Links to assorted local theater & book venues

Paul Rudnick, author of the novel “Playing the Palace,” and the teleplay for the HBO film “Coastal Elites,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky.

Playwright, screenwriter and novelist Paul Rudnick’s latest novel, “Playing the Palace,” is the story of a gay man living in New York who falls in love with a gay Prince of Wales, and what ensues. His recent film, “Coastal Elites,” with Bette Midler, Dan Levy and others, is a contemporary account of life during the first half of 2020 when the awfulness of Donald Trump met the awfulness of the Covid-19 pandemic, seen as five separate monologues.

Paul Rudnick has a long career as a playwright, with such plays as “Jeffrey,” his view of the AIDS epidemic and how an HIV-negative man deals with the crisis, “I Hate Hamlet,” and “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told.” His screenplays include “Addams Family Values,” “In and Out,” and “Sister Act.” He is currently working on a musical version of “The Devil Wears Prada,” based on the screenplay, for which he was one of several script doctors.

Paul Rudnick is also the author of film reviews by Libby Waxman-Gellmer, which have appeared in both Premiere Magazine and The New Yorker.

Complete 67 minute podcast.

Review: “Follies” by James Goldman and Stephen Sondheim, at San Francisco Playhouse through September 10, 2022.

Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links

Note: Most in-person events still require proof of full vaccination for all audience members over 12 and masks. Many venues will require proof of boosters. Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination status requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. All times Pacific Standard Time.

Book Stores

Live Theater Companies

Misc. Listings:

Playbill List of Streaming Theatre: Updated weekly, this is probably the best list you’ll find of national and international streaming plays and musicals. Each week has its own webpage, so scroll down.

If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write [email protected]

The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – August 11, 2022: Paul Rudnick appeared first on KPFA.

Links to assorted local theater & book venues

Christopher Moore, author of “Razzmatazz,” “Noir,” and other novels of comic fantasy and horror, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky.

Christopher Moore has eighteen novels to his credit, including Practical Demonkeeping, Bloodsucking Fiends, Fool and Secondhand Souls, many of which take place in San Francisco, where he now lives.

Razzmatazz, his latest novel, is a follow-up to Noir, and takes us back to the City by the Bay in 1946, and the world of Chinatown and North Beach, and lesbian and cross-dressing bars, gangsters both foreign and domestic, the African American community at the time, aliens, and magical dragons, with a side-trip to 1906.

In the interview, he discusses all of that, plus his views on satire, on current politics, and on researching during the pandemic.

Complete interview.

Martin Amis. In this four-minute excerpt from an interview recorded on October 29, 2014 while he was on tour for his book, “The Zone of Interest,” novelist and historian Martin Amis discusses ISIS and fascism, his old friend Christopher Hitchens, and conspiracy theorists.

Review: “Sanctuary City” at Berkeley Rep Peets Theatre through August 14, 2022.

Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links

Note: Most in-person events still require proof of full vaccination for all audience members over 12 and masks. Many venues will require proof of boosters. Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination status requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. All times Pacific Standard Time.

Book Stores

Live Theater Companies

Misc. Listings:

Playbill List of Streaming Theatre: Updated weekly, this is probably the best list you’ll find of national and international streaming plays and musicals. Each week has its own webpage, so scroll down.

If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write [email protected]

The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – August 4, 2022: Christopher Moore appeared first on KPFA.

Links to assorted local theater & book venues

Susan Faludi talks with host Richard Wolinsky about her book, In The Darkroom, winner of the 2016 Kirkus Prize and a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize. This encore podcast was first posted on October 5, 2016. In The Darkroom remains Susan Faludi’s most recent book to date.

In The Darkroom is about a search for identity … specifically the identity of her father, who moved to Hungary and had a sex-change operation late in his life, and with whom she reconnected. Susan Faludi is the author of Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women and Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man.

In the interview she discusses transgender issues and their relationship to feminism, the history of Hungarian Jews, her own search for identity, the relationship between transgender issues and photography, and the upcoming national election.

Susan Faludi website

Complete Interview

James Salter (1925-2015) was what’s known as a writer’s writer. Author of several novels, screenplays (including the Robert Redford film Downhill Racer) collections of essays and short fiction and travel works, he came on tour to Berkeley for his memoir, Burning the Days, which discussed his life as an army pilot and as a writer. He was interviewed at KPFA on October 7, 1997 by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff. Digitized, remastered and re-edited in 2016 by Richard Wolinsky.

