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Coming up: "The Best of Second City"
5/17/08
Written and Performed by: Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris, Ed Asner, Marsha Mason, Fran Adams, Tim Kazurinsky, Joe Liss, and Ron West. Take an unforgettable ride with the classic sketches that helped make this America's foremost comedy troupe. The Second City lampoons every aspect of modern American life, with brilliant improvised sketches on subjects ranging from salad bars to affairs of state.
"Shadowlands"
5/10/08
[ Listen ]
By William Nicholson, starring Martin Jarvis, Harriet Sansom Harris, and W. Morgan Sheppard. As the latest of the Narnia Chronicles, "Prince Caspian", hits movie theatres, this poignant award-winning play takes us into the life of author C.S. Lewis. It relates the story of this shy Oxford don and American poet Joy Gresham, and shows how love, and the risk of loss, transformed this great man's relationships, even with God.
"War of the Worlds"
5/3/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By H.G. Wells, adapted by Howard Koch, starring Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden, Wil Wheaton, Meagan Fay, Jerry Hardin, Dwight Schultz, Armin Shimerman, Tom Virtue, and John de Lancie. Join actors from STAR TREK and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION as they recreate this classic radio thriller. The breathless pace and convincing details make it clear why the 1938 broadcast of an "eyewitness report" of an invasion from Mars caused a nationwide panic in 1938. Originally performed by Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre of the Air, WAR OF THE WORLDS is truly the mother of all space invasions, offering a rare combination of chills, thrills and great literature.
"McReele"
4/26/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Stephen Belber, starring Chris Butler, Deidrie Henry, Charles Janasz, Lauren Tom, and Eric Stoltz. When death row prisoner Darius McReele transforms into a charismatic front-runner in the Delaware senate race, the spin starts spinning out of control. Is he doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, or the wrong thing for the right reasons? Does it ultimately matter?
"King Henry IV: Shadow of Succession"
4/19/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By David Bevington and Charles Newell, starring Nicholas Rudall, Raul Esparza, William Brown, and Raymond Fox. Shakespeare's epic drama of the young Prince Hal (later Henry V), his coming-of-age, and his relationships with two father figures: the mistrustful King Henry IV – sick and burdened by fear for his country's future; and the hilarious, irrepressible Sir John Falstaff.
"The Gin Game"
4/12/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By D.L Coburn and Bruce Norris, starring Katherine Helmond, Harris Yulin, Bruce Norris, William Petersen, Amy Morton, and D.W. Moffett. "The Gin Game" deftly mixes comedy and tragedy as an elderly man and woman play gin rummy on the porch of an old-age home. Author D.L. Coburn observes: "The tragicomedy of The Gin Game reminds me of the words Flaubert wrote to his mistress: We laugh with pity at the vanity of the human will… "The Actor Retires" is a hilarious, almost surreal, journey into the life of an actor who decides to end his career, throw out his resumés, and become a furniture maker.
"Relativity"
4/5/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Cassandra Medley, starring Jason Ritter, Judyann Elder, Deidrie Henry, James Pickens Jr, and Lorraine Toussaint. Kalima, a young African-American genetics researcher, has supported her mother, a renowned activist who pushes a controversial theory of genetic superiority. But with her own research, she starts to doubt what she’s been taught all her life and finds herself at odds with both her career and family.
"The Third Man"
3/29/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Graham Greene, starring Kelsey Grammer, John Mahoney, Rosalind Ayres, and John Vickery. Somewhere in shadowy post-war Vienna, where everyone has something to sell on the black market, lurks "the third man," who witnessed the murder of Harry Lime. The police don't care to investigate, but novelist Holly Martins is haunted by the death of his friend – and entranced by the mysterious Anna.... The broadcast includes an interview with TIME magazine film critic, Richard Schickel.
"Major Barbara"
3/22/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By George Bernard Shaw, adapted by Dakin Matthews, starring Roger Rees, Kate Burton, Hamish Linklater, and Kirsten Potter. The classic Shavian comedy that could have been written today. Barbara is a Major in the Salvation Army, but she's also the daughter of Andrew Undershaft, a multi-millionaire arms manufacturer. He doesn't care who or what his weapons have destroyed, but he does care who will inherit his business. A family power struggle ensues, with Barbara and her father battling over the answer to the question: Does salvation come through faith or finance?
"Dugout III: Warboy (and the backboard blues)"
3/15/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Terry Allen, starring Terry Allen, Jo Harvey Allen, Richard Bowden, and Lloyd Maines. Drawing upon his childhood memories of West Texas, artist, musician, and writer Terry Allen has created this magical, multi-layered tale in the tradition of Southern story-telling. As Allen explains, "Dugout is a love story; an investigation into how memory is invented – a kind of Supernatural-Jazz-Sport-History-Ghost-Blood-Fiction." Includes a conversation with renowned art critic Dave Hickey from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
"An American Daughter"
3/8/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Wendy Wasserstein, starring Marcy McDonnell, Gregory Itzin, and Kevin McCarthy. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein spins a comic and moving tale about the pitfalls that await political appointees. Dr. Lyssa Hughes is a respected health crusader, devoted wife and mother, and the perfect candidate for U.S. Surgeon General... until a chance remark sets off a media feeding-frenzy.
"Secret Order"
3/1/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Bob Clyman, starring Richard Schiff and George Segal. In the high-stakes world of cancer research, Dr. William Shumway has just made a stunning breakthrough. Is it really the long-sought cure for cancer? Despite the young scientist’s reservations, a senior mentor pressures him to trumpet his findings to the world. Part medical drama, part suspense-filled thriller, “Secret Order” turns its microscope on the ethics, money, and egos of bio-research.
"Stick Fly"
2/23/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Lydia Diamond, starring Justine Bateman, Dule Hill, and Carl Lumbly. Sensitive "Spoon" LeVay and his slick brother "Flip" see their weekend at the family home on Martha's Vineyard as the perfect opportunity to introduce their new girlfriends to their upper class African-American parents. Instead they stumble into a domestic powder keg that exposes secrets of prejudice, hypocrisy, and adultery.
"Dinah Was"
2/16/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Oliver Goldstick, starring Yvette Freeman, Paul Elding, Adrian Lenox, Bud Leslie, and Daryl Allan Reed. Yvette Freeman reprises her Obie award-winning performance as Dinah Washington – "The Queen of the Blues". A vivid study of one of the greatest voices in music, as Washington stood her ground against racism, negotiated the turbulent waters of show-business and relationships, and faced her own personal demons. Features Yvette Freeman performing Washington's songs. Includes an interview with author Oliver Goldstick.
"Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting"
2/9/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Ed Schmidt, starring Ed Asner, Regi Davis, Paul Winfield, Michael W. Howell, and Lincoln Kilpatrick. Mr. Rickey, the wily manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, summons heavyweight champion Joe Louis, tap star Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and actor/singer Paul Robeson to gain their support for him making Jackie Robinson the Major League's first black ball player. A power struggles ensues when Robeson questions Rickey's plan to integrate white baseball. Includes an interview with NPR's Scott Simon.
