"Lizzie Folks"
-
Lizzie Borden on your iPhone?
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Here’s the announcement as written:
“Syfy is launching it first Ghost Hunters iPhone app according to a press release issued by the Network. The app will use the iPhone’s GPS capabilities to guide the user to more than 100 locations investigated by the Ghost Hunters team, which are open to the public. The app will direct users to the nearest haunted hotels restaurants, museums and tourist attractions and will include the history of the location and the results of the Ghost Hunters’ investigation of the location.
The app will include locations such as Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, Calif., Lizzie Borden’s House in Fall River, Mass., Mansfield Reformatory from The Shawshank Redemption in Mansfield, Ohio, St. Augustine Lighthouse in St. Augustine, Fla., and The Stanley Hotel from The Shining in Estes Park, Colo.”
-
Abby Borden takes a stroll
http://www.heraldnews.com/news/x1946663918/Seasons-final-restaurant-stroll-warms-up-downtown
The last downtown “stroll” for 2010 took place Friday with Lizzie and Emma Borden’s beleagered stepmother appearing to speak up for the lot of stepmothers everywhere. Elizabeth Teixeira joins a long line of ladies who have portrayed the unfortunate Abby Borden over the years. The Stroll benefits the city and local businesses.
Fall River Herald News file photo
-
Lizzie’s Hatchet is one artist’s inspiration
River’s Edge Library in North Jersey is the venue for a unique art exhibit running through the end of the month. Works by the artist are inspired primarily by fictional things such as the Mad Hatter’s teacup, arranged as an artistic “artifact” to give a feeling of reality to a literary character. Lizzie’s hatchet is one of the two items which draws upon reality for its inspiration.
‘”Arcanifacts” is a collection of 21 works taken from a larger project River Edge resident Scot Ryersson began in 2007. Ryersson said he invented the term from the Latin words arcanus (secret) and factum (thing made) to describe an artifact containing both mystery and truth.”
For more about the exhibit visit http://www.northjersey.com/news/105409913_Exhibit_inspired_by_fictional_characters.html
No, the statue above is not Lizzie Borden- but she is to be found in Massachusetts- in the town of Haverhill at GAR Park. Her name is Hannah Duston and her fame commenced in 1697 after an incident with a local Native American tribe. Hannah’s statue is said to be the first erected to a woman in America. For more about this grisly and bloody true story, visit this very informative and entertaining New England folklore blog.
http://newenglandfolklore.blogspot.com/2010/04/hannah-duston-heroine-of-haverhill-part.html
-
Belle of Fall River
Amherst, Mass. may have its “Belle” a.k.a. Emily Dickinson, but if it’s October in Massachusetts, with Halloween just around the corner, Emily takes a back seat to Miz Lizzie. Stand by for a plethora of programs on the sharpest gal in town from the Discovery Channel, PBS and the Travel Channel. Jeffrey Arrowood, an attorney and former police chief will appear on Discovery Channel’s “Ghost Lab,” acting as prosecutor in a trial scenario at 8 p.m. Oct. 28th. The filming was done this past May at the house on Second Street.
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/local-33950-attorney-ghosts.html
-
Lizzie Borden is Halloween’s New Pin-Up Girl
As Halloween draws nearer every year, there seem to be more and more “Lizzie sightings”. Whether in haunted corn mazes, horror theme attractions, Halloween costumes or a proliferation of Lizzie Borden-based plays- the little gal with the hatchet is everywhere from August right through to All Saints Day!
The Discovery Channel has set the Ghost Lab show of the investigation of the Borden house for Oct 25th, with a preview on the 19th. The Travel Channel repeated its look at America’s Most Terrifying Places again this past weekend, Nance O’Neil is coming to a close this weekend in Manhattan and coming soon- a new play, Lizzie Borden Took An Axe, by Garrett Heater will be the debut production of a brand new theatre group.
http://blog.syracuse.com/entertainment/2010/10/new_theater_company_stages_ori.html
Stay tuned for all-new Lizzie & Family productions coming this Fall on the Discovery channel, a landmark book on Fall River and Lizzie coming from the Fall River Historical Society, and the Borden case documentary shot by Ric Rebelo this past spring will be airing Saturday, October 30th at 7pm on Rhode Island PBS– the day before Halloween. And Sunday night, the 31st, is ALWAYS a special night at #92 Second Street and is sold out a year in advance!
