Television Working Videos

The "Anna Christie" production team - scenic designer John Lee Beatty, O'Neill biographer Barbara Gelb, Artistic Director of Roundabout Theatre Todd Haimes, actors Anne Meara, Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson, and Rip Torn, and lighting designer Marc B. Weiss -- discuss in-depth the 1993 Tony Award-winning revival, including the scenic and lighting design, how the characters relate to contemporary lives, the actors' differing acting styles, and Eugene O'Neill's early career.

The role of Regional Theatre in supporting and presenting new works to their communities was among the topics discussed by our panel: Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse, Gordon Edelstein, Artistic Director of Long Wharf Theatre, Sara Garonzik, Producing Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Theatre Company, and Eric Rosen, Artistic Director of Kansas City Repertory Theatre. They also explored how they share works and resources; the kind of show they feel best serves their audiences; their interaction with the local community; how they deal with competition within the theatrical community in their cities; what they learn from visiting Directors to their theatres; and the effect it has on their theatres when one of their shows moves to Broadway.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

The panelists - playwright/director Edward Albee ("Marriage Play"), director Arvin Brown ("The Twilight of the Golds"), agent Joyce Ketay, playwright Tony Kushner ("Angels In America"), playwright Timothy Mason ("The Fiery Furnace"), and playwright Jonathan Tolins ("The Twilight of the Golds") - talk about playwrights directing their own work, how directors and playwrights collaborate, gauging audience response, and the evolution of their respective productions.

"The Kiss of the Spider Woman" production team - producer Garth Drabinsky, lyricist Fred Ebb, composer John Kander, playwright Terrence McNally, director Harold Prince, and actor Chita Rivera - discuss adapting the novel and film, starting as a "New Musicals" development at SUNY Purchase through productions in Toronto and London before reaching Broadway, how the script has changed over the years, the budget required for the long creative process, and the business of producing and marketing a new Broadway musical.

The design panel - scenic designer John Arnone ("The Who's Tommy"), costume designer Elizabeth Fried ("Brother Truckers"), special effects designer Wendall K. Harrington ("The Who's Tommy"), lighting designer Mimi Jordan Sherin (New York Shakespeare Festival) - moderated by costume designer Patricia Zipprodt ("My Favorite Year"), Professor Tish Dace, and author/designer/producer Jean Dalrymple discuss their creative childhoods; how the role of designers has evolved from directors, stage managers, and technicians; working with varying production budgets; and the colors and projections used in "The Who's Tommy".

The resident theatre panelists - Randall Arney, Artistic Director of Steppenwolf Theatre; Zelda Fichandler, Artistic Director of the Acting Company; Emily Mann, Artistic Director of McCarter Theater; Mac Pirkle, Artistic Director of Tennessee Repertory Theatre; Michael P. Price, Executive Director of Goodspeed Opera House; and Lloyd Richards, Artistic Director of Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center - discuss the beginnings of regional theatre as a place to develop new plays and playwrights, relationships with commercial theatre, marketing and building a subscriber base, and diversity in playwrights and audiences.

The panel - director Martin Charnin ("The Flowering Peach"), "Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public" playwright Larry L. King and director/co-writer Peter Masterson, choreographer Rob Marshall ("Kiss of the Spiderwoman"), director/writer Lonny Price ("Sally Marr and Her Escorts"), Second Stage Theatre dramaturg/literary manager Erin Sanders, director Robert Jess Roth ("Beauty and the Beast"), Ernest Schier director of the National Critics' Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, and Tazewell Thompson Artistic Director of the Syracuse Stage - talk about the different ways that writers collaborate, the role of a dramaturg, how choreography and directing can be intertwined, developing a production in workshops, and reimagining an animated film as a stage musical.

The "Beauty and the Beast" production team - press representative Chris Boneau, producer Michael David, associate producer Donald Frantz, production supervisor Jeremiah Harris, producer Robert W. McTyre, marketing consultant Margery Singer - discuss creating a stage musical from an animated film, costume designs, production budget and ticket prices, marketing and publicity including a literacy program, and Disney's plans on Broadway.

Artists with their feet in both pop music and musical theatre—Stephen Bray and Allee Willis ("The Color Purple"), Rupert Holmes ("The Mystery of Edwin Drood"), Lucy Simon ("The Secret Garden") and David Yazbek ("The Full Monty")—talk about the parallels and intersections of those two worlds.

The creation of new worlds on stage and the work of their creators is explored with lighting designer Peggy Eisenhauer ("Assassins"), costume designer Jess Goldstein ("Jersey Boys"), set designer David Korins ("Bridge and Tunnel"), set designer Derek McLane ("The Pajama Game") and costume designer Carrie Robbins ("White Christmas").

Making classic work come alive for today's audiences is the topic for directors Anne Bogart, Barbara Gaines, Mark Lamos and Bartlett Sher.

The writers' life is the topic for authors Christopher Durang ("Miss Witherspoon"), Lisa Kron ("Well"), Marsha Norman ("The Color Purple"), John Patrick Shanley ("Defiance") and Diana Son ("Satellites").

A free-ranging conversation on the actors' life with Michael Cerveris ("Sweeney Todd"), Victoria Clark ("A Light in the Piazza"), Jill Clayburgh ("Naked Girl on the Appian Way"), George Grizzard ("Seascape") and Brían F. O'Byrne ("Doubt").

Originally created as a skit for a bachelor party, "The Drowsy Chaperone" has traveled from Toronto to Los Angeles to Broadway, growing in size along the way without sacrificing its skewed view of classic musicals. The ATW Working in the Theatre seminar will explore Chaperone's journey from one-off entertainment into that rarest of musicals—one not based on a book, play or movie.

An in-depth look at the creation of the Off-Broadway musical, with author Michael John LaChiusa, director Ted Sperling, musical stager Jonathan Butterell and actors Marc Kudisch and Mary Testa.