ATW - Working In The Theatre

The panel -- "A Few Good Men"'s director Don Scardino and playwright Aaron Sorkin, director George C. Wolfe ("Spunk") and director Luke Yankee ("The Cherry Orchard") -- discusses their current productions and how each show was conceived. The creative team of "Once On This Island" -- book writer/lyricist Lynn Ahrens, director/choreographer Graciela Daniele, and composer Stephen Flaherty -- talk about adapting the musical from a novel, and the show's development at Playwrights Horizons.

The production team of "Gypsy" and "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" - publicist Shirley Herz, casting director Stuart Howard, playwright/director Arthur Laurents, general manager/associate producer Alecia Parker, and producers Barry Weissler and Fran Weissler - talk about many aspects of production from casting to advertising to corporate investors, booking pre-Broadway tour stops, and their other productions of "Fiddler on the Roof", "La Cage aux Folles", and "My One and Only".

Stage actors Mike Hodge ("A Few Good Men"), Robin Morse ("Six Degrees of Separation"), Ron Perlman ("A Few Good Men"), Faith Prince ("Falsettoland"), Margaret Tyzack ("Lettice and Lovage"), and James Whitmore ("About Time" and "Handy Dandy") talk about their education and when they began performing, the effect of cast size, audience response, and positive feedback.

The panel of playwrights Vernel Bagneris ("Further Mo'") and Tom Cole ("About Time"), lyricist John Driver ("Shogun"), director Tony Giordano ("About Time & Handy Dandy"), lyricist Sheldon Harnick ("The Rothschilds"), Executive Director of the Dramatists Guild David LeVine, and director Lonny Price ("The Rothschilds") discuss how they got started in their careers, writing for the stage, and the role of the Dramatists Guild.

Broadway performers F. Murray Abraham ("Angels In America"), Susan Egan ("Beauty and the Beast"), Victor Garber ("Damn Yankees"), Nathan Lane ("Laughter on the 23rd Floor"), Michael Learned ("The Sisters Rosensweig"), Burke Moses ("Beauty and the Beast"), and Bebe Neuwirth ("Damn Yankees") talk about how they got started in performing, their current roles, and teaching acting courses.

Broadway performers -- Chuck Cooper ("The Life"), Robert Cuccioli ("Jekyll and Hyde"), Pat Hingle ("1776"), Pamela Isaacs ("The Life"), Jeff McCarthy ("Side Show"), and J. Smith-Cameron ("As Bees in Honey Drown") -- talk about how they got their start and have built their careers, the challenge of memorizing lines, the importance of discipline and stamina, and the support of family and friends.

The panel -- playwright Douglas Carter Beane ("As Bees In Honey Drown"), director Mark Brokaw ("As Bees In Honey Drown", "How I Learned To Drive"), playwright/lyricist Bill Russell ("Side Show") and playwright Paula Vogel ("How I Learned To Drive") -- talk about their backgrounds and developing their crafts, the advantages of writing for the stage compared to being a screenwriter, and why these particular playwrights prefer not to direct.

The production team for the musical "Side Show" -- producer Emanuel Azenberg, press representative Bill Evans, and general manager Abbie M. Strassler -- talk about the show's journey from presentation to workshop to Broadway; the role of producer, casting director, general manager, company manager, and press agent; casting principal and chorus members; and marketing a new show.

The panel -- Tony Award winning lighting designer Beverly Emmons for "Amadeus", "Passion" and "The Heiress"; costume designer Danny Gates ("When Pigs Fly"); 1997 Tony Award winners for Best Scenic Design for "Jekyll and Hyde" James Noone and director/designer Robin Phillips; puppeteer Basil Twist ("Peter and Wendy"); director Mark Waldrop ("When Pigs Fly"); and producer/playwright Liza Lorwin ("Peter and Wendy") -- talk about how designers work with directors, producers and writers; directing in addition to designing; creating pop-up sets; working with the late Howard Crabtree on "When Pigs Fly", with a detailed demonstration of costumes; "Jekyll and Hyde"'s movable plexiglass towers, backdrops, and lighting with new Varilights technology; and the unanswerable question of "what makes good design?"

The panel of theatre professionals - playwright Michael J. Chepiga ("Getting and Spending"), choreographer Graciela Daniele ("Ragtime"), playwright/director Christopher Durang ("Sex and Longing"), director Garry Hynes ("The Beauty Queen of Leenane"), and director Joe Mantello ("Corpus Christi") - discuss how they got their start, auditioning actors, controversy surrounding a play, and taking on alternate roles of choreographer, actor, or director.

The "Side Man" production team -- general manager Roy Gabay, producer Jay S. Harris, advertising representative, Drew Hodges, producer Peter Manning, marketing representative Nancy Richards, and press representative Gary Springer -- discuss moving the Roundabout production to a commercial Broadway run, marketing tactics, ticket pricing, breakdown of the production budget, working on multiple shows simultaneously, and the differences between not-for-profit and commercial theatre.

The panel of lighting designers Jules Fisher ("Ragtime") and Donald Holder ("The Lion King"), scenic designers Eugene Lee ("Ragtime") and Ming Cho Lee (The Public Theater), and "The Lion King" associate costume designer Mary Peterson discuss the challenges of designing their current shows, how sets, lighting, and costumes complement each other, display and detail a costume from "The Lion King", and present a model of one of the "Ragtime" sets.

The international panel of performers -- Scottish actor Iain Glen ("The Blue Room"), Australian actress Nicole Kidman ("The Blue Room"), Irish actress Anna Manahan ("The Beauty Queen of Leenane"), and Filipino actress Lea Salonga ("Miss Saigon") -- discuss their training, the rehearsal process, taking a whole approach to both film and stage work, overcoming stage fright, how audience responses varies from London to Broadway to Australia, and how changes in the political climate of their respective countries have affected theatre.

Actors Blythe Danner and Edward Herrmann both from "The Deep Blue Sea", Brian Stokes Mitchell ("Ragtime"), Alfred Molina ("Art"), Natasha Richardson ("Cabaret"), and John Vickery ("The Lion King") discuss how their training and first professional jobs, obtaining and preparing for their current role, what has been their biggest break in theatre, the difference between theatre audiences in London and New York, and anecdotes of flubbing lines.

What is the role of a producer? That was the question that started the discussion among four of Broadway's top producers - Roger Berlind, Margo Lion, Jeffrey Richards and Jeffrey Seller - as the conversation turned to whether they produce for profit or passion and how they balance between the two; what the shows they produce reveal about themselves; what the opportunities are for new producers; the increased role the internet and other new media plays in theatre today; the escalating cost of producing a show on Broadway today; and what they feel are the major issues facing theatre producers as they look to the future.