"Blue/Orange"
2/2/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Joe Penhall, starring Daniel Davis, Matt Letscher, and Teagle F.Bouchere. Two pschychiatrists, one new and inexperienced, the other his well-established mentor, battle over the diagnosis and treatment of Chris, a young black man who claims to be the son of African dictator Idi Amin. This dark, edgy comedy, winner of the 2001 Olivier Award for Best New Play, will leave you wondering if any of the three is sane.
"Camping with Henry and Tom"
1/26/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Mark St. Germain, starring Alan Alda, David Dukes, Lee Arenberg, and Charles Durning. President Harding wants to be with his mistress. Industrialist Henry Ford wants to be President. And inventor Thomas Edison wonders how the three of them got stuck in the woods together. This hilarious off-Broadway hit was inspired by an actual camping trip taken by the three men in 1921, and has surprising relevance to today's politics.
"Deed of Trust"
1/19/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Claudia Allen, starring Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly. A quirky and poignant family drama set in rural 1930s Michigan. The legendary stars of TV's "Cagney and Lacey" play two sisters who learn that their estranged brother is making a coffin, and is planning to pay $500 to anyone who will kill him. Includes an interview with Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly.
"Pygmalion"
1/12/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By George Bernard Shaw, starring Shannon Cochran, Nicholas Pennell, and Nicholas Rudall. Shaw's most beloved play tells the story of the unlikely relationship between Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl, and the irascible Henry Higgins, the speech professor who decides to mold her into a darling of high society. Includes an interview with director Nicholas Rudall.
"Mrs. Klein"
1/5/08
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Nicholas Wright, starring Julie Harris, Lindsay Crouse, and JoBeth Williams. One of the most extraordinary women of the 20th century comes roaring to life in this award-winning examination of the brilliant psychoanalyst. Melanie Klein is considered, along with Freud, to be the most important figure in the early development of psychiatry. But the play asks whether this came at the expense of her own son's life. Includes an interview with noted Kleinian Dr. Chris Minnick.
"The Lion in Winter"
12/29/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By James Goldman, starring Alfred Molina, Kathleen Chalfant, Lars Carlson, Steven Sutcliffe, and Kevin Daniels. In this tale of the ultimate dysfunctional family Christmas, Henry II of England and his strong-willed wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, lock horns over which of their three scheming sons will become King after Henry's death. (Goldman won an Oscar for Best Screenplay for the film starring Peter
O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn).
"The Lucky Spot"
12/22/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Beth Henley, starring Jack Black, Kurtwood Smith, Jean Smart, and James McLure. It's Christmas Eve, 1938, and a band of colorful and hilarious ne'er-do-wells valiantly try to scratch dreams from the Louisiana mud. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Crimes of the Heart". Includes an interview with director Belita Moreno.
"Dinner with Friends"
12/15/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Donald Margulies, starring Matthew Arkin, Lisa Emery, Kevin Kilner, and Deirdre O'Connell. Winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, examining the lives of two couples and the repercussions of divorce on their friendships. With wit, compassion, and insight, playwright Donald Margulies weighs the cost of breaking up – and of staying together. Includes an interview with playwright Donald Margulies.
"Fired"
12/8/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Created by Annabelle Gurwitch; written by and starring Annabelle Gurwitch, Hilary Carlip, Carl Capotorto, Paul Feig, Jason Kravitz, Sandra Tsing Loh, Taylor Negron, Paul F. Tompkins, Jim Turner, Elizabeth Warner, Charlayne Woodard, and Roy Zimmerman. Rejection has never been so hilarious! After her role in a Woody Allen play was rethought, actress Annabelle Gurwitch (TBS's "Dinner and a Movie") was devastated. Then she got funny. Gurwitch and fellow show-biz veterans share their stories of being let go, downsized, canned, and – fired!
"The Life of Galileo"
12/1/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Bertolt Brecht, starring Stacy Keach, Joanne Whalley, Roy Dotrice, Simon Templeman, and Christopher Neame; directed by Martin Jarvis. The American Premiere of a new translation by leading playwright David Hare. Straight from London's National Theatre. Unrelenting in his search for what he called "simple truth," Galileo shattered beliefs held sacred for two thousand years. Under threat of torture by the Holy Inquisition, his scientific and personal integrity are put to the test as he argues for his very life.
"The Grapes of Wrath"
11/24/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By John Steinbeck, adapted by Frank Galati, with music by the Joe Rafael Band. Starring Jeffrey Donovan, Shirley Knight, and Emily Bergl. "The Grapes of Wrath" tells the powerful story of the Joad family's trek from the dust bowl of Oklahoma to the fertile but futile fields of California in the early 1930s. Driven by the live rhythms of the Joel Rafael Band, this heart-wrenching, award-winning adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel finds its timeless heart in the generous spirit of the common man.
"Frozen"
11/17/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Bryon Lavery, starring Rosalind Ayres, Jeffrey Donovan, and Laila Robbins. One evening ten-year-old Rhona goes missing. As her mother retreats into a state of frozen hope, a psychologist studies the brain of a serial killer to find out if what he does is pure evil, or simply beyond his control. Drawn together by horrific circumstances, these three embark on a long, dark journey that ends in the discovery of a common humanity. Includes an interview with Dr. David Glaser, forensic psychiatrist.
"The Real Dr. Strangelove"
11/10/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Peter Goodchild, starring Simon Templeman, Joe Spano, and John de Lancie. The birth of Armageddon. The first H-Bomb detonates and the proud father is Edward Teller. But he's on a collision course with Robert Oppenheimer, head of the team that created the Atomic bomb. Now Oppenheimer has turned pacifist and the government will stop at nothing to neutralize him. And Teller is their star witness.
"The Best Man"
11/3/07 (re-broadcast Saturday 11/10/07)
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Gore Vidal, starring Fred Thompson and Marsha Mason. This darkly satirical drama finds two presidential contenders seeking the endorsement of an aging ex-president, and explores how personal agendas can change the course of a nation's destiny. The political intrigues rampant in Vidal's 1960 setting are strangely similar what is going on today. Includes an interview with presidential candidate Fred Thompson and Marsha Mason.
"World Play"
10/27/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Our annual celebration of premiere radio plays from around the world, produced in collaboration with the BBC World Service, the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio New Zealand, Hong Kong Radio, and RTE Ireland.
"Sonia Flew"
10/20/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Melinda Lopez, starring Elizabeth Pena, Hector Elizondo, and Philip Casnoff. A powerful story of love and sacrifice that The Boston Globe calls "an extraordinary achievement by an emerging playwright." Sonia, a Cuban exiled during Castro's rise to power, is forced to relive her tumultuous childhood when her only son enlists in the military following 9/11.
"Park Your Car in Harvard Yard"
10/13/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Israel Horovitz, starring Jason Robards, Judith Ivey, and Christopher Plummer. Jacob Brackish, the toughest, meanest teacher ever to set foot in Gloucester High School, is dying at home. His advertisement for a housekeeper to look after him during his final years is answered by a mousy 40-year-old named Kathleen, a woman Jacob has forgotten he flunked years before. Judith Ivey and Jason Robards recreate the roles they originated on Broadway in this humorous and moving play.
