KPFA - Bookwaves/Artwaves

Kate Kilbane and and Dan Moses, The Kilbanes, discuss their rock opera "Weightless," at ACT's Strand Theatre through May 12, 2019 with host Richard Wolinsky.

This is the second of three rock operas by the Kilbanes, and played previously at San Francisco's Z Space. The story comes out of Ovid's Metamorphosis, and tells the story of two sisters, Procne and Philomela, and their betrayal and subsequent revenge.

Weightless hovers somewhere between a concert and a play, starting with songs and narration and gradually expanding into a story with additional actors.

An extended 34-minute version of this interview can be found as a Bay Area Theatre podcast. [1]

Also: A review of "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde, directed by Josh Costello, at Aurora Theatre through May 19, 2019.

(photo of the Kilbanes by Emily Sevin)

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/interview-the-kilbanes-weightless-at-act-strand/

George R.R. Martin, recorded in 1991, interviewed by Richard Wolinsky & Richard A. Lupoff.

As Game of Thrones airs its final season, we can look back on the career of George R.R. Martin, to the days before his fantasy series was published, when he was best known as a writer for television, though he'd already written novels and short stories.

In 1991, five years before the publication of Game of Thrones, and evidently before its conception, Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff and I had a chance to chat with George R. R. Martin. At the time, he'd just completed work writing for the television series, “Beauty and the Beast,” and most of his interest concerned television and its standards and practices. As you listen to the interview, you can discern elements that will play a role in the genesis of Game of Thrones.

Digitized and re-edited by Richard Wolinsky in 2014.

Complete 33-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast [1]

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/george-r-r-martin-1991-before-game-of-thrones/

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.

Tayari Jones, whose latest novel is "An American Marriage," is interviewed by host Richard Wolinsky.

Tayari Jones is the author of the novels Leaving Atlanta, The Untelling, Silver Sparrow, and her latest, An American Marriage (Algonquin Books, February 2018). Her writing has appeared in Tin House, The Believer, The New York Times, and Callaloo.  A member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, she has also been a recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, Lifetime Achievement Award in Fine Arts from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, United States Artist Fellowship, NEA Fellowship and Radcliffe Institute Bunting Fellowship.

"An American Marriage" deals with a marriage torn apart by the unjust arrest and imprisonment of the husband after an accusation by a white woman at a motel, and how both spouses deal with the following few years. "An American Marriage" is a 2018 Oprah’s Book Club Selection.

Tayari Jones website [1]

An extended version of this interview can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast. [2]

Also: A review of "Actually" at Aurora Theatre's Harry's Upstairs.

[1] http://www.tayarijones.com/

[2] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/tayari-jones-an-american-marriage/

[caption id="attachment_309751" align="alignleft" width="177"] Justin Martin[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_309752" align="alignleft" width="230"] Ammar Haj Ahmad[/caption]

Justin Martin, co-director, and Ammar Haj Ahmad, one of the principal actors of "The Jungle," a play by Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco through May 18, 2019, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

The Jungle tells the story of a refugee camp near Calais, France, where people fleeing violence in their own countries came while they awaited asylum in England. The camp lasted around nine months, and during that time, developed its own culture and community. Playwrights Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson opened a theatre there, and took notes on the people and events during the Jungle's existence. Co-directors Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin joined with the playwrights, and actors representing the various countries in the camp, and created an environmental theatre piece, which received accolades in earlier productions at the Old Vic in London and St. Ann's Warehouse in New York, before coming to San Francisco.

Justin Martin has worked as associate director with Stephen Daldry beginning with the national tour of the musical "Billy Elliot" and has served as second unit director for several episodes of Daldry's Netflix series, "The Crown."

Ammar Haj Ahmad began his acting career in Syria and came to Britain to work, and then found himself a refugee and unable to return. Now a British citizen, he was one of the original workshop members of the play "The Jungle."

