The production team for A Few Good Men – producer David Brown; president of the Shubert Organization, Bernard Jacobs; Serino Coyne advertising representative Linda Lehman; and general manager Stuart Thompson – talk about selecting a script by unknown playwright Aaron Sorkin; the details of general management including budget, advertising, ticket sales, government taxes; rising costs in the current economics of Broadway; film rights to plays and the effect of a film release; and what it takes to produce a Broadway show.

Original airdate – September 1, 1990.
Running time – 1:30:00.

For more information, to watch online, or to download the episode go to Working in the Theatre’s Production: A Few Good Men program page.

You can also download directly the Production: A Few Good Men program (mp4).

From August: Osage County and Wicked.

The “resident character woman” of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Rondi Reed, talks about her current stint as Madame Morrible in the Broadway juggernaut Wicked, a role she originated in the musical’s Chicago company, including why we’re suddenly seeing her in a big Broadway musical for the first time, after 30 years in Chicago’s best-known theatre ensemble. She also discusses her college years at Illinois State University, where she first met the team who would become the founders of Steppenwolf; why after graduation she decamped for Minnesota; when the invitation to join Steppenwolf actually came; why she didn’t journey to New York for the famed production of Balm in Gilead; her directing debut with John Guare’s Lydie Breeze; her extended tenure in the original production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile and the brief Broadway run of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice; whether she has the opportunity at Steppenwolf to ask for plays to be done specifically based on her interest; why the company seems to have so many meetings and how they’ve sustained that over the years; her reasons for initially declining the role of Mattie Faye, written by Tracy Letts with her in mind, in August: Osage County, as she sets the record straight about whether or not the company resisted bringing the show to New York; the remarkable experience of returning to August for its final performance at the last minute, playing the role she created for a single performance with a company of actors she didn’t know, including Phylicia Rashad, why she’s only in recent years begun appearing in roles outside of Steppenwolf; and how long we can expect her to stay in the magical world of Wicked.

Original airdate – March 10, 2010.
Running time – 1:03:44.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to Downstage Center’s Rondi Reed program page.

You can also download directly the Rondi Reed program (mp3).

Film director Frank Perry who spent the first 10 years of his career directing for the stage, returns to Broadway to direct Ladies at the Alamo. Perry explains why he has returned to Broadway now, and shares what’s next in his career.

Running time – 03:42.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to TBL This Is Broadway’s Frank Perry program page.

You can also download directly the Frank Perry program (mp3).

The panel of performers – Jane Alexander (Shadowlands), Stockard Channing (Six Degrees of Separation), Sarah Jessica Parker (The Substance Of Fire), Jonathan Pryce (Miss Saigon), Ron Rifkin (The Substance Of Fire), Mercedes Ruehl (Lost In Yonkers), and Topol (Fiddler on the Roof) – discuss playing the same role over the years, finding a rhythm in one’s performance, learning about one’s character during the rehearsal process, gaining discipline, and how each performer got their start.

Original airdate – September 1, 1991.
Running time – 1:30:00.

For more information, to watch online, or to download the episode go to Working in the Theatre’s Performance program page.

You can also download directly the Performance program (mp4).

Theatre Design Specialist Roger Morgan talks about how his education in scenic and lighting design and backstage experience helped determine his focus in the field of architecture. He works on new designs as well as restorations, fully evaluating the existing damage and work required. For the Nederlander Theatre, left in “grungy” condition that suited the long-running musical Rent which closed in 2008, Morgan referred back to historical records and photos. Morgan paid close attention to the original architectural details and interior lighting, and gave the theatre a fresh exterior highlighting the arches and original brick as well as a new marquee.

Original airdate – March 5, 2010.
Running time – 07:24.

For more information, to watch online, or to download the episode go to In The Wings’ Theatre Design Specialist program page.

You can also download directly the Theatre Design Specialist program (mp4).

At the 2003 SDC Directing Symposium, Scott Elliott, Artistic Director of The New Group and Callaway Award winner for Excellence in Directing, spoke to a room full of young directors for 90 minutes about his transition from acting in Broadway musicals to becoming an award winning director and artistic director of a successful Off-Broadway theatre company. He describes paying rent with charge cards in order to be creatively ambitious in his early directing days, and the element of chance that led to the New York Times showing up for one of his first shows and in so doing, changed his career forever. He speaks of his experience directing The Women for Roundabout on Broadway at the time of 9/11 and the decision to continue rehearsing and open the show in October. Other topics include choosing scripts and collaborators, the state of Off-Broadway theater post 9/11, and his collaboration with Arthur Miller on The Ride Down Mt. Morgan. Mr. Elliott’s interview provides a sneak peek into the world of a remarkable theatre artist who built his career from scratch, which should be of great interest to any aspiring director or artistic director.

Originally recorded on – January 1, 2003.
Running time – 1:14:37.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to SDCF Masters of the Stage’s Scott Elliott program page.

You can also download directly the Scott Elliott program (mp3).

Executive Director, American Theatre Wing.

Turnabout is fair play, as actor Richard Thomas is the guest host for a conversation with Howard Sherman, Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing. The longtime friends discuss the changes in the Wing since Sherman arrived in 2003, the unifying idea beyond the program expansion that has taken place since that time, and how ATW has evolved repeatedly over its 70 year history to meet the changing needs of the theatre community. Sherman also talks about his high school and college years as a performer; his eight years of “graduate school” at Hartford Stage under the mentorship of artistic director Mark Lamos and managing director David Hawkanson; the celebrity who helped to ease his parents’ minds about his choice of a risky career in theatre; how Goodspeed Musicals’ executive producer Michael Price gave him the opportunity to move beyond p.r. and into management; his stints at Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY and the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center in Connecticut; how personal priorities rather than professional ones led him to the Wing; and what has always motivated him throughout his career.

Original airdate – March 3, 2010.
Running time – 1:03:45.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to Downstage Center’s Howard Sherman program page.

You can also download directly the Howard Sherman program (mp3).

Film actress Liv Ullmann talks about what she’s found in the title character of Anna Christie and how the audience reacts to Eugene O’Neill’s modern play.

Running time – 03:45.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to TBL This Is Broadway’s Liv Ullmann program page.

You can also download directly the Liv Ullmann program (mp3).

The panel of performers – Hinton Battle (Miss Saigon), Roy Dotrice (The Homecoming), Timothy Hutton (Babylon Gardens), Mary Louise Parker (Babylon Gardens), Teresa Wright (On Borrowed Time), Stephanie Zimbalist (The Baby Dance) – discuss working in regional and repertory theatre; where they started out in show business, if it was a family profession; the process of getting an agent; how the stage compares to television and film; and how different theatre spaces, sets, and stage sizes affect a show.

Original airdate – September 1, 1991.
Running time – 1:30:00.

For more information, to watch online, or to download the episode go to Working in the Theatre’s Performance program page.

You can also download directly the Performance program (mp4).

Director of A View From The Bridge.

Gregory Mosher, director of the current Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, talks about how he initiated the production himself, personally approached Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson about appearing in it, then brought the project to a producer after 17 years away from directing on Broadway. Mosher also discusses his journey through three institutions of higher education, including the acting program at The Juilliard School — all without once graduating; his failed efforts post-college to even get unpaid employment in New York or at the country’s major regional theatres; his migration to Chicago, where as assistant to William Woodman at The Goodman Theatre, he did everything from casting to producing their Stage 2 season; his ascension to artistic director and the challenges he faced securing the rights to new plays at a time when Chicago theatre wasn’t yet “on the map”; his working relationship with David Mamet on the original production of American Buffalo and other plays — as well as the one Mamet play he rejected and how that turned out; his tenure as artistic director of the new regime at Lincoln Center Theater beginning in 1985, including his early pilgrimage to meet with Peter Brook to understand how to make the Beaumont stage “work” and the LCT show that proved most surprising and rewarding in its success; what prompted his departure from LCT in the early 90s; his unsuccessful attempt to revitalize Circle-in-the-Square in 1997 and the 1998 season that was planned but never produced; and his leadership of the Columbia University Arts Initiative, how that program came to be and how to measure its success five years in.

Original airdate – February 24, 2010.
Running time – 1:04:56.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to Downstage Center’s Gregory Mosher program page.

You can also download directly the Gregory Mosher program (mp3).

English actor Tom Courtenay who is making his Broadway debut in Simon Gray’s comedy Otherwise Engaged shares what the play is about, and his experience in The Norman Conquests in the West End.

Running time – 03:42.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to TBL This Is Broadway’s Tom Courtenay program page.

You can also download directly the Tom Courtenay program (mp3).

The panel of actors – Alan Alda (Neil Simon’s Jake’s Women), Jodi Benson (Crazy For You), Roscoe Lee Brown (August Wilson’s Two Trains Running), Glenn Close (Death and the Maiden), Richard Dreyfuss (Death and the Maiden), Harry Groener (Crazy For You), Tracy Pollan (Neil Simon’s Jake’s Women), and Lynn Redgrave (Ibsen’s The Master Builder) – discuss how they got started in the business and their big break, the significance of the rehearsal process, keeping a role fresh and not repeating the same performance, doing classic plays and if they are influenced by seeing different versions, and the difference between London and New York stages.

Original airdate – April 1, 1992.
Running time – 1:30:00.

For more information, to watch online, or to download the episode go to Working in the Theatre’s Performance program page.

You can also download directly the Performance program (mp4).

