Susan Haskins News

In honor and anticipation of the Tony Awards ceremony this evening, June 9, CUNY TV will celebrate the Broadway theatre with an eight-hour marathon of 'Theater Talk,' 'ATW's Working in the Theatre,' and 'TimesTalks' programs from noon till 8 p.m. that day. Then the Tony Awards ceremony begins live on the CBS Television Network.

In honor and anticipation of the Tony Awards ceremony on Sunday evening, June 9, CUNY TV will celebrate the Broadway theatre with an eight-hour marathon of 'Theater Talk,' 'ATW's Working in the Theatre,' and 'TimesTalks' programs from noon till 8 p.m. that day. Then the Tony Awards ceremony begins live on the CBS Television Network.

Two of Broadway's most articulate Tony Award nominees, director George C. Wolfe and actress Holland Taylor, visit THEATER TALK to regale co-hosts Michael Riedel of the New York Post and Susan Haskins with tales of their careers and background on their current shows - Lucky Guy starring Tom Hanks, directed by Wolfe at the Broadhurst, and Ann, which Taylor wrote and stars in at the Vivian Beaumont.

As time moves inexorably closer to the annual Tony Awards ceremony celebrating Broadway's best on June 9, THEATER TALK reconvenes its notable crystal-ball gazers Patrick Pacheco (The Los Angeles Times), Jesse Green (New York Magazine), and entertainment columnist Michael Musto to share their predictions about this year's big contests. Tony Predictions 2013, co-hosted by Michael Riedel of the New York Post and Susan Haskins, premieres Friday, May 24, 2013 at 1 AM (Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, and repeats in the New York metro area on CUNY TV* Saturday at 8:30 PM, Sunday at 12:30 PM, and Monday at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

Kristine Nielsen and Lewis J. Stadlen have been named to receive the annual Richard Seff Award presented by the Actors' Equity Foundation. The award honors a veteran female and male character actor for the best performance in a supporting role in a Broadway or Off-Broadway production. The announcement was made by Arne Gundersen, president of the Actors' Equity Foundation, which administers the Award.

So what actress was "like a block of wood"? Who was "overrated" and who was pigeon-toed? As the 2012-13 theater season winds down and Tony Award voters are rushing to all of the nominated shows, THEATER TALK invites drama critics Ben Brantley (The New York Times), Peter Marks (The Washington Post), and fledgling Broadway pundit Joan Rivers (Beverly Hills Courier) to weigh in with their opinions about the late-opening productions. The 2013 Season's End Critics' Panel, co-hosted by Michael Riedel of the New York Post and Susan Haskins, premieres Friday, May 17, 2013 at 1 AM (Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, and repeats in the New York metro area on CUNY TV* Saturday at 8:30 PM, Sunday at 12:30 PM, and Monday at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

THEATER TALK welcomes Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper, creators of Broadway's hit Kinky Boots. The fun and revealing new interview premieres Friday, May 10, 2013 at 1 AM (Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, and repeats in the New York metro area on CUNY TV* Saturday at 8:30 PM, Sunday at 12:30 PM, and Monday at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

Three contributors to Broadway's newest smash Matilda - composer-lyricist Tim Minchin, librettist Dennis Kelly and actor Bertie Carvel ("Miss Trunchbull"), are the guests on THEATER TALK this week. The program premieres Friday, May 3, 2013 at 1 AM (Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, and repeats in New York City on CUNY TV* Saturday at 8:30 PM, Sunday at 12:30 PM, and Monday at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

A new THEATER TALK episode focuses on two of the season's best new plays. David Hyde Pierce and Kristine Nielsen, two of the stars of Christopher Durang's celebrated Broadway comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, lead off the two-segment episode, followed by playwright Joe Gilford and producer William Carden discussing Ensemble Studio Theatre's acclaimed off-Broadway production of FINKS, a look at the impact of the 1950s blacklist based on the experiences of Gilford's parents. The program premieres Friday, April 26, 2013 at 1 AM (Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, and repeats in New York City on CUNY TV* Saturday at 8:30 PM, Sunday at 12:30 PM, and Monday at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

This week, THEATER TALK welcomes Michael Urie and Jonathan Tolins,the star and writer of the hit off-Broadway comedy Buyer & Cellar at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and theater journalists Adam Feldman and Suzy Evans with an April Broadway Update.

