EPISODE · Mar 16, 2011 · 1H 4M
Austin Pendleton (#311) - March, 2011
from ATW - Downstage Center · host American Theatre Wing
Austin Pendleton, director of the recent production of "The Three Sisters" at Classic Stage Company in New York, talks about the many Chekhov productions he's appeared in and directed over the years, including five "Uncle Vanya"s and four "Three Sisters". He talks about falling in love with theatre via his mother's involvement in community theatre in his hometown of Warren, Ohio; writing original musicals while an undergraduate theatre student at Yale; being directed by Jerome Robbins in his first two major shows after college, "Oh, Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad" and "Fiddler on the Roof"; how he began his directing career with "Tartuffe" at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and his long association with that company; and why unlike many directors who begin as actors he has never given up performing. He also considers the evolution of his writing career, starting with the elongated development of "Booth", which began as a college musical and ultimately made it to New York 34 years later as a play; why he wrote "Uncle Bob", his most produced play, for actor George Morfogen out of guilt; his hesitancy about showing "Orson's Shadow" to anyone and how Steppenwolf Theatre, where he is a company member, lured it away from him; and why he agreed to write the book for the musical "A Minister's Wife" for Chicago's Writer's Theatre. Original air date - March 16, 2011.
What this episode covers
Austin Pendleton, director of the recent production of "The Three Sisters" at Classic Stage Company in New York, talks about the many Chekhov productions he's appeared in and directed over the years, including five "Uncle Vanya"s and four "Three Sisters". He talks about falling in love with theatre via his mother's involvement in community theatre in his hometown of Warren, Ohio; writing original musicals while an undergraduate theatre student at Yale; being directed by Jerome Robbins in his first two major shows after college, "Oh, Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad" and "Fiddler on the Roof"; how he began his directing career with "Tartuffe" at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and his long association with that company; and why unlike many directors who begin as actors he has never given up performing. He also considers the evolution of his writing career, starting with the elongated development of "Booth", which began as a college musical and ultimately made it to New York 34 years later as a play; why he wrote "Uncle Bob", his most produced play, for actor George Morfogen out of guilt; his hesitancy about showing "Orson's Shadow" to anyone and how Steppenwolf Theatre, where he is a company member, lured it away from him; and why he agreed to write the book for the musical "A Minister's Wife" for Chicago's Writer's Theatre. Original air date - March 16, 2011.
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Austin Pendleton (#311) - March, 2011
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