A Tribute to Beloved Critic HOWARD KISSEL

Howard Kissel (1942-2012) at The Players Club

on CUNY TV:
Sat., March 3rd at 8:30 PM
Sun., March 4th at 12:30 PM and
Mon., March 5th at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM & 7:30 PM

We pay tribute to our beloved colleague, the late critic Howard Kissel with a rebroadcast of our award-winning 2009 program, “A Walk through The Players Club.” On this show Kissel, a writer, actor and frequent contributor to our program, guided us through The Players Club, a landmark of the American theater and shared stories with us about the people and events connected with it.

Located on New York City’s Gramercy Square, The Players Club was once the home of Edwin Booth, the greatest American actor of the 19th century. Booth then founded The Player’s club there, along with Mark Twain, Joseph Jefferson and General William T. Sherman, as a place where, in Booth’s words, “actors could mingle with gentlemen.” Kissel and the Players Club’s Executive Director,Joseph Martello, showed us some of the wonderful artifacts that are preserved there, including Booth’s death bed and the Yorick skull from Booth’s Broadway Hamlet (produced in 1866, just one year after his brother assassinated the president). Youtube Preview

The Best of Theater Talk: Oscar Winner CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER and Critic JOHN SIMON

Christopher Plummer

on CUNY TV: 
Sat., March 10th at 8:30 PM
Sun., March 11th at 12:30 PM and
Mon., March 12th at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM & 7:30 PM

The Academy Award-winning actor joined us in 2009 to discuss his revealing and entertaining memoir In Spite of Myself. Also on board to review Plummer’s critically-acclaimed autobiography, was our regular critic and commentator John Simon. Youtube Preview

stay tuned…

We are preempted on Thirteen by the PBS Spring Pledge Drive. We will return to the station Friday, March 23rd. Meanwhile, you can watch us online or on our other member stations in New York: CUNY TV, WNYE, and NJN.

Our episode featuring WIT and SILENCE! THE MUSICAL is now online.

Hunter Bell, Jenn Harris, & David Garrison (photo by Kalin Ivanov)

Click Here to Watch!

On Wit and Silence! The Musical

Cynthia Nixon in Wit photo © 2012 Joan Marcus

on Thirteen: Fri., February 24th at 1:30 AM

on CUNY TV:
Sat., February 25th at 8:30 PM
Sun., February 26th at 12:30 PM and
Mon., February 27th at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM & 7:30 PM

A conversation about Wit, the searing drama about a woman’s struggle with maintaining her self-awareness and sense of humor while grappling with a mortal illness. Playwright Margaret Edson discusses the revival of her 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, along with the current production’s director Lynne Meadow, the Artistic Director of The Manhattan Theatre Club.

Hunter Bell, Jenn Harris, and David Garrison from Silence! The Musical photo by Kalin Ivanov

Also on the program, we focus on Silence! The Musical, the highly successful parody of Silence of the Lambs, now playing off-Broadway. Our guests are the show’s librettist Hunter Bell and actors David Garrison, who plays Hannibal Lecter, and Jenn Harris, whose uncanny portrayal of Clarice Starling as channeled through Jodie Foster is worth the price of admission all by itself. Harris also tells about the time another one of her performances was the subject of a lawsuit brought by Lindsay Lohan.

The Best of Theater Talk: CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER and Critic JOHN SIMON

Christopher Plummer (photo by Kalin Ivanov)

on CUNY TV: 
Sat., March 3rd at 8:30 PM
Sun., March 4th at 12:30 PM and
Mon., March 5th at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM & 7:30 PM

The master actor (and current Oscar nominee) joins us to discuss his revealing memoir In Spite of Myself. Also on board to review Plummer’s critically-acclaimed autobiography, is our regular critic and commentator John Simon.

in case you missed it…

(photo by Kalin Ivanov)

SEMINAR
Our interview with Alan Rickman, Lily Rabe, Hamish Linklater, and Theresa Rebeck is now online.

Click Here to Watch!

Seminar

Hamish Linklater, Lily Rabe, and Alan Rickman of Seminar (photo by Kalin Ivanov)

on Thirteen: Friday, February 17th at 1:00 AM

on CUNY TV:
Sat., February 18th at 8:30 PM
Sun., February 19th at 12:30 PM and
Mon., February 20th at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM & 7:30 PM

We discuss the new Broadway play, Seminar, with actors Alan Rickman, Lily Rabe, and Hamish Linklater, and the playwright Theresa Rebeck. The play, about an upscale writing seminar led by jaded professional author Rickman, and attended by ambitious aspiring scribes (Linklater and Rabe), is a must-see for Rickman fans and for anyone who’s ever aspired to accomplish anything in the arts.

On Wit and Silence

Cynthia Nixon in Wit photo © 2012 Joan Marcus

on Thirteen: Fri., February 24th at 1:30 AM

on CUNY TV:
Sat., February 25th at 8:30 PM
Sun., February 26th at 12:30 PM and
Mon., February 27th at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM & 7:30 PM

A conversation about Wit, the searing drama about a woman’s struggle with maintaining her self-awareness and sense of humor while grappling with a mortal illness. Playwright Margaret Edson discusses the revival of her 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, along with the current production’s director Lynne Meadow, the Artistic Director of The Manhattan Theatre Club.

Hunter Bell, Jenn Harris, and David Garrison from Silence! The Musical photo by Kalin Ivanov

Also on the program, we focus on Silence! The Musical, the highly successful parody of Silence of the Lambs, now playing off-Broadway. Our guests are the show’s librettist Hunter Bell and actors David Garrison, who plays Hannibal Lecter, and Jenn Harris, whose uncanny portrayal of Clarice Starling as channeled through Jodie Foster is worth the price of admission all by itself. Harris also tells about the time another one of her performances was the subject of a lawsuit brought by Lindsay Lohan.

in case you missed it

Our SPRING SEASON PREVIEW is now online.

Click Here to Watch!