Episodes
Actress Liv Ullmann who starred in Eugene O'Neill's "Anna Christie" talks about the different techniques required for stage acting versus film acting, particularly with respect to the eyes and body movement.
Published 10/04/10
Published 10/04/10
Composer Stephen Schwartz talks about bringing "Pippin" to New York after a school production at Carnegie Tech, writing songs for "Godspell" off-Broadway after runs at Carnegie Tech and Cafe La Mama, and working with the same producers on "The Magic Show".
Published 09/28/10
Veteran Broadway actor Jack Gilford, while appearing in "Sly Fox", talks about how important Broadway is to the city of New York and how the 1961 Actors Equity strike impacted the city.
Published 09/21/10
"I Love My Wife" star Lenny Baker talks about the difference between playing large and intimate theatres, and the reactions of matinee audiences.
Published 09/14/10
Top New York press agent Harvey Sabinson talks about his memoir "Darling, You Were Wonderful", the origin of the book title, and the behind-the-scenes content including notable flops.
Published 09/07/10
"Sweet Charity" composer Cy Coleman discusses his 1977 musical "I Love My Wife" comprised of 4 characters and 4 musicians performing a "contemporary, eclectic score."
Published 08/31/10
Tony nominated actor Robert LuPone talks about the Backstage On Broadway educational program, and the time when former first lady Betty Ford attended "A Chorus Line" and the Secret Service's wireless communication system interfered with the show's computerized lighting.
Published 08/24/10
Actor Yul Brynner talks about returning to his Academy and Tony Award winning role in the Broadway revival of "The King and I" 25 years later, how his life experience has changed his performance, and what it was like playing to 13,000 people at a time on tour.
Published 08/17/10
Jerry Orbach, star of "Chicago", talks about his continuing loyalty to the stage compared to Hollywood, and how his Broadway schedule works well with being a family man.
Published 08/10/10
Three-time Tony Award winning costume designer Florence Klotz for "Follies", "A Little Night Music", and "Pacific Overtures" talks about costuming the musical comedy "On The 20th Century" set in the 1930s on a train.
Published 07/30/10
Actor Laurence Luckinbill, the star of "Poor Murderer" and now the Pulitzer Prize winning play "The Shadow Box", talks about how Broadway plays are thriving, thanks in part to plays developed at regional theatres such as the Mark Taper Forum and the Long Wharf Theatre.
Published 07/27/10
Hermione Gingold talks about understudying the role of the narrator (normally played by a male actor, Ned Sherrin) in "Side By Side By Sondheim" on Broadway, and using her married name Fernanada Maschwitz.
Published 07/20/10
Actress Delores Hall talks about her Tony Award winning role in the gospel musical "Your Arms Too Short To Box With God", working with director Vinnette Carroll, and turning a "revival meeting" into a theatrical experience on Broadway.
Published 07/13/10
Robert Wright and George Forrest, the songwriting team behind "Song of Norway" talk about adapting their 1953 Broadway musical "Kismet" into "Timbuktu!", a new musical set in West Africa instead of Baghdad, with African folk themes, an African-American cast, and by "The Wiz" director/choreographer/costume designer Geoffrey Holder.
Published 07/06/10
Authors' respresentative Audrey Wood discusses the importance of regional theatres across America. For example, Studs Terkel's book "Working" was developed by the author and multiple composers including Stephen Schwartz, for a premiere production at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.
Published 06/29/10
1960s DJ/radio host Murray The K, also known as "The Fifth Beatle" talks about the Broadway show "Beatlemania", the show's premise and live presentation, and the demographics of the audience.
Published 06/22/10
Actress Hye-Young Choi who portrayed Lady Thiang in the 1977 Broadway revival of "The King And I" compares theatre in Korea to Broadway; audiences enjoy traditional Asian performances, Western-style plays, and European operas that are translated into Korean; and notes that musicals are not yet performed in Korea.
Published 06/15/10
Three-time Tony winning composer for "Bye Bye Birdie" and "Applause" Charles Strouse talks about his hit musical "Annie" and its five year process to bring it to Broadway.
Published 06/08/10
Theatre and film actress Estelle Parsons talks about performing the Brazillian solo play "Miss Margarida's Way"; the importance of performing a variety of material; and the difference in writing and acting for film versus the stage.
Published 06/01/10
New York Post theatre critic Martin Gottfried talks about how his career started at the Village Voice, becoming Women's Wear Daily's chief drama critic, replacing the Post's Richard Watts, Jr. upon retirement; the advantages of reviewing theatre; and his efforts as a playwright.
Published 05/25/10
Book Writer/Lyricist Michael Stewart of Tony Award-winning Best Musicals "Bye Bye Birdie" and "Hello, Dolly!", and the new musical comedy "I Love My Wife", talks about his new novel "Belle", and how connecting with an individual reader compares with collaborating on a big Broadway musical.
Published 05/18/10
Actor Tiger Haynes discusses his ongoing run as the original Tinman in the hit musical "The Wiz" and its move from the Majestic to the Broadway Theatre; his experience as a musician and "saloon performer"; whether he ad-libs or steals the show; how "The Wiz" audience reacts; and if the director and choreographer have revisited the show in its third year.
Published 05/11/10
Television, film, and stage actor Reid Shelton talks about playing Daddy Oliver Warbucks in the hit Broadway musical "Annie", how director Martin Charnin shaped the production from a 1976 pre-Broadway tryout at Goodspeed Opera House to Broadway, and how director Moss Hart similarly took charge in developing "My Fair Lady" for Broadway.
Published 05/04/10
Lyricist/writer Adolph Green, one half of the musical-comedy team Comden and Green, talks about their current revue "A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green" at the Morosco Theatre which includes songs from "Bells Are Ringing", "On The Town", "Applause", and more; working with Cy Coleman on an upcoming musical based on the play "Twentieth Century", about glamour and romance on the Twentieth Century Limited train from Chicago to New York, and the possibility of Madeline Kahn starring with...
Published 04/27/10