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Playlist: 1

Compiled By: Monique Hicks

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The School for Scandal

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:56

The timeless comedy from Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

School-for-scandal-the_artwork_small The average American is exposed to a hundred thousand words of information each day, according to a recent study by the University of California-San Diego. But of the nearly twelve hours of media, music, and conversation we take in, how much of it do we accept as fact? The slippery nature of truth is at the heart of our story this week – a classic tale of rumor, gossip, and hypocrisy which remains both hilarious and timely in the present day.

The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Starring Julian Sands and Susan Sullivan.
Directed by Michael Hackett.

Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:58

Wilde's facility with words contributes to his undoing.

Gross-indecency__small__small Oscar Wilde was arguably the father of the sound bite: the master of the bon mot, who is still widely quoted more than a century after his death. When he was put on trial and charged with “gross indecency” in the spring of 1895, Wilde brought his wit to the stand, with disastrous results. Our story this week is about the consequences of language, and of speaking an open truth in a closed society, in Moisès Kaufman’s Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. Starring Julian Sands, Peter Paige, Ian Ogilvy, and Simon Templeman as Oscar Wilde.

Blue/Orange

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:57

Joe Penhall's powerful work about schizophrenia.

Blue_orange_artwork_small A young man is about to be discharged from psychiatric supervision in a London hospital. But his clinicians disagree about the seriousness of his condition, and his release becomes complicated by issues of race, class, and the definition of sanity itself. Blue/Orange by Joe Penhall stars Matt Lescher, Daniel Davis, and Teagle F. Bougere.

The broadcast includes an interview with UCLA professor and schizophrenia expert Dr. Carrie Bearden.

The Doctor's Dilemma

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:58

Shaw's well-aimed satire about medical ethics.

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The blowhards, the know-it-alls, the scrupulous and the impecunious are all targets for Shaw’s incisive wit in his classic satire of the medical profession. A well-respected physician is forced to choose whom he shall save: a bumbling friend or the ne’er-do-well husband of the woman he loves.
The Doctor's Dilemma by George Bernard Shaw. Starring Jane Carr, Gregory Cooke, Kenneth Danziger, Roy Dotrice, Martin Jarvis, Jennifer Dundas, Simon Templeman, Douglas Weston and Paxton Whitehead. Directed by Rosalind Ayres.
This play is part of L.A. Theatre Works’ Relativity Series featuring science-themed plays. Major funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, to enhance public understanding of science and technology in the modern world.

Hay Fever/ Two Coward Shorts

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:58

A weekend with the Bliss family turns out to be anything but.

Hay-fever-digital-cover-3000x3000-r1v1_small Every so often, we all find ourselves holding the short end of the stick when it comes to family communication. Noël Coward's Hay Fever introduces us to one family whose highly dysfunctional interplay transforms a relaxing weekend into a maddening game of one-upmanship. Hay Fever stars Tate Donovan, Jeffrey Jones, Eric Stoltz, and Carolyn Seymour.

Then, Stephen Fry introduces a special performance of two rarely-heard short plays from the Noël Coward archives, Design for Rehearsing and Age Cannot Wither, starring Michael Gladis, JoBeth Williams, Susan Sullivan, and Juliet Mills.

8

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:58:00

Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Martin Sheen, and Kevin Bacon lead an all-star cast in a timely portrait of an American civil-rights struggle.

Playing
8
From
L.A. Theatre Works

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In November of 2008, California voters enacted Proposition 8, a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment which proposed that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." The validity of Prop 8 was subsequently upheld by the California Supreme Court, but a new organization called the American Foundation for Equal Rights challenged the ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
 
On January 11, 2010, the trial of Perry v. Schwarzenegger opened under Judge Vaughn R. Walker, with high-profile trial lawyers – and former rivals – David Boies and Ted Olson joining forces in an unprecedented show of support for marriage equality. Dustin Lance Black's play 8 faithfully recreates the progression of the trial through original court transcripts and interviews conducted with the plaintiffs, as their story is brought to life before a live audience.
 
8 by Dustin Lance Black was produced for the stage by the American Foundation for Equal Rights and Broadway Impact. Directed by Rob Reiner. The all-star cast also includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Christine Lahti, John C. Reilly, Jane Lynch, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and more.
 