-
Nance at The Players Club
With Nance O’Neil off-Broadway until October 9th, playgoers may like to know that the famous Players Club has a full-length portrait of Nance as Lady Macbeth in the diningroom. See link below to the Player’s Club and a link to a mixed review of Nance as Lady Macbeth here below as a pdf file: -
Actress Gloria Stuart dies at 100
Actress Gloria Stuart, best known today for her role in 1997’s Titanic as the elderly version of Rose, passed away in her home in Los Angeles on Sept. 27th. Her birthday was last July when she turned 100 years old. Born on July 4, 1910, Her first appearance at Universal was in 1932. At the age of 87, the nomination – her first – made her the oldest person ever nominated for an Oscar. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2000. Her biography “I Just Kept Hoping” recounts her 70 plus years in the film industry.In 1975, she appeared in The Legend of Lizzie Borden at the age of 65, in the role of a lady shopper in a store where Lizzie is busy thieving.
-
New crop of Lizzie shows for Halloween
The Travel Channel kicked off Ghost Adventures tonight with an episode filmed at the Lizzie Borden B&B this past May- one of several which will be airing between now and Halloween. This episode’s 7 minute clip from the shoot comes at the end of the show and features B&B guest interviews, comments from house co-owner, Lee Ann Wilber, seance highlights with Liz Nowicki, a local Fall River medium/psychic, and features house/museum employees in the roles of Abby and Lizzie. The Rev. Bob Richardson plays Andrew Borden. The episode will be airing several more times over the next few weeks. For the schedule, visit the link below.
Most Terrifying Places in Americahttp://www.travelchannel.com/Schedule
Kathleen Troost-Cramer as Lizzie Borden
Rev. Bob Richardson as Andrew Borden
Shelley Dziedzic as Abby Borden -
Lizzie Borden Rides Again
Chances are you have not heard of the Garst Museum in Greenville, Ohio unless you are a fan of Greenville- born world traveller and TV star Lowell Thomas whose adventures enthralled millions on radio and later television. Or perhaps sharpshooter Annie Oakley, about whom the Garst has produced a world-class exhibit about her life.
As part of their autumn lecture series, another famous lady will be featured as subject of a one-woman show as Christy Igo takes on Lizzie Borden- no sharp-shooting pistol, but a hatchet just as deadly.
(photo of Ms. Igo from http://www.lizzieborden.info/_wsn/page2.html)
“Sunday, October 10, 2010 at 2:00 p.m., Christy Igo’s program “Lizzie Borden: A Life” is coming to the Garst. It is full of laughter, mystery, and horror as she brings Lizzie Borden to life to tell HER STORY of the murder of her beloved father and step mother. This crime is one of the bloodiest, most notorious and mysterious crimes of the 19th century!
In 1892 Lizzie Borden was found NOT guilty by a jury of her peers. Most of the towns folk of Falls River, Massachusetts DISAGREED. The trial received worldwide media attention. Lizzie became a celebrity. The gruesome details played out in the daily newspapers.Did she or didn’t she? Modern law students still argue the case. You be the judge.
Christy Igo trained at Ohio University’s Professional Actor Training Program as well as at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. She has worked professionally all over the North Eastern United States. She has worked in film, commercials and documentaries. She formed HerStory productions in 1999 to produce and perform original one woman shows about inspirational women from history.The Garst Lecture Series are free to the public, thanks to a grant from the HOPE Foundation and the Harry D. Stephens Memorial Trust. This lecture may be more suitable for mature audiences. For more information please call 937-548-5250 or online at www.garstmuseum.org.” -
Lizzie Borden The Rock Musical
This just in from Andy Propst via Theatermania.com for all those wondering about Lizzie Borden, the rock musical which is included as part of new theatre projects during the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals in Manhattan this fall.The annual Festival of New Musicals will held in New York City on Thursday, October 21 and Friday, October 22, 2010 for a select audience of NAMT members, producers and other musical theatre industry professionals
“Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, Alan Stevens Hewitt and Tim Maner’s musical about murderess Lizzie Borden will feature Carrie Cimma in the title role, along with Jenny Fellner, Marie France Arcilla and Beth Malone. The piece will be staged by Victoria Bussert, with music direction by Matt Hinkley.” The production website is at http://lizziebordentheshow.com/index.php/axe/about/ for more.
