If We're Using A Surrogate, How Come I'm The One With Morning Sickness? by Marco Pennette

 
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Presents are wrapped, carols are playing - and the department store Santa is asking some awkward questions. In the comedy IF WE’RE USING A SURROGATE, HOW COME I’M THE ONE WITH MORNING SICKNESS?  by Marco Pennette (“Ugly Betty” and “Desperate Housewives”), a gay dad rants and reminisces about having a baby.  Performed by Oscar-winning screenwriter and actor Celeste Lecesne (co-founder of The Trevor Project), the episode includes a behind-the-scenes artist interview moderated by our host and the play’s director, Claudia Catania.

Download on iTunesPodbayPlayer FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [13 Minutes 37 Seconds]

Nick Bacon by Stephen Lang

 
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For Veterans Day, Memorial Day or any day, NICK BACON is a powerful tribute to military valor, written and performed by stage and screen star Stephen Lang (Colonel Quaritch in Avatar). In this excerpt from his full-length play Beyond Glory, Stephen portrays Nick Bacon, a Vietnam veteran and recipient of the Medal Of Honor. Listen as the soldier recounts, in his own words, the incident that earned him America’s highest military honor for valor beyond the call of duty. Based on Larry Smith’s book of the same title, the segment is followed by conversation between Mr. Lang and Playing on Air's host, Claudia Catania.

Download on iTunesPodbayPlayer FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [18 Minutes 00 Seconds]

HAPPY by Alan Zweibel

 
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In Happy by Alan Zweibel (“SNL,” Curb Your Enthusiasm,” 700 Sundays with Billy Crystal) a baseball fan (Scott Adsit of “30 Rock” and “Veep”) makes a pilgrimage to the home of a former baseball star who is now a janitor in Delray Beach, Florida (Frankie Faison of “The Wire”) and asks him to sign a very special ball. After a fair amount of humor and misunderstanding, the power of baseball to bond fathers, sons and men emerges. Directed by Fred Berner (Executive Producer/Director, "Law & Order"). Stay tuned after the performance for a conversation with the artists moderated by Host Claudia Catania.

Download on iTunesPodbayPlayer FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [33 Minutes 30 Seconds]

WAKING UP by Cori Thomas

 
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In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month, please listen to Waking Up, an insightful short by Cori Thomas. It juxtaposes the experiences of an American urbanite’s and an African villager’s struggle with breast cancer. Although the details from diagnosis to ultimate triumph are vastly different, their stories underscore the universality of the human spirit. It features Lynnette Freeman and Amy Staats. A conversation between the play’s director, host Claudia Catania, and playwright Cori Thomas follows the play.

Download on iTunesPodbayPlayer FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [18 Minutes 12 Seconds]

TASHA WALKS by Kim Merrill

 
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In the comic TASHA WALKS by Kim Merrill, a young man (Steven Boyer, Tony nominee for Hand to God) returns dejected from his bomb of a vacation with his fiancee who has called the wedding off, to find his neighbor (4 time Academy Award nominee Marsha Mason) has lost his fiancee’s cherished cat. Directed by Brian Mertes and recorded live at BRIC Arts Media House in Downtown Brooklyn. Stay tuned after the performance for a conversation with the artists moderated by Host Claudia Catania.

Download on iTunesPodbayPlayer FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [16 Minutes 32 Seconds]

GETTING IN by Frank Gilroy

 
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In GETTING IN, the autobiographical play by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner Frank Gilroy (The Subject Was Roses), a scrappy GI gleefully recalls how he went from truancy, almost flunking out of high school, and the trenches of WWII to Dartmouth College courtesy of the GI Bill that changed his life.  

GETTING IN is a short play with a long cast of eleven talented actors - David Beach, Kim Bendheim, Matthew Cowles, Caroline Gilroy, Michael Godere, Carter Hudson, Lillian Laserson, Thomas Lyons, David Margulies, Fiana Toibin and Jack Wetherall! The play’s director, Claudia Catania, joins playwright Frank Gilroy for a lively conversation after the play.

Download on iTunesPodbayPlayer FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [32 Minutes 56 Seconds]

AT THE WATER’S EDGE, WET by Jonathan Bernstein

 
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The curtain is up. The play is in progress. We hear two stage managers. Calling the show. A man and a woman. At The Water’s Edge, Wet is written and directed by Jonathan Bernstein, whose plays and musicals have been produced throughout the country. His cast today includes Callie Thorne (“Necessary Roughness,” “Rescue Me,” “The Wire,”) and Jeremy Shamos (Clybourne Park, Birdman, Noises Off). Stay tuned after the performance for a conversation with the artists moderated by our Producing Artistic Director, Claudia Catania.

Download on iTunesPodbayPlayer FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [19 Minutes 58 Seconds]

Mother's Day Special: REPORT ON MOTHERHOOD by Beth Henley

When a granddaughter interviews her great-grandma on motherhood, she gets more than she bargained for. Way more. In this short play from Beth Henley (Pulitzer Prize for Crimes of the Heart), the illustrious Lois Smith (Lady Bird, Marjorie Prime, “True Blood,” The Nice Guys)  plays great-grandmother to her real life granddaughter, Eliana Saxe-Smith. stay tuned after the performance for a conversation moderated by our Producing Artistic Director, Claudia Catania.

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A BETROTHAL by Lanford Wilson

 
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A BETROTHAL brings you into the cutthroat world of iris breeding, where delicacy meets domination. Lanford Wilson’s classic brings us two competitors, two irises–and one ingenious chance to win. Performed by Lisa Emery (Broadway – Casa Valentina) and Frank Wood (Tony for Side-Man); directed by Bruce McCarty. Stay tuned after the performance for a conversation moderated by our Producing Artistic Director, Claudia Catania. Recorded live at BRIC Arts Media House in Downtown Brooklyn. Original music by Tom Kochan. And thank you, Tanya Berezin!

Download on iTunesPodbayPlayer FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [36 Minutes 36 Seconds]