KPFA - Bookwaves/Artwaves

[caption id="attachment_285571" align="alignleft" width="355"] Michael Mayer and Richard Wolinsky at the Curran.[/caption]

Michael Mayer, director of "Head over Heels," a new musical with a pre-Broadway tryout at the Curren Theatre through May 6, 2018, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

Michael Mayer won the Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical in 2007 and has been nominated three times for a musical, for You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Thoroughly Modern Millie and most recently, for Hedwig and the Angry Itch. He was also nominated as director for the 1998 production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge. He directed and wrote the book for American Idiot and the recent reconfiguring of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. He directed the film version of Michael Cunningham’s A Home at the End of the World. His latest film is an adaptation of Chekhov’s The Sea Gull, starring Annette Bening and Soursie Ronin, which will be released later this year.

In this interview, he discusses the show at the Curran, and delves into elements of his career.

Curran Theatre website [1]

Also: excerpts from an interview with Rachel York, one of the performers in "Head Over Heels," and a review of "The Effect" at San Francisco Playhouse.

[1] http://curransf.com/

Jessica Hagedorn, playwright of "The Gangster of Love," based on her novel of the same name, is interviewed by Richard Wolinsky.

"The Gangster of Love" has its world premiere at the Magic in San Francisco's Fort Mason Center, April 11 - May 6, 2018. Jessica Hagedorn has adapted her own novel, which tells the story of a teenaged immigrant girl (based on Hagedorn's own experienced) coming from the Philippines to San Francisco's Haight Ashbury in the sixties and seventies, and living and working as a musician and artist in those heady times.

In the interview, she talks about the play, the novel, and her own biography as an artist, novelist, playwright and musician.

The complete interview can be found as a Radio Wolinsky podcast [1], recorded in the offices of the Magic Theatre in San Francisco.

Also: Review of "Saturday Night" by Stephen Sondheim, at the Gateway in San Francisco through April 15, 2018.

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/interview-jessica-hagedorn-playwright-the-gangster-of-love-at-the-magic/

Paul Auster, whose latest novel is “4 3 2 1”, now out in trade paper, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

The author of several novels, screenplays, books of poetry and film director, Paul Auster’s latest novel is an epic 850 page story of how circumstance changes us. Archie Ferguson takes four different directions in this novel: in one his family has become rich, in another they’re poor, in a third he loses his father in a fire, and in a fourth he remains middle class. With the same genes, each Archie grows up differently. Born in New Jersey in 1947 (as is Paul Auster), Archie is precocious, a writer … the book shows how different developments lead to different outcomes: whether you go left, right, or straight ahead, something might happen that will change your life.  In the interview, Paul Auster also talks about his film-making career and about how his life relates to this novel.

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

Also: A review of "Heisenberg," at ACT Geary Theatre through April 8, 2018.

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/paul-auster-4-3-2-1/

Richard Fouts is the playwright and Suze Allen the director of "The Birthday Lottery," at Z Space in San Francisco, March 29th through April 1st. The play concerns the first Vietnam draft lottery of students in 1969, and is set in a fraternity house as the numbers are being called. Those with low numbers will no longer have student deferments; those with high numbers will be free of the draft. The Nixon era lottery, created to even the playing field, took the anti-war movement to new heights. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky,

 

Z Space Website [1]

The Birthday Lottery Website [2]

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

Also: Review of "A Number" by Caryl Churchill, at Aurora Theatre's Harry's Upstage venue through April 22, 2018.

[1] http://www.zspace.org/birthdaylottery

[2] https://www.thebirthdaylotteryplay.com/

[3] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/interview-richard-fouts-suze-allen-the-birthday-lottery-at-z-space/

Ryan Weible, director of the Bay Area professional premiere of Stephen Sondheim's first show, "Saturday Night," in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

"Saturday Night: is a 42nd Street Moon production at the Gateway (formerly Eureka) Theatre in San Francisco, which runs March 28-April 15. In the interview, Ryan Weible discusses the show, its history, and his own history in theatre and as a director.

42nd Street Moon website. [1]

 

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

Also in this program: A review of "Vietgone" at ACT's Strand Theatre through April 22, 2018.

