ATW - Downstage Center

Just after returning from a year-long sabbatical, Manhattan Theatre Club artistic director Lynne Meadow talks about what she did and didn't do during her hiatus and explains how she shared planning for last season and the coming year with interim artistic director Daniel Sullivan. She also recalls her childhood as a stage struck youth in New Haven, including her performance in a new Maltby & Shire musical when she was only 12 years old; her struggle to be accepted into the directing program at the Yale School of Drama; her first experience at the Manhattan Theatre Club and how she came to be named its artistic director; the play she couldn't get the rights to until Joseph Papp agreed to co-produce with MTC; the impact of MTC's successive venues (East 73rd Street, City Center and Broadway's Friedman Theatre) on the company's repertoire; and the company's long history with playwright Terrence McNally and the controversy that surrounded the late 90s production of "Corpus Christi". Original air date - October 3, 2008.

Tony-winner B.D. Wong talks about his ongoing fascination with the 11-character, one-actor musical "Herringbone", from seeing the original production in 1981 through appearing in it for the third time, currently at New Jersey's McCarter Theater Center. He also recalls his earliest appearances on stage in high school musicals in San Francisco; his brief matriculation in college and how he forged a career without standard academic credentials; the personal and professional impact of landing the role of Song Liling in David Henry Hwang's "M. Butterfly" -- including how that famous story of identity led him to drop his own first name in favor of his initials and the problems it created when he sought subsequent roles; the travails of being brought in to play a role based on himself in Hwang's troubled "Face Value" -- and how he felt about being portrayed in the more recent "Yellowface"; the joy of being part of the ensemble of "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown"; and his youthful connection to "Pacific Overtures", and how it came full circle when he appeared in the Broadway revival. Original air date - September 26, 2008.

Prolific Broadway casting director (and recent reality TV judge) Bernard Telsey discusses his parallel careers as the head of Telsey + Company and the artistic director of Off-Broadway's MCC Theater. He shares some tidbits about his own training as an actor, his few acting gigs (including understudying Matthew Broderick) and how that training effects his casting work; the impetus behind MCC Theater and what his plans are for the company; what he thinks of casting theatre by reality TV in general and the "Legally Blonde" program in particular; and he talks about the varied challenges of casting, with particular focus on the actor-musicians of both the John Doyle-directed "Company" and the original cast and many companies of "Rent" over its 12 year run, as well as the distinctive characters of "Wicked". Original air date - September 19, 2008.

Oscar-winner Estelle Parsons talks about taking on the role of the pill-popping Violet Weston in Broadway's "August: Osage County", noting that she's played many drinkers in her career but this is her first drug addict, and also describes the incredible challenge of joining members of the original cast in the midst of the run. She also recounts her earliest days in theatre and her original dreams of musical stardom, why she has directed but doesn't like directing, how she came to play her signature role in "Miss Margarida's Way", her experience creating the title role in Tennessee Williams' "The Seven Descents of Myrtle", her work with the famed Actor's Studio, and the job -- not on stage -- that first got her noticed when she came to New York in the early 50s. Original air date - September 12, 2008.

Diane Paulus, director of the acclaimed 40th anniversary revival of the musical "Hair" in Central Park, talks about her long-standing love of the musical -- despite the fact that she'd never actually seen it -- and how she indoctrinated her youthful cast with the spirit of the 60s. Paulus also discusses her development as a theatre artist, from her collegiate days at Harvard to staging a show in a New York City community garden to her sojourn in Wisconsin to her return to New York for graduate school at Columbia; how she created "The Donkey Show" and why she often turns to Shakespeare for source material for her work; what she knew of Laura Nyro before directing "Eli's Coming"; and her plans for her new role as the artistic director of the American Repertory Theatre Cambridge. Original air date - September 5, 2008.

Michael Berresse, director of the musical "[title of show]", talks about the show's journey from speed-writing exercise to Broadway hit and whether the self-referential story ever included the character of a director named Michael. He also talks about his evolution from gymnast to dancer to singer to actor, sharing stories about his early days performing at Disney theme parks; the notes he received from the legendary Jerome Robbins while making his Broadway debut in "Fiddler on the Roof"; the challenge of Christopher Chadman's choreography in the 1992 revival of "Guys and Dolls"; what Ann Reinking said to him about his work in the original cast of the "Chicago" revival; how he came to create his own spectacular acrobatic dance sequence for "Kiss Me Kate"; why he loved his ne'er-do-well character in "The Light in the Piazza"; and whether the actors had freedom to reinterpret their characters for the recent revival of "A Chorus Line". Original air date - August 29, 2008.

Five time Tony-winner William Ivey Long talks about his extensive career as one of Broadway's top costume designers, from his earliest days on stage -- living in a dressing room at the Raleigh Little Theatre in North Carolina -- to his upcoming projects "9 To 5" and "Dreamgirls". Along the way, he describes how shocked he was by the first thing he saw on stage at the Yale School of Drama; how his career developed largely thanks to the support of his drama school friends; how he came up with Anita Morris' iconic body suit for "Nine" -- and how it resulted in his never working with Tommy Tune again; whether there's a difference between designing musicals and plays; how the paintings of Gauguin influenced his designs for "Guys And Dolls"; what its like to revisit the "Chicago" costumes for a variety of different actresses; and why he chooses to wear a largely unvaried "uniform" every single day. Original air date - August 22, 2008.

