ARTSEDGE: The Kitchen Sink

"A playwright...first and foremost has to compel people."

In this Power of Theater podcast, part of the Kennedy Center Education Department's American College Theater Festival's summer intensive for playwrights, playwright Lee Blessing discusses the difference between writing for the theater and writing for television and film. For more information on the American College Theater Festival, visit http://www.kennedy-center.org/education/actf/.

ArtsEdge, the Kennedy Center's arts education network, supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts, offering free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment. Visit ArtsEdge at artsedge.kennedy-center.org.

"When you sit in a theater, you're sitting closer to a complete stranger that you ever would in your own living room. You haven't just seen a show, you've been part of something."

Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is the story of George and Martha, two of the most famous roles ever written for the stage. Over the course of one wickedly hilarious evening, the cocktails come out and the gloves come off as this riveting duo takes their two young guests on the ride of their lives. Direct from Broadway and London's West End, the production at the Kennedy Center featured its acclaimed original stars-- Kathleen Turner (2006 London Evening Standard Theatre Award, Best Actress) and the dazzling Bill Irwin (2005 Tony Award, Best Actor).

In this Power of Theater podcast, part of the Kennedy Center Education Department's Performance Plus program, actress Kathleen Turner (Serial Mom) discusses the importance of theater as a means of creating a shared experience among strangers and her need to touch the lives of her audience. For more information on Performance Plus, visit kennedy-center.org/plus.

ArtsEdge, the Kennedy Center's arts education network, supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts, offering free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment. Visit ArtsEdge at artsedge.kennedy-center.org.

The blues sound was captured by Alan Lomax, who was among the first to record folk songs in the 1930s. Because of Lomax's recordings, people across the country could hear the unique music of blues artists like Huddie Ledbetter ("Leadbelly") and Muddy Waters for the first time. In addition to Lomax's work, the rise of the commercial recording industry (particularly Chess Records) and advances in recording technologies allowed blues to have a wider distribution and as a result, gain a larger audience.

ArtsEdge, the Kennedy Center's arts education network, supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts, offering free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment. Visit ArtsEdge at artsedge.kennedy-center.org.

Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of blue notes—a note that is sung or played at a lower pitch than the rest of the song that gives the blues its characteristic, often sad sound. The lyrics usually have a predictable rhyme, and the music also has a repetitive pattern that typically follows a twelve-bar structure. While the blues may tackle serious subjects, it also brings joy to the singer and audience.

ArtsEdge, the Kennedy Center's arts education network, supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts, offering free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment. Visit ArtsEdge at artsedge.kennedy-center.org.

As black slaves toiled in the fields, they often sang to communicate with each other and pass the time. These work songs, spirituals, and field hollers formed the basis of blues music as it became an important sound of the American South in the early 20th century. In the 1930s, faced with extreme poverty and laws that discriminated against and segregated them, thousands of African Americans migrated to northern cities, taking the blues with them— where both the songs and the singers adapted to their new urban environment.

ArtsEdge, the Kennedy Center's arts education network, supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts, offering free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment. Visit ArtsEdge at artsedge.kennedy-center.org.

"Theater at its best is always a mirror. It's a reflection of who we are."

Twelve Angry Men deals with issues of prejudice and fear of "the other" but also promotes the ideas of debate and reasonable doubt. The characters in the play argue opposing positions with plausible conviction, and the audience members are left to decide their interpretation of truth and fact, despite what others may believe.

In this podcast, part of the Power of Theater series, actors Richard Thomas (The Waltons) and Randle Mell (24) discuss performing in the stage version of Twelve Angry Men and how the play illustrates the power of one voice in a system designed to reward the collective majority. To view this 60 minute program in its entirety, visit kennedy-center.org/pwtv.

ArtsEdge, the Kennedy Center's arts education network, supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts, offering free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment. Visit ArtsEdge at artsedge.kennedy-center.org.

Washington, DC saw an influx and outflux of some of Jazz's greatest talent. In the final episode the series, Taylor and Wess talk about the relative anonymity of some originators, including Billy Eckstine and others who enjoyed only a short-lived celebrity.

The Crystal Caverns, the Howard Theatre, and other venues in Washington, DC allowed the teenage Wess and Taylor opportunities to see their idols in concert. In this episode, they discuss the great musicians who frequented these monuments of jazz history.

Teacher Mary Reese Europe was the sister of James Reese Europe, who brought jazz to France in WWI. In this episode, jazz legends Billy Taylor and Frank Wess expound upon the influence of the two siblings, and Mary Reese Europe's teachings about singer Roland Hayes in prejudiced Germany prove an inspiration to her students.

Jazz legends Billy Taylor and Frank Wess talk about the upsides and down-sides of being African-American in the segregated Washington, DC of their childhood. Segregated theatres and restaurants, racist neighbors, and predujiced law-enforcement made life in Shaw difficult. Despite this, African American-owned establishments in DC afforded a respite from some of these hardships— one of these havens being the prestigious Dunbar High School.