Listen to New Voices on Studs Terkel our partnership with 826CHI-here! Read the Story
Showing 1 - 15 of 24 results
Playwright Tennessee Williams discusses his play "The Night of the Iguana," which was currently playing at the Blackstone Theatre in Chicago. The conversation takes place in Mr. Williams' room at the Blackstone Hotel.
Tennessee Williams said he'll stop writing when he can no longer produce good work. He spoke of being puzzled as to why so little of his work gets produced in New York. Williams also talked about taking offense when the first sequences of the TV show "Dallas" aired. He explained that the owner of the great estate in "Dallas" was a copy of his Big Daddy character, who was a wealthy plantation owner.
Terkel comments and presents musical performance of Shakespeare tapestry
Terkel comments and presents musical performance of Shakespeare tapestry
Actor and director Sidney Poitier offers his reflections about his autobiographical memoir, "This Life". Poitier explains how he never had ambitions to be an actor and yet he stumbled into acting when looking through the clasisfied ads. There's a story about his agent trying to settle a negotiation on Poitier's behalf. Poitier's agent told the others involved that Poitier was offered a film in Hollywood. Believing it was a cheap ploy, the agent was told to tell Poitier to go onto Hollywood, and the rest is history for Sidney Poitier.
In the play, "The Value of Names," Shelley Berman plays Benny Silverman, a role which he says is him, an actor from the Hollywood black list. Berman said being in Chicago, acting the role and working with the cast has been THE best experience of his life and when the show closes, it will be the saddest day of his life. The director of the play, Sandy Shinner, said she knew of the Hollywood black list but didn't know about all the personal stories. There is an excerpt of Vic Navasky.
Robert Vaughn takes time out from his Drury Lane appearance in "Tender Trap" to discuss his new book "Only Victims" with Studs Terkel. The discussion spans the years 1938 when Martin Dies became the first House Committee on Unamerican Activities (HUAC) chairman to Vice President Spiro Agnew's condemnation of the "New York Times" and "Washington Post". Vaughn created the title of his book "Only Victims" from a Dalton Trumbo speech that reflected back on the era of HUAC as being one where there were no heroes, no villains, only victims.
Luis Valdez, author of the play, "Zoot Suit," and editor of "Aztlan: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature," discusses the Chicano experience; music by Mexican-American artists is played and discussed throughout the program.
Discussing the production of "I'd rather be right" by Kaufman and Hart with Frank Farrell and Sheldon Patinkin.
Discussing the one man show as Charles Dickens at North Light Repertory Theatre with the actor Emlyn Williams.
Discussing the play "A solo song for Doc" by James Allan MacPherson and interviewing cast members of City Lit, Joseph Moore, Chuck Smith and Ernest Perry.
Discussing Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" and the Beckett Project with director Alan Schneider.
Studs interview with Hildegard Knef, actress and writer. They discuss her life in Nazi Germany during the war and her experience as an actress when she came to America. Studs and Hildegard read together from her book, "The Gift Horse." Knef describes her family, Nazi Germany, survival, and her experience as a German in American post WWII. Her husband, David Anthony Palastanga, also reads an excerpt from her book.
Having been a Lincoln biographer for a quarter of a century, Herbert Mitgang felt the importance of writing the play "Mister Lincoln: A Drama in Two Acts". Lincoln's rich language can be heard through Mr. Mitgang''s dramatic interpretation of Lincoln's life.
Updated, modern day lyrics are what can be found in Eve Merriam's play, "Street Dreams: The Inner City Musical". Topics of the songs include corruption, unemployment, noise pollution, domestic abuse and everyday living.