For a sampling of some of the musical selections http://lizziebordentheshow.com/index.php/axe/media/
“A rock roadshow retelling of the bloody legend of America’s first and favorite axe-wielding double-murderess and Victorian hometown girl
by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, Tim Maner, and Alan Stevens Hewitt.”Most recently the show ran for six weeks in fall 2009 at the Living Theatre in New York as a full-length original rock musical, produced by Took An Axe Productions.
-
After the Axe
(photo by Beau Allulli) “Nance O’Neil”: Rachel Brown (standing) and Jonna McElrath in this play at Access Theater
Reviews still coming in for the new production by the Blue Coyote Group. Much praise has been lavished on the costume designer, and word has leaked that a “theory” about the crime is suggested in the production. The interaction between Lizzie and her sister Emma is praised by critics as a strong element in the play, and the play in general is receiving positive reviews. Get down to the Access theatre soon , for the play closes October 9th!
David Rooney’s review: http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/theater/reviews/21nance.html
-
Yankee Magazine’s 1992 article
If you neglected to clip and save this for your Lizzie Borden Centennial Collection, Yankee Magazine now has it in the archive, also available in pdf format, complete with photos to print out. Arnie Brown and Professor Starrs are featured.
-
Chad Mitchell Trio to visit Lizzie Borden house
You Can’t Chop Your Poppa Up in Massachusetts was a hit for the popular 1960’s folk group, and second only to “Lizzie Borden Took an Axe” as Borden -related tune most people know. Made popular in a Broadway production, Leonard Sillman’s New Faces of 1952 as the Fall River Hoedown, the single was released by the Chad Mitchell Trio in 1961. The trio will be visiting the Lizzie Borden house this week- should be great fun for everyone. Hopefully they will sing a chorus in the parlor where a copy of the sheet music has been on the piano since the house opened as a museum in 1996.
http://www.chadmitchelltrio.com/
Lyrics by Michael Brown
Yesterday in old Fall River, Mr. Andrew Borden died
And they got his daughter Lizzie on a charge of homicide
Some folks say she didn’t do it, and others say of course she did
But they all agree Miss Lizzie B. was a problem kind of kid‘Cause you can’t chop your papa up in Massachusetts
Not even if it’s planned as a surprise
No, you can’t chop your papa up in Massachusetts
You know how neighbors love to criticizeShe got him on the sofa where he’d gone to take a snooze
And I hope he went to heaven ’cause he wasn’t wearing shoes
Lizzie kinda rearranged him with a hatchet so they say
Then she got her mother in that same old-fashioned way!But you can’t chop your mama up in Massachusetts
Not even if you’re tired of her cuisine
No, you can’t chop your mama up in Massachusetts
You know it’s almost sure to cause a sceneWell, they really kept her hoppin’ on that busy afternoon
With both down- and up-stairs chopping while she hummed a ragtime tune
They really made her hustle and when all was said and done
She’d removed her mother’s bustle when she wasn’t wearing oneOh, you can’t chop your mama up in Massachusetts
And then blame all the damage on the mice
No, you can’t chop your mama up in Massachusetts
That kind of thing just isn’t very niceNow, it wasn’t done for pleasure and it wasn’t done for spite
And it wasn’t done because the lady wasn’t very bright
She’d always done the slightest thing that mom and papa bid
They said, “Lizzie, cut it out,” so that’s exactly what she didBut you can’t chop your papa up in Massachusetts
And then get dressed and go out for a walk
No, you can’t chop your papa up in Massachusetts
Massachusetts is a far cry from New YorkNo, you can’t chop your papa up in Massachusetts
Shut the door, and lock and latch it, here comes Lizzie with a brand new hatchet
Can’t chop your papa up in Massachusetts
Such a snob, I’ve heard it said, she met her pa and cut him dead
You can’t chop your papa up in Massachusetts
Jump like a fish, jump like a porpoise, all join hands and habeas corpus
Can’t chop your papa up in Massachusetts
Massachusetts is a far cry from New York -
Lizzie Borden: Now A Halloween Fixture
With Halloween soon upon us, haunted houses, haunted hayrides and other ghoulish attractions are busily preparing costumes and features. In recent years Lizzie Borden has become a fixture at many of these horror attractions. She is usually portrayed in black and red clothing with a large bloody axe swinging wildly, and covered in gore. Poor Lizzie. You can imagine what she would think of this portrayal. The Taunton Gazette, the publication from the city of her 10 month incarceration has published an article on Lakeville’s entry for Halloween 2010. http://www.tauntongazette.com/lifestyle/lifestyle_calendar/x861574152/Lakeville-Haunted-House-preparations-underwayHere are a few options available this year, this one titled a Lizzie Borden Wedding Dress from Amazon.com-and with a KNIFE.
