He wrote and directed the film Shortbus and directed Rabbit Hole, starring Nicole Kidman. Additional stage appearances include Big River, The Secret Garden, Six Degrees of Separation, and Larry Kramer's The Destiny of Me, for which he won an Obie Award.
His recent television credits include Girls, Vinyl, and The Good Fight. Most recently Mitchell adapted and directed the film How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman.
In “The Man, The Restaurant, and the Eiffel Tower,” by Ben Loory, performed by Stana Katic, a father’s children conspire to make him happy. Ben Loory is the author of the short story collections Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day, and Tales of Falling and Flying, as well as the children’s picture book The Baseball Player and the Walrus. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Tin House, READ Magazine, and Fairy Tale Review, among others. Loory is currently an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. His stories have been featured on This American Life.
Reader Stana Katic stars in the television series “Absentia.” Other television work includes eight seasons on “The Castle.” Her feature film work includes: “CBGB,” “Big Sur,” “The Spirit,” “Feast of Love,” “The Double,” and “Quantum of Solace.” She made her off-Broadway debut in 2016 in “White Rabbit Red Rabbit.”
In our final story, “I, Gentile,” by David Gordon, performed by Michael Urie, a reluctant Jew falls in love with the wrong girl, who turns out to be the right girl. David Gordon’s first novel, The Serialist, won the VCU/Cabell First Novel Award and was a finalist for an Edgar Award. His second novel, Mystery Girl, was picked as one ofThe New Yorker’s best books of 2013. Most recently, he published the short story collection White Tiger on Snow Mountain. Gordon’s work has also appeared in The Paris Review and The New York Times, among other publications.
Reader Michael Urie starred in the Off-Broadway one-man show “Buyer & Cellar,” for which he received the Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, LA Theatre Critics, and the Clarence Derwent Awards, and in “The Temperamentals,” for which he received the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor. Additional stage credits include “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” “The Cherry Orchard,” and “Angels in America.” On screen, he played Marc St. James on “Ugly Betty,” and has appeared on “Modern Family,” “The Good Wife,” “Hot in Cleveland,” and “Youngers.” Urie co-directed the documentary “Thank You for Judging” and directed the film “He’s Way More Famous Than You.”
