A few local items have been posted on HBO’s official Boardwalk Empire Web site over the past week, including a news item about last weekend’s Winter Poetry & Prose writer’s getaway, which was held at the Seaview resort and hosted by Peter Murphy (congrats!!), and featured guest speaker Nelson Johnson, the author of the book Boardwalk Empire.

AC Weekly is also highlighted on the Web site, with regard to the interview we conducted with Nelson at the seminar. Check out the screen shot below, and links to the related items.

Click here for the interview with Nelson Johnson.

Click here for AC Weekly’s Boardwalk Empire Notes page (bookmark it!)

Click here to join AC Weekly’s Boardwalk Empire fan club on Facebook.

In related news, Boardwalk Empire’s soundtrack has been nominated for a Grammy this year!

(Click here for more about the music of Boardwalk Empire, including audio)

We should be soon be hearing from cable giant HBO about when the highly anticipated second season of the award-winning drama series Boardwalk Empire, based on parts of the book by local judge Nelson Johnson about Atlantic City’s storied history, will be returning to the small screen.

If you have HBO, you can catch up with last season’s episodes — and watch each one — on a potentially even smaller screen by using the cable TV station’s new HBO Go, available here.

Speaking of Nelson Johnson, actor Michael Shannon, who portrays the fictional FBI agent Nelson van Alden on Boardwalk Empire — is interviewed on HBO’s Web site. Interesting read, check it out here.

Finally, Vincent Piazza, who plays Lucky Luciano on the show, hosted the party at the Dusk nightclub at Caesars Saturday night, July 16. See photos here.

A record number of 1,800 spring graduates will receive their diplomas from President Herman J. Saatkamp, Jr. at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey on Saturday, May 7, 2011.

The commencement addresses will be delivered by the Honorable Nelson Johnson, a jurist, historian and author of Boardwalk Empire for the morning ceremony, and by Willie Geist, host of the MSNBC program Way Too Early with Willie Geist in the afternoon.

(more…)

Roving camera man and friend of Atlantic City Weekly Charlie Pinkett shot and produced this video piece at the “Celebrating the Northside” event, held Feb. 10 at the All Wars Memorial Building in Atlantic City:

Click on image for video, courtesy Charlie Pinkett.

The event included Boardwalk Empire and The Northside author Nelson Johnson, in addition to Ralph Hunter, founder and president of the African-American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey.

The Black History Month event was “designed to bring people together to celebrate the historic role of the Northside community  to share stories and be inspired.” Among the sights and sounds at the event were pieces by local artist Tyrone L. Hart  — whose art graces the cover of the newly published Northside book, a follow-up to author Nelson Johnson’s Boardwalk Empire — as well as local educator. community leader and musician Eddie Morgan and his Jazz Ensemble, and a history of the Northside presentation given by Hunter.

Bianca Dennis, an Atlantic City High School senior and Boys and Girls Club Champions of Youth member who will attend Columbia University in the fall, also gave a special reading.

According to the event organizers, “In The Northside, author Nelson Johnson brings the untold story of Atlantic City’s black community vividly to life, from the arrival of the first African Americans to Absecon Island in the early 19th century through the glory days of the ‘World’s Playground.’ Drawing on dozens of personal interviews and painstaking archival research, he reveals long-forgotten details about the people on whose backs the gambling mecca was built and offers a wide-ranging survey of the accomplishments of more recent generations.  A portion of the sales of The Northside will be split between United Way of Atlantic County and the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City, according to publisher Plexus Publishing, Inc.”

Click here to watch Atlantic City Weekly’s two-part video series on the “African-American Experience,” featuring a panel of six local historians and authors, filmed during the viewing party of the premiere of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire at Caesars Atlantic City on Sept. 19, 2010. Visit Atlantic City Weekly’s Boardwalk Empire Notes page here.

ATLANTIC CITY – The USA Today has picked up a local story that is creating a lot of publicity regarding the billboard for the new Resorts revue show Moonshine Follies, which was put up last week on the Atlantic City Expressway.

The revue show, which begins its run Feb. 20, was inspired by the Roaring ’20s — which is the new theme at Resorts Atlantic City, an idea crafted by Resorts’ new owner Dennis Gomes, who took over the oldest legal casino in town last year —  as well the popularity of the Prohibition era-based HBO series Boardwalk Empire.

Then there’s the obvious pun on the word “moon” in relation to the billboard, which features a nearly naked backside of a showgirl. The billboard has greeted thousands of drivers on the A.C. Expressway and has caused some people to argue that it’s sexual content is inappropriate for minors to see.

In a complete twist of irony, Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson, the same Nelson Johnson who penned the book Boardwalk Empire, which HBO’s popular, award-winning TV series is based on, handed over a decision this week ordering NJ Transit, which owns the land where the billboard is placed, as well as its advertising agency “not to touch the billboard until a March 10 hearing.”

The AP reports that Gomes believes the sign “doesn’t hurt anyone.”

“I’ve got five kids and they’ve seen butts all their lives and they all turned out fine,” Gomes said. “When you go to the beach, you see women in G-strings all the time. In Europe, they go topless. I really don’t understand what all the fuss is about.”

Read USA Today story here.

What do you think about the Moonshine billboard controversy?

The front cover the advance release of "The Northside," Atlantic County judge Nelson Johnson's follow-up to 2002's 'Boardwalk Empire.'

We’ve received a copy, courtesy of New Jersey’s own Plexus Publishing, of Hammonton resident and Atlantic County judge Nelson Johnson’s upcoming book on the African-American experience in Atlantic City, entitled The Northside: African Americans and the Creation of Atlantic City. Although we’re on deadline today to get this week’s paper out, each of us in the editorial department has already read the book today and will give full reviews tomorrow.

Not.

