Tony Kushner in Conversation with Evan Smith Set for Texas Performing Arts, 4/22

Texas Performing Arts and The Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies present Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner in conversation with EVan Smith on Monday, April 22, 2013 at 8 p.m. at Bass Concert Hall. Presented in partnership with The Department of Theatre and Dance and L Style G Style.

The recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, an Emmy Award, two Tony Awards, three Obie Awards, Oscar nominations, and numerous other awards and honors, Kushner is best known for his two-part epic, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. He also wrote the screenplays for Mike Nichols' film of Angels in America, and received an Oscar nomination for his work on Steven Spielberg's Lincoln.

Kushner is known for tackling difficult subjects in contemporary history, such as AIDS, the conservative counter-revolution, Afghanistan, the Holocaust, German fascism, and racism and the civil rights movement in the South. He gives voice to characters that have been rendered powerless by the forces of circumstances, such as a drag queen dying of AIDS, an uneducated Southern maid, and contemporary Afghans. This is a unique opportunity to explore the mind of a literary genius.

EVan Smith is the CEO and editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune, which, in its first year in operation, won two national Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association and a General Excellence Award from the Online News Association. Previously he spent nearly 18 years at Texas Monthly, stepping down in August 2009 as the magazine's president and editor-in-chief. He previously served as editor for more than eight years - only the third person to hold that title. On his watch, Texas Monthly was nominated for 16 National Magazine Awards, the magazine industry's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, and twice was awarded the National Magazine Award for General Excellence. For eight years, Smith hosted a Lone Star Emmy Award-winning weekly interview program, Texas Monthly Talks, which aired on PBS stations statewide. He currently hosts Overheard with EVan Smith, which airs on PBS stations nationally.

For more information on this performance, visit: http://texasperformingarts.org/season/tony-kushner-austin.

Monday, April 22, 2013, 8:00 p.m. -Texas Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin and the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies present Tony Kushner in conversation with EVan Smith at Bass Concert Hall (2350 Robert Dedman Dr.; E. 23rd St. and Robert Dedman Dr) A map of the campus: texasperformingarts.org/visit/maps_directions. Tickets ($36.00-$42.00 / Limited $10 student tickets / discounted tickets available for UT faculty & staff, seniors and Military) are on sale now at authorized ticket outlets, which include the Bass Concert Hall Box Office, most H-E-B stores and all Texas Box Office outlets, online at www.TexasPerformingArts.org, or by calling (512) 477-6060 or (800) 982-BEVO.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus