This Week's Theater Talk Episode To Feature A Walk through The Players' Club, Jerry Stiller

Episode #301

A Walk through The Players Club

One of the most elegant spots in New York City is The Players Club. This Gramercy Square mansion is the home of the exclusive organization which Edwin Booth, the greatest American actor of the 19th century, founded as a place where, in Booth's words, "actors could mingle with gentlemen."

Theater Talk's Michael Riedel is guided around the club by Howard Kissel, author of New York Theater Walks: Seven Historical Tours from Times Square to Greenwich Village and Beyond. The two show us some of the wonderful artifacts that are preserved there, including Booth's death bed and the Yorick skull from Booth's Broadway Hamlet (produced in 1866, just one year after his brother assassinated the president). Youtube Preview (Uplink available September 2.)

Episode #311

Free for All: Joe Papp, The Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told

We discuss the legacy of NYC's Public Theater and its founder, Joseph Papp with actor Jerry Stiller; Lincoln Center Executive Producer (and former Papp lieutenant) Bernard Gersten and critic Kenneth Turan, the author of the book Free For All: Joe Papp, The Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told, an oral history of the ground-breaking not-for-profit institution. Youtube Preview (Uplink available September 9.)

Episode #324

Bob Hofler on Party Animals: A Hollywood Tale of Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll Starring the Fabulous Allan Carr

Author Robert Hofler of Variety discusses his biography about the the amazing life and career of Allan Carr, producer of La Cage Aux Folles on Broadway, the movies Grease, and Can't Stop the Music, plus the most outrageous and scandalously unsuccessful awards ceremony in Oscar history. Hofler describes how Carr, an oddball kid from Highland Park, Il., rose to the height of success in show business and ultimately was reduced to being a recluse shunned by Hollywood until his untimely death. (Uplink available September 16.)

Theater Talk, the series devoted to the world of the stage, is co-hosted by Michael Riedel, Broadway columnist for the New York Post, and series executive producer Susan Haskins.

The popular series is now being distributed nationally to PBS member stations by Executive Program Services (EPS). The series is co-produced by Theater Talk Productions, a not-for-profit corporation, and CUNY TV (City University of New York Television).