Alec Baldwin hosts Studio 360

This weekend 30 Rock's Alec Baldwin will try out a new gig, substituting for Kurt Andersen as the guest host of Studio 360, which happens to be one of my favorite radio programs.

Among Baldwin's guests will be actress Laura Linney, who ends her Broadway run Saturday as a scarred war photographer in the play Time Stands Still, by Donald Margulies.

Update: Here's Baldwin's interview with Laura Linney. I think he did a great job. They should have him on again!

Studio 360 is an hourlong arts and culture show out of New York City that's been on the air since 2000. Here's a list of stations that run the program, usually on Saturday or Sunday. You can also listen at the Web site or download it as a podcast.

Andersen, a novelist, often interviews people connected with the theatre. And I highly recommend his series on American icons, examining The Wizard of Oz, Superman and the Lincoln Memorial, among other cultural touchstones.

Here's an interview he did with Bill T. Jones, director and choreographer of the Broadway musical Fela!

Is Alice Ripley's mercury rising?

I'm so glad Downstage Center is back but while the American Theatre Wing podcast was on hiatus, I had a chance to catch up on some of the older interviews.

For example, I hadn't listened to the interview with Alice Ripley, which aired in February 2008. This was before Next to Normal opened on Broadway, when it was at New York's Second Stage Theatre. And she's just as forthcoming as she was when I met her at the stage door.

At one point Ripley is asked about her eating habits. She explains that she's very careful what she puts into her body because it can affect her singing voice. Apparently honey helps her respiratory system.

And then there was this, which truly made me gasp:

"It's always a challenge to figure out what to eat in between shows on a two-show day. Sushi's usually a good thing. But you know you have make sure you eat just the right thing because you don't want to be weighed down by it."

Sushi?! Yikes. Alice, please be careful with that, okay?

Words of wisdom from Carole and Oskar

I've been trying to catch up on my Playbill Radio podcasts. There are a lot I haven't listened to yet and at this point, some of the shows have opened and closed already. But these two are going strong:

I liked this quote from Carole Shelley, who plays the grandmother in Billy Elliot, as she politely declines to describe a particular scene in the musical:

"I don't really want to spoil it because I think it is one of the most stunningly choreographed pieces I have ever a., seen in my life and b., been a part of. So I would rather not say anything about it, if that's all right with you. I think surprises are the most exciting part of going to the theater."

You're right, Ms. Shelley, and I'm trying to be less spoilerish in my reviews! I know I do way too much research before I go to a show. (What can I say - I'm an information junkie. I was the type of kid who loved doing term papers.) Most of the time, knowing less is better.

Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of the Public Theater, does engage in a little hyperbole here, but I think he makes a good point about Hair's place in American popular culture. Part of the reason, of course, is that entertainment has become more diffuse. I mean, do we even have a common pop culture anymore?

"Hair is on the one hand, one could make the case it's the classic American musical. It was the last American stage show that became the soundtrack for a generation. There's been no show on stage since Hair that actually the whole country knows. Phantom of the Opera? I don't think so."

Okay, Phantom's an easy target but I bet the Public and Mr. Eustis would be happy to have Hair run on Broadway for 21 years - and counting!

The great magical quotient

I bought myself a shiny, silvery 120GB iPod Classic to replace the 20GB model whose hard drive expired. It wasn't easy. I felt like Tom Hanks in The Money Pit. I had to upgrade my operating system so the iPod would run on my PowerBook, and I had to buy a new case to protect the screen.

But it's up and running, with plenty of room for my show tunes and theatre-related podcasts. Now, while I'm waiting for Downstage Center to resume, I can download all of the Working in the Theatre podcasts from the American Theatre Wing and watch them while I walk on the treadmill.

Of course, I have to start with the May 2007 program on leading men, which included Kevin Spacey, who was on Broadway in A Moon for the Misbegotten at the time.

Kevin was the person who first sparked my interest in the theatre. I became a fan around the time he became artistic director of London's Old Vic Theatre, and he was so passionate whenever he talked about being on the stage.

Here's some of what he had to say:

"People come into a theatre and it's the most artificial surrounding you can imagine. There's big curtains, there's exit signs, there's chairs, there's programs. And yet somehow, if the elements have come together right, 20 minutes into a play that entire group of a thousand people or less go to a world that you're asking them to go to and they believe in that world.

And that collective experience, where a thousand strangers come into a building and believe, is what to me is the great magical quotient of when great theatre, great performances, happen. It's almost like a breath. We feel the audience."

Hello NPR, are you listening?

When I last checked, which was actually just a few seconds ago, I had 191 podcasts waiting for me in iTunes. I'm compulsive about collecting them, not so compulsive about listening to them, apparently. To be fair, some I have listened to, I just haven't gotten around to deleting them. Some, I will probably just delete without listening.

Anyway, I'm always looking for more. I'm beginning to find out what a great source National Public Radio is for theatre-related feature stories. Unfortunately, I can't always be in my car or at my computer listening to them.

There is a performing arts page on NPR's Web site, which seems to be updated fairly regularly. Among the recent segments I missed:

A story by legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg on Laurence Fishburne's performance in Thurgood;

How the overture is making a comeback on Broadway in revivals like Gypsy and South Pacific;

A look back at the career of Mel Brooks, who talks about Young Frankenstein and a potential stage version of Blazing Saddles; and a look forward in the career of Tony-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda from In the Heights;

An interview with Mark Rylance, Tony winner for his performance in Boeing Boeing, about the possibility that Shakespeare didn't write all of the plays attributed to him;

An interview with Morgan Freeman from April, when he was on Broadway in The Country Girl, that looks back on some of his other stage roles;

A story about the Denver Center Theatre Company and its mission to stage full-fledged productions of works by new playwrights;

A witty essay by novelist Marc Acito on the allure of musicals and the joys of singing out loud, in public, whenever the urge strikes him;

From In Character, which examines memorable American characters, there's Auntie Mame and Troy Maxson, from August Wilson's Fences. Actually, there are a lot of characters from the world of theatre in this series: Blanche DuBois, Willy Loman, Mama Rose.

