A lively roundtable on the actors' craft with Billy Crudup ("The Pillowman"), Raúl Esparza ("Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"), Cherry Jones ("Doubt"), Marsha Mason ("Steel Magnolias") and David Hyde Pierce ("Spamalot").

Far from the fabled days of summer stock, today's summer theatres are ambitious artistic institutions that aren't really just for summer anymore. A discussion with Sybil Christopher of the Bay Street Theatre, Alison Harris of Westport Country Playhouse, Kate Maguire of the Berkshire Theatre Festival, Jackie Maxwell of Canada's Shaw Festival and Max Mayer of New York Stage and Film.

How an audience can discern the often invisible hand of the director is the starting point for this discussion with Scott Elliott ("The Threepenny Opera"), Doug Hughes ("Doubt"), Joe Mantello ("Wicked"), John Rando ("The Wedding Singer") and Leigh Silverman ("Well").

The creation of new worlds on stage and the work of their creators is explored with lighting designer Peggy Eisenhauer ("Assassins"), costume designer Jess Goldstein ("Jersey Boys"), set designer David Korins ("Bridge and Tunnel"), set designer Derek McLane ("The Pajama Game") and costume designer Carrie Robbins ("White Christmas").

Experiences on stage in America and England are the core of this conversation with actors Eileen Atkins ("Doubt"), Richard Griffiths ("The History Boys"), Jonathan Pryce ("Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"), Lynn Redgrave ("The Importance of Being Earnest") and Zoë Wanamaker ("Awake and Sing").

Originally created as a skit for a bachelor party, "The Drowsy Chaperone" has traveled from Toronto to Los Angeles to Broadway, growing in size along the way without sacrificing its skewed view of classic musicals. The ATW Working in the Theatre seminar will explore Chaperone's journey from one-off entertainment into that rarest of musicals—one not based on a book, play or movie.

The writers' life is the topic for authors Christopher Durang ("Miss Witherspoon"), Lisa Kron ("Well"), Marsha Norman ("The Color Purple"), John Patrick Shanley ("Defiance") and Diana Son ("Satellites").

Some of the country's most read critics—Melissa Rose Bernardo of Entertainment Weekly, Michael Feingold of The Village Voice, Elysa Gardner of USA Today, Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press and Jeremy McCarter of New York Magazine—share how they came to their current positions and what they look for when they go to a show.

A free-ranging conversation on the actors' life with Michael Cerveris ("Sweeney Todd"), Victoria Clark ("A Light in the Piazza"), Jill Clayburgh ("Naked Girl on the Appian Way"), George Grizzard ("Seascape") and Brían F. O'Byrne ("Doubt").

Five prolific commercial producers—Susan Gallin ("Woman Before a Glass"), Elizabeth McCann ("Well"), Kevin McCollum ("Avenue Q"), David Stone ("Wicked") and Tom Viertel ("Sweeney Todd")—explore the business of bringing shows to the stage.