KPFA - Bookwaves/Artwaves

[caption id="attachment_309718" align="alignleft" width="307"] Sting and Richard Wolinsky. Photo: Cher Evans[/caption]

Sting discusses his latest work, a musical play titled "The Last Ship," now playing at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco through March 22nd, with host Richard Wolinsky.

 

 

 

 

 

Eric Ting, Artistic Director for California Shakespeare Theatre and director of the play "Gloria" by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins at ACT's Strand Theatre through April 12th, discusses his direction of the play, along with a preview of the upcoming Cal Shakes season. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

 

 

Theatre Review: Culture Clash (Still) in America, at Berkeley Rep's Peets Theatre through April 5th.

 

Interviews devoted to the arts, focusing on theatre and literature, with side-trips to film and non-fiction narratives. Also on tap: archive interviews from Probabilities and Bookwaves. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

Interviews devoted to the arts, focusing on theatre and literature, with side-trips to film and non-fiction narratives. Also on tap: archive interviews from Probabilities and Bookwaves. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

Jim Lehrer, interviewed in 1998 by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff.

Jim Lehrer, who co-anchored the MacNeill Lehrer News Hour on PBS from 1975 to 1995 and was the sole anchor until his retirement in 2009, died at the age of 85 on January 23, 2020. Along the way, he also hosted various presidential debates and at the time of his retirement, was one of the most respected journalists in America.

He also was a novelist and playwright, with 20 novels, three memoirs, and three plays to his credit. On October 19, 1998, at the height of the Clinton Lewinsky scandal and before the impeachment trial, Richard A. Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky had a chance to talk with Jim Lehrer while he was on tour for his novel Purple Dots. Obviously, most of the interview was devoted to the state of journalism, and to the state of America at that time.

Federico Fellini

Susan Oxtoby, curator of the “Federico Fellini at 100” retrospective at Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive, through May 21, 2020, in which all the films directed by Fellini, along with the films he wrote prior to becoming a director, will be shown in mostly new digitized restorations, talks about Fellini and the films with Richard Wolinsky.

Federico Fellini is considered one of the greatest film directors of all time, with such masterpieces as La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, and Amarcord to his credit. Born January 20, 1920, this year will see many restrospectives of his work.

For more information, go to the BAM/PFA website. [1]

Complete 30-minute interview [2]

Also: Review of "How to Transcend a Happy Marriage" at Custom Made Theatre.

[1] https://bampfa.org/program/federico-fellini-100

[2] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/interview-federico-fellini-at-100/

Donna Seaman, author of Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Women Artists in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

The art world has not been kind to women artists. Being taken seriously, getting exhibited, getting remembered after their deaths: none of this happens automatically. Donna Seaman, book critic for Booklist, takes a look at seven twentieth century American woman artists whose work has been somewhat forgotten in the years since their deaths: Louise Nevelson, Gertrude Abercrombie, Lois Madou Jones, Ree Morton, Joan Brown, Lenore Tawney and Christina Ramberg.

In this discussion, Donna Seaman talks about each of these artists and how they related to the world and to art. She also talks about the recent controversy over the Bull sculpture on Wall Street, on sexism in the arts, and on the pull between artistic freedom and stylistic fads.

An extended version of this interview can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast. [1]

Also: Review of "Noura" at Marin Theatre Company

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/donna-seaman-rediscovering-seven-american-women-artists/

Mona Golabek is bringing her one-woman show, The Pianist of Willisden Lane, which was adapted and directed by Hershey Felder, to TheaterWorks [1] in Mountain View, from January 15th through February 16, 2020. This interview with host Richard Wolinsky was recorded in 2013 when The Pianist of Wilisden Lane was produced by Berkeley Rep. Performing the story of her mother, a piano prodigy who escaped from Austria to England in 1938 on the Kindertransport and the years afterward as a refugee, Mona Golabek weaves the narrative with performances of the music that kept her mother alive, both as listener and performer. The play is based on her book The Children of Willisden Lane.

Also: Review of "Becky Nurse of Salem" by Sarah Ruhl, at Berkeley Rep.

[1] https://theatreworks.org/201920-season/pianist-of-willesden-lane/

Alla Kovgan, director and writer of the film "Cunningham," about the choreographer and dancer Merce Cunningham, is interviewed by host Richard Wolinsky.

"Cunningham" takes us from the 1940s to early 1970s in the work and career of Merce Cunningham (1919-2009), with many of his dances recreated in 3D. In this discussion, Alla Kovgan talks about the difficulty of translating dance to film, and of the use of 3D in her work. She also talks about Cunningham's philosophy of dance, as well as of his personal life, and his relationship with John Cage.

Variety: "Shot in glorious 3D that makes the technical mode feel indispensable (like in Wim Wenders’ comparable dance documentary “Pina,” sure, but also Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” and even James Cameron’s “Avatar”), Kovgan’s ode to choreography master Merce Cunningham [1] is sensational in every sense of the word."

Extended 41-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast. [2]

Also: Review of "Groundhog Day: The Musical" at SF Playhouse.

[1] https://variety.com/t/merce-cunningham/

[2] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/alla-kovgan-cunningham/

[caption id="attachment_326697" align="alignleft" width="329"] Yanna McIntosh, David Abeles, RW, John Skelley[/caption]

A conversation with John Skelley (Harry Potter), Yanna McIntosh (Hermoine) and David Abeles (Ron), from the production of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," a sequel to the Harry Potter books and films, playing in two parts at the Curran [1] in San Francisco, hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

With a story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, written by Jack Thorne and directed by John Tiffany, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" takes place as Harry, Ron and Hermoine are approaching forty years of age, and their children (Harry is married to Ron's sister Ginny) are now going to Hogwarts School for Magicians.

John Skelley, Yanna McIntosh and David Abeles have all been acting in theatre, film and television for the past several years. John Skelley and David Abeles understudied their roles in the Broadway production, and the Canadian Yanna McIntosh is new to the role in San Francisco. They discuss their visions of the roles and the play, and how they prepare as actors.

An extended 40-minute version [2] of this conversation can be found as a Bay Area Theater podcast.

Also: Review of "The Tale of Despereaux" at Berkeley Rep.

[1] https://sfcurran.com/

[2] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/interview-harry-potter-the-cursed-child/

Nick Tosches (1949-2019) in conversation with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff, recorded October 19, 1994.

Nick Tosches, who died on October 20th, 2019, three days shy of his 70th birthday, was the quintessential professional writer. He wrote everything from record reviews to biographies to essays to novels. His career, which began as a rock journalist for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, eventually took him into biographies of Jerry Lee Lewis and Dean Martin, various works of non-fiction, novels, poetry and journalistic essays.

On October 19th, 1994, Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff sat down with Nick Tosches while he was on tour for his novel, “Trinities,” which is about an underground war for world-wide control of the heroin trade and is based, in part, on research for another book, "Power on Earth," published in 1986, which is the biography of Italian banker Michele Sindona, who was linked both with some of the world’s largest financial institutions, the Vatican and the Italian underworld.

After the interview, Nick Tosches published five more books of fiction and poetry, biographies of boxer Sonny Liston, minstrel singer Emmet Miller and gangster Arnold Rothstein, and three other works of journalism. He also appeared on Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations in 2009. Trinities appears out of print but used copies are easily available on line.

Extended 40-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast. [1]

Also: Review of "Pride and Prejudice" at TheatreWorks Palo Alto Lucie Stern Theater.

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/nick-tosches-1949-2019/