THEATER TALK welcomes actor and writer Jesse Eisenberg on Friday, April 12, 2013 at 1 AM (Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, and repeating in New York City on CUNY TV* Saturday at 8:30 PM, Sunday at 12:30 PM, and Monday at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM. Eisenberg is the author of the current SRO off-Broadway play, The Revisionist. He also appears in it as a narcissistic young American writer who, in an effort to overcome writers block, travels to Poland to visit a distant and aging cousin, played by the great Vanessa Redgrave.

THEATER TALK celebrates the 30th anniversary of Off-Broadway's Vineyard Theatre - home to notable productions including Pulitzer Prize winners Three Tall Women by Edward Albee and How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel, and the Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q - in an all-new episode premiering at 1 a.m. on Friday, April 5 (2013; early Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, and continuing in New York City on CUNY TV* Saturday at 8:30 PM, Sunday at 12:30 PM, and Monday at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

Cinderella, the only musical written by the legendary team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II especially for television, is now on Broadway for the first time. In 'A New Take on Cinderella,' librettist Douglas Carter Beane, actors Victoria Clark and Ann Harada (the Fairy Godmother and stepsister Charlotte), and producer Robyn Goodman trace the show's long journey from its inception in 1957 to today in an all-new THEATER TALK, premiering at 1 a.m. on Friday, March 29 (2013; early Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, and continues in New York City on CUNY TV* Saturday at 8:30 PM, Sunday at 12:30 PM, and Monday at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

Elaine Stritch stops by THEATER TALK to celebrate her 88th birthday. Joining her in the festivities are two of her best friends, music director Rob Bowman and actor Hunter Ryan Herdlicka (who recently appeared with Stritch in the Broadway revival of A Little Night Music).

It's Spring Fever on THEATER TALK when theater journalists Patrick Pacheco from the LA Times, Jesse Green from New York magazine, and Michael Musto from The Village Voice join series producer Susan Haskins for an overview of the upcoming Broadway and off-Broadway Spring season. THEATER TALK - Spring Season 2013 Preview will premiere at 1 a.m. on Friday, February 8 (2013; early Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, followed in New York City on CUNY TV* Saturday at 8:30 PM, Sunday at 12:30 PM, and Monday at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

This week's THEATER TALK focuses on both the new PBS documentary Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy and the 100th Anniversary of the Actors' Equity Association. Guests are filmmaker Michael Kantor, producer of the PBS film, followed by Nicholas Wyman, President of Actors' Equity, and Robert Simonson, author of Performance of the Century: 100 Years of Actors' Equity Association and the Rise of Professional American Theater, which chronicles the powerful union's history.

Courtly Southerner William Ivey Long - five-time Tony Award winner for costume design and the recently appointed Chair of The American Theatre Wing - visits THEATER TALK for an exclusive interview premiering at 1 a.m. on Friday, January 18 (2013; early Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, followed in New York City on CUNY TV* Saturday at 8:30 PM, Sunday at 12:30 PM, and Monday at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

The upcoming episode of THEATER TALK features cast members Tracy Letts and Amy Morton from Edward Albee's 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,' the Steppenwolf Theater production currently on Broadway, followed by Ari Brand, Jenny Bacon and Mark Nelson from 'My Name is Asher Lev,' the Aaron Posner adaptation of the Chaim Potok novel, playing off-Broadway at the Westside Theater.

With the revival of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" garnering positive reviews in a Roundabout Theatre production at Studio 54, THEATER TALK welcomes two of its talents - Rupert Holmes, who wrote the book, music and lyrics for the 1985 musical, and Will Chase, who plays the dual roles of John Jasper and Mr. Clive Paget.

The upcoming episode of THEATER TALK features cast members Tracy Letts and Amy Morton from Edward Albee's 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,' the Steppenwolf Theater production currently on Broadway, followed by Ari Brand, Jenny Bacon and Mark Nelson from 'My Name is Asher Lev,' the Aaron Posner adaptation of the Chaim Potok novel, playing off-Broadway at the Westside Theater.