There are lots more, and it can be difficult to keep track of them. What I need is a weekly podcast of all the theatre stories from all of its programs, like NPR assembles for segments on books and movies and music.

If someone from the programming department is reading this, it doesn't have to be long - 30 minutes or so would be great - that's half of my workout on the treadmill.

And no, that's not me huffing and puffing in the drawing. Because obviously, it's the wrong gender, the person isn't wearing headphones, I don't own a lime green exercise outfit and, most importantly, I only wish I could work that hard!

'Theatre for everybody'

I've listened to lots of Downstage Center podcasts from the American Theatre Wing, and usually they're G-rated. So it surprised me when I saw that an interview with James Earl Jones carried an "explicit" warning. The interview is great, but the actor known as the voice of CNN and Darth Vader is fairly free with the expletives.

I guess the language is fitting for his current role, as a very profane Big Daddy in the revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. (I wish I could see and hear him in that!) But here's an old clip from Sesame Street that's suitable for the whole family:



I've really enjoyed working my way through the Downstage Center archives, and I've learned a lot. In addition to interviews with actors, directors, composers, producers and playwrights, there have been shows with critics, on Broadway advertising, and on recording cast albums. It's all very interesting stuff. One of my all-time favorites is a 2007 interview with the legendary Marian Seldes, who, I am certain, would never, ever utter a four-letter word.

There are always one or two parts of the program, one or two quotes, that really grab my attention, tell me something I hadn't thought about before. This time, it happened when Jones was talking about the opportunity he found as an actor in New York City in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He came to New York after a stint in the Army.

"When I came out of the Army, no longer did you have to be a Barrymore to be a qualified, respected actor. Marlon Brando had been on our stage Marlon Brando is everyman, and that meant every man of every color could benefit from that. The civil-rights movement, Martin Luther King, all that. There was a confluence of energy in this country. Not only in this country, but in Europe, in England with the angry young men period, in France with the avant garde period. ... You didn't have to be a Barrymore, you could be a Brando. And that opened up the theater for everybody, finally."

Jerz(ey) Boy

I'm a big fan of the American Theatre Wing's Downstage Center podcasts. I've probably listened to half of the nearly 200 interviews with actors, playwrights, directors and others connected with the theater. As someone who doesn't have years of Broadway theatergoing behind her, it's great to hear actors talk about how they got started in the business, some of their earlier shows. There are always at least a couple of stories or quotes that stick in my mind.

Last week, I listened to an interview with Nathan Lane, currently starring as President Charles Smith in David Mamet's Oval Office satire November, which Lane describes it as an "absurdist political cartoon in the form of a play."

He reminisced about one of his first professional acting jobs, for a small theater in East Orange, N.J., called the Halfpenny Playhouse. It was around the time of the bicentennial, and they were putting together a musical revue about the history of New Jersey, called Jerz, which was performed at school and colleges around the state. Lane's big number was called "The Statue of Liberty Lives in Jersey City."

And file this story under "They'd never do it today." Lane said that in 1972, when he was in high school, he saw the revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with Phil Silvers in his Tony-winning role. The show wasn't doing good business so as a publicity stunt, the producers had a free Fourth of July matinee. "I stood on line in the blazing sun and I was the last person let into the theater," Lane recalled, "and then they closed the doors."

Apparently, giving away tickets didn't help. It closed on Aug. 12, after 156 performances. (The second revival, for which Lane won a Tony award, did much better, running from 1996 to 1998, with more than 700 performances.)

Still maybe that experience is why Lane has a soft spot for matinees:

"Those are the best shows, the matinees. I love the matinees. The matinee people, they want to be there. They haven't been dragged by a spouse or they're not there on a business trip of some kind. They're there to see the play or the people in the play and they want to have a good time. Very often in the evening, they're a little more judgmental, or you know, go ahead and show me, prove to me how hilarious you are. But the matinees are always great."

Theater on the big screen

One of my favorite podcasts, "Filmspotting," has a segment each week on the Top 5 movies about a single theme. Recently, hosts Adam Kempenaar and Matty Robinson picked their top five movies about the theater. If you want to listen to Adam and Matty talk about their picks, go here and scroll down to show #173. The Top 5 discussion is at the 46-minute mark.

Here are their lists:

Adam:
1. All That Jazz (1979)
2. All About Eve (1950)
3. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
4. Waiting for Guffman (1996)
5. Moon Over Broadway (1997)

Matty:
1. The Goodbye Girl (1977)
2. All About Eve (1950)
3. Cradle Will Rock (1999)
4. Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
5. Waiting for Guffman (1996)

I've heard about or seen most of these movies, and they're great lists. The one I'm not familiar with is "Moon Over Broadway." Apparently it's a documentary by D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus about the making of a Broadway comedy, "Moon Over Buffalo," starring Carol Burnett. The show played for 309 performances, opening on Sept. 13, 1995. The documentary is available on DVD, so I'll definitely be checking it out.

Husband and wife team Pennebaker and Hegedus are acclaimed filmmakers whose works have included "The War Room," about Bill Clinton's presidential campaign. Pennebaker is also known for "Don't Look Back," his terrific documentary on Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of the United Kingdom.

A couple of other theater-themed films I've enjoyed are two that take place in wartime Britain: 1983's "The Dresser," about an aging actor, played by Albert Finney