THEATER TALK to Welcome Linda Lavin, Len Cariou & More This Weekend

An all-new episode of THEATER TALK features an interview with the creators of the Manhattan Theatre Club production of the new play Our Mother's Brief Affair, plus actor Len Cariou discussing his career and a new one-man show, Broadway & The Bard.

Sharing details of their collaboration on the Broadway production of Our Mother's Brief Affair are its director Lynne Meadow, Manhattan Theatre Club's Artistic Director since 1972; the play's star, Linda Lavin; and playwright Richard Greenberg. Having worked with Lavin a total of three times (including The Tale of the Allergist's Wife and Collected Stories), Meadow calls her "my heart's desire" when casting a strong woman's role. Although somewhat mysterious about the play's plot details (the mother's affair is with a controversial historical figure), Meadow and Greenberg clearly love working with Lavin, who shares memories of her own love affair with acting and singing.

Next, actor Len Cariou has drawn on past Shakespeare roles at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada and at the Guthrie Theater - as well as his appearances in the Broadway musicals Applause, A Little Night Music, and Sweeney Todd - to fashion a one-man entertainment, Broadway & The Bard: An Evening of Shakespeare and Song, now at the Lion Theatre on 42nd Street. The actor recites Shakespeare and Sondheim and looks back at his start in theater to share some delicious theater lore.

This episode premieres in the New York metropolitan area Friday, February 12 (2016) at 1:30 AM (Saturday morning). It repeats Sunday 2/14 at 11:30 AM on Thirteen/PBS; Saturday 2/13 at 8:30 PM, Sunday 2/14 at 12:30 PM and Monday 2/15 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM on CUNY TV*; and on Monday 2/15 at 5:30 PM on WLIW/21 - a total of 8 times weekly.

THEATER TALK is jointly produced by the not-for-profits Theater Talk Productions and CUNY TV. The series 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 100+ 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 CUNY TV Foundation and The Friends of THEATER TALK.

*CUNY TV, the City University of New York television station, is broadcast throughout the New York metropolitan area on digital Ch. 25.3, and cablecast in the five boroughs of New York City on Ch. 75 (Time Warner; Optimum/Brooklyn), Ch. 77 (RCN) and Ch. 30 (Verizon FiOS). The show is available online anytime at www.cuny.tv and www.theatertalk.org and via iTunes podcasts.