American Theatre Wing's Media Programs Availble Free Online

A remarkable archive of theatrical interviews is now available for free on the internet, a result of the efforts of the American Theatre Wing to share its educational and informational programs with a wider audience.

For 25 years, ATW has produced its “Working in the Theatre” Seminars for broadcast in New York City on CUNY-TV. Featuring panel discussions with theatre artists, the more than 300 seminar programs feature an array of theatrical talent, from Jessica Tandy and Kim Hunter to Nicole Kidman and Mel Brooks. The programs, however, have only been available to New York cable subscribers and researchers and students at select libraries around the country.

At www.americantheatrewing.org, the past 10 years of programs are available on demand as streaming video, with select programs dating back to 1987 also accessible. Work is underway to digitize all of the programs, dating back to 1979. Current programs are added to the archive immediately upon their completion; the newest include a playwrights panel with Edward Albee, Harvey Fierstein, Paula Vogel and John Weidman; performance oriented panels with Mario Cantone, Richard Easton, Julie Halston, Frances Sternhagen, Michael McKean and Robert Prosky; and two not-for-profit panels with leaders from Atlantic Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop and Roundabout Theater Company.

“Our longtime leader, Isabelle Stevenson, created the seminar series to offer students and audiences an opportunity to hear artists discuss their work and their experience, and she was very shrewd to get on the cable bandwagon in its earliest days,” said Howard Sherman, Executive Director of the Wing. “In addition to making the programs more generally available, we’ve been fortunate this year that, thanks to support from The Annenberg Foundation and The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation, we’ve been able to expand the number of seminars annually from eight to twelve, have moved into a larger venue to accommodate more live audience at the tapings, and have constructed a new set so that our visual environment matches the high level of the conversation.”

In addition to the seminar series, ATW’s new radio collaboration with XM Satellite Radio, “Downstage Center,” is also available on the site for those who don’t subscribe to XM. The 30 to 60 minute interviews are co-hosted by ATW’s Howard Sherman and John von Soosten, program director of XM’s Channel 28, “On Broadway.” In contrast to the panel approach of the television seminars, “Downstage Center” focuses on one or two theatre practitioners for in-depth discuss of their work and career. In production since April 2004, the program has featured actors such as Richard Thomas, Phylicia Rashad and Matthew Broderick; Disney Theatrical Productions president Thomas Schumacher; New York Fringe Festival director Elena K. Holy; playwrights Donald Margulies and Paula Vogel; and composers Jerry Herman and Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty.

Also on the website are 13 interviews conducted by ATW in 2001under the banner “Guide to Careers in the Theatre,” video interviews on the various job opportunities and tasks in theatre. Participants include general manager Charlotte Wilcox, orchestrator Luther Henderson and lighting designer Jules Fisher. 17 more of the Career programs are on tap to be posted.

Collectively, the ATW site now boasts more than 200 hours of streaming media, with both new and archival material being added regularly.

“Most people know the Theatre Wing as the founders of the Tony Awards, without realizing the depth of oral history and educational material we’ve created over the years,” said Sherman.

The American Theatre Wing is a not-for-profit theatrical service organization dedicated to supporting education and excellence in the theatre. In addition to co-presenting The Tony Awards, ATW produces the seminar series “Working in the Theatre” with CUNY-TV; co-produces “Downstage Center” with XM Satellite Radio; and annually awards more than 50 grants and scholarships to New York not-for-profit theatres and theatre students. ATW’s newest programs include “SpringboardNYC,” a two-week intensive training session for aspiring theatre professionals moving to New York; and the Theatre Intern Group, a social and professional development network.

For access to ATW media, and for more information on the work of the American Theatre Wing, visit www.americantheatrewing.org.