Extended 40-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast

Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links

Note: Most in-person events still require proof of full vaccination for all audience members over 12 and masks. Many venues will require proof of boosters. Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination status requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. All times Pacific Daylight Time.

Book Stores

Live Theater Companies

Misc. Listings:

Playbill List of Streaming Theatre: Updated weekly, this is probably the best list you’ll find of national and international streaming plays and musicals. Each week has its own webpage, so scroll down.

If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write [email protected]

The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – July 14, 2022: Susan Faludi – James Salter appeared first on KPFA.

Links to assorted local theater & book venues

Peter Brook (1925-2022), visionary director, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

Peter Brook was one of the greatest theatrical directors of the twentieth century. Artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company for twenty years from 1962-1982, he transformed how the English speaking world looked at the plays of William Shakespeare. He is perhaps best known, during those years, for his production of “The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade,” also known as “Marat/Sade,” which later became a film and turned Glenda Jackson into an international star. His other films include “Lord of the Flies,” “Meetings with Remarkable Men” and a version of “King Lear” starring Paul Scofield.

His 1985 nine-hour adaptation of the Indian epic Mahabharata is probably his masterpiece. At the age of 92, he and his collaborator Marie Helene Estienne went back to the Mahabharata with a short theatrical piece, “Battlefield,” which played at ACT’s Geary Theater in May, 2017. This interview was recorded on April 24, 2017 in a rehearsal studio in the ACT offices in San Francisco.

Peter Brook Wikipedia page

Complete Interview

Tess Gerritsen, whose latest novel is “Choose Me,” written with Gary Braver. and author of the 12 books in the Rizzoli and Isles mystery series, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

In a long and successful career, Tess Gerritsen has written romantic thrillers, medical thrillers, science fiction, and noir. She’s written the screenplays for two produced movies, and serves as co-director of a documentary, “The Magnificent Beast.” The Rizzoli and Isles books served as the inspiration for a long-running Rizzoli and Isles television series, which can now be seen on HBO Max.

In this interview, she discusses her latest novel, born from discussions about the #metoo movement, her involvement in film and television, her feelings about how the pandemic affected her work, and her thoughts on how Black Lives Matter affected her as an Asian American author.

Extended 41-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast

Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links

Note: Most in-person events still require proof of full vaccination for all audience members over 12 and masks. Many venues will require proof of boosters. Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination status requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. All times Pacific Daylight Time.

Book Stores

Live Theater Companies

Misc. Listings:

Playbill List of Streaming Theatre: Updated weekly, this is probably the best list you’ll find of national and international streaming plays and musicals. Each week has its own webpage, so scroll down.

If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write [email protected]

The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – July 7, 2022: Peter Brook – Tess Gerritsen appeared first on KPFA.

Links to assorted local theater & book venues

David Sedaris, whose latest collection of essays is titled “Happy Go Lucky,” is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky. Recorded June 9, 2022 at Book Passage Bookstore in Corte Madera, California.

David Sedaris is author of thirteen books, including Me Talk Pretty One Day, A Carnival of Snackery, The Best of Me, Calypso, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls and others. He has been a commentator on NPR and CBS.

In this wide-ranging interview he discusses life during the pandemic, his views on talking with Trump supporters, his relationship with his siblings, including his sister Amy Sedaris and her appearance on The Mandalorian, how he molds his essays, and other topics.

Photos by Richard Wolinsky.

Complete 65-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast.

Review: “Dana H” at Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre through July 10, 2022.

Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links

Note: Most in-person events still require proof of full vaccination for all audience members over 12 and masks. Many venues will require proof of boosters. Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination status requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. All times Pacific Daylight Time.

Book Stores

Live Theater Companies

Misc. Listings:

Playbill List of Streaming Theatre: Updated weekly, this is probably the best list you’ll find of national and international streaming plays and musicals. Each week has its own webpage, so scroll down.

If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write [email protected]

The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – June 30, 2022: David Sedaris appeared first on KPFA.

