The American Theatre Wing and XM Satellite Radio proudly present an interview with Tony Award-winning actor Frank Langella on their weekly theatrical interview show, "Downstage Center," on XM's On Broadway (XM Channel 28).

Langella will appear as the special guest on Friday, May 18 at 6 p.m. The show will repeat on Saturday, May 19 at noon, Sunday, May 20 at 7 p.m., and Wednesday, May 23 at midnight.  The program becomes available as streaming audio and podcast from www.americantheatrewing.org beginning Monday afternoon, May 21.

 

Frank Langella talks about the challenge of making the character of Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon more than just a caricature, and whether it was easier to develop his performance as such a pivotal American figure for English audiences than it would have been in the U.S.; remembers a man unknown to him (who turned out to be Edward Albee) approaching him at a bar and asking to take on what became his Tony-winning role in Seascape; explains how he was determined to escape the typecasting the plagued Bela Lugosi when he played Dracula; reflects why he's been drawn multiple times to the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Cyrano de Bergerac; recalls how he worked with Arthur Miller to make significant cuts in After the Fall; declares that he's looking forward to directing more in the future, but will never again be a producer; and asks for someone to write him a role in a Broadway musical.

 

Frank Langella is currently starring on Broadway in Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon.  Other Broadway credits include Match, Fortune's Fool, The Father, Present Laughter, Amadeus, Hurlyburly, Passion, Seascape, Design for Living, Sherlock's Last Case, Dracula, A Cry of Players, and Yerma. He has been seen off-Broadway in Cyrano, Arthur Miller's After the Fall, The Old Glory: Benito Cereno, The White Devil, The Prince of Homburg, The Immoralist, Booth, The Tempest and A Christmas Carol.  His film credits include Good Night, and Good Luck, Superman Returns, Starting Out in the Evening, Lolita; Dave, The Ninth Gate, Dracula; 1492: The Conquest of Paradise, The House of D and Back in the Day. Langella has worked with a wide variety of talented directors including George C. Scott, Arthur Penn, Roman Polanski, Sir Peter Hall, Susan Stroman, George Clooney, Bryan Singer, Denys Arcand and Mel Brooks. He has appeared on television in PBS' "Eccentricities of a Nightingale" and Chekhov's "The Seagull," ABC's "The Beast," HBO's "The Doomsday Gun" and Vonnegut's "Monkey House" for Showtime.    He was inducted into the 2003 Theatre Hall of Fame, has received two Tony Awards, five Drama Desks, three Obies, two Outer Critics Circles, the Drama League, the National Society of Film Critics and the Cable Ace Award as well as Golden Globe, Emmy and Olivier nominations.

 

Each new "Downstage Center" is regularly broadcast at 6 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays at noon, Sundays at 7 p.m. and Wednesdays at 12 a.m. (all times EST). Following the initial run on XM, each program is made available for free, on-demand, internationally as both streaming audio and podcast on ATW's Web site, www.americantheatrewing.org.  Visit www.xmradio.com for more on XM Satellite Radio.

Photo by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.