KPFA - Bookwaves/Artwaves

Links to assorted local theater & book venues

Stephen Sondheim (1930 – November 26, 2021) in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in San Francisco, November 6, 2010. This interview has not aired since its original broadcast.

Stephen Sondheim died at the age of 91 on November 26, 2021. A titan of American musical theater whose work both transcended and changed the genre itself, Sondheim was responsible for the lyrics for Gypsy and West Side Story — and his own shows, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, all became classics in the field. His lyrics were clever and deep – whether it be the torch song “Losing My Mind” from Follies, the history lesson, “Someone in a Tree” from Pacific Overtures, the gorgeous “Sunday” from Sunday in the Park, “Not While I’m Around” from Sweeney Todd, “Not a Day Goes By” from Merrily We Roll Along, “Send in the Clowns”… the list goes on.

In this interview recorded following the publication of Finishing The Hat, first of his two-volume autobiography/collected lyrics, he discusses elements of musical theater, his view on “Mary Poppins” as a musical, how he crafts lyrics, what’s important in acting in his shows, his experiences writing for the TV show “Topper,” and spending time on the set of “Beat the Devil” with John Huston and Humphrey Bogart, and more. Complete Interview

Stephen Sondheim interview, for Look, I Made a Hat, the second volume of his autobiography/collected lyrics, recorded November 29, 2011 in his townhouse in New York City.

Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links

Note: Most in-person events require proof of full vaccination for all audience members over 12 and masks. Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Club Fugazi‘s new show, Dear San Francisco, is closed until January 7, 2022 due to a breakthrough case in the cast. Check the venue for closures and ticket refunds before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted.

Book Stores

Live Theater Companies

National, Misc:

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: Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021) appeared first on KPFA.

Links to assorted local theater & book venues

Susan Hill, author of “The Woman in Black” and other novels, in conversation by phone with host Richard Wolinsky.

The Woman in Black, a play by Stephen Mallatrat and directed by Robin Herford is playing in San Francisco at ACT’s Strand Theater through January 16th, and for more information you can go to act-sf.org, in New York through March 13, and in an open-ended run on the West End in London.

Susan Hill has written over thirty novels, most of them stand-alones in the gothic ghost story genre, and eleven crime novels featuring her detective Simon Serrailer, the most recent being The Benefit of Hindsight, published in 2020, with A Change of Circumstance to be published in March, 2022. She’s also written six collections of short stories, an autobiography among nine non-fiction works, five plays, and 13 Children’s Books. She became a Dame of the British Empire in 2020.

Complete 48-minute interview.

Rita Moreno, legendary Hollywood star, actress, dancer and singer, in conversation about her career and her one-woman show, “Rita Moreno: Life Without Make-up,” recorded  September 16, 2011 in the KPFA studios. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

The talented winner of the big four awards, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony, Rita Moreno is back in the spotlight both in celebration of her 90th birthday on December 11th, and for her work in the new Steven Spielberg West Side Story.

In this interview recorded during previews of her one-woman show at Berkeley Rep ten years ago, she discusses not only her work on the show, but her time in Hollywood, her five year relationship with Marlon Brando, her work on the film The King and I, working with Morgan Freeman on PBS, and other stories.

Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links

Note: Most in-person events require proof of full vaccination for all audience members over 12 (some may allow unvaccinated audience members with recent negative Covid tests), and masks. Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for mandates or closures before arrival. Dates are in theater performances unless otherwise noted.

Book Stores

Live Theater Companies

National, Misc:

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 – December 23, 2021: Susan Hill – Rita Moreno appeared first on KPFA.

Links to assorted local theater & book venues

Stephen Sondheim (1930 – November 26, 2021) in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded in New York, November 24, 2011.

Stephen Sondheim died at the age of 91 on November 26, 2021. A titan of American musical theater whose work both transcended and changed the genre itself, Sondheim was responsible for the lyrics for Gypsy and West Side Story — and his own shows, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, all became classics in the field. His lyrics were clever and deep – whether it be the torch song “Losing My Mind” from Follies, the history lesson, “Someone in a Tree” from Pacific Overtures, the gorgeous “Sunday” from Sunday in the Park, “Not While I’m Around” from Sweeney Todd, “Not a Day Goes By” from Merrily We Roll Along, “Send in the Clowns”… the list goes on.

In this interview recorded in November 2011 at his townhouse in New York City for “Look! I Made a Hat!”, the second volume of his collection of essays and song lyrics, he discusses his later works and his career with host Richard Wolinsky. Complete Interview

An in-depth interview recorded a year earlier, in November 2010 in San Francisco will air in its entirety on December 30, 2021. Radio Wolinsky podcast.

Nancy Opel, Broadway veteran performer, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded November 22, 2021.

Nancy Opel performs as the Ghost of Christmas Past in the touring production of A Christmas Carol, playing at the BroadwaySF Golden Gate Theatre through December 26, 2021.

Nancy Opel has appeared in several Broadway shows, starting with the original productions of Evita and Sunday in the Park with George, and later Wicked, Beautiful, Honeymoon in Vegas, Memphis, revivals of Fiddler on the Roof and Gypsy, and most recently, Urinetown. On television, she’s appeared in The Big C, and Law and Order.

In this interview she talks about preparing for her roles, singing in musicals, her work in Sunday in the Park and her current role in A Christmas Carol. Complete Interview.

The Bookwaves/Artwaves Hour returns on December 23, 2021.

Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links

Note: Most in-person events require proof of full vaccination for all audience members over 12 (some may allow unvaccinated audience members with recent negative Covid tests), and masks. Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for mandates or closures before arrival. Dates are in theater performances unless otherwise noted.

Book Stores

Live Theater Companies

National, Misc:

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, December 2, 2021: Stephen Sondheim – Nancy Opel appeared first on KPFA.

Links to assorted local theater & book venues

Jan Morris was a noted travel writer and historian, and a leading figure in the trans world. As James Morris, she accompanied Edmund Hillary on the first expedition to the summit of Mount Everest. Before and after her transition in 1964 to the time of her death, Jan Morris had published 18 travel books, six history books including a three volume history of the British Empire, eight memoirs including the best-selling Conundrum, two novels and twelve collections of essays.

An interview recorded while Jan Morris was attending a conference in San Francisco, August 20, 1999.

Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff discuss her career, her feelings toward writing, the United States and other topics. Jan Morris’s book, Lincoln: A foreigner’s quest, discussed in the interview, was published in 2001.

Complete 38-minute podcast.

An interview recorded during the book tour for “Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere,” recorded November 16, 2001 in the KPFA studios.

In this interview Jan Morris talks about the meaning of Trieste in her life, delves deeply into what she sees as the future of humankind over the following decades, and pretty much nails where we are today in 2021.

True to her word in the interview, “Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere” was the last full-length book Jan Morris would write. Collections of new and old essays were published in 2004 and 2010, an illustrated essay on the Battleship Yamoto in 2018, and two volumes of late in life diaries were published, the first in 2018, “In My Mind’s Eye,” and posthumously in 2021, “Thinking Again.”

Complete podcast posts on November 28, 2021

Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links

Note: Most in-person events require proof of full vaccination for all audience members over 12 (some may allow unvaccinated audience members with recent negative Covid tests), and masks. Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for mandates or closures before arrival.

Book Stores

Live Theater Companies

National, Misc:

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 – November 25, 2021: Jan Morris (1926-2020) appeared first on KPFA.