THEATER TALK to Celebrate James Gandolfini & Richard Griffiths, 6/22

On two separate broadcasts in the tri-state area this weekend, THEATER TALK celebrates master critic John Simon's 88 years with an interview, recorded on his birthday in May of this year, and pairs it with an encore interview with the late actor Richard Griffiths.

Simon looks back on his distinguished career as a critic which began in 1949 with a review for the Harvard Advocate of A Streetcar Named Desire for which he was fired, being told, "No play can be that good." He also discusses his theories on criticism and drama that have made him one of the most widely respected and notorious critics of our generation

The Griffiths interview from 2006 was with the actor when he was here on Broadway, giving his Tony Award-winning performance in Alan Bennett's The History Boys. THEATER TALK - John Simon and Remembering Richard Griffiths, co-hosted by Michael Riedel of the New York Post and producer Susan Haskins, will be broadcast at 1 a.m. on Friday, June 21 (2013; early Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS.

One day later, only on CUNY TV, THEATER TALK remembers actor James Gandolfini in an encore broadcast of its 2009 interview with the cast of Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage - Gandolfini, Hope Davis, Jeff Daniels, and Marcia Gay Harden. THEATER TALK - Remembering James Gandolfini in God of Carnage, co-hosted by Riedel and Haskins, will be broadcast on CUNY TV* Saturday, June 22 at 8:30 PM, Sunday, June 23 at 12:30 PM, and Monday, June 24 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

THEATER TALK is the weekly series dedicated to the world of the stage. It is jointly produced by the not-for-profits Theater Talk Productions and CUNY TV. The program is taped in the Himan Brown TV and Radio Studios at The City University of New York (CUNY) TV in Manhattan, and is distributed to 60+ participating public television stations nationwide. THEATER TALK is made possible in part by The New York State Council on the Arts, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The TDF/TAP Plus Program, The Noël Coward Foundation, The CUNY TV Foundation and The Friends of THEATER TALK.

*CUNY TV, the City University of New York television station, is broadcast over the air in the tri-state area on Ch. 25.3 and is cablecast in the five boroughs of New York City on Ch. 75 (Time Warner & Cablevision/Optimum), Ch. 77 (RCN) and Ch. 30 (Verizon).