LPTW Announces Oral History: Linda Lavin Interviewed by Michael Riedel 5/9

On Monday, May 9th at 6pm New York Post columnist and theatre critic Michael Riedel will interview Tony Award-winning actress Linda Lavin in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (65th Street and Amsterdam Avenue).

In addition to multiple film and television roles, including the title character in the sitcom Alice, Ms. Lavin is known for her Tony-nominated stage performances in Neil Simon's Last of the Red-Hot Lovers (1970); Simon's Broadway Bound (1987), for which Lavin won the Tony Award; The Diary of Ann Frank (1998); The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (2001); and Collected Stories (2010).

Admission to the Oral History interview is free; LPTW members may reserve seats by emailing history@theatrewomen.org or by phone at 888-297-3117. Seating for the general public is first come, first served. Past Oral History Projects have featured interviews with Elizabeth Ashley, Kathleen Turner, Carole Shelley, Marge Champion, Frances Sternhagen, Mary Rodgers, Susan Hilferty, Jennifer Von Mayrhauser, Elaine Stritch, Betty Comden, Estelle Parsons, Zoe Caldwell, Jane Alexander, Ruby Dee and Kitty Carlisle Hart.

The ongoing Edith Meiser Oral History Project chronicles and documents the contributions of significant theatre women in many fields. Interviews with such outstanding women are videotaped and housed in the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. This project is made possible by a generous grant from the Edith Meiser Foundation.

Detailed biographies follow.

Linda Lavin, the daughter of a former opera singer, first appeared on stage at the ripe age of 5. She graduated from William and Mary College with a theatre degree, pounded the New York pavement in the early 60's and gradually made a dent within the New York theatre scene. She performed in various theatre and television roles that garnered her several Tony nominations, an Emmy Award, Golden Globe awards, Drama Desk Awards, a Lucille Lortel Award and a Tony for her hilarious performance in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound. She has appeared in many theatre productions including The Sisters Rosensweig (Broadway) and The New Century (Drama Desk Award/Off Broadway). Broadway: Collected Stories (Tony nomination), Hollywood Arms, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (Tony nom.); The Diary of Anne Frank (Tony nom., Drama Desk Award); Gypsy; Broadway Bound (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Helen Hayes Awards); The Last of the Red Hot Lovers (Tony nom.); Cop Out; Story Theatre; Something Different; It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman; A Family Affair. Off Broadway: Cakewalk; Death Defying Acts (Obie); The Comedy Of Errors (Public); The Mad Show; Oh, Kay! (Theater World Award), Little Murders (Outer Critics Circle). Regional: Finishing the Picture, CollectEd Stones, Doubt, Rabbit Hole, Driving Miss Daisy. Film: The Backup Plan, The Muppets Take Manhattan, See You in the Morning, I Want to Go Home. TV: "Alice," "Barney Miller," "Room For Two," "Conrad Bloom." TV Films: "The $5.20 an Hour Dream," "A Matter of Life and Death," "A Place to Call Home," "Lena: My 100 Children," "Best Friends For Life," "The Ring," "Collected Stories." Cabaret: "Songs and Confessions of a One-Time Waitress;" national appearances include Birdland, The Metropolitan Room, Wilmington Symphony, NC. Linda most recently performed in Jon Robin Baitz's Other Desert Cities at Lincoln Center and this month is opening in Follies at the Kennedy Center.

Michael Riedel is the influential and notorious theater writer for the New York Post. He has covered Broadway for over 20 years, and his well-known column has made him a much talked about and often feared figure on the New York theatre scene. Riedel is also co-host of the nationally syndicated, weekly talk show, Theater Talk, on PBS and CUNY-TV. Michael grew up in Geneseo, New York and initially planned on becoming a lawyer and politician. He performed on stage in high school and college productions and subsequently became a magna cum laude graduate of Columbia University with a BA in history. After graduating, he landed a job as Managing Editor of the now-defunct magazine, Theatre Week, which he made more literary by inviting well-known writers and critics of the time to contribute. He was next hired by The Daily News to be a stringer for a gossip column, but soon established his popular Broadway column there. He moved with it to the New York Post in 1998, where he has been ever since. Breaking with Broadway convention, Michael sometimes attends the first night of previews and has been known to report on a show's problems before the critics have reviewed it. In the words of New York Magazine, "He's charming at night, but ruthless in the morning paper."

The League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW) is a non-profit organization committed to promoting visibility and increasing opportunities for women in the professional theatre.
Please visit our website for more information: www.TheatreWomen.org