Working in the Theatre

This panel of artists - playwright/actress Pamela Gien, playwright/director/actor Lonny Price, choreographer/director Randy Skinner, director Rebecca Taylor, playwright August Wilson, and director Joel Zwick - who provide the creative heart of the theatre and breathe life into their stage productions discuss their work, backgrounds, and education; becoming a choreographer; building a book show around pre-existing songs; and how poetry relates to stage work. George White moderates.

The production and creative team for the musical "The Producers" - press representative John Barlow, creator and producer Mel Brooks, producer Richard Frankel, general manager Laura Green, book writer Thomas Meehan, and director and choreographer Susan Stroman - discuss taking the cult film to the Broadway stage, including the out-of-town run in Chicago, budgeting a huge musical, and the overwhelming interest from producers, investors, publicists, and ticketbuyers. Roy A. Somlyo moderates.

Six leading performers - Alan Cumming ('Design For Living"), Daniel Davis ("Tom Stoppard's Invention Of Love"), Heather Headley ("Aida"), Faith Prince ("Bells Are Ringing"), Maximilian Schell ("Judgement At Nuremberg"), and Lily Tomlin ("The Search For Intelligent Life In The Universe") - talk about their training; audition experiences; and their drive, passion and knowledge needed to achieve a career in the theatre. Ted Chapin moderates.

Choreographers Rob Ashford and Wayne Cilento, playwright Michael Frayn, playwright/lyricist Greg Kotis, and directors Sean Mathias and Lynne Meadow discuss various aspects of their respective crafts, including the focus on storytelling, the benefits and challenges of collaboration, bad reviews, and the evolution of the director/choreographer relationship. George White moderates.

The creative team of worldwide hit musical "Mamma Mia!" - press representative Adrian Bryan-Brown, producer Judy Craymer, book writer Catherine Johnson, director Phyllida Lloyd, and composer/lyricist Björn Ulvaeus - discuss the multi-year journey that brought ABBA's songs to Broadway. Roy A. Somlyo moderates.

Actors Kate Burton ("Hedda Gabler"), Christine Ebersole ("42nd Street"), Peter Gallagher ("Noises Off"), Valerie Harper ("The Tale of the Allergist's Wife"), and Robert Sean Leonard ("The Music Man") discuss performing on Broadway with respect to humor, the truth in acting, analyzing a script, building a character, acting influences, auditions, training, directors, pre-performance preparations, and on-stage mishaps. Pia Lindstrom moderates.

The panelists -- lighting designer Ken Billington, costume and set designer Robert Jones, costume designer William Ivey Long, scenery designer Thomas Lynch, costume and scenery designer Tony Walton, and costume designer David C. Woolard -- discuss the fields of study that led them to design; perceptible styles; the design of "Six Degrees of Separation;" how actors are effected by design details; how lighting influences audience reaction; contemporary audiences' expectations for brighter, quicker-moving shows; and creating The Yellow Dress in "Contact" through costume and lighting. Ted Chapin moderates.