Here’s a better -looking version available at http://www.retroscopefashions.com/lolita1.html
And here are a couple of Halloween Lizzies from 2009 (sorry the credits are unavailable)
To see this live-action Halloween prop, visit Dave and Tracy’s photobucket video of this tombstone’s “special feature”. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v630/DaveNTracy/Lizzie%20Borden%20Tombstone/?action=view¤t=012-1.flv
There will be more.
-
Rebelo Lizzie Borden Documentary to air on PBS
The Borden case documentary shot by Ric Rebelo this past spring will be airing Saturday, October 30th at 7pm on Rhode Island PBS– the day before Halloween.
-
Lizzie Borden & The Marion Connection
As posted earlier: The public is cordially invited to attend a presentation of “Lizzie Borden: The Mystery Continues,” sponsored by the Sippican Historical Society Thursday, Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. at Marion’s Music Hall.
The speaker will be Mr. Christopher Daley in a one hour retelling of the famous double homicide. Mr. Daley is a history teacher in the Silver Lake Regional School System in Kingston. If you get to Marion earlier, there are many things to enjoy, not the least of which is the scenery.
The Sippican Historical Society has a treasure trove of things to see including the Mary Celeste room,
and many beautiful paintings and sketches by Charles Dana Gibson, creator of the Gibson Girl.
It’s no wonder Lizzie wanted to go fishing in Marion with Dr. Handy’s cottage so close to the fishing pier. The photo below is the site of Dr. Handy’s cottage, but not the original building. The water is a moment’s walk away.
Borden case prosecutor, Hosea Knowlton enjoyed a summer rental in Marion, died there and had his ashes scattered over water there. The photo below is of his summer rental house, shown with the Second St. Irregulars on Front St.
Knowlton had built a beautiful summer home in 1900, but sadly died before he could enjoy many summers in it, He died in 1902. It is now a dormitory for Tabor Academy.
-
Fall River Herald article for August 11
Not quite done with Lizzie and the Borden case yet? Here is the link to an article about what is yet to see, and news of a production opening soon about- Nance O’Neil!
http://www.heraldnews.com/entertainment/x839827959/Love-Lizzie-Youll-love-August
-
Who was new for August 4th ?
It was a big day at #92 for the cast of the Pear Essential Players as they turned in 10 performances of Lizzie Borden CSI. Tickets sold out and the gift shop was buzzing with activity from early morning until the end of the day when the evening check- ins arrived. All previous records were broken this year.
Rufus Hilliard Ray Mitchell
There were a few new faces this year in the cast including Ray Mitchell who portrayed city marshal Rufus Hilliard and bore an uncanny resemblance to his character! Michael Brooks took over the role of James Winward, Undertaker and was suitably grave and distinguished.
(photo courtesy of Lee Ann Wilber)
For the first time, the bed in the guest room was moved in order to reproduce a lesser-known photo of Abby Borden.
With a nod to Richard’s Behren’s new book, Lizzie Borden: Girl Detective, Kathryn Woods played Miss Nellie Drew, girl detective and interviewed Uncle John Morse.
Molly O’Brien took over as Miss Manning from the Fall River Herald and also had a few things to ask Uncle John.
photo courtesy of Lee Ann Wilber
The men in blue were out in force this year with Ben Rose reprising Detective Seaver, and new B&B museum employees Justin Dunne and Will Clawson playing Medley and Harrington. Mustaches were a key element in bringing the characters to life with Hilliard’s famous walrus mustache and Harrington’s “handlebar” stash adding much to the characterization.
Will Clawson Phil Harrington
Justin Dunne played a young officer William Medley. Medley would become Fall River’s first Chief of Police.
Justin Dunne Chief Medley
Many actors have played Andrew Borden over the years and this year B&B employee Logan Livesey had the tough task of staying perfectly still under the sheet.
Tomorrow: Set dressing the house, our cast regulars, and the cast trip to Maplecroft!
