Working in the Theatre

Five of America's leading playwrights, Nilo Cruz (Beauty of the Father), Julia Jordan (Boy), Terrence McNally (The Visit), Paul Rudnick (Valhalla) and Regina Taylor (Drowning Crow) come together in this panel interview to discuss the state of new playwriting in America today - its challenges, its rewards and how the process is changing. James Houghton moderates.

In this interview a panel of actors - Anne Heche ("Twentieth Century"), Jefferson Mays ("I Am My Own Wife"), Martha Plimpton ("Sixteen Wounded"), Phylicia Rashad ("Gem Of The Ocean") and Richard Thomas ("12 Angry Men") - delve into their current Broadway characters and speak about how their recognition from other media affects audience perception of them today. Howard Sherman moderates.

The challenges and the rewards of producing new plays on Broadway are explored by press representative Michael Hartman ("Sixteen Wounded"), producers Robert LuPone ("Frozen"), Benjamin Mordecai ("Sixteen Wounded"), Michael Parva ("Prymate") and Daryl Roth ("The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia"). Howard Sherman moderates.

The development of the musical "Caroline, or Change" and its move from The Public Theatre to Broadway is explored with Tony Kushner (writing a musical book and lyrics for the first time), composer Jeanine Tesori, choreographer Hope Clarke and actors Tonya Pinkins and Veanne Cox. Howard Sherman moderates.

At the start of a theatre season which would see revivals of major works by each, authors Edward Albee ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"), Harvey Fierstein ("La Cage aux Folles"), Paula Vogel ("The Baltimore Waltz") and John Weidman ("Assassins") discuss the challenges of the career of a playwright. Jeffrey Eric Jenkins moderates.

With puppetry turning up in, or serving as the main focus of, numerous shows in recent seasons, Pam Arciero (O'Neill Puppetry Conference), Cheryl Henson (The Jim Henson Foundation), Rick Lyon (Avenue Q), Roman Paska (Dead Puppet Talk) and Basil Twist (Symphonie Fantastique) discuss the intersection of puppet and human theatre. Howard Sherman moderates.

With three of New York's major not-for-profit theatres now producing in Broadway venues, their leaders-André Bishop and Bernard Gersten of Lincoln Center Theatre, Lynne Meadow and Barry Grove of Manhattan Theatre Club, and Todd Haimes, Ellen Richard and Julia C. Levy of Roundabout Theatre Company-gather for the very first time to explore the issues facing institutional theatres on Broadway. Ben Cameron moderates.

Three distinguished actresses-Brenda Blethyn, Kathleen Chalfant and Randy Graff-discuss their craft and careers. Pia Lindstrom moderates.

Four performers noted for their performance in comedic roles-Mario Cantone ("Laugh Whore"), Julie Halston ("Hairspray"), Judy Kaye ("Souvenir") and Michael McKean ("A Second-Hand Memory")-talk about being funny on stage. Sondra Gilman, Douglas B. Leeds and Pia Lindstrom moderate.