"Moving Bodies"
10/6/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Arthur Giron, starring Alfred Molina, Joe Spano, Jill Gascoine, Harry Groener, Kathryn Hahn, Arye Gross, and Raphael Sbarge. A chronicle of the life of the brilliant, Nobel Prize-winning scientist and mathematician Richard Feynman, who early in his career worked on the development of the atomic bomb. We see how family, love, and his pursuit of making the world a better place through his discoveries shaped him to be one of the most respected and important scientists of the 20th century. For the complete interview with professor Brian Greene go to http://www.latw.org/radio/radio.aspx.
"Biloxi Blues"
9/29/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Neil Simon, starring Josh Radnor, Justine Bateman, Steve Rankin, Rob Benedict, Joshua Biton, John Cabrera, Mathew Patrick Davis, Russell Soder, and Darby Stanchfield. The second Tony Award-winning installment of Neil Simon's autobiographical trilogy follows a naiive Eugene Jerome through boot camp. Here he encounters an odd and eclectic group of fellow recruits, an eccentric drill sargent, and has his first experiences of sex and love.
"The Glass Menagerie"
9/22/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Tennessee Williams, starring Julie Harris, Kevin Kilner, Zeljko Ivanek, and Calista Flockhart, recreating their original roles from the Tony Award-winning Broadway production. One of Williams' classics: A delicate memory-play about an eccentric Southern family, revolving around the domineering Amanda Wingfield and her grown children: the cynical Tom and the fragile Laura.
"Tale of the Allergist's Wife"
9/15/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Charles Busch, starring Amy Aquino, Estelle Harris, JoBeth Williams, Richard Kind, and Dileep Rao. A raucous comedy from one of America's most outrageous playwrights! New York dilettante Marjorie Taub plunges into a mid-life crisis of Medea-like proportions, until she's shaken out of her lethargy by the reappearance of a fascinating childhood friend. The New York Times declares: "...wall-to-wall laughs!"
"Anna in the Tropics"
9/8/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Nilo Cruz, starring Jimmy Smits, Alma Martinez, Jonathan Nichols, Winston Rocha, Onahoua Rodriguez, and Herbert Siguenza. This 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winner is set in a cigar-rolling factory in 1929 Florida. A new "lector" arrives ... who reads "Anna Karenina" aloud to entertain and educate the workers. But he unwittingly becomes a catalyst in the lives of his avid listeners, for whom Tolstoy, the tropics, and the American Dream prove a volatile combination. Includes an interview with Jimmy Smits.
"Breaking the Code"
9/1/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Hugh Whitemore, starring Simon Templeman and W. Morgan Sheppard. The story of the brilliant mathematician Alan Turing, who cracked the German Enigma code, and enabled the Allies to win World War II. Turing was to find that the country he saved cared less about his genius than his sexual orientation.
"Falsettos"
8/25/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Book by James Lapine and William Finn; music and lyrics by William Finn; starring Michael Rupert, Chip Zien, and Stephen Bogardus (from the Original Broadway Cast). The 1992 Tony Award-winning Broadway Hit! A family gets turned upside down when Dad moves in with his male lover, and his wife marries his psychiatrist. Is love enough to keep them a family?
"Fabulation, or: The Re-Education of Undine"
8/18/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Lynn Nottage, starring Charlayne Woodard. Knocked up and seriously broke, a successful publicist is plunged into a topsy-turvy world of welfare mothers and drug addicts, and forced to confront the family she left behind. A darkly comic rags-to-riches tale of falling down and reaching up to find the goodness within.
"Barefoot in the Park"
8/11/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Neil Simon, starring Laura Linney and Eric Stoltz. A lawyer and his new bride return from their honeymoon and are moving into a new apartment. Once there, they find the place is bare of furniture, the paint job is wrong, the skylight leaks, and wacky neighbours keep popping up. Includes an interview with Neil Simon.
"The Doctor's Dilemma"
8/4/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By George Bernard Shaw, starring Roy Dotrice, Martin Jarvis, Jane Carr, Jennifer Dundas, Ken Danziger, and Paxton Whitehead. The blowhards, the know-it-alls, the scrupulous, and the impecunious are all targets for Shaw's incisive wit in his classic satire of the medical profession. A well-respected physician is forced to choose whom he shall save: a bumbling friend or the ne'er-do-well husband of the woman he loves.
"Round and Round the Garden"
(Part 3 of "The Norman Conquests")
7/28/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Alan Ayckbourn, starring Martin Jarvis, Rosalind Ayres, Carolyn Seymour, Ken Danziger, Jane Leeves, and Christopher Neame. The third "battle" of Ayckbourn's trilogy, "The Norman Conquests," returns us to the same weekend in the country, but this time to the quiet setting of Mother's overgrown English country garden. Something more troublesome than brambles is lurking among the roses. Havoc ensues among the flora and fauna, as this cynical masterpiece makes its way to a hilarious conclusion. Includes an interview with Alan Ayckbourn.
"Living Together"
(Part 2 of "The Norman Conquests")
7/21/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Alan Ayckbourn, starring Martin Jarvis, Rosalind Ayres, Carolyn Seymour, Ken Danziger, Jane Leeves, and Christopher Neame. In the second "battle" of Ayckbourn's trilogy, "The Norman Conquests," we rejoin the family weekend, this time hearing the events in the livingroom, where Norman gets drunk on homemade dandelion wine – and all hell breaks loose. Norman unleashes his merry brand of manipulative charm on the hapless guests, and even his most formidable opponents go down in defeat on the drawing-room rug. Includes an interview with Alan Ayckbourn.
"Table Manners" and "Her Big Chance"
7/14/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
DOUBLE BILL:
"Table Manners" (Part 1 of "The Norman Conquests")
By Alan Ayckbourn, starring Martin Jarvis, Rosalind Ayres, Carolyn Seymour, Ken Danziger, Jane Leeves, and Christopher Neame. A notorious seducer of other men's wives (Martin Jarvis) lays siege to his sister-in-law in the first "battle" of the great British playwright Alan Ayckbourn's celebrated trilogy, "The Norman Conquests." In the dining-room of Mother's house, a conventional middle-class family is attempting to enjoy a pleasant country weekend. But they are no match for Norman, who horrifies everyone by doing exactly what he likes...
And:
"Her Big Chance"
By Alan Bennett, starring Glenne Headley. From the pen of one of the outstanding playwrights of his generation, Alan Bennett ("History Boys"), this monologue stars Glenne Headley as a young actress who takes herself quite seriously, although we doubt that you will. Directed by John Mahoney ("Frasier").
"The Ruby Sunrise"
7/7/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Rinne Groff, starring Henry Winkler, Elisabeth Moss, Jason Ritter, and Asher Book. Hailed by the Boston Globe as "a gem." A 1920s tomboy feverishly works to develop her latest invention – a little something called "television." 25 years later, her daughter will stop at nothing to bring her mother's incredible story to life during TV's Golden Age. Features an interview with Karen Herman, director of the Archive of American Television at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation.
"The Man Who Had All the Luck"
6/30/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Arthur Miller, starring Kurtwood Smith, Graham Hamilton, Emily Bergl, and Kevin Chamberlin. An off-beat fable about David Beeves, a young Midwesterner who has good fortune shine on him while it passes others by. When will David's luck run out... and at what price?
