Hector Elizondo has narrated 9 audiobooks on Listento.it by 9 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.8★ across 43 ratings. The most-rated is The Pearl.
The Pearl
Summary
In this short book illuminated by a deep understanding and love of humanity, John Steinbeck retells an old Mexican folk tale: the story of the great pearl, how it was found, and how it was lost. For the diver Kino, finding a magnificent pearl means the promise of a better life for his impoverished family. His dream blinds him to the greed and suspicions the pearl arouses in him and his neighbors, and even his loving wife cannot temper his obsession or stem the events leading to the tragedy. For Steinbeck, Kino and his wife illustrate the fall from innocence of people who believe that wealth erases all problems. Originally published in 1947, The Pearl shows why Steinbeck’s style has made him one of the most beloved American writers: it is a simple story of simple people, recounted with the warmth and sincerity and unrivaled craftsmanship Steinbeck brings to his writing. It is tragedy in the great tradition, beautifully conveying not despair but hope for mankind.
©1945, 1973 Elaine Steinbeck, John Steinbeck IV, Thom Steinbeck (P)2011 Penguin Audio
The Crucible
Summary
In the rigid theocracy of Salem, Massachusetts, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town. In the ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor, The Crucible mirrors the anti-Communist hysteria in the 1950s.
(P)1994 L.A. Theatre Works
Twelve Angry Men
Summary
Over the course of a steamy and tense afternoon, 12 jurors deliberate the fate of a 19-year-old boy alleged to have murdered his own father. A seemingly open and shut case turns complicated, igniting passions and hidden prejudices. This audio also includes an interview with Reginald Rose's widow, Ellen, in which she talks about how her late husband came to write the original teleplay version of Twelve Angry Men.
©1984 Reginald Rose (P)2005 L.A. Theatre Works
The Sum of Us
Summary
One of today’s most insightful and influential thinkers offers a powerful exploration of inequality and the lesson that generations of Americans have failed to learn: Racism has a cost for everyone - not just for people of color. “This is the book I’ve been waiting for.” (Ibram X. Kendi, number-one New York Times best-selling author of How to Be an Antiracist) Heather McGhee’s specialty is the American economy - and the mystery of why it so often fails the American public. From the financial crisis to rising student debt to collapsing public infrastructure, she found a common root problem: racism. But not just in the most obvious indignities for people of color. Racism has costs for White people, too. It is the common denominator of our most vexing public problems, the core dysfunction of our democracy and constitutive of the spiritual and moral crises that grip us all. But how did this happen? And is there a way out? McGhee embarks on a deeply personal journey across the country from Mississippi to California to Maine, tallying what we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm - the idea that progress for some of us must come at the expense of others. Along the way, she meets White people who confide in her about losing their homes, their dreams, and their shot at better jobs to the toxic mix of American racism and greed. This is the story of how public goods in this country - from parks and pools to functioning schools - have become private luxuries; of how unions collapsed, wages stagnated, and inequality increased; and of how this country, unique among the world’s advanced economies, has thwarted universal healthcare. But in unlikely places of worship and work, McGhee finds proof of what she calls the Solidarity Dividend: gains that come when people come together across race, to accomplish what we simply can’t do on our own. The Sum of Us is a brilliant analysis of how we arrived here: divided and self-destructing, materially rich but spiritually starved and vastly unequal. McGhee marshals economic and sociological research to paint an irrefutable story of racism’s costs, but at the heart of the book are the humble stories of people yearning to be part of a better America, including White supremacy’s collateral victims: White people themselves. With startling empathy, this heartfelt message from a Black woman to a multiracial America leaves us with a new vision for a future in which we finally realize that life can be more than zero-sum.
©2021 Heather McGhee (P)2021 Random House Audio
The Value of Names
Summary
Benny Silverman, a retired, successful actor, seems to have surmounted the bitter time in his life when Leo Greshen, a good friend and colleague "named" him in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Benny's flourishing career was nearly destroyed, and his comeback was slow and painful. The two men haven't spoken since. But they are forced to deal with each other 30 years after the fact, when Benny's daughter wins a career-making role in a hot new play Leo is directing.
