Willem Dafoe, The Royal Family, Street Lights' Kevin Curtis, and More Set For This Week's Theater Talk

Theater Talk, a weekly expose of world theater, airs on PBS Friday nights (PBS/Thirteen) and 5 times weekly on CUNY TV. This week's shows will feature segments on Idiot Savant, Hamlet, Street Lights, The Royal Family, and more.

The broadcast schedule is as follows:

On Thirteen:
Friday, November 20th at 1:00 AM

On CUNY TV:
Saturday, December 5th at 8:30 PM
Sunday, December 6th at 12:30 PM and
Monday, December 7th at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM

Actor Willem Dafoe and director Richard Foreman, one of the most celebrated avant-garde directors of the American theater, discuss Foreman's latest work, Idiot Savant, in which Dafoe stars at the Public Theater.

Professor James Shapiro of Columbia University (author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare) will also appear. Shapiro discusses the "unbroken" tradition of Shakespeare's Hamlet from Burbage through Olivier and right up to Jude Law, whose "cerebral" yet "physically dynamic" interpretation of the skeptical prince is now a hit on Broadway.

Finally, actor Kevin Curtis performs a soulful rendition of the song "Georgetown" from the new musical Street Lights.

On CUNY TV:
Saturday, November 21st at 8:30 PM
Sunday, November 22nd at 12:30 PM and
Monday, November 23rd at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM

Another episode of the show, airing only on CUNY TV, will feature George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's classic comedy, The Royal Family, now being revived in a wonderful production at the Manhattan Theatre Club. The show begins with critic Charles Isherwood of The New York Times and humorist Paul Rudnick (author of I Shudder: And Other Reactions to Life, Death, and New Jersey) discussing the genius of George S. Kaufman, who essentially created the genre of screwball comedy.

Royal Family costars John Glover and Tony Roberts, will talk about working with director Doug Hughes to create their roles in this crowd-pleasing revival of the 1927 play which Kaufman and Ferber loosely based on the Barrymore acting family.

Theater Talk, the series devoted to the world of the stage, is co-hosted by Michael Riedel, Broadway columnist for the New York Post and series producer Susan Haskins.

Theater Talk is taped at CUNY-TV Studios in New York City. The Executive Producer for CUNY TV is Bob Isaacson, the Producer of Theater Talk is Steven Doloff and Associate Producers are Rossmary Cruz and Vanessa Mourner. It is directed by Adam Walker with engineering by John Harvi and lighting design by Jonathan Belcher. The show is edited by Larry Guo, Quan Ou and Sylvester Lukasiewicz.

The program is funded by contributions from private foundations and individuals, as well as The New York State Council on the Arts and The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. For more information on Theater Talk, e-mail theatertlk@aol.com or visit www.theatertalk.org.

Theater Talk is also telecast every Thursday night on PBS Station NJN, which is available to
all over-the-air digital and cable TV viewers in the NYC area.

For clips and highlights from the show, please visit http://www.youtube.com/user/theatertalk.

To watch the show in streaming video or iTunes, visit http://www.cuny.tv/series/theatertalk/listen.lasso?year=2008.