MARY MARY QUITE CONTRARY by Rehana Lew Mirza
It’s 1907 and a typhoid fever outbreak among New York City’s elite families has led zealous sanitation engineer George Soper (Matt Park) to the home of the haughty Mr. Winthrop (Michael Chernus) and a face-off with Winthrop’s proud, though not very hygienic cook, “Typhoid” Mary Mallon (Catherine Curtin).
Playwright Rehana Lew Mirza’s history-inspired comedy, a 2021 Wordsmith Duo Commission supported by the Axe-Houghton Foundation, is directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel and features music by composer Tom Kochan. Stay tuned after the play for a conversation with Executive Director Yvie Jones and all the featured artists. (Running Time: 33 minutes, 30 seconds)
I DON'T KNOW by James McLindon
An old school drill sergeant under fire from his very modern and diverse new recruits desperately longs for simpler times. Directed by John Giampietro, James McLindon’s short satire I DON’T KNOW features stage and screen favorite Jay O. Sanders as the Drill Sergeant and an ensemble cast of Broadway, off-Broadway, and TV regulars as his new recruits: Bobby Moreno, Sue Jean Kim, Jeff Biehl, and Brittany K. Allen. After the play, Producing Artistic Director Claudia Catania moderates a conversation with the creative team. [Running Time: 24 minutes and 2 seconds]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. ABERNATHY by Lloyd Suh
In Lloyd Suh’s HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. ABERNATHY, a shared story, formerly repressed, begins to bridge the racial and generational distance between a white American centenarian of the Greatest Generation (Len Cariou) and his Asian American great-grandson (Ken Leung). Stay tuned after the play as Founder and Consulting Director Claudia Catania moderates a poignant conversation with the artists.
Sound Design: Sue Steyer of Phantom Audio
Download the episode on Apple Podcasts, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting platform—or just stream it below! [Running Time: 22 minutes, 24 seconds ]
THE ARMY DANCE by Cary Gitter
It's the summer of 1955, and a new U.S. Army private stationed far away from his hometown in New Jersey may have met his match, a very modern Southern belle, at a USO-style dance.
Emily Bergl directs a pitch perfect cast—Eli Gelb, Erin Wilhelmi, and Vance Barton—in Cary Gitter’s THE ARMY DANCE, which also boasts a nifty-fifties-style score by composer Tom Kochan. After the play, Founder and Consulting Director Claudia Catania and Executive Director Yvie Jones moderate a lively and poignant conversation with the playwright, director, and actors.
Editing: Joanna Lynne Staub
Sound Design: John Kilgore Sound & Recording
Download the episode on Apple Podcasts, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting platform—or just stream it below! [Running Time: 30 minutes and 39 seconds]
ECHO AND NARCISSUS by Amanda Quaid
In ECHO AND NARCISSUS, playwright Amanda Quaid’s newfangled take on an infamous myth from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a young woman falls in love with a narcissist after a vengeful wife condemns her to a unique fate.
The sprightly production is directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt, stars Sarah Manton, Christian Conn, and Mia Katigbak, and features a kinetic score by composer Tom Kochan. After the play, host Claudia Catania and executive director Yvie Jones dive into conversation with the playwright, director, and actors.
Editing: Joanna Lynne Staub
Sound Design: John Kilgore Sound & Recording
Download the episode on Apple Podcasts, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting platform—or just stream it below! [Running Time: 25 minutes and 07 seconds]
JFK Taxi by Aurin Squire
A jet-lagged Gen Z couple (Toney Goins and Kerry Warren) decides to take an old school taxicab home to Brooklyn instead of an Uber, and their kooky cabbie (Louis Mustillo) introduces them to a very different (under)side of New York City.
Playwright Aurin Squire’s otherworldly urban comedy is a James Stevenson Commission for Short Comedic Plays supported by Josie Merck and boasts an energetic score by composer Tom Kochan. Stay tuned after the play for a spirited conversation, starting at 25:11, with host Claudia Catania, Playing on Air’s founder and consulting director, executive director Yvie Jones, director Marchánt Davis, and our talented trio of actors.
Editing: Joanna Lynne Staub
Sound Design: John Kilgore Sound & Recording
Download the episode on Apple Podcasts, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting platform—or just stream it below! [Running Time: 41 minutes and 29 seconds]
EVENING AT ANAHEIM by James Stevenson (Special Release)
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). Stay tuned after the play for a high spirited conversation with the cast, director, and Playing on Air founder and consulting director Claudia Catania.
EVENING AT ANAHEIM was co-presented with Playwrights Horizons and recorded live in New York City.
This episode was given a special release in honor of James Stevenson.
Download the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting platform—or just stream below! [35 Minutes 58 Seconds]
Tennessee by John Patrick Shanley (Summer 2022 Re-Release)
In Tennessee by John Patrick Shanley (Doubt, Outside Mullingar), a small-town, wannabe musician seeks an escape plan from the town's resident psychic. The audio play stars Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (our audio production of Misadventure, Dune, Beautiful Boy, Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, and Shanley's Prodigal Son on Broadway) and Caitlin FitzGerald (“Succession,” “Masters of Sex," It's Complicated).
Stay tuned after the play for a behind-the-scenes conversation with playwright/director John Patrick Shanley, Caitlin FitzGerald, Timothée Chalamet, and founder and consulting director Claudia Catania. Tennessee was recorded and co-presented in front of a live audience at The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at New York Public Radio.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or just stream below! [24 Minutes 18 Seconds]
BANSHEE by John Patrick Shanley (Summer 2022 Re-Release)
Tony, Oscar and Pulitzer Prize winner John Patrick Shanley (Doubt, Moonstruck, Outside Mullingar) wrote and directed this short play about a banshee, a fantastical Irish spirit, who pays an ailing teacher a visit and makes him an otherworldly proposal. The mystical comedy features Geraldine Hughes (THE MANDELA EFFECT, TWO CROWS APART, Jerusalem, Gran Torino) and Aidan Quinn (“Elementary,” Michael Collins, Desperately Seeking Susan). Stay tuned after the performance for a conversation between the playwright, actors, and founder and consulting director Claudia Catania that includes a few delightfully surprising responses.
Download on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [ 25 Minutes 46 Seconds]
BITE THE HAND by Ara Watson (Summer 2022 Re-Release)
In this week's summer re-release, we're doing a bit of time travel. It’s a balmy night in the post-WWII Ozarks, and a young woman is leaving behind her life as a "lady of the evening" for an offer of marriage. Then a client shows up with some jaw-dropping news.
Oscar-winner Chris Cooper (A Doll’s House, Part 2, Adaptation, American Beauty), Emmy-winner Margo Martindale (“The Good Wife”, "The Americans," "Justified") and Broadway’s Liv Rooth (SURE THING, To Kill a Mockingbird, Venus in Fur) star in BITE THE HAND, Ara Watson’s (A Different Moon) potent classic, directed by Tony Award-winner Doug Hughes (SOMETHING I'LL TELL YOU TUESDAY, Doubt). Stay tuned after the performance for an animated conversation with Watson and the cast moderated by Playing On Air founder and consulting director Claudia Catania.
Listen on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [31 Minutes 40 Seconds]