Back to SDCF Masters of the Stage Homepage

Rare insights into the working process of America's most seminal directors and choreographers are the focus of "Masters of the Stage." This series features more than three decades of priceless One-on-One interviews and panel discussions with theatre's most distinguished luminaries. Listen to these never before broadcast programs and hear the story of the American theatre told by those who helped chart its course. The Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation brings you to this series through the collaborative efforts of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and the American Theatre Wing.

Brian Murray Get the Flash Player to see this player. With: Brian Murray Ada Brown Mather - Moderator Days before the close of 1986's Tony Award winner for "Best Reproduction of a Play or Musical" Hay Fever, Director Brian Murray sat down with Ada Brown Mather to discuss Mr. Coward's return to Broadway. Murray brings to the conversation a simple, honest and eminently knowledgeable love of Noël Coward's work; a relationship he began as an eleven year old boy reading plays at the library. He speaks about how his direction of Hay Fever on Broadway, starring Rosemary Harris, and how it began with a sense of unfairness that this production of Coward's never got the New York City reception it deserved. Mather and Murray discuss early Coward as an artistic revolutionary whose naturalistic use of language bucked the trend of traditional high comedy. They explore Coward the musician and his incredible talents as a lyricist. Further, Murray tries to explain the delicate landscape of Coward's conversational rhythm and how integral it is to generating a laugh. These two Coward scholars debate which works of Coward should be considered satire, concluding that what defines a Coward comedy isn't its commentary on a single class or group, but the unifying characteristic of laughing at life in general. Originally recorded - March 1, 1986 Running Time - 1:16:01 If you enjoyed this episode of SDCF Masters of The Stage you may want to: Subscribe to our podcasts