Only kidding. We can’t wait to start reading though, really. The book features a forward by Clement Price and is just more than 300 pages. Johnson is quoted on the back of the book as saying:

“African Americans built Atlantic City. Remove them from its history and the town we know today never comes to be.”

Stay tuned.

Caesars Atlantic City VP of Marketing Erin Chamberlin addresses the crowd at the Circus Maximus Theater on Sunday, Sept. 19, prior to the "Conversations & Storytelling" event, which was followed by a viewing party of the first episode of HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" (Photo Donald B. Kravitz)

OK, now that the premiere episode of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire has aired, let’s get to some recent and interesting Web articles and blog posts on the series, its production and its premiere, that have been popping up across the World Wide Web.

First up is this blog about the set in Brooklyn where HBO created the 1920 Atlantic City, click here.

Next, critics from far and wide have been hailing HBO’s Boardwalk Empire as one of the only new TV series worth watching this fall season. Tough break for network TV. The raves come come from critics across the country, including NPR’s David Bianculli, a long-time TV critic and professor at Rowan. See his blog post here.

And we can’t forget the Washington Post’s excellent blog posts here.

TV.com has this cool post, too.

Meanwhile, thestreet.com this morning asks if the new HBO series will revive Atlantic City.

Meanwhile, do a search for “Boardwalk Empire” and you’ll find thousands of reviews. Most of them very favorable. No doubt HBO is already working on a second a season and perhaps even a third by now.

The reviews were also very positive for the new HBO series, based on the book by Nelson Johnson, following the viewing party at Caesars Atlantic City on Sunday, Sept. 19. The free event was open to the public — about 750 people filled the Circus Maximus Theater — and was preceded by a “Conversations & Storytelling” panel discussion.

Last Thursday’s HBO premiere night in Atlantic City (see story, pics and video here) was a gas, and Sunday’s event was a blast. Prior to the 9pm viewing of episode one of Boardwalk Empire, a distinguished panel of Atlantic City historians, including Vicki Gold Levi, Ralph Hunter, Pinky Kravitz, Israel Posner, Jim Waltzer and Allen “Boo” Pergament, took the theater stage for nearly two hours to discuss different facets of Atlantic City’s history in relation to the new HBO series.

"Conversations & Storytelling" with (left to right) Ralph Hunter, Izzy Posner, Allen "Boo" Pergament and Jeff Schwachter (Photo Donald B. Kravitz)

The event was moderated by Jeff Schwachter, editor of Atlantic City Weekly, and presented by Atlantic City Weekly, the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority and Caesars Atlantic City. Thanks to Stockton College and the Atlantic City Free Public Library.

Ralph Hunter (Photo Donald B. Kravitz)

The founder and president of the African-American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey (in Newtonville, Atlantic County), Ralph Hunter, delighted the crowd with his stories and questions to the audience.

Here’s a video of AC Weekly’s Whitney Ullman interviewing attendees as they walked into the event on Sunday.

Also, be sure to look at AC Weekly’s “Boardwalk Empire Notes” web page for interviews, stories and more. Also, join our “AC Weekly Boardwalk Empire Fan Club” Facebook page here.

Until next episode…

Judge Nelson Johnson signs books at the Margate library earlier this year.

Nelson Johnson, the author of Boardwalk Empire, may be everywhere these days — HBO, NBC-40, etc., but one place he won’t be is at the Atlantic City Free Public Library on Sept. 18 as scheduled.

Earlier today a spokesperson for the library said that Johnson’s appearance has been scrapped and that the library will be doing another 1920’s themed event on that day instead. The details were not yet available.

Johnson, a local judge in Atlantic County, has been the talk of the town as HBO is set to debut its new drama series Boardwalk Empire, on Sunday, Sept. 19, at 9pm.

Here’s another place where Johnson won’t be, but you should.

Steve Buscemi

The pilot of Boardwalk Empire, directed by Martin Scorsese based on Nelson Johnson’s book about Atlantic City in its floy-floy days as a bootleggers’ paradise, has been sold to HBO. The company has ordered 11 episodes of Boardwalk Empire, starring Steve Buscemi and Dabney Coleman. One of the other executive producers is Mark Wahlberg (Entourage), and Terence Winter (The Sopranos) wrote the script for the pilot.
Empire is set in the early days of Prohibition and follows Nucky Thompson (played by Buscemi) and his corrupt reign over Atlantic City. AC history buffs know that the character is based on Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, a legendary bootlegger. The drama also stars Michael Pitt and Kelly Macdonald (No Country For Old Men). The series, like the pilot, will be based in Brooklyn, NY. Production begins this fall for a 2010 premiere.

For those of us hoping that Martin Scorsese might come to town to film a little footage for his AC-based period piece for HBO, Boardwalk Empire — perhaps the Absecon Lighthouse which was around back in the 1920s — no dice. According to a story in the NY Daily News, a Brooklyn-based digital effects studio used a mix of huge sets and digital FX to recreate the floy-floy period of Atlantic City in Brooklyn instead. The HBO pilot stars Steve Buscemi as a businessman-turned-bootlegger who takes control of the city’s political machine.
The Greenpoint set re-created storefronts, boardwalks and cars, but Brooklyn’s Brainstorm Digital will add skylines, billboards, piers and beaches.
At least the digital whiz kids did some research on our old town to get it right.
“Anytime you get to work on a period piece, it’s more fun,” artist Chris Wesselman says. “We got to explore what the old Atlantic City was really like.”
Wesselman dug up vintage postcards, architectural plans and ads to make his depictions as accurate as possible.
Go here for more about the book, written by lifelong Hammonton, NJ resident Nelson Johnson, who is currently a judge of the New Jersey Superior Court, sitting in the Civil Division of Atlantic County.