Posted on April 28th, 2008 at 11:42 am
by American Theatre Wing
David Zippel
Lyricist of Pamela’s First Musical.
Lyricist David Zippel discusses the development of Pamela’s First Musical, the challenges posed by the untimely passing of two of his collaborators on the project — composer Cy Coleman and author Wendy Wasserstein, and the upcoming benefit performance which will mark the show’s first public performance. He also talks about his earliest lyric writing efforts, including the pre-Broadway Rotunda and Going Hollywood, an adaptation of Once in a Lifetime which is about to get a new workshop presentation 38 years after Zippel first thought to adapt it; how he came to collaborate with Coleman and Larry Gelbart on City of Angels, before the show’s acclaimed dual-story structure was even in place; what drew him to musicalize The Goodbye Girl; and the challenge of creating the lyrics his first through-sung musical The Woman in White, a collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Original airdate - April 25, 2008.
Running time - 51:2.
For more information see Downstage Center’s David Zippel program page.
You can also download the David Zippel program (mp3).
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Posted on April 24th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
by American Theatre Wing
Performance
The panel of performers talk about their training and when they decided to become actors. Power Plays co-stars Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss talk about working together at Northwestern. Both Billy Crudup and Dana Reeve (More To Love: A Big Fat Comedy) pursued Master of Fine Arts degrees in order to teach as well as act. In England, Roger Rees (Nicholas Nickleby) trained primarily by observation. James Naughton (Chicago, Williamstown Theatre Festival) discusses the Blue Light Theatre Company, started by his son Greg Naughton, where Billy Crudup is in Oedipus. The panel also discusses what they’ve gained from working with brilliant directors, being both director and actor, and preparing for auditions.
Original airdate - September 1, 1998.
Running time - 90 minutes.
For more information see Working in the Theatre’s Performance program page.
You can also download the Performance program (mp4).
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Posted on April 21st, 2008 at 4:07 pm
by American Theatre Wing
Paul Rudnick
Author of The New Century.
Playwright Paul Rudnick discusses his evening of one-act plays, The New Century, currently playing at Lincoln Center Theatre, including how he came to combine characters originally written for separate plays into a single work and how he hopes they play against their stereotypes; how he announced his plans to be a playwright to his parents as a young child, before he’d even seen a play; the senior class project that he threw together at the last minute only to see it swiftly produced as a one-night-only event at Yale; the famously troubled Broadway run of I Hate Hamlet; the difficulty he experienced trying to get Jeffrey, a comedy set in the era of AIDS, produced; and the story behind his longest-running character, film critic Libby Gelman-Waxner of Premiere magazine.
Original airdate - April 18, 2008.
Running time - 58:39.
For more information see Downstage Center’s Paul Rudnick program page.
You can also download the Paul Rudnick program (mp3).
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Posted on April 16th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
by American Theatre Wing
Unexpectedly Theatre
With backgrounds rooted in rock and roll, television comedy and comics, our 4 guests have made the leap from their day jobs to the stages of Broadway and Off Broadway with their musicals. Ben Katchor (The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island), David Javerbaum (Cry-Baby), Heidi Rodewald (Passing Strange) and Stew (Passing Strange) discuss adjusting to the collaborative world of theatre, the rules of theatre they think were made to be broken, their reaction to producers’ notes, and how they feel their shows fit within the context of traditional musicals.
Original airdate - March 14, 2008.
Running time - 60 minutes.
For more information see Working in the Theatre’s Unexpectedly Theatre program page.
You can also download the Unexpectedly Theatre program (mp4).
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Posted on April 14th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
by American Theatre Wing
James Earl Jones
From Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
In a startlingly candid interview, actor James Earl Jones talks about what drew him to playing the role of Big Daddy in the current revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and his views on the play being performed by African-American actors. He also charts his journey from stuttering youth to acclaimed actor, including his early training (in part at the American Theatre Wing School), his appearance in the acclaimed 1960 production of Genet’s Les Blancs with co-stars including Cicely Tyson and Maya Angelou, his years with the fledgling New York Shakespeare Festival, his landmark performances in The Great White Hope and Fences, his experiences working with playwright Athol Fugard and director Lloyd Richards, and why he never wants to be anyone’s mentor.
Original airdate - April 11, 2008.
Running time - 60:35.
For more information see Downstage Center’s James Earl Jones program page.
You can also download the James Earl Jones program (mp3).
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