"J. Edgar"
6/23/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Tom Leopold, Peter Matz, and Harry Shearer. Starring John Goodman, Kelsey Grammer, Harry Shearer, Dan Castellaneta, and Christopher Guest. A sidesplitting musical about one of the most powerful men of the 20th Century. Learn about his secret love life, his need for personal privacy, and his obsession with knowing the private affairs of others. If you weren't so busy laughing and humming the tunes, the show might upset you! Includes an interview with Harry Shearer.
"The Rose Tattoo"
6/16/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Tennessee Williams, starring Mercedes Ruehl and Anthony LaPaglia. A passionate comedy about old love lost, and new love found, in the lives of a family of Sicilian immigrants. Mercedes Ruehl plays a widow who pays back her husband for his infidelities by making her own assignation with an obliging truck driver (Anthony LaPaglia). Includes an interview with Mercedes Ruehl.
"Fallen Angels"
6/9/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Noel Coward, starring Annette Bening, Judith Ivey, and Joe Mantegna. Two smart, respectable married women, living a life of passionless boredom, whip themselves into a frenzy while awaiting the arrival of their former French lover. Coward brings his trademark wit, charm, and satire to this tale of sexual shenanigans amongst the British upperclasses. Includes an interview with Joe Mantegna.
"An Immaculate Misconception"
6/2/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Carl Djerassi, starring Jobeth Williams, Philip Casnoff, and Kevin Kilner. Melanie Laidlaw is developing the first use of ICSI (artificial insemination). Her colleague, Dr. Felix Krankenthaler, turns out to have his own ideas about how to best implement their pioneering procedure. The wild card is Melanie's lover – a fellow scientist. A darkly comic love triangle. Includes an interview with Dr. Carl Djerassi.
"Misalliance"
5/26/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By George Bernard Shaw, starring Roger Rees, Eric Stoltz, Tegan West, Douglas Weston, and Victoria Tennant. The play takes place on a single day in May 1909. A self-made millionaire and his family invite their future nobleman-in-law for a visit to their estate in Surrey, England. In this delightfully clever play, issues of gender, class, politics, and family are all targets for Shaw's keen wit.
"Sight Unseen"
5/19/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Donald Margulies, starring Adam Arkin, Anna Gunn, Jordan Baker, and Randy Ogelsby. Jonathan Waxman is a hugely successful artist. He receives exorbitant prices for his works, sight unseen. But a visit with his original muse and lover causes him to re-evaluate the success that now controls him. This Obie-Award-winning drama explores the artist's role in society, the commerce of art, and the complications of love and memory.
"The Busy World is Hushed"
5/12/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Keith Bunin, starring Jill Clayburgh, Hamish Linklater, and Luke MacFarlane. With wisdom, humor, and insight, this examines the contradictions we find in our faith, our families, and ourselves. Hannah, a widowed Episcopal minister, is hoping to translate a long-lost gospel when she is challenged by both her scholarly assistant and her wayward gay son. But when family secrets are revealed, only the intercession of a stranger can help Hannah find peace. Variety calls the play "Dramatically and emotionally absorbing."
"The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial"
5/5/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Adapted from the orignal trial transcripts by Peter Goodchild. Starring Ed Asner, Mike Farrell, and Sharon Gless. The definitive recording from our extremely successful 24-city national tour of this fascinating docudrama. A compelling re-creation of the infamous 1925 trial of young science teacher John Thomas Scopes which sparked the evolution vs. creationism debate that still rages today. You're a fly on the wall at "the trial of the century." Passion and controversy ignite at the 1925 "Scopes Trial." It's Darwinism versus religion – and 80 years later the issues still divide us. Based on the original court transcripts. This L.A. performance is the grand finale to our 22-city national tour.
"Orson's Shadow"
4/28/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Austin Pendleton, starring Glenne Headly, Martin Jarvis, Simon Templeman, and Robert Machray. Sir Laurence Olivier. Orson Welles. Vivien Leigh. Joan Plowright. Kenneth Tynan. When these champions of the theatre get together to rehearse Ionesco's Rhinoceros, mere mortals best step aside. With lightning wit and scathing insight into the true nature of genius, Austin Pendleton's new play opens the private worlds of these very public people, exposing their warmth, their egos, and their glittering madness.
"The Watts Towers Project" and "Wild Amerika"
4/21/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Written and performed by Roger Guenveur Smith ("Watts") and Erica Schickel ("Wild Amerika").
"The Watts Towers Project" is Smith's edgy and funny take on Simon Rodia, the Italian immigrant who spent 33 years building his towers – only to walk away from them and never return. From this story, Roger Guenveur Smith ("A Huey P. Newton Story") builds a multi-faceted portrait of Los Angeles.
From hot marital sex to Julia Child's own recipe for the perfect French kiss, "Wild Amerika" takes you on a hilarious, Darwinist romp through mating, marriage, and monogamy. Erika Schickel is a canary in the coalmine of modern day American womanhood.
"The Odd Couple"
4/14/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Neil Simon, starring Nathan Lane, David Paymer, Dan Castellaneta, Yeardley Smith, and Linda Pearl. Poker buddies Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison suddenly find themselves bachelors again and innocently decide to share an apartment. In this classic comedy by America's most prolific and successful playwright, these two legendarily mismatched roommates bring down the house when they try to live together in one eight-room New York City apartment.
"Proof"
4/7/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Note: "Proof" marks the premiere of L.A. Theatre Works' Relativity Series, a monthly broadcast featuring plays that explore the impact of science on individuals and society. This series is also being published as a podcast; visit our podcasting page for more information on how to subscribe.
By David Auburn, starring Anne Heche, Robert Foxworth, and Jeremy Sisto. An enigmatic young woman. A manipulative sister. Their brilliant father. An unexpected suitor. One life-altering question. The search for the truth behind a mysterious mathematical proof is the perplexing problem in David Auburn's dynamic play. Winner of the 2001 Tony award for Best Play and the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for drama. Includes an interview with Dr. Robert Osserman (Emeritus Professor at Stanford) on the culture of mathematics and the nature and history of mathematical proofs.
"Working"
3/31/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, based on the book by Studs Terkel, starring Harry Groener, Kaitlin Hopkins, and Orson Bean. This musical, based on Terkel's interviews with American workers, was first published in 1972. It features real people talking and singing about real experiences, bringing to life the soul of the American worker.
"Taking Flight"
3/24/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Written and performed by Adriana Sevan. Sevan's one-woman play tells the mystical, humorous, and poignant tale of friendship tested by a tragedy, and of the resilience of the human heart. "A first-rate storytelling solo performer for those who cherish words." (The Hollywood Reporter)
"Mimi's Guide"
3/17/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Doris Baizley, starring Powers Boothe and Frances Conroy. The sensuality of Louisiana's humid, jasmine-scented air permeates this love triangle about three people who are haunted by the memories of the Vietnam war.
"Hay Fever"
3/10/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Noel Coward, starring Eric Stolz, Tate Donovan, Carolyn Seymour, and Jeffrey Jones. A country house weekend goes haywire when the guests and their hosts play a game of romantic musical chairs. Wit, sexual sophistication, and Coward's biting satire of the theatre profession.