The broadcast includes three special features: a backstage conversation with George Clooney, Martin Sheen, John C. Reilly, and other stars of the production; an interview with Dave Garcia of the Los Angeles LGBT Center; and a conversation with attorneys David Boies and Ted Olson.  

Hold These Truths

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:59

“We hold these truths to be self-evident...and when they are made known to us, how fully will we see them?"

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During WWII in Seattle, University of Washington student Gordon Hirabayashi fights the US government’s orders to forcibly remove and incarcerate all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast. As he struggles to reconcile his country’s betrayal with his passionate belief in the US Constitution, Gordon begins a 50-year journey toward a greater understanding of America’s triumphs - and a confrontation with its failures.

Includes an interview with playwright Jeanne Sakata.

Hold These Truths
is sponsored in part by the California Civil Liberties Program from the California State Library.

Directed by Jessica Kubzansky
Producing Director Susan Albert Loewenberg
Starring Ryun Yu as Gordon Hirabayashi
With additional voices by Matthew Floyd Miller, Suzy Nakamura, Matt Walker, and Greg Watanabe

Associate Artistic Director, Anna Lyse Erikson. Sound Designer and Mixing Engineer, Mark Holden for The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood. Senior Radio Producer, Ronn Lipkin. Foley Artist, Jeff Gardner. Recording Engineer and Editor, Erick Cifuentes. 

Proof

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:58:00

Are creative thinking and mental illness opposite sides of the same coin?

Proof_small This explosive combination has shown itself in such leading creative lights as composer Robert Schumann, mathematician John Nash, and artist Vincent van Gogh. In these examples, and countless more, inspiration and mental illness appear side-by-side, often with a tragic outcome. Their families, of course, suffer too: children of a “mad genius” inevitably wonder, “How much mad and how much genius have I inherited?” That question is central to our story this week, Proof by David Auburn.

Originally produced on Broadway in 2000, Proof is among a select group of works that have won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. 

Proof is part of L.A. Theatre Works' Relativity Series of science-themed plays. Lead funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, bridging science and the arts in the modern world.

Starring Anne Heche, Jeremy Sisto, Robert Foxworth, and Kaitlin Hopkins. Hour One includes an interview with Dr. Carrie Bearden of UCLA's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Services. Hour Two includes a discussion with Steven Strogatz, Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University. 

Cakewalk

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:58

A vivid portrait of a brilliant, troubled author.

Cakewalk_small Broadway legend Elaine Stritch stars as literary legend Lillian Hellman in this beguiling account of Hellman’s tumultuous relationship across several decades with a man 25 years her junior, played by Oscar-nominee Bruce Davison. Featuring music by Carly Simon.
With Samantha Bennett, Claudette Nevins, and Raphael Sbarge. Includes a conversation with Hellman biographer Deborah Martinson and a piece about Hellman with author Rosemary Mahoney. 

The Autumn Garden

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:59

A quiet masterwork from Lillian Hellman.

Autumn_garden_cover_small Friends and family gather at a summer boarding house, and old resentments are quick to resurface. And when the landlady’s old flame comes to visit, his presence serves to bring the tension in the house to a boil. Mary Steenburgen, David Selby, Julie Harris, and Eric Stoltz star in The Autumn Garden by Lillian Hellman. Directed by JoBeth Williams.




Tartuffe

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:58

A story that began its life under a cloud of controversy.

Tartuffe_small The Roman Catholic Church of France banned public performances of Tartuffe upon its debut in 1664, denouncing its attacks on religious hypocrisy as immoral and heretical. It took five years for the outrage to fade, and when Molière finally staged full performances of his work, it became an immediate success, and to this day is considered one of the masterworks of Western comedy. The version you'll hear is in the definitive translation by Richard Wilbur.

Tartuffe by Molière stars Tony Award-winner Brian Bedford in the title role, with John de Lancie, Martin Jarivs, Alex Kingston, and more. The broadcast includes a conversation with Bedford about Molière.

The Bungler

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:58:00

A clever valet helps his clueless, bumbling master get the girl of his dreams.

