An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein

Although he’s arguably best known as the author of such cherished children’s books as Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein (1930-1999) was a man of many hats. Few picture anyone other than The Man in Black when they hear “A Boy Named Sue,” but it was Silverstein who wrote the song and won a Grammy for it 1970. And even before he published his first book for young readers (1963’s Uncle Shelby’s Story of Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back), the singer-songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, and screenwriter was contributing to Playboy. Every Saturday through September 1, the Cameo celebrates the legend’s lesser-known side with An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein, a collection of darkly comic plays populated by the likes of singing hookers, an obsessive compulsive bag-lady, a sadistic laundromat attendant, and a talking dog.