THE MANDELA EFFECT
by Max Baker
Are the Berenstain Bears, Nelson Mandela's death, and Darth Vader's most famous line evidence of a parallel universe?
During lunch with a friend, an actress works herself into a cosmic tizzy about the unsettling MANDELA EFFECT, the collective misremembering of names, news stories, and cultural artifacts. Written and directed by Max Baker (Revolutionary Road, Broadway's 1984, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest), THE MANDELA EFFECT features Geraldine Hughes (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Jerusalem, Rocky Balboa), Kelly Hutchinson (Catch Me If You Can, Broadway’s Macbeth) and Bill Buell (Cyrano, Equus, “Boardwalk Empire”). In the post-show discussion, Baker and his cast delve into the bizarre, fascinating phenomenon that inspired the play.
Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [29 Minutes 11 Seconds]
WOKE
by Leland Frankel
In Leland Frankel's modern comedy WOKE, an aspiring Pakistani-American rapper named Sunny crashes into Rebecca, a misguided activist, and the cop pursuing her across Queens. As Rebecca and Sunny are forced to reckon with race, privilege, and art, WOKE questions whose job it is to change the world - and who gets to.
Recorded live at Playwrights Horizons and directed by Mimi O'Donnell (Labyrinth Theater, Gimlet Media), WOKE features Craig muMs Grant ("She's Gotta Have It," HBO’s “Oz”), Tracee Chimo (Bad Jews, “Orange is the New Black,” "People of Earth"), and Debargo Sanyal (Venus, Pearl Theatre's Vanity Fair). After the play, stay tuned for an exclusive behind-the-scenes conversation with the artists and host Claudia Catania.
Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [26 Minutes 26 Seconds]
LAST NIGHT IN THE GARDEN I SAW YOU
by John Patrick Shanley
"If I gave you my heart, that would be the knife."
With one hop of the fence, a star-crossed lover (Emmy nominee Rupert Friend) storms back into the life of the married woman (Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner Michelle Williams) he deserted. Hovering on the brink, will they bite into the forbidden fruit - or dare each other to walk away for good?
Starring Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea, My Week with Marilyn, The Greatest Showman, Blue Valentine) and Rupert Friend (Pride and Prejudice, "Homeland," The Young Victoria), LAST NIGHT IN THE GARDEN I SAW YOU is written and directed by Pulitzer Prize & Tony winner John Patrick Shanley (Doubt, Prodigal Son, Moonstruck). After the play, host Claudia Catania joins the artists to discuss rapid-fire theater, risk, and the battlefield of love.
Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [29 Minutes 13 Seconds]
CORA AND DAVE ARE GETTING OLDER
by Julia Cho
Cora and Dave love Abby and Tim. Really. They're the kind of fabulous, beautiful people you love to be seen at dinner with. The friends you wake up at night panic-envying. The couple you secretly hope may have a terrible, terrible secret.
Mercilessly relatable, CORA AND DAVE ARE GETTING OLDER by Julia Cho (Office Hour at the Public, Aubergine at Playwrights Horizons) pulls back the curtain on a couple in a moment of midnight vulnerability, battling the jealousy, comparison, and artifice that plague modern love.
Directed by Obie winner Marcia Jean Kurtz, the cast features Dawn McGee ("The Tick," "High Maintenance") and Jack Sochet (Soho Rep, The Public). Stay tuned after the play for a behind-the-scenes artist interview with host Claudia Catania.
Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [21 Minutes 4 Seconds]
CRAZY EIGHTS
by David Lindsay-Abaire
Two recovering addicts (Rosie Perez, John Leguizamo) have their Saturday night card game interrupted by a love-struck parole officer (Bobby Cannavale) with major boundary issues.
Written and directed by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Good People), the madcap comedy CRAZY EIGHTS features Emmy winner Bobby Cannavale (Blue Jasmine, “Boardwalk Empire,” PoA's Gun Show), Tony winner John Leguizamo (Latin History for Morons, Ghetto Klown, Moulin Rouge), Oscar nominee Rosie Perez (Do The Right Thing, Fearless, "The View"), and Kevin Hogan ("Mr. Robot"). Stay tuned after the performance for an interview with David Lindsay-Abaire and the cast, moderated by Artistic Director Claudia Catania.