Bungler-the_small With unique insight and humor, the French playwright Molière chronicled such human failings as hypochondria, jealousy, and vanity. We perhaps know him best for such works as Tartuffe and The Misanthrope, for their hilarious and controversial views on hypocrisy and other human failings; but our story is one of his lesser-known works, one that author Victor Hugo described as Molière’s best comedy: The Bungler, tranlsated by Richard Wilbur. Starring Richard Easton as Mascarille.

Lead funding for this production was provided by the Sidney E. Frank Foundation.

Incident at Vichy/Arthur Miller: A Life

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:58

A dark World War Two tale, plus an original docudrama about its author

Incident-at-vichy__medium__small L.A. Theatre Works continues its celebration of Arthur Miller's centennial with a monthly presentation of his plays. In Incident at Vichy, nine men are detained under a shadowy pretext in occupied France. Are these the people the Nazi regime considers "inferior?" Starring Jon Matthews, Arye Gross, and Gregory Itzin. Then, Ed Harris narrates an excerpt from LATW's original docudrama Arthur Miller: A Life, starring Ben Feldman, Geoffrey Arend, and Kate Burton. A co-production with BBC Cymru Wales. 

Pride and Prejudice

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:58

Can you really trust your first impression of someone…especially if it’s a bad first impression?

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The history of famously mismatched stage couples runs the gamut from Romeo and Juliet to Kermit and Miss Piggy. Our story this week begins with a similarly unlikely pairing: an outgoing, judgmental young woman and an anti-social, upper-class gentleman. But the courtship of Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy proved to be one of the most successful in literature. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice set the standard for romantic comedies when it debuted in 1813, and it still speaks to audiences worldwide through countless adaptations. Starring Julia McIlvane as Elizabeth Bennet, Nick Toren as Mr. Darcy, and Jane Carr as Mrs. Bennet and Lady Catherine.

 

The Caine Mutiny Court Martial

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:58

A classic drama from the Second World War.

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From the earliest human civilizations, we’ve continually debated the meanings of justice, order, and authority. And rarely are these ideas more crucial – or problematic – than in the military, where a strict code of behavior is often brought to bear on chaotic and ambiguous situations. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial offers a captivating account of the slippery nature of truth in times of war – and the ways in which justice itself can be anything but clear-cut.

Starring David Selby as Captain Queeg and Grant Shaud as Lt. Greenwald. With Ian Lithgow, Frank Muller, James Avery, Scott Lowell, Chuma Hunter-Gault, and Mchael Rivkin. Directed by Gordon Hunt.

Daniel Deronda

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:59

A new audio adaptation of George Eliot's Victorian classic.

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Scornful of men and the love they profess for her, Gwendolen Harleth is a beautiful but spoiled young woman, frustrated by her limited options in Victorian England. Daniel Deronda is an intelligent, handsome young man who has been raised by his guardian, Sir Hugo Mallinger, but knows nothing of his true origins. Deronda’s search leads him into the world of 19th-century Zionism, a discovery that will alter the course of his life. An original L.A. Theatre Works commission, adapted and directed by Kate McAll.

Includes an interview with Hilary Schor, Professor of English, Comparative Literature and Law at USC.

An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast recording, starring:
Edita Brychta as Mother, Madame von Langen and others
Barry Creyton as Sir Hugo Mallinger and Lord Brackenshaw
Ifan Meredith as Daniel Deronda
Cerris Morgan-Moyer as Aunt Nancy and others
Kimberley Nixon as Gwendolen Harleth
Darren Richardson as Mordecai, Hans, and others
Helen Sadler as Mirah Lapidoth
Julian Sands as Henleigh Mallinger Grandcourt
André Sogliuzzo as Uncle Henry and others
With Kate Burton as George Eliot/Narrator

Recorded berfore an audience at UCLA’s James Bridges Theater in March 2018.

GREAT Theatre and KVSC Radio Present Nigh of the Living Dead!

From KVSC | Part of the Granite City Radio Theater series | 01:13:54

Before Southerners hid in prisons and had to deal with barbed wire baseball bats and governors . . .

Before the overrun shopping malls . . .

Before Brad Pitt made a movie that had little to do with the book . . .

There was where it all started . . . Night of the Living Dead!

When you’re hiding out in the cellar trying not to get eaten, join GREAT Theatre for their gruesome adaptation of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead!

