Douglas Carter Beane Goes 'Downstage Center,' 6/22

The American Theatre Wing and XM Satellite Radio proudly present an interview with playwright Douglas Carter Beane on their weekly theatrical interview show, "Downstage Center," on XM's On Broadway (XM Channel 28).

Beane will appear as the special guest on Friday, June 22 at 6 p.m. The show will repeat on Saturday, June 23 at noon, Sunday, June 24 at 7 p.m., and Wednesday, June 27 at midnight.  The program becomes available as streaming audio and podcast from www.americantheatrewing.org beginning Monday afternoon, June 25.

Playwright Douglas Carter Beane talks about how his fascination with Greek myths dovetailed with a producer's overture to adapt a famously bad movie, resulting in the new musical Xanadu; describes his years of making ends meet by staffing the hearing device booths at Broadway theatres, and manning the stage door at the Neil Simon Theatre; recalls his break-through year as a writer with Advice From a Caterpillar and The Country Club; chronicles the origin of his influential Off-Broadway company The Drama Department; and considers why he's managed to write roles with specific actresses in mind in both As Bees in Honey Drown and The Little Dog Laughed, only to have those shows play to great success with entirely different women in the leads.

Douglas Carter Beane has written The Little Dog Laughed, As Bees in Honey Drown, Music From a Sparkling Planet, The Country Club, Advice From a Caterpillar, The Cartells and the upcoming Mister and Missus Fitch. Musicals include The Big Time and the upcoming Lysistrata Jones and The Band Wagon. Beane has also written numerous screenplays including Advice From a Caterpillar and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. As Artistic Director of the Drama Dept., he produced more than 40 productions including revivals of As Thousands Cheer, June Moon and The Torchbearers and world premieres by Paul Rudnick, David Sedaris and Wendy Wasserstein.

Each new "Downstage Center" is regularly broadcast at 6 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays at noon, Sundays at 7 p.m. and Wednesdays at 12 a.m. (all times EST). Following the initial run on XM, each program is made available for free, on-demand, internationally as both streaming audio and podcast on ATW's Web site, www.americantheatrewing.org.  Visit www.xmradio.com for more on XM Satellite Radio.

Photo by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.