Ken Davenport To Guest On ATW's "Downstage Center", Avaliable As Podcast Today

The American Theatre Wing has announced that producer Ken Davenport will be the next guest on their popular interview show, "Downstage Center." Hosted by American Theatre Wing Executive Director Howard Sherman, "Downstage Center" features weekly in-depth interviews with the leading artists and professionals working on stage today. Davenport's interview is available online and as a podcast beginning today (Monday, 8/31) through iTunes or an RSS feed.

Click http://americantheatrewing.org/downstagecenter to listen or subscribe.

On the latest edition of "Downstage Center," multi-tasking multi-hyphenate producer (and more) Ken Davenport talks about his varied projects, from stage to computer screen. He recalls his childhood years performing in community theatre and his acting studies at NYU; how his interest in company management helped him to learn the ropes of the theatre business and gave him access to the creative talents behind major musicals including Ragtime and Thoroughly Modern Millie; the key message he got from a seminal meeting with the famed producer and director Hal Prince; the creative process behind his own shows The Awesome 80s Prom, Altar Boyz and My First Time; his drive to blog and whether his strong opinions have ever provoked comment amongst his various collaborators; his belief in the power of social networking and viral marketing in the challenging climate facing Off- Broadway; how he came to be a producer on his first four Broadway shows, all in the past 12 months; and who he considers "The Trekkies of Broadway."

The American Theatre Wing (Theodore S. Chapin, Chairman of the Board of Directors; Howard Sherman, Executive Director) is best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards®, which it presents annually with The Broadway League. In addition to "Downstage Center," The Wing sponsors many activities, all dedicated to recognizing excellence and supporting education in theatre. These programs include "Working in the Theatre," a weekly television program on CUNY TV which gathers panels of theater artists to discuss their crafts; "Guides to Careers in the Theatre," a video series developed for schools and libraries; a grants program for New York City not-for-profit theatre companies, which has awarded nearly $3 million since its inception; the Theatre Intern Group, a career development program for young professionals; SpringboardNYC, a two-week college-to-career boot camp for young performers moving to NYC; and the Jonathan Larson® Grants, given annually to honor emerging composers, lyricists and book writers.

Visitors to americantheatrewing.org http://www.americantheatrewing.org/ can listen to archive episodes of "Downstage Center," all as free, on-demand streaming audio and podcast and can view or download an archive of "Working in the Theatre" episodes.

Photo credit Peter James Zielinski

Photo Ken Davenport and Catherine Russell