"An American Daughter"
3/3/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Wendy Wasserstein, starring Mary McDonnell, Gregory Itzin, and Kevin McCarthy. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein spins a comic and moving tale about the pitfalls that await political appointees. Dr. Lyssa Hughes is a respected health crusader, devoted wife and mother, and the perfect candidate for U.S. Surgeon General... until a chance remark sets off a media feeding frenzy.
"Mary Stuart" (U.S. Premiere!)
2/24/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Friedrich von Schiller, in a new translation by Peter Oswald; starring Alex Kingston, Simon Templeman, Jill Gascoine, Martin Jarvis, and W. Morgan Sheppard. Elizabeth I of England is threatened by the survival of her Catholic cousin, Mary Stuart. Wrestling with her own conscience, the Queen agonizes over Mary's fate, amidst fears for her own life. Court intrigue has never been more gripping than in this "acute study in the art of double-dealing politics" (The New York Times).
"Master Harold and the Boys"
2/17/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Athol Fugard, starring Leon Addison Brown, Keith David, and Bobby Steggart. One of theatre's most acclaimed playwrights finds humor and heartbreak in the friendship of Harold, a 17-year-old white boy in 1950s South Africa, and the two middle-aged black servants who raised him. Racism unexpectedly shatters Harold's childhood and friendships in this absorbing, affecting coming-of-age play.
"Sixteen Wounded"
2/10/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Eliam Kraiem, starring Annabelle Gurwitch, Omar Metwally, Megan Austin Oberle, Martin Rayner, and Andre Sogliuzzo. The fateful collision of a lonely Jewish Baker and a passionate Palestinian sets in motion a deepening friendship, as the two struggle with identity and loyalty to their beliefs and to each other. An act of violence brought them together. Will another tear them apart?
"In Real Life"
2/3/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Charlayne Woodard. Woodard's acclaimed solo show is the last part of her autobiographical trilogy (after "Pretty Fire" and "Neat"). She recounts her days as a struggling young New York actress and the unusual characters who touched her life. As Charlayne describes it: "This play is about a young girl pursuing her dream, only to bump up against the harsh realities of life"...
"Worksong"
1/27/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Jeffrey Hatcher and Eric Simonson, starring Robert Foxworth, Amy Brenneman, Kathryn Meisle, Matthew Patrick Davis, Sean Dougherty, and Kali Rocha. Tensions between the masterful Frank Lloyd Wright and his tempestuous relationships are explored in this uniquely prismatic view of one of the great architects of the modern era. How did Wright's art continue to thrive amid so much personal chaos?
"Orphans"
1/20/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Lyle Kessler, starring John Mahoney, Kevin Anderson, and Terry Kinney. Two orphan brothers live in a rundown house. Into their savage and ferociously funny world enters Harold, a shadowy underworld figure of power and influence who irrevocably changes the precarious balance between them.
"M. Butterfly"
1/13/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By David Henry Hwang, starring John Lithgow, B.D. Wong, Margaret Cho, David Dukes, Joanna Frank, Arye Gross, Kathryn Layng. John Lithgow and B.D. Wong recreate their original roles from the Tony Award-winning production. Inspired by an actual espionage scandal: a French diplomat discovers the truth about his Chinese mistress.
"Mizlansky/Zilinsky"
1/6/07
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Jon Robin Baitz. Starring Nathan Lane, Paul Sand, Richard Masur, Rob Morrow, Grant Shaud, Julie Kavner, Harry Shearer, and Kurtwood Smith. Nathan Lane stars as Hollywood producer Davis Mizlansky. He has it all: Italian shoes, a house in the hills, a gift for stretching the truth, and a petulant assistant to pick the scallions out of his Szechuan noodles. But he's about to lose it all to the IRS – unless he can pull off one more deal...
"The Cocktail Hour"
12/30/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By A.R. Gurney. Bruce Davison and Keene Curtis recreate their brilliant Off-Broadway performances in this sophisticated comedy. A gadfly son shatters his uptight WASP parents' veneer of civility in upstate New York by announcing that his soon-to-be-produced play is about them. Features an interview with Bruce Davison.
"Twentieth Century"
12/23/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, newly adapted by Ken Ludwig. A smash hit on Broadway in 2004, this classic screwball comedy set aboard a luxury train stars Jeff Perry as egomaniacal, down-on-his-luck Broadway producer Oscar Jaffe. Lily Garland, the chorus girl who left Oscar once she became a famous starlet, is also aboard, and Oscar tries desperately to lure her back for one more show.
"Another Time"
12/16/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Ronald Harwood. Alternating between 1950s Capetown and contemporary London, this deeply human and complex drama weighs the price that a gifted musician's single-minded devotion to his art exacts upon his relationships with his family. Starring Stacy Keach, Alice Krige, Jeffrey Jones, Lars Carlson, and Miriam Margolyes.
"A Lesson before Dying"
12/9/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Romulus Linney, based on the award-winning novel by Ernest Gaines. Starring Keith Glover, Jamahl Marsh, Linda Powell, and Beatrice Winde. When a young black man is condemned to die for a crime he didn't commit, he faces the ultimate test of life: learning how to die with dignity.
"Cakewalk"
12/2/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Peter Feibleman. Elaine Stritch and Bruce Davison star in this beguiling account of literary legend Lillian Hellman, and her long and tumultuous relationship with a man 25 years her junior. The broadcast includes an interview with Hellman's biographer, Joan Mellen.
John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," adapted by Frank Galati
11/25/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By John Steinbeck, adapted by Frank Galati, and starring Emily Bergl, Shirley Knight, Francis Guinan, and Jeffrey Donovan. A "The Play's the Thing" Thanksgiving tradition, "The Grapes of Wrath" tells the compelling story of The Joads, a displaced family whose journey takes them from the dust bowl of Oklahoma to the fertile, but futile, fields of California in the early 1930s.
"Johnny on a Spot"
11/18/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Charles MacArthur, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Brad Hall, John Rubinstein, and Gary Kroeger. A rollicking 1940s political satire about radio, cynical newsmen, rigged elections, corrupt politicians, and sex scandals. Uproariously funny!
"Halcyon Days"
11/11/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Steven Dietz, starring Anne Archer, Ed Begley, Jr., Richard Masur, and Christopher McDonald. Senator Eddie Bowman cannot see the point of invading a miniscule Caribbean island to rescue a bunch of overly tanned medical students. But as the 1983 invasion of Grenada gets underway, the Senator finds himself at odds with a mysterious foreign-policy specialist who cultivates roses, the President's sexy new speechwriter – and his own son. The broadcast includes an interview with playwright Steven Dietz.
"An Ideal Husband"
11/4/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Oscar Wilde, starring Jacqueline Bisset, Alfred Molina, Martin Jarvis, Rosalind Ayres, Yeardley Smith, and Miriam
Margolyes. With empathy and wit, Wilde explores the plight of a promising politician desperate to hide a secret in his past. This 1895 comic drama
remains remarkably timely as it examines the pitfalls of holding public figures to higher standards than the rest of us. The broadcast includes an
interview with director Michael Hackett.