Curran theatre website [1]

An extended version of this interview can be found as a Bay Area Theatre podcast. [2]

Photo on cover page by Teddy Wolff.

Also: A review of "Yoga Play" at San Francisco Playhouse.

[1] https://sfcurran.com/shows/the-jungle/

[2] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/interview-justin-martin-ammar-han-ahmad-the-jungle-at-the-curran/

[caption id="attachment_309299" align="alignleft" width="138"] James Lapine[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_309300" align="alignleft" width="141"] William Finn[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_309305" align="alignleft" width="152"] Jordan Roth[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_309308" align="alignleft" width="148"] Spencer Liff[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James Lapine, director; William Finn, composer-lyricist; Spencer Liff, choreographer; Jordan Roth, producer discuss the musical Falsettos, now in a national tour production at SHN's Golden Gate Theatre through April 14, 2018

The musical Falsettos was originally produced in New York in April 1992 and ran for nearly 500 performances. The show, which is one of the earliest musicals to deal with coming out of the closet and with AIDS, was revived on Broadway in 2016 and it’s the national tour of that production which is at the SHN Golden Gate Theatre.

James Lapine is one of Broadway’s most successful directors, and has worked with Stephen Sondheim on such shows as Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, and Sondheim on Sondheim.

William Finn is not only known for Falsettos, but for the freqnently produced show, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Spencer Liff has previously been a dancer and ensemble performer on Broadway, and has choreographed the recent revivals of Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and most recently Head Over Heels.

Justin Roth is the president and majority owner of Jujamcyn theatres in New York; among his most recent productions are andBruce Springsteen on Broadway, Angels in America, Mean Girls, and the upcoming Hadestown.

The complete interviews with James Lapine and William Finn, and Spencer Liff and Jordan Roth, can be found as Bay Area Theatre [1] podcasts in the area 941 section of kpfa.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Arts-Waves. Coming up now, the weekly Arts-Waes theatre review.

SHN website: Falsettos [2]

 

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/program/bay-area-theater/

[2] https://shnsf.com/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=falsettos-musical&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=&menu_id=D8B581C0-D57E-44FF-A27B-4336DDA81A9D&sToken=1%2Cac513990%2C5c97f6ab%2C0DEE3664-658D-4EB5-A09E-FF9DCE343C68%2CkRl2KvPDmWkpDalCDUyDtOAxyEE%3D

Mfoniso Udofia is one of America’s fastest rising playwrights. A second-generation Nigerian-American, plays in her Ufot family cycle have been performed in New York, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, where two of those works are currently seeing productions. "Her Portmaneau" can currently be seen at ACT's Strand Theatre [1] through March 31st, and previews begin for the world premiere of "In Old Age" at the Magic Theatre [2] on March 27, 2019. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

[1] https://www.act-sf.org/

[2] http://magictheatre.org/

Don Reed, whose solo show, "That Don Reed Show," can be seen at the Marsh in Berkeley through April 28th, and then later at the Marsh in San Francisco, is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky.

Growing up in Oakland set the stage for Don Reed's breakout one-man show, "East 14th," and his local heritage remains a key part of his work. A stand-up comedian, actor on television (currently in Amazon's show "Bartlett"), his vocal talents are also heard on various animated programs. He's performed on Jay Leno's Tonight Show, and served as the warm-up comedian for several television audiences. But he always returns to The Marsh, where he got his start.

Don Reed website [1]

The Marsh [2]

An extended version of this interview can be found as a Bay Area Theatre [3] podcast.

 

Also: A review of the play "Her Portmanteau" by Mfoniso Udofia, which is playing at ACT's Strand Theatre [4] in San Francisco through March 31, 2019.

[1] http://donreedcomedy.com/

[2] https://themarsh.org/

[3] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/interview-don-reed-that-don-reed-show/

[4] https://www.act-sf.org/

Fund drive pre-emption.

Fund-drive pre-emption.