Off-broadway Videos

The panel of performers - Joan Copeland ("Another Time"), Jeff Daniels ("Redwood Curtain"), Christopher Durang (Sondheim's "Putting It Together"), Robert Foxworth ("Candida"), Robert Klein ("The Sisters Rosenszweig"), Mary McCann (David Mamet's "Oleanna"), Steven Rea ("Someone Who'll Watch Over Me"), Martin Short ("The Goodbye Girl"), and Mary Steenburgen ("Candida") - compare the different styles of their current productions, their performing backgrounds, discipline and stamina, actors who write, and returning to the stage after working in television and film.

"The Royal Family"'s own theatre royalty Rosemary Harris talks about her current role as Fanny Cavendish at Manhattan Theatre Club and her 1975 performance as Julie Cavendish with such costars as Sam Levene and Eva Le Gallienne (including what she's stolen from "Miss Le G"). She also takes us back to her childhood role as "The Queen" in a play written and staged by her older sister; her discovery by Moss Hart and her Broadway debut in an unsuccessful show that he both wrote and directed; her illustrious directors and leading men, including Laurence Olivier (who personally demonstrated how she was to play Ophelia's mad scene), John Gielgud (who fired her at one point), Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole, among many others; whether she agrees with the generality that she plays English roles in America and American roles in England; her participation in the founding of such influential theatre companies as the APA (later the APA-Phoenix), the Chichester Festival and the Royal National Theatre, and why she feels the disappearance of the company structure is such a loss for actors today. Original air date - November 9, 2009.

The panelists - theatrical agent Joanne Nici, playwright Frank Pugliese ("Aven'U Boys"), director/writer Geraldine Fitzgerald ("Sharon"), choreographer Wayne Cilento ("Tommy"), and producer Frederick Zollo ("Aven'U Boys") - discuss the expanse of their careers and their backgrounds, the role of an agent, and developing plays from the page through casting and rehearsals to production.

"Superior Donuts" and "August: Osage County" playwright Tracy Letts. talks about writing "Donuts" as his first "Chicago" play in homage to his adopted home city. He also discusses his childhood with his mother and father, college professors who would forge second careers as novelist and actor respectively; his own dual career as actor and playwright and why he won't appear in one of his own plays; the impact of joining Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Company; how his early plays "Killer Joe" and "Bug", and their reception in England, included him in part of a mini-movement that included Mark Ravenhill and Sarah Kane; what he thinks of the film version of "Bug"; how much of "August: Osage County" is based on his family's own history; why he creates characters who have difficulty articulating their thoughts and feelings -- including the hyper-articulate ones; and whether after the avalanche of publicity in the wake of "August"'s international success, he thinks he has anything left to say. Original air date - November 2, 2009.

Our four Tony Award winning Leading Ladies -- Laura Benanti, Beth Leavel, Bebe Neuwirth and Alice Ripley - discuss performances they've seen that have made a lasting impact on them; the moment when they realized that a life in the theatre was what they wanted; what it's like originating a role, playing a character in a revival and replacing someone in a show; the roles they never seem to get cast in; their relationship with the audience during a show and after at the stage door; and their thoughts on the audition process.

Director Anne Bogart discusses the formation of her SITI Company and why, after 16 years of existence, they're only now staging their first New York season at Dance Theatre Workshop. She also talks about her family's heritage in the Navy and how theatre played a role in her life as she moved from school to school (including two years in Japan), and why theatre and the Navy are alike; her "All About Eve"-like assumption of the direction of her first show, while in high school in Rhode Island; the profound effect of seeing "Macbeth" at Trinity Rep; her journey through four colleges over five years on her way to a degree; her early work in New York, including sit-specific theatre on a shoestring; her time running the Experimental Theatre Wing at NYU, including her acclaimed production of "South Pacific" set in a veterans' mental institution; her "great and horrible" year as artistic director of Trinity Rep; how the SITI Company married the teachings of Tadashi Suzuki and the "Viewpoints" system of performance; and why she sees Violence, Terror, and Eroticism as central to the task of directing. Original air date - October 26, 2009.

The "Fool Moon" production team - producers Jeffrey Ash, Dori Berinstein, and James Freydberg, actor/creator Bill Irwin, press representative Jackie Green, general manager Robert Kamlot, company manager Daniel Kearns, and actor/creator David Shiner - discuss bringing the two-man mime revue to Broadway, the responsibilities of each production member, the strategic marketing and publicity plans, ticket and production costs, and the wildly varied responses from audiences of all ages.

Producer Emanuel Azenberg talks about the upcoming repertory production of "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "Broadway Bound", including the choice of David Cromer as director, whether the plays are being revised for the tandem run, and why he thinks they'll make audiences think of these plays -- and Neil Simon himself -- in a whole new way. He also discusses how he began his career as part of a group of softball and poker playing buddies that included Robert Redford, James and William Goldman, and on occasion Carl Reiner; how he came to be Neil Simon's exclusive producer on every play since 1972's "The Sunshine Boys"; how he's handled the challenge of dealing with shows that haven't succeeded, including "Fools", "Division Street" and "Einstein and the Polar Bear"; why he has dared to produce the supposedly cursed "Scottish Play" on Broadway not just once, but twice; what he sought to impart to his students at Yale and later Duke University about theatre over some 25 years and how he feels that students have changed over that time; shows he's done for love and shows he's done for money; what has drawn him to be involved in the upcoming revival of "Ragtime"; and why he thinks the much-admired "Side Show" didn't succeed on Broadway, and possibly never will. Original air date - October 19, 2009.

The panelists - theatre critic Howard Kissel, Artistic Director of Manhattan Theatre Club Lynn Meadow, actor/director Zakes Mokae ("The Song Of Jacob Zulu"), producer/general manager Dorothy Olim, producer/general manager Albert Poland, general manager Ben Sprecher, and playwright Wendy Wasserstein ("The Sisters Rosensweig") - discuss how not-for-profit and regional theaters differ from commercial productions, developing plays out of town, escalating production costs, and viable stage careers compared to television and film.

Scott H. Biram playing at Off Broadway in St. Louis. Scott H. Biram is known as the dirty old one man band from Austin Texas. If you ve never see him live you re in for a treat. He plays a blend of country-fied broken blues and is a real crowd pleaser. He s got a kick ass trucker web site you can check out to get more info about his music and where he ll be appearing next. Download this video.

This my favorite song from the handbag-produced staged reading of Eating Raoul. In this scene, Mary must choose between her lover, Raoul, and her husband, Paul. CLICK HERE TO WATCH ON YOUR DEVICE NOW

A teaser for the Handbag Productions midwest premiere of Haywire! by Tim Wilkins Kevin Remington Songs and Special Musical Material by Fred Barton Directed by Cheryl Snodgrass Where: The Bailiwick Arts Center Studio Space, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. When: Previews Oct. 9, 10, 11, Opens Monday, Oct. 13 Runs Thurs.- Sat. , 8pm and Sundays at 3:30pm Cost: $10 Previews, [...]