©2009 L.A. Theatre Works (P)2009 L.A. Theatre Works
The Joyce Carol Oates Collection
Summary
Eight highly diverse works from one of America’s most prolific and versatile authors. This collection includes an exclusive dramatization of Oates’ best-selling novel American Appetites; two comedic plays, The Perfectionist and The Truth Teller; four short plays (Gulf War, Black, The Key, and Tone Clusters); as well as her libretto for Black Water: An American Opera, composed by John Duffy. American Appetites: The façade of an affluent suburban couple crumbles under the weight of tragedy and scandal in this exclusive dramatization of Joyce Carol Oates’ best-selling novel. Cast: Lisa Akey, Keith Carradine, Alastair Duncan, Paul Eiding, Anna Gunn, Dan Lauria, Jean Louisa Kelly, Frank Muller, B.J. Ward, Elizabeth Ward Land, Liza Weil, and Tegan West. The Perfectionist: Joyce Carol Oates turns her satiric eye to Tobias Harte, a man obsessed with perfection in everything from ethics to egg salad. Rollicking comedy ensues as Harte struggles with his highly imperfect family and friends. Cast: Barbara Bosson, Annabeth Gish, Harold Gould, Valerie Landsburg, David Schwimmer, and David Selby. The Truth Teller: Joyce Carol Oates’ hilarious take-off on a classic Southern play begins when liberated Hedda arrives home to visit the family estate, ruled by the family’s tyrannical patriarch, “Tiny” Culligan. Cast: Charles Durning, Arthur Hanket, Gary Kroeger, Marsha Mason, Priscilla Pointer, William Schallert and JoBeth Williams. Black Water - An American Opera: A tragic and beautiful opera based on the Chappaquiddick scandal. Libretto by Joyce Carol Oates, with music by John Duffy. Cast: David Lee Brewer, Reid Bruton, Stephanie Buckley, Karen Burlingame, Kimberly Graham, Linda Kerns, Erin Langston, Patrick Mason, John Savarese, and Rob Shacklett. Gulf War (one-act play): An affluent young couple, entertains an older couple for an evening of cocktails and politics during the Gulf War. But as the evening continues, the conversation take a bizarre and absurd tone. Cast: Edward Asner, Stephanie Dunnam, Nan Martin, and Joe Spano. Black (one-act play): In this evening of cocktails and dinner, a couple anxiously awaits the arrival of an ex-husband. As the wine glasses are drained, the evening becomes dark and intense, revealing the true colors of the characters in this eerie love triangle. Cast: Stephanie Dunnam, Rif Hutton and Joe Spano. The Key (one-act play): A hilarious perverse encounter between Melissa, a vacationing suburban housewife, recently separated from her husband, and Edwin, a prosperous businessman. Cast: Edward Asner, Hector Elizondo, Don Reed, Joyce Van Patten, and JoBeth Williams. Tone Clusters (one-act play): A chilling tragi-comedy that takes the form of an interview between a middle-aged, middle-class American couple and the media. Cast: Edward Asner, Hector Elizondo, Don Reed, Joyce Van Patten and JoBeth Williams.
Public Domain (P)2011 L.A. Theatre Works
Sonia Flew
Summary
A powerful story of love and sacrifice that The Boston Globe calls an "extraordinary achievement by an emerging playwright." Sonia, a Cuban exiled during Castro's rise to power, is forced to relive her tumultuous childhood when her only son enlists in the military following 9/11. Using humor and sensitivity, Sonia Flew paints a lyrical portrait of two families in two countries over a 40-year span.
©2009 L.A. Theatre Works (P)2009 L.A. Theatre Works
Mastergate
Summary
The Tony Award-winning playwright and creator of TV's MASH has fashioned a wickedly funny satire about the Iran-Contra Senate hearings and their participants. A top-notch Hollywood cast, headed by Walter Matthau, brings this scathing comedy to life.
(P)2004 L.A. Theatre Works
Babbitt (Dramatized)
Summary
This epic of the booming 20's captures the relentless culture of American business. A classic novel about conformity in small town America - celebrated for its comic tone, statire, and vivid dialogue. L.A. Theatre Works, then a fledgling radio theatre company, completed Babbitt in 1989. This production was so well received that L.A. Theatre Works has since become the world's premiere radio theatre company. Ed Asner as Babbitt leads this all star cast, which includes Ted Danson, Marsha Mason, Helen Hunt, John Lithgow, Stacy Keach, Richard Dreyfuss, Amy Irving, Ally Sheedy and many more. Babbitt was previously unreleased on CD and digital formats.
©2002 Sinclair Lewis (P)2008 L.A. Theatre Works