Stage Automation Engineer Chuck Adomanis designs the modern automated system for moving theatrical scenery. He demonstrates the control system on the new set built for the Billy Elliot tour. His designs created on computer are executed by many craftsmen on the shop floor. Notable designs using Hudson Scenic Automation are The Lion King’s Pride Rock, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s flying car, and the large video screens used by the current Dreamgirls tour. Adomanis shares the origins of his interest in stagecraft, his career path, and what continues to motivate his work.

Original airdate – February 19, 2010.
Running time – 07:26.

For more information, to watch online, or to download the episode go to In The Wings’ Stage Automation Engineer program page.

You can also download directly the Stage Automation Engineer program (mp4).

In 1999, after receiving SDC’s “Mr. Abbott Award,” director/playwright/actress Vinnette Carroll spoke with SDC Executive Director David Diamond about her life as the first African American woman to direct on Broadway. She describes her mother’s intense desire for her children to be cultured and how she encouraged Carroll to pursue the arts. She speaks about breaking into acting with a production of Ceasar and Cleopatra and the joy she eventually finds as a director in collaborating with playwrights and choreographers. Other conversation topics include the mentorship she received from Erwin Piscator and Stella Adler, the influence of choreography and other art forms on her directing style, and her close relationship with Langston Hughes. She tells how Hughes helped with her one-woman shows, which she did because there were no parts for black women at the time, and how that led to the beginning of the Urban Arts Corps which existed to give work to young minority artists. Evident throughout the interview is her passion for the people she worked with: how they were the reason for her persistence in the arts, the satisfaction she experienced from working with others, and the feel of being part of a greater whole. An incredible story for anyone passionate about the lives of American Theater’s great women.

Originally recorded on – January 1, 1999.
Running time – 1:26:16.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to SDCF Masters of the Stage’s Vinnette Carroll program page.

You can also download directly the Vinnette Carroll program (mp3).

Scenic Designer of A View From The Bridge & Time Stands Still.

Veteran scenic designer John Lee Beatty, currently represented in New York by Time Stands Still, A View from the Bridge and Venus in Fur, talks about why he thinks all American drama is about real estate, making set design particularly integral to every work. He also discusses how he was instantly drawn to set design (as well as flying) when he first saw Peter Pan as a child; his self-education in set design through his college years — and what he discovered when he entered the graduate design program at the Yale School of Drama; his extensive work with not-for-profit companies including the Manhattan Theatre Club, Mark Taper Forum, Goodspeed Musicals, Circle Repertory Company and Lincoln Center Theater — plus 50 shows for City Center’s Encores! series; his affinity for the Victorian era; why he hasn’t done many designs for musicals — and the musical he’d most like to tackle; how he feels about being “typecast” for his interiors and exteriors of homes through the years — and costume designer Jane Greenwood’s sage advice on Beatty’s particular specialty; how he chooses his projects — and the kinds of shows he doesn’t like to do; what it was like to imagine different parts of the Talley family property in different eras in Lanford Wilson’s famed trilogy; and how the design of Proof was actually based on an old sweater.

Original airdate – February 17, 2010.
Running time – 59:01.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to Downstage Center’s John Lee Beatty program page.

You can also download directly the John Lee Beatty program (mp3).

Constance Towers who plays Anna in the revival of The King and I talks about working with Yul Brynner and the authentic casting of the 1977 production.

Running time – 03:45.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to TBL This Is Broadway’s Constance Towers program page.

You can also download directly the Constance Towers program (mp3).

From God of Carnage.

One of God of Carnage’s current combatants on Broadway, Christine Lahti, talks about playing the range of emotions that consume her character over the course of the play’s mere 80 minutes, and how the new ensemble developed the rapport for such a physical and intimate work. She also discusses her college years, including the dual lures of social activism and theatre performance; her experience understudying Madeline Kahn and Sigourney Weaver in the premiere of John Guare’s Marco Polo Sings a Solo; her early Broadway work in plays by Michael Weller and Steve Tesich; being directed by and co-starring with the legendary George C. Scott in Present Laughter, along with Broadway newbies Nathan Lane and Kate Burton; how studying with another iconic figure, Uta Hagen, taught her how to be “director-proof”; her multiple appearances in Jon Robin Baitz’s monologue-driven Three Hotels; and her great affinity for the work of Wendy Wasserstein, evidenced by her performances in The Heidi Chronicles (on Broadway), Third (at the Geffen Playhouse) and An American Daughter (for television).

Original airdate – February 10, 2010.
Running time – 57:12.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to Downstage Center’s Christine Lahti program page.

You can also download directly the Christine Lahti program (mp3).

English director Peter Yates talks about Steve Tesich’s basketball play Passing Game playing at the American Place Theatre.

Running time – 03:44.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to TBL This Is Broadway’s Peter Yates program page.

You can also download directly the Peter Yates program (mp3).

