Member Tickets On Sale For Public Theater's Sondheim/Kushner Forum 1/17

By: Dec. 06, 2011
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The Public Theater has announced the return of Stephen Sondheim and Tony Kushner to The Public Forum on Tuesday, January 17 at 8:00 p.m. Hosted by Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts Rocco Landesman, this intimate evening with Stephen Sondheim and Tony Kushner will take place at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Member tickets, priced at $30, are on sale now. Public Theater Memberships are available at 212-967-7555.

In one of the highlights of The Public Forum’s inaugural season, Stephen Sondheim and Tony Kushner held a dazzling one-on-one conversation about their work, their inspirations, and the theatrical life. To mark the publication of the second volume of Sondheim’s memoir and lyric anthology, Look, I Made a Hat, Sondheim and Kushner will continue their conversation, with a special focus on the shows covered in the new book, including the masterful Sunday in the Park with George, the politically charged Assassins, and more. This one-night only event is co-presented by NYU Skirball Center.

THE PUBLIC FORUM is a high-profile series of lectures, debates, and conversations, now in its second season. Curated by Jeremy McCarter, the Forum features leading voices in politics, media, and the arts. Alec Baldwin, Anne Hathaway, Cynthia Nixon, Sam Waterston, and NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman have hosted its programs, which have featured the insights of Kurt Andersen, Carl Bernstein, David Brooks, Arianna Huffington, Bill Irwin, Tony Kushner, Suzan-Lori Parks, Francine Prose, Stephen Sondheim, and young veterans of the war in Afghanistan -- plus performances by Anne Hathaway and Michael Cerveris, among others.

Tony Kushner is the playwright of The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, which was presented at The Public as part of its 2010-2011 season. His other plays include A Bright Room Called Day; Angels in America, Parts One and Two; Slavs!; Homebody/Kabul; and Caroline, or Change, a musical with composer Jeanine Tesori. He has adapted and translated Pierre Corneille's The Illusion, S.Y. Ansky's The Dybbuk, Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Sezuan and Mother Courage and Her Children; and the English-language libretto for the opera Brundibár by Hans Krasa. He wrote the screenplays for Mike Nichols' film of Angels In America, and Steven Spielberg's Munich. His books include Brundibar, with illustrations by Maurice Sendak; The Art of Maurice Sendak, 1980 to the Present; and Wrestling With Zion: Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict, co-edited with Alisa Solomon. Kushner is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, two Tony Awards, three Obie Awards, two Evening Standard Awards, an Olivier Award, an Emmy Award and an Oscar nomination, among other honors. In 2008, he was the first recipient of the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award.

Rocco Landesman is the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Before becoming a government official, he was a Broadway producer whose credits include Into the Woods (1987), Angels in America (1993), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1996), and Caroline, or Change (2004).

Stephen Sondheim wrote the book Finishing the Hat and the newly published Look, I Made a Hat, both from Knopf. He wrote the music and lyrics for Saturday Night, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Anyone Can Whistle, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, The Frogs, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Assassins, Passion and Road Show as well as lyrics for Gypsy and Do I Hear A Waltz? and additional lyrics for Candide. Anthologies of his work include Side by Side by Sondheim, Marry Me A Little, You're Gonna Love Tomorrow, Putting It Together and Sondheim on Sondheim. For films, he composed the scores of Stavisky, co-composed Reds and wrote songs for Dick Tracy and the television production Evening Primrose. He co-authored the film The Last of Sheila and the play Getting Away With Murder. Sondheim is on the Council of the Dramatists Guild, having served as its President from 1973 to 1981.

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY'S Jack H. Skirball CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS is the premier venue for the presentation of cultural and performing arts events for NYU and lower Manhattan. Led by Executive Producer Jay Oliva (President Emeritus, NYU) and Director Michael Harrington, the programs of the Skirball Center reflect NYU's mission as an international center of scholarship, defined by excellence and innovation and shaped by an intellectually rich and diverse environment. A vital aspect of the Center's mission is to build young adult audiences for the future of live performance. www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu

The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 and is now one of the nation’s preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals and productions of classics at its downtown home and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public Theater’s mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day on stage and through extensive outreach programs. Each year, more than 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe’s Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public Theater’s productions have won 42 Tony Awards, 158 Obies, 42 Drama Desk Awards and four Pulitzer Prizes. Fifty-four Public Theater Productions have moved to Broadway, including Sticks and Bones; That Championship Season; A Chorus Line; For Colored Girls…; The Pirates of Penzance; The Tempest; Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; Topdog/Underdog; Take Me Out; Caroline, or Change; Passing Strange; the revival of HAIR; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and The Merchant of Venice. www.publictheater.org.

TICKET INFORMATION

Public Theater Member tickets, priced at $30, go on sale on Tuesday, December 6 for the Sondheim/Kushner Public Forum on Tuesday, January 17 at 8:00 p.m. at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (566 La Guardia Place). Public Theater Memberships are available at 212-967-7555. Any remaining single tickets for the Sondheim/Kushner Public Forum will go on sale on Tuesday, December 27. For more information, visit www.publictheater.org.



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