CRAZY EIGHTS was recorded live at BRIC House in Brooklyn, New York.
Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [32 Minutes 10 Seconds]
HOW MY GRANDPARENTS FELL IN LOVE
by Cary Gitter
In Cary Gitter’s romantic comedy HOW MY GRANDPARENTS FELL IN LOVE, it's 1933, and a young Jewish immigrant returns to his Polish hometown in search of a wife. He sets his sights on Chava, a savvy, sarcastic shopgirl in a local hat store.
The New York Times calls the play "a gorgeous high note...a Jewish screwball romance set in Poland in 1933. Unlikely, yes, but also uproarious and beautifully cast, with tone-perfect direction by Colette Robert."
The sparkling cast features Eli Gelb (Indignation, The Squid and the Whale) and Lucy DeVito (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Girls,” Hulu’s “DeadBeat”). After the play, host Claudia Catania moderates a conversation with the artists.
Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [18 Minutes 18 Seconds]
EVENING AT ANAHEIM
by James Stevenson
From brilliant New Yorker cartoonist, illustrator, and children's book author James Stevenson comes this darkly hilarious reimagining of iconic animated characters - now over the hill and waiting out their golden years at a seedy retirement community in Los Angeles.
Directed by Tony nominee Dana Ivey (The Last Night of Ballyhoo), EVENING AT ANAHEIM features Richard Kind (The Producers, "Spin City"), Karen Ziemba (Tony winner for Contact), Emily Bergl ("Gilmore Girls," Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Brandon Uranowitz (Falsettos), Carson Elrod (Peter and the Starcatcher), Peter Maloney (Requiem for a Dream), and Tom Alan Robbins (The Lion King).
EVENING AT ANAHEIM was co-presented with Playwrights Horizons and recorded live in New York City.
Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [35 Minutes 58 Seconds]
A DEPARTURE
by Andy Reynolds
When a conservative father and his young gay son (stage legend Len Cariou and ”Ugly Betty’s” Michael Urie) reconnect in the most unlikely of places - an airport terminal - they find that love can transcend a family's baggage. This witty, heartfelt short by Andy Reynolds is directed by Broadway’s Michael Wilson. After the play, host Claudia Catania joins the playwright, director, and cast for a behind the scenes interview.
Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [28 Minutes 11 Seconds]
CELL
A family goes to battle over home and homeland security.
by Cassandra Medley
Starring Tony winner Tonya Pinkins (Jelly's Last Jam, Caroline or Change), Tony nominee Condola Rashad (Saint Joan, Ruined, “Billions”), and Melanie Nicholls-King ("The Wire," "Rookie Blue"), CELL tells the riveting story of three African American women working at an immigrant detention center. When a jaded guard arranges jobs for her sister and her niece Gwen, the family erupts into a battle over home and homeland security. As Gwen races to save a detained child, CELL paints a searing picture of the secrets we keep in order to survive.
This powerful piece by Cassandra Medley, directed by Victor Lirio, “deftly explores the dirty antidemocratic secret of institutionalized racism” (New York Times). After the play, Medley joins Pulitzer Prize-winning immigration journalist Julia Preston, Broadway producer Cheryl Wiesenfeld, and host Claudia Catania to move beyond headlines and explore the real lives that inspired CELL.
Cell was supported in part by Cheryl Wiesenfeld Productions.
Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [52 Minutes 53 Seconds]
WILDWOOD PARK
by Doug Wright
While touring a prospective buyer through a mansion for sale, a wary real-estate agent is ensnared by the house’s haunting past.
Denis O’Hare (“American Horror Story”, Tony winner for Take Me Out), and Kristine Nielsen (Tony nominee for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) star in thriller Wildwood Park by Doug Wright (Pulitzer Prize & Tony winner for I Am My Own Wife). Directed by PoA regular, veteran director Michael Wilson.
Watch your step. Look at those hardwood floors. Don’t lose your mind.
Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [48 Minutes 42 Seconds]