What was The Play That Changed Your Life? Not only the title of a new American Theatre Wing book, which posed that question to 19 of America’s most distinguished playwrights, but the start of a discussion by two of those playwrights, Tina Howe and Diana Son. They also talk about which of their own plays changed their lives; what role theatre played while growing up; if there were teachers who inspired them to get involved in theatre writing; what drew them to playwriting; how much of themselves are in their characters; and their role as mentors for young writers.

Original airdate – December 11, 2009.
Running time – 1:00:00.

For more information, to watch online, or to download the episode go to Working in the Theatre’s The Play That Changed My Life program page.

You can also download directly the The Play That Changed My Life program (mp4).

The aerial choreographer, Paul Rubin, creates flying sequences for the stage from start to finish. During a rehearsal of an original production titled Joseph, Rubin shows the equipment used. He also talks about his background as a magician/illusionist, and the highlights of his experience working on Peter Pan with Cathy Rigby, Wicked, and Curtains with David Hyde Pierce.

Original airdate – February 5, 2010.
Running time – 07:16.

For more information, to watch online, or to download the episode go to In The Wings’ Aerial Choreographer program page.

You can also download directly the Aerial Choreographer program (mp4).

In this Directors Training Symposium from 1996, Lincoln Center Theater’s artistic director Andre Bishop talks about his responsibilities as an artistic director, the qualities he looks for when hiring a director, his belief that many young directors lack knowledge in certain areas, how theatre as a whole can and must develop the next generation of directors, the key difference between commercial productions and the not-for-profit theatre, and why not-for-profit theatres must do more than simply produce shows.

Originally recorded on – January 1, 1996.
Running time – 49:58.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to SDCF Masters of the Stage’s Andre Bishop program page.

You can also download directly the Andre Bishop program (mp3).

The panelists – playwright Jon Robin Baitz (The End of the Day), playwright Charles Grodin (One of the All-Time Greats), director Mark Lamos (The End of the Day), playwright Ken Ludwig (Crazy For You, Lend Me A Tenor), director Tony Roberts (One of the All-Time Greats), choreographer Susan Stroman (Crazy For You), and International Creative Management Vice-President Victoria Traube – discuss how they got started and their common backgrounds as actors and lawyers, directing the work of living and dead playwrights, the development and journey for each of their shows, and the seamless collaboration the Crazy For You creative team achieved.

Original airdate – April 1, 1992.
Running time – 1:30:00.

For more information, to watch online, or to download the episode go to Working in the Theatre’s Playwright and Director program page.

You can also download directly the Playwright and Director program (mp4).

Martin Charnin director/lyricist of Annie discusses the challenges of child labor laws and age/height restrictions for the orphans in the cast.

Running time – 03:43.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to TBL This Is Broadway’s Martin Charnin program page.

You can also download directly the Martin Charnin program (mp3).

Two-time Tony nominated actor, writer, and director.

The multi-talented Andre De Shields describes the development of his new one-man show, Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory: From Douglass to Deliverance, and why it may be a work-in-progress for several years to come. He also talks about growing up in a family of 11 children in Baltimore and why he was unexpectedly the one to make a career in entertainment; his undergraduate years at the University of Wisconsin, including an infamous production he described as “the nude Peter Pan,” directed by Stuart Gordon (who would later create the Organic Theatre in Chicago and direct the film Re-Animator); why he had to sleep in a public park in order to secure his first professional role in a show he’d never seen — Hair; why he can lay claim to being the man who made Bette Midler’s back-up singers, The Harlettes, dance; how the process of elimination ended up yielding him the title role in The Wiz; why it was Jackie Onassis who revealed to him and his castmates in Ain’t Misbehavin’ that they were in a hit; whether he’d tackle the multiple roles of director, choreographer, bookwriter, songwriter and star of Harlem Nocturne if he had to do it all over again; his thoughts on African-American actors taking on traditionally Caucasian roles, having had the opportunity to play Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman and Our Town’s Stage Manager; why he feels that the musical Play On! was misunderstood; and the incredible liberation of his big number in The Full Monty.

Original airdate – February 1, 2010.
Running time – 1:07:09.

For more information, to listen online, or to download the episode go to Downstage Center’s Andre De Shields program page.

You can also download directly the Andre De Shields program (mp3).

The production team of Crazy For You – advertising representative Nancy Coyne, press representative Bill Evans, general manager Tyler Gatchell, casting director Julie Hughes, and producer Elizabeth Williams – discuss how the show was adapted from the 1930’s Gershwin musical Girl Crazy, advertising as a new musical – not a revival, producing a television commercial, the financial cost of the large production, the role of the casting director, and the effect of positive critical reviews.

Original airdate – April 1, 1992.
Running time – 1:30:00.

For more information, to watch online, or to download the episode go to Working in the Theatre’s Production: Crazy For You program page.

You can also download directly the Production: Crazy For You program (mp4).