Links to assorted local theater & book venues

Christine Dwyer, who plays “Mother,” along with characters in the ensemble, in the current production of the musical “Ragtime” at TheatreWorks Mountain View Center for the Arts, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky.

Ragtime is based on the E.L. Doctorow novel, and concerns the changes in music, women’s rights, and the experience of Black Americans at the turn of the 20th Century. In the interview, Christine Dwyer discusses how she came to the role, the various elements that came up during rehearsal, and her life before and during the pandemic. She also discusses how the #MeToo movement and Black Lives Matter has impacted the theatrical community in terms of sensitivity training and behavioral changes.

Christine Dwyer has performed as Elphaba in “Wicked” both on the national tour and on Broadway, has appeared in several off-Broadway productions as well as touring companies of “Finding Neverland” and “Waitress.” She also performed in the ensemble of the 2018 “Jesus Christ Superstar Live” production on NBC.

Complete 42-minute interview.

Flynn Berry, whose latest thriller is “Northern Spy,” set in contemporary Northern Ireland, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Recorded via zencastr on May 12, 2021.

Flynn Berry is the author of two other novels, “Under the Harrow,” which won the Edgar Award for best first novel, and “A Double Life.”

“Northern Spy” takes place in Northern Ireland as the tension between Catholics and Protestants has ratcheted up several notches. A single Catholic mother of an infant son, working as a producer in Belfast’s BBC studios, finds herself increasingly drawn into dealings with the IRA through her sister, who had lived a double life for the previous seven years.

In this interview Flynn Berry discusses how she came to write the novel, her writing process, and her history as an author of thrillers.

Complete 36-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast.

Review: “The Sound Inside” at Marin Theatre Company through June 19, 2022.

Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links

Note: Most in-person events still require proof of full vaccination for all audience members over 12 and masks. Many venues will require proof of boosters. Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination status requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. All times Pacific Standard Time.

Book Stores

Live Theater Companies

Misc. Listings:

Playbill List of Streaming Theatre: Updated weekly, this is probably the best list you’ll find of national and international streaming plays and musicals. Each week has its own webpage, so scroll down.

If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write [email protected]

The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – June 9, 2022: Christine Dwyer – Flynn Berry appeared first on KPFA.

Links to assorted local theater & book venues

Jasson Minadakis, Artistic Director of Marin Theatre Company and director of “The Sound Inside,” by Adam Rapp, which runs May 26 – June 19, 2022, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky.

In his fifteenth year as Artistic Director at Marin, Jasson Minadakis has directed numerous plays both here and elsewhere. In this interview recorded outdoors due to Covid restrictions, he discusses how Marin Theatre Company coped with the pandemic shut-down, the use of streaming, and the difficulties in returning to normalcy. He also talks about his challenges as director of “The Sound Inside,” including the ways in which Covid restrictions impact rehearsals. Complete Interview.

KJ Sanchez, director and co-adapter (with Karen Zacarias) of “Romeo y Juliet” at Cal Shakes, California Shakespeare Theatre, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded via zencastr on May 20, 2022.

Playwright, actor and director, KJ Sanchez is the head of the MFA Directing Program at the University of Texas in Austin. She is founder and CEO of American Records, a theatre company founded “to make plays that chronicle our time,” focusing on documentary plays based on interviews. She is the director and co-author of “RE-ENTRY,” based on conversations with soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Romeo y Juliet” is an bilingual adaptation of the Shakespeare play set in 1848 Alta California, with the gender of Romeo changed. It plays at California Shakespeare Theatre, the Bruns, in Orinda, May 25 – June 19, 2022.

In the interview, she discusses the origins of the adaptation, how she teaches directors, and the political situation where she works, in the state of Texas.  Complete Interview.

Review: “The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin” at San Francisco Playhouse through June 18, 2022.

Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links

Note: Most in-person events still require proof of full vaccination for all audience members over 12 and masks. Many venues will require proof of boosters. Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination status requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. All times Pacific Standard Time.

Book Stores

Live Theater Companies

Misc. Listings:

Playbill List of Streaming Theatre: Updated weekly, this is probably the best list you’ll find of national and international streaming plays and musicals. Each week has its own webpage, so scroll down.

If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write [email protected]

The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – June 2, 2022: Jasson Minadakis – KJ Sanchez appeared first on KPFA.