As "Wicked" approaches its fifth anniversary on Broadway, producer David Stone talks about the ever-expanding life of the international hit musical, including how the show first came into being, how the production quality is maintained across multiple companies, and whether the show has to be adjusted for local audiences when it plays in other countries. He also talks about how he came to produce his first Off-Broadway hit, "Family Secrets", and his first Broadway failure, "What's Wrong With This Picture?"; his relationship with not for profit theatres, including Barrington Stage Company and Second Stage, on "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and "Next To Normal"; his particular pride in producing "The Vagina Monologues"; which show he produced for his mother; and why he'd rather create controversy than respond to it. Original air date - August 15, 2008.

Veteran sound designer Tony Meola talks about the many issues involved in designing such musicals as "Wicked" and "The Lion King" on Broadway and around the world, dissecting such issues as changes in technology over the course of his 30 year career, whether the theatre has lost something with the rise of the amplified voice, microphone placement at the hairline vs. the jawline, and why its hard to have two performers singing a romantic song face to face, only inches apart, on stage. He also describes his own growth as a designer, from his earliest days on the electrics crew at The Public Theater on a new show called "A Chorus Line" to his "big break" thanks to Jerry Zaks on the 1987 revival of "Anything Goes" to the nuances of sound in his design of the recent revival of "The Ritz" to what factors he uses to decide whether to sign on to design a production. Original air date - August 8, 2008.

Tony-winning actor John Glover talks about the revival of Christopher Durang's "The Marriage of Bette and Boo" at the Roundabout, and how he grappled with the distinctly unpleasant aspects of his character, based upon Durang's own grandfather. He also talks about why he found the prospect of teaching more daunting than acting; how he's managed to maintain a steady diet of theatre work throughout his years of television and film work; the pivotal role that director Harold Prince played early in his career; his memories of the legendary Broadway production of "Frankenstein", which closed on its opening night; how he came to the role of the Jeckyll twins in Terrence McNally's "Love! Valour! Compassion!"; his rare musical appearances in "Hans Christian Anderson" in San Francisco and "The Drowsy Chaperone" on Broadway; and why some four decades after his stage debut he decided to start taking acting lessons. Original air date - August 1, 2008.

Tony Award winning actress Randy Graff talks about her role as Meg Boyd in the current Encores! revival of "Damn Yankees", including what she learned from reading the novel on which the show is based and what she thinks of the enhanced intimacy between her character and the youthful Joe Hardy. She also talks about one of her earliest Broadway experiences, in the little-remembered flop "Sarava!"; the rehearsal process for the U.S. production of "Les Miserables", in which she was the original Fantine, as well as why she doesn't like to hear herself on the "Les Miz" cast album; how her show-stopping song in "City of Angels" came together; her experiences working with comedy legends Neil Simon and Carol Burnett on "Laughter on the 23rd Floor" and "Moon Over Buffalo"; how she felt about the change of director and choreographer midway through "High Society"; what it was like to be directed by and play opposite her close friend Lonny Price in "A Class Act"; and her special feelings for "Fiddler on the Roof". Original air date - July 25, 2008.

25 years after coming to New York's Roundabout Theatre Company, artistic director Todd Haimes talks about the company's growth from a financially troubled Off-Broadway group into one of the country's largest not-for-profit theatres; his own transition from managing the business side to setting the artistic agenda; the relationship of the company to the world of commercial theatre, since both produce on Broadway; how he manages to attract top level artists to work at Roundabout for relatively minimal salaries; why he planned to leave the company 10 years ago -- and why he ended up staying put; and how the company expanded its repertoire from Ibsen, Shaw and Shakespeare into more modern works, musicals and even brand-new plays. Original air date - July 18, 2008.

"South Pacific"'s Tony Award-winning set designer Michael Yeargan discusses the visual approach taken for the first Broadway revival of this classic musical, including the negotiation behind the dramatic reveal of the show's orchestra, as well as the lessons he learned about working in the vast space of Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre on both "South Pacific" and "The Light In The Piazza". Yeargan also recalls his introduction to theatre and opera as a youth in Dallas; his studies -- and later his teachings -- at the Yale School of Drama; his early Broadway experiences with Terrence McNally's "Bad Habits" and "The Ritz"; and his sustained collaborations with directors Andrei Serban, Mark Lamos and Bartlett Sher. Original air date - July 11, 2008.

Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Michael Boyd gives an overview of the company's work, including its acclaimed "Complete Works" Festival and the recent two-year journey of the "Histories" cycle. He also talks about his own evolution as a theatre artist, with significant stints in Moscow and Glasgow; the experience of joining the RSC as Associate Director and later rising to the artistic directorship; the work he had to do addressing the variety of troubles that surrounded the RSC as the time of his appointment; why he speaks of 'knocking Shakespeare off his pedestal'; the status of the rebuilding of the main theatre in Stratford; and what his plans are for the company in the next few years. Original air date - July 4, 2008.

On the eve of his fourth Tony Award win, actor Boyd Gaines talks about his busy year, including "Journey's End", "Pygmalion" and both the Encores and Broadway runs of "Gypsy". He also describes his early training and extensive work in regional theatre, both before and after his years on the sitcom "One Day at a Time"; his breakthrough role in Wendy Wasserstein's "The Heidi Chronicles"; his first Broadway musical experiences in the first Broadway revivals of "She Loves Me" and "Company"; how the dance musical "Contact" was developed; and what it was like to step into Henry Fonda's shoes in "12 Angry Men". Original air date - June 27, 2008.