"War of the Worlds"
10/28/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By H.G. Wells, adapted by Howard Koch. Leonard Nimoy, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, and fellow cast members from the TV series "Star Trek" recreate this classic science fiction thriller, which became known as the "panic broadcast" when it first aired in 1938. The story's breathless pace and convincing details make it clear why so many believed that the aliens were among us. The broadcast includes a hilarious reprisal of "My Favorite Husband," the CBS radio series that inspired "I Love Lucy," by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, and Bob Carroll, Jr. Marilu Henner stars as Liz Cooper, the Lucille Ball character. Jeff Conaway, Harold Gould, and Alley Mills also star.
"Bunbury"
10/21/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Tom Jacobson, starring Peter Paige, Kathryn Hahn, Jean Gilpin, and John Vickery. What if... Romeo and Juliet had a happy ending? Or Blanche Dubois didn't go crazy? Or the Three Sisters actually made it to Moscow? When he discovers he's only a fictitious, never-seen character in Oscar Wilde's timeless "The Importance of Being Earnest," Bunbury joins forces with Rosaline, Romeo's never-seen obsession from Romeo and Juliet. Together they infiltrate and alter classic literature, starting by accidentally giving Romeo and Juliet a happy ending. The broadcast includes an interview with playwright Tom Jacobson.
"Incident at Vichy"
10/14/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Arthur Miller, starring Gregory Itzin, Lawrence Pressman, and Raphael Sbarge. In Vichy, France, in 1942, nine men are detained under a shadowy pretext. As the tension builds, the men are questioned – are they the sort of people whom the new Nazi regime considers "inferior?"
"The Foreigner"
10/7/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Larry Shue, starring Paxton Whitehead, Joey Slotnick, Dina Waters, and Kate Williamson. In this delightful farce, two Englishmen go on holiday in rural Georgia. One tells their American hosts that his painfully shy friend is a foreigner who knows no English. This "foreigner" gets an earful when the locals, who think he can't understand them, spill all their secrets.
"The Real Dr. Strangelove"
9/30/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Peter Goodchild, based on his book of the same name. The play stars Simon Templeman, Joe Spano, and John de Lancie. The birth of Armageddon. The first H-bomb detonates and the proud father is Edward Teller. But he's on a collision course with Robert Oppenheimer, the inventor of the bomb that obliterated Hiroshima. Now Oppenheimer has turned pacifist and the government will stop at nothing to neutralize him. And Teller is their willing and determined star witness!
"Murder in the First"
9/23/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Dan Gordon, starring Edward Asner, John Randolph, Arye Gross, and David Birney. This moving courtroom drama is
based on a true incident that exposed the shocking conditions at Alcatraz, and led to the closure of the notorious prison. The tale begins when 18-year-old Willie Moore makes the biggest mistake of his life: stealing five dollars from a rural store that happens to contain a post office. Charged with mail robbery, he's sent to federal prison, and ultimately spends three years in solitary on the dreaded island of Alcatraz.
"Brighton Beach Memoirs"
9/16/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Neil Simon's darkly funny look at his family in 1930s Brooklyn. Fourteen-year-old Eugene is equally preoccupied by his passion for the Yankees and his lust for his beautiful cousin Nora. But his comic growing pains contrast with the darker issues troubling his
family: Poverty, illness, and the Nazi threat to relatives in Europe. Max Casella, Valerie Harper, Jonathan Silverman, and Joyce Van Patten star.
"Pack of Lies"
9/9/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Hugh Whitemore, starring Julian Sands, David Selby, Rosalind Ayres and Martin Jarvis. Actual events during the Cold War inspired this thriller with present-day relevance in the current era of the Patriot Act. In suburban London, loyalty, duty, and friendship conflict with one another when the Jacksons slowly discover that the Krogers, their neighbors and cherished best friends, are Russian spies. A gripping play that may leave you wondering exactly what it is those nice people next door are really up to.
"Fired Again!"
9/2/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
In honor of Labor Day Weekend: "Fired Again!" -- stories from the book "Fired! Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized and Dismissed" by Annabelle Gurwitch. Actress Annabelle Gurwitch returns with further tales from fellow show-biz veterans of jobs gone wrong, offering new insights and more laughter. Don't miss this hilarious sequel to last year's hit show "Fired!"
"The Ride Down Mt. Morgan"
8/26/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Arthur Miller, starring Brian Cox, Jenny O'Hara, Amy Pietz, and Gregory Itzin. Lyman Felt has it all. Wealth, success, power, and the kind of good, solid wife he needs. Oh, and he also has another wife, the kind of earthy, sexy woman he wants. Lyman juggles his artful lie until a car accident on the slippery slope of Mt. Morgan lands him in a hospital bed and the two wives in the waiting room. But really, is there any such thing as "just an accident?"
"Ruby McCollum"
8/19/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Ron Milner and Steve Albrezzi, based on the book "Ruby McCollum, Woman in the Suwannee Jail" by William Bradford Huie. A trail of lies, secrets, and racial prejudices are uncovered when a pair of journalists, Zora Neal Hurston and William Bradford Huie, investigate the murder of a white doctor by an affluent African-American woman. Based on a true case in South Florida in 1952, this suspenseful drama has powerful implications to this day, posing questions of fairness and justice in a small Southern town. Starring Loretta Devine, Shirley Knight, Paul Winfield, Ronny Cox, Charlie Robinson, and John Randolph.
"The Fiery Furnace"
8/12/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Timothy Mason, starring Julie Harris, Shannon Cochran, and William Fichtner. Around a family dining table deep in the Heartland, where Senator Joe McCarthy once sat and discussed his fondness for beets, nothing is as it seems. Gunnar, the family patriarch, is an upstanding farmer - or is he? Why is his favorite daughter so anxious to flee to Chicago? And why does her mother want to go too? Daughter Charity, a devoted wife and mother, is clearly frightened of something. Her husband, Jerry, hates anything un-American, but refuses to serve in Korea. As the mysteries multiply, author Timothy Mason solves them with wit and unrelenting suspense.
"A Huey P. Newton Story"
8/5/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Written and performed by Roger Guenveur Smith. Winner of two Obie Awards, the Helen Hayes Award, and three N.A.A.C.P. Awards, this solo portrait traces the mythic rise and fall of the Black Panther Party leader based on his own brilliant, incendiary words. Roger Guenveur Smith navigates Newton's cinematic stream of consciousness from his Louisiana childhood to his untimely death on the streets of Oakland, California in 1989.
"The Code of the Woosters"
7/29/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By P.G. Wodehouse. The best known of the Bertie and Jeeves series stars Rosalind Ayres and Martin Jarvis. Bertie gets himself in a comical jam and, as always, his trusted valet Jeeves is on hand with a last-minute brainstorm to set everything straight.
"Arms and the Man"
7/22/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By George Bernard Shaw, starring Teri Garr, Anne Heche, and Jeremy Sisto. The beautiful and headstrong Raina eagerly awaits her fiancé's victorious return from battle... but instead meets an enemy soldier who seeks asylum in her bedroom. This is one soldier who definitely prefers romance and chocolate to the heat of battle. War may be raging on the battlefield, but it's the battle of the sexes that heats up this extraordinary comedy and offers very different notions of love and war. The broadcast includes an interview with "Arms and the Man" director and L.A. Theatre Works Associate Producer Brendon Fox.
