THEATER TALK Welcomes BLACKBIRD's Jeff Daniels This Weekend

The new edition of THEATER TALK presents an interview with actor Jeff Daniels, now appearing opposite Michelle Williams in the revival of David Harrower's gripping play, Blackbird, on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre.

The play depicts an explosive meeting between a man who had sexual relations with a 12-year-old girl and his now-older victim. Although he has gone to prison, changed his name and is attempting to build a new life, the woman, played by Williams, shows up to confront him about the past.

Daniels tells co-hosts Michael Riedel of the New York Post and Susan Haskins that Lynn Meadow of Manhattan Theatre Club sent him the play in 2006, but "I didn't know how I was going to pull it off." He did it in the original and highly successful MTC production opposite Alison Pill.

He credits his subsequent Emmy-winning role as Will McAvoy in Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom with giving him heightened focus to be in the moment with his fellow stage actors, and to attempt different approaches in just a few takes. He says that he and Williams, within parameters set by director Joe Mantello, are able to keep their performances alive eight performances a week by relying on this film training as well as the considerable foundation of their stage experience.

Daniels shares stories about coming to New York from Michigan in 1976, meeting revered playwright Lanford Wilson at the famed Circle Rep, and getting his early roles there, particularly in Wilson's The Fifth of July which moved to Broadway. He was also understudy to Reed Birney, Robert Picardo and Jonathan Hadary during the Broadway run of Albert Innaurato's Gemini. He has tough advice for young actors who skip performances: "Go home."

This latest edition of THEATER TALK premieres in the New York metropolitan area on Thirteen/PBS, Friday, May 20 (2016) at 1:30 AM (early Saturday) and Sunday, May 22 at 11:30 AM. It re-airs on CUNY TV* Saturday 5/21 at 8:30 PM, Sunday 5/22 at 12:30 PM, and Monday 5/23 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM; as well as on WLIW/21 on Monday 5/23 at 5:30 PM - a total of 8 showings this week.

THEATER TALK 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 100+ participating public television stations nationwide. THEATER TALK is made possible in part by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The CUNY TV Foundation, and The Friends of THEATER TALK.

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