Welcome to our Book Club!
Our upcoming Book Club meeting via Zoom is scheduled for Thursday, May 21st, beginning at 7:00 p.m. Portland time. We’ll be discussing Muppets In Moscow, which is available in book and e-book formats at the Multnomah County Public Library and the Washington County Public Library. For links to “Discussion Questions” and the Zoom connection, scroll down the page. New participants always welcome!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Natasha Lance Rogoff is an award-winning television producer who has written and directed documentaries and produced children’s television shows for over 25 years. She executive produced Ulitsa Sezam (Sesame Street in Russia) and served as producer of Plaza Sesamo (Sesame Street in Mexico) between 1992-1997. Natasha moved from New York to Moscow in the early 1980s to study Russian at Leningrad State University. Becoming fluent, she made close Russian friends and wrote about Soviet underground culture for mainstream international newspapers and magazines. Her 1983 article, “Gay Life in the Soviet Union,” published in the San Francisco Chronicle, was one of the earliest exposés of Soviet government persecution of the Russian LGBTQ community. Her 1985 film, Rock Around the Kremlin, about Russian rock musicians who endured extreme hardships due to communist censorship, aired on ABC’s “20/20.” Ulitsa Sezam’s production created opportunities for these artists to express themselves freely creating original music, films, and scripts. She is now an Associate in the Art, Film, and Visual Studies Department at Harvard University and lives between Cambridge MA and New York City.
ABOUT THE BOOK
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the timing seemed perfect to bring Sesame Street to millions of children living in the former Soviet Union. With the Muppets envisioned as ideal ambassadors of Western values, no one anticipated just how challenging and dangerous this would prove to be.
In Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia, Natasha Lance Rogoff brings this gripping tale to life. Amidst bombings, assassinations, and a military takeover of the production office, Lance Rogoff and the talented Moscow team of artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and puppeteers remained determined to bring laughter, learning, and a new way of seeing the world to children in Russia, Ukraine and across the former Soviet empire. With a sharp wit and compassion for her colleagues, Lance Rogoff observes how cultural clashes colored nearly every aspect of the production―from the show’s educational framework to writing comedy to the new Russian Muppets themselves―despite the team’s common goal.
Brimming with insight and nuance, Muppets in Moscow skillfully explores the post-Soviet societal tensions that continue to thwart the Russian people’s efforts to create a better future for their country. More than just a story of a children’s show, this book provides a valuable perspective of Russia’s people, their culture, and their complicated relationship with the West that remains relevant even today.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Click on the meeting date below to join!