"Falsettos"
7/15/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Book by William Finn and James Lapine, music and lyrics by William Finn; starring Michael Rupert, Chip Zien, and Stephen Bogardus from the original Broadway cast. This 1992 Tony Award winner chronicles the transformation of a modern family through the turbulent 1980s as Dad moves in with his male lover.
"Crimes of the Heart"
7/8/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Beth Henley, starring Donna Bullock, Sondra Locke, Arye Gross, and Glenne Headly. A deeply touching and funny story about three eccentric sisters from a small Southern town rocked by scandal when Babe, the youngest, shoots her husband. "Crimes of the Heart" won the
1981 Pulitzer Prize.
"All My Sons"
7/1/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Arthur Miller, starring Julie Harris, James Farentino, and Arye Gross. World War II is over and a family, mourning a son missing in action, plants a memorial tree and tries to go on with their own lives. A storm blows down the tree and a devastating family secret is uprooted, setting the characters on a terrifying journey towards truth. A classic American drama by the late Arthur Miller.
"Buying Time"
6/24/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Michael Weller, starring Michael Gross. In "Buying Time," members of a progressive law firm in the American West struggle to hold onto their ideals in the economic realities of the '90s.
"The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial"
6/17/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
A new play by Peter Goodchild, taken from the original sources and trial transcripts, starring Ed Asner, Mike Farrell, and Sharon Gless. Hear the definitive recording from L.A. Theatre Works' extremely successful 24-city national tour of this fascinating radio docudrama! The play is a compelling recreation of the infamous 1925 trial of young science teacher John Thomas Scopes which sparked the evolution vs. creationism debate that still rages today.
"WorldPlay"
6/10/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Radio drama by international broadcasters. "WorldPlay" is a unique event in which international English language broadcasters exchange and air each other's radio drama productions, giving listeners a chance to hear plays from countries around the world. From Ireland's broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann is "Jumping for Joy" by Bernard Farrell, a funny and heartfelt tale of a widower who finds himself parachuting out of an airplane at a charity event to impress his new love, a much younger woman. From Radio New Zealand is "In Salt" by Tim Spite, Andrew Foster and others, a gothic-drama set in colonial New Zealand that examines the resonance of cultural cross-pollination.
"Aliens in America"
6/3/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Written and performed by Sandra Tsing Loh. Contemporary satirist Loh spins a darkly comic, semi-autobiographical tale of growing up middle-class Chinese-German in Southern California. This comic monologue is for sons and daughters everywhere who feel that their parents must have beamed to Earth from another planet. The broadcast includes an interview with Sandra Tsing Loh.
"Of One Blood"
5/27/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Andrew White, starring David Schwimmer, Joey Slotnick, and Arye Gross. "Of One Blood" is a poignant and disturbing play about the infamous murder of three civil rights workers - James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner – in Mississippi in 1964. The broadcast includes an interview with Rita Bender, Michael Schwerner's wife in 1964.
"Top Girls"
5/20/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Caryl Churchill, starring Amy Brenneman, Concetta Tomei, and Carolyn Seymour. It's the middle of the high-flying, go-getting '80s in Maggie Thatcher's England, and Marlene finally has something to celebrate -- she's just been made managing director of Top Girls Employment Agency. But as she has no friends to speak of, and a past she'd just as soon forget, the guests at Marlene's party are a collection of famous women from history. Soon, Marlene discovers that life above the glass ceiling is not all it's cracked up to be. A bold, searing comedy from an Olivier Award-winning playwright.
"Emma's Child"
5/13/06
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Kristine Thatcher, starring David Darlow and Jackie Katzman. "Emma's Child" explores the idea of commitment, in a marriage, as a parent. Told gently, lovingly, and with unexpected humor, this is the story of a childless couple struggling to decide whether to continue the adoption process when the baby they had hoped for is born severely disabled.
"Zoot Suit"
5/6/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Luis Valdez, starring Marco Rodriguez and El Teatro Campesino. Masterfully using the Sleepy Lagoon murder case to examine the Chicano Zoot Suit Culture of the '40s, "Zoot Suit" is passionate and provocative, and pulses with the beat of Big Band Music and traditional Latin Songs.
"Pride and Prejudice"
4/29/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Jane Austen, adapted for the stage by Cristina Calvit, and starring Miriam Margolyes and Kate Burton. Jane Austen's classic romantic comedy is the sparkling tale of the Bennets, a family blessed with five daughters and a mother desperate to marry them off. The tempestuous pairing of the witty, independent Elizabeth and her arrogant but honorable suitor, Mr. Darcy, sets the standard for all great couples of stage and screen.
"Denial"
4/22/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Peter Sagal, starring Stephanie Zimbalist, David Clennon, and Harold Gould. A prominent Jewish civil liberties attorney must choose
between defending a right-wing Holocaust denier - a man whose views she despises - or abandoning a client whom she believes deserves a defense. It is the story of the ultimate struggle to determine what is right and what is wrong.
"Lost in Yonkers"
4/15/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Neil Simon, starring Barbara Bain, Dan Castellaneta, Gia Carides, and Arye Gross. Set in Yonkers in 1942, the play follows two teenage boys who must spend one year with their austere and demanding grandmother. While the war rages in Europe, Jay and Arty learn the ropes from Uncle Louie and other assorted relatives, all peculiar characters.
"Molly Sweeney"
4/8/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Brian Friel, starring Jenny Bacon, Robert Breuler, and Rick Snyder. Set in a remote Irish village, "Molly Sweeney" is the
compelling story of a woman's journey from blindness to vision. Both Molly's husband and her surgeon harbor expectations of a sighted world for Molly. The future they envision is very different from the one Molly hopes to see. Through the masterful writing of the great Irish playwright Brian Friel, the insights and inner lives of the three characters eloquently unfold in a series of interlocking monologues, producing a stunning exploration of triumph and loss.
"The Member of the Wedding"
4/1/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Carson McCullers, starring Ruby Dee and Jena Malone. Set in the American South of the 1940s, this coming of age story about a lonely, overimaginative twelve-year-old girl and the black cook to whom she pours out her heart is one of the most beautiful plays ever written about loneliness, longing, and love. This stirring work won the New York Drama Critics' Prize for Best American Play of 1950. The broadcast includes an interview with Ruby Dee.
"A Tale of Charles Dickens"
3/25/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Janet Dulin Jones and Paul Lazarus, starring members of L.A.'s critically-acclaimed Antaeus Company. London in the 1830s - the most colorful and chaotic city in the world - and young journalist Charles Dickens is uncovering a dark conspiracy of arson and murder. A fanciful look at the man before he became the iconic author we know today.
"Twelve Angry Men"
3/18/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Reginald Rose, starring Hector Elizondo, Dan Castellaneta, Robert Foxworth, Jeffrey Donovan and Armin Shimerman. Over the course of a steamy, tense afternoon, twelve jurors deliberate the fate of a 19-year-old boy alleged to have murdered his own father. A seemingly open and shut case turns complicated, igniting passions and hidden prejudices. The broadcast includes an interview with Mrs. Reginald Rose.