[1] http://42ndstmoon.org/

[2] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/interview-ryan-weible-director-sondheims-saturday-night-at-42nd-street-moon/

Peter Mayle (1939-2018) became a best-selling author with his memoir, "A Year in Provence." He followed that up with several books about the French region, both fiction and non-fiction.

Richard Wolinsky interviewed Peter Mayle, on October 18, 1999, while he was on tour for his collection of essays, “Encore Provence,” his third non-fiction book set in that part of France.

 

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

Also: Review of "Office Hour" by Julie Cho, at Berkeley Rep's Peets Theatre through March 25, 2018.

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/peter-mayle-1939-2018-year-provence/

Otessa Moshfegh, whose short story collection, “Homesick for Another World,” has just reissued in trade paperback, is interviewed by host Richard Wolinsky.

The author of the highly acclaimed novel, “Eileen,” rOtessa Moshfegh is the daughter of an Iranian father and Croatian mother, both forced out of Iran following the 1979 revolution. Her stories are filled with dark humor, focusing on how we feel about our bodies and our lives in this physical universe. Her vision is very idiosyncratic, and she’s regarded as one of our up and coming authors.

Extended 38-minute Radio Wolinsky podcast. [1]

 

Also: Review of "Widowers' Houses" at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley through March 4, 2018.

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/otessa-moshfegh-homesick-another-world/

Joy Carlin, noted actor and director, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky.

A former core member of ACT's acting company and interim Artistic Director at Berkeley Rep, Joy Carlin has a noted career as both actor and director. She currently directs George Bernard Shaw's first produced play, "Widowers' Houses" at Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley.

The play, which focuses on housing, slum lords, urban development and the gap between rich and poor, was written in 1895 and produced three years later, and began a long and lengthy career for Shaw, recognized today as one of the greatest playwrights in the English language.

Joy Carlin has directed several plays for Aurora and A.C.T. and has acted in television and film along with theater, including a recent role in "Blue Jasmine." Later this spring she will star in the play "Marjorie Prime" at Marin Theatre Company.

Aurora Theatre website [1]

An extended version can be heard as a Bay Area Theatre podcast. [2]

Also: Review of "Born Yesterday" at San Francisco Playhouse.

[1] https://www.auroratheatre.org/

[2] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/interview-joy-carlin-director-widowers-houses-aurora/

[caption id="attachment_280865" align="alignleft" width="323"] Richard Wolinsky and Margaret Atwood in 2008.[/caption]

Margaret Atwood, interviewed February 22, 1989 in San Francisco, focusing on her two most recent novels, The Handmaid's Tale and Cat's Eye. In the interview she also discusses her early career as a writer, feminism, her views on being a Canadian writer, and other topics. She was interviewed by Richard Wolinsky, along with novelists Richard A. Lupoff and Lisa Goldstein.

The interview was digitized, remastered and re-edited in 2018 by Richard Wolinsky.

 

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

Also: a review of Skeleton Crew at Marin Theatre Company.

[1] https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/margaret-atwood-1989-handmaids-tale-cats-eye/

George Saunders, author of the novel Lincoln in the Bardo, winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize in Literature, just out in trade paper, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky.

George Saunders is the highly acclaimed author of several short story collections, including "Tenth of December," "CivilWarLand in Bad Decline," "In Persuasion Nation" and others, along with political commentary that recently appeared in The New Yorker and other magazines.

His latest novel takes place in the form of a fictional oral history from the perspective of several ghosts who survive after death in a Washington DC graveyard in 1862. Willie Lincoln, the favored son of Abraham Lincoln, has gotten sick and died, and during the course of the book, the President visits his son's tomb.

The book deals with the Civil War, with the relationship of blacks and whites in America, with beliefs about life and death, and with the relationship of history and memory. It has gotten rave reviews since publication.

George Saunders appears at Dominican College in San Rafael on Monday, February 4, 2018, 7 pm. For more information: Book Passage bookstore. [1]

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

Also in this program: a review of "Man of La Mancha" at Custom Made Theatre through Feb. 17, 2018.

[1] http://www.bookpassage.com/event/george-saunders-lincoln-bardo-san-rafael

[2] https://kpfa.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=256768&action=edit