ATW Actress Panel, with Brown, White, Etc., to Air on CUNY

The American Theatre Wing's upcoming "Working in the Theatre" will feature four accomplished Broadway actresses - Blair Brown, Blythe Danner, Swoosie Kurtz and Julie White- on CUNY TV on Sunday, Jan. 14 at 5 p.m.  The segment will repeat on Friday, Jan. 19 at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan 20 at 11 a.m., and Sunday, Jan. 21 at 5 p.m.

"Leading Ladies" Blair Brown (The Clean House), Blythe Danner (Suddenly, Last Summer), Swoosie Kurtz (Heartbreak House) and Julie White (The Little Dog Laughed) will share their thoughts on their careers on stage, from the difference between working in plays and musicals, to whether they still audition for roles, to the experience of working with living playwrights -- and whether they feel they ever have any power on a production. Ted Chapin will serve as moderator.

 

Brown most recently appeared on the New York stage in Humble Boy at Manhattan Theatre Club. She also recently played Prospera in The Tempest at McCarter Theatre and starred in A Little Night Music for the Kennedy Center's Sondheim Festival. Her Broadway credits include Copenhagen, for which she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, James Joyce's The Dead, Arcadia, The Threepenny Opera and The Secret Rapture. She is best known to television audiences for her title role in the critically acclaimed NBC television series "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd," for which she received four Emmy nominations and a Cable Ace Award for Best Actress in a Dramatic Series.

 

Danner is now playing Mrs.Venable in Suddenly Last Summer at the Roundabout Theatre Company, where she previously appeared in the revival of Follies. She received a Tony Award for Butterflies Are Free, and Tony Award® nominations for Betrayal and A Streetcar Named Desire. She was Beatrice to Kevin Kline's Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing , a human to S.J. Parker's dog in A.R. Gurney's Sylvia and Elvira to Ms. Ivey's Ruth in Blithe Spirit. She's played at Williamstown Theatre Festival for 22 seasons (The Seagull with Louis Zorich) and has performed in countless television programs and motion pictures.

 

Kurtz won Tony Awards for her performances in The House of Blue Leaves and Fifth of July. Her additional Broadway credits include Frozen (Tony Award® nomination, Lucille Lortel nomination), Imaginary Friends, Tartuffe (Tony Award nomination), and A History of the American Film (Drama Desk Award). Her Off-Broadway credits include Frozen, The Mineola Twins (Obie Award; Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations); The Guys; The Vagina Monologues (premiere NY cast); Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Six Degrees of Separation ; Uncommon Women and Others (Obie and Drama Desk Awards). She has worked on workshops that include Assassins, Michael Bennett's Scandal, and Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference for five seasons.

 

White, now appearing as Diane in The Little Dog Laughed, originated the role Off-Broadway at Second Stage and received Obie Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Lucille Lortel and Drama League nominations. In addition, at Second Stage, she starred in Spike Heels and The Family of Mann. She appeared in Broadway's The Heidi Chronicles and Off-Broadway in Fiction (Roundabout, Drama League nomination), Bad Dates (Playwrights Horizons), Dinner With Friends (Variety Arts), Barbra's Wedding (Westside Theater) and three short plays for the Tribeca Theater Festival.

 

The ATW panels bring together theatre's best-known performers, producers, playwrights, directors, choreographers, composers, agents and others.

 

CUNY TV is a cable channel serving the five boroughs of New York City with educational, cultural and public affairs programs. As part of The City University of New York, CUNY TV operates as a non-commercial station. Its mission is to extend the academic and intellectual richness of the University beyond the campuses and to offer New York City residents a haven for life long learning experiences through television.

 

Visit www.americantheatrewing.org for more on ATW and its "Working in the Theatre" panels.

 

Photo - Blair Brown