"This Town"
3/11/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Sidney Blumenthal, starring Richard Kind, Gates
McFadden, and John Randolph. Former political journalist and Presidential
advisor Sidney Blumenthal gives us a fly-on-the-wall look inside the
well-groomed Washington Press Corps. They yawn when they hear about peace
treaties - but snap to attention at the chance to uncover a little dirt on
the First Dog! An on-the-money political satire! The broadcast includes an
interview with Sidney Blumenthal.
"Betrayal"
3/4/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Harold Pinter, starring Caroline Goodall, Eric Stoltz and Simon Templeman. This fascinating play charts a doomed love triangle backwards through time. More than a study in style, this astonishing story is a passionate, mysterious play about memory, illusion and love. The broadcast includes two monologues from Alan Bennett's "Talking Heads" - "A Chip in the Sugar" starring Alan Wilder and "Bed Among the Lentils" with Martha Levy.
"McReele"
2/25/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Stephen Belber, starring Lauren Tom, Deidrie Henry,
Chris Butler and Eric Stoltz. Darius McReele goes from death row prisoner
to charismatic front-runner in a Delaware Senate race. But the "spin" is
spinning out of control. Is he doing the right thing for the wrong reasons,
or the wrong thing for the right reasons? And does it ultimately matter? A
riveting tale of truth, lies, and honor.
"Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine"
2/18/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutesw]
By Lynn Nottage. Knocked-up and seriously broke, successful publicist Undine, played by Charlayne Woodard, is plunged into a topsy-turvy world of welfare mothers and drug addicts, and forced to confront the family she left behind. It's a darkly comic
rags-to-riches-to-rags tale of falling down and reaching up to find the goodness within. Daniel Breaker, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Melle Powers and Myra Lucretia Taylor also star.
"Neat"
2/11/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Written and performed by Charlayne Woodard. Obie Award-winning actress Charlayne Woodard shares her memories of growing up black in America in the 60's and 70's. "Neat" focuses on her own exquisite, real-life remembrance of her Aunt Beneatha, Neat, whose simplicity and magnificent clarity taught the young Charlayne what it is to cherish life. The broadcast includes an interview with Charlayne Woodard.
"The Heidi Chronicles"
2/4/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Wendy Wasserstein, starring Kaitlin Hopkins, Martha Plimpton and Grant Shaud. This Pulitzer Prize winning play is the tale of a baby-boomer's long, hard road from 60's confusion to 1990's self-assured woman...or so she hopes. In honor of Wendy Wasserstein, audio for 'The Heidi Chronicles' will remain in full for an additional week for listeners to enjoy the show.
"Prelude to a Kiss"
1/28/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Craig Lucas, starring Arabella Field, Tate Donovan and Charles Durning. A whirlwind courtship. A storybook wedding. A kiss for the bride. And suddenly everything changes. When Peter and Rita's brand-new marriage is strained by a magical twist of fate, true love will never again mean quite the same thing. This Tony-nominated play enchants! The broadcast includes an interview with playwright Craig Lucas.
"An Immaculate Misconception"
1/21/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Carl Djerassi, starring JoBeth Williams and
Kevin Kilner. Scientist Dr. Melanie Laidlaw is intent on giving birth using
the reproductive technology that she is pioneering. However, before Melanie
can claim credit for either the scientific discovery or motherhood, she must
overcome the professional designs of another research scientist. Although
the characters are fictional in "An Immaculate Misconception," the science
is fact. A fascinating play by the father of the birth control pill.
"The Road to Mecca"
1/14/2006
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Athol Fugard, South Africa's most celebrated playwright. When her husband dies, aging Miss Helen begins to fill her home in the remote South African bush with strange sculptures made from beer cans and old headlights. A local clergyman and a young friend disagree on whether Miss Helen's peculiar artwork is an outpouring of creativity or an outbreak of madness. Starring Julie Harris, Amy Irving and Harris Yulin.
"Anna Christie"
1/7/2006
[ Listen]
By Eugene O'Neill, starring Alison Elliott, Alley Mills, and Stacy Keach. The passion of a coal barge captain's daughter and a handsome sailor takes a tumultuous turn when secrets from her past are revealed. Nobel Laureate Eugene O'Neill won the second of his four Pulitzer Prizes for this heroic classic. The broadcast includes an interview with Stacy Keach.
"Adam's Rib"
12/31/2005
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Based on the screenplay by Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, adapted by David Rambo and starring Adam Arkin and Anne Heche. A happily married couple’s relationship is put to the test when husband and wife find themselves serving as trial attorneys on opposite sides of the same headline-making, attempted murder, marital case – he as the prosecutor, she as the defender. The comical fireworks displayed in the courtroom follow these two home, creating a clever and extremely funny portrait of love and work. The broadcast includes a group interview with stars Adam Arkin, Anne Heche, and Amy Pietz, director Gordon Hunt, and writer David Rambo.
"Fallen Angels"
12/24/2005
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Noel Coward, starring Annette Bening, Joe Mantegna and Judith Ivey. Julia & Fred and Willy & Jane are happily married and the best of friends until a postcard arrives with news of the imminent arrival of a certain handsome Frenchman. This is Coward at his inimitable best - gay, debonair and utterly sophisticated - in the style that won him international acclaim as the master purveyor of high comedy in the modern theatre.
"In the Name of Security"
12/17/2005
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Peter Goodchild, starring David Hyde Pierce, Francis Guinan, Amy Pietz, John Rubinstein, and Erika Schickel. At the height of the Cold War, American democracy was challenged by the anti-Communist atmosphere of the McCarthy era. "In the Name of Security" re-opens two famous spy cases - the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and the trials of Alger Hiss - that rocked America between 1948 and 1954. Each program combines dramatic re-enactments based on original trial transcripts, archival material, new evidence, the latest assessments of American historians and scientists and the commentaries of relatives and friends of the accused.
"Radio Mambo: Culture Clash invades Miami"
12/10/2005
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Written and performed by Culture Clash. The acclaimed comedy troupe Culture Clash spent three months interviewing about 70 Miami residents for this mix of vignettes about urban renewal, crime, hurricanes and immigration, as well as where to get a plate of arroz con pollo served by a six foot drag queen. The broadcast includes an interview with two of the three irreverent members of Culture Clash - Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza.
"The Lucky Spot"
12/03/2005
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
By Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley, starring Jean Smart, Jack Black, and Kurtwood Smith. It's Christmas Eve, 1938, and 15-year-old Cassidy Smith is very pregnant with the child of 40ish Reed Hooker. Cassidy is desperate to marry Reed, Reed is desperate to open Louisiana's hottest new taxi-dancing emporium, and neither are prepared for the arrival of Reed's wife, Sue Jack Hooker, a dangerous beauty who has just been let out of the penitentiary. The broadcast includes an interview
with director Belita Moreno.
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John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," adapted by Frank Galati
11/26/2005
[ Listen to the First 15 Minutes]
Starring Shirley Knight, Francis Guinan and Jeffrey Donovan. A special 2 1/2 hour Thanksgiving presentation, "The Grapes of Wrath" tells the compelling story of The Joads, a displaced family whose journey takes them from the dust bowl of Oklahoma to t | |