Broadcast LIVE from the Helgeson Learning Lab Theater on Saturday, October 27, 2018, this is the second year of KVSC Radio and GREAT Theatre’s partnership to bring classic radio drama to your Halloween season!

Enjoy!

. . . while you can.

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Before Southerners hid in prisons and had to deal with barbed wire baseball bats and governors . . . 
Before the overrun shopping malls . . .
Before Brad Pitt made a movie that had little to do with the book . . .
There was where it all started . . . Night of the Living Dead!
When you’re hiding out in the cellar trying not to get eaten, join GREAT Theatre for their gruesome adaptation of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead! 
Broadcast LIVE from the Helgeson Learning Lab Theater on Saturday, October 27, 2018, this is the second year of KVSC Radio and GREAT Theatre’s partnership to bring classic radio drama to your Halloween season!
Enjoy!
. . . while you can. 

The Real Dr. Strangelove

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:57:58

The birth of Armageddon

Strangelove_art_small The first H-bomb detonates and the proud father is Edward Teller, who finds himself on a collision course with fellow scientist Robert Oppenheimer. The Real Dr. Strangelove by Peter Goodchild stars Simon Templeman and John De Lancie. The broadcast includes a conversation with Richard Rhodes, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Making of the Atomic Bomb."

This play is part of L.A. Theatre Works' Relativity Series of science-themed plays. Major funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, to enhance public understanding of science and technology in the modern world.


Fake by Eric Simonson

From L.A. Theatre Works | Part of the L.A. Theatre Works series | 01:58:00

A detective story about the infamous Piltdown Man hoax.

Fake_cover_small Oscar-winning and Tony-nominated writer and director Eric Simonson explores the most famous archeological hoax in history. Alternating between 1914 and 1953, journalists and scientists set out to uncover who planted the Piltdown Man skull. Everyone's a suspect, including legendary author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Fake stars Kate Arrington, Coburn Gross, Francis Guinan, Alan Wilder, and Larry Yando. The show includes a discussion about Piltdown Man with Russell H. Tuttle, Professor of Anthropology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago. 
This play is part of L.A. Theatre Works’ Relativity Series featuring science-themed plays. Major funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, to enhance public understanding of science and technology in the modern world. 

Slaves Waiting for Sale (Hour Long Version)

From With Good Reason | Part of the With Good Reason: Weekly Hour Long Episodes series | 53:57

The painting that changed minds in Britain at the outbreak of the American Civil War. And more...

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In 1853, Eyre Crowe, a British artist, visited a slave auction in Richmond, Virginia. His painting of the scene was later exhibited at the Royal Gallery in London in 1861. In her new book Slaves Waiting for Sale: Abolitionist Art and the American Slave Trade, Maurie McInnis describes the impact this pivotal painting had on the British Public at the outbreak of the American Civil War. Greg Kimball  talks about a new exhibition of art dealing with the American slave trade. Also: Historian Jonathan White says many Union soldiers were not for re-election of Abraham Lincoln in 1864, and were in fact pressured to vote for him.

Later in the show: 1619 was the year the first Africans arrived on the North American continent. There were at least 20 of them and they came as slaves from Angola. But what’s often overlooked is the culture they brought with them. Many were Christians with European names like Jean Pedro and Angela, and some came from cities. Also featured: When we think of colonial American essayists, New Englanders like Cotton Mather and Ben Franklin come to mind. But recently discovered essays by an anonymous writer who called himself “The Humourist” are now being hailed as some of the best in America’s colonial period. 

Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill

From Phyllis Fletcher | 28:57

A man has 14 children with 13 different women, dies young, and leaves them to learn about him through each other, and through the letters he wrote from prison.

Momdadmecolor_small "It hurts me to have left so many kids out there in this world. But believe me, at the rate that I was going, if somebody were to have to go, it was always best for the kid and the mother that I was the one to go." My father wrote me these words, and many more, from prison. Before we were reunited, he died, leaving behind 14 children with 13 different mothers. In Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill, I seek out my siblings and their mothers, and draw from their voices a portrait of the father we never knew. My dad speaks for himself in excerpts from his letters, read throughout the piece by his first-born son. Featured on Transom.org. For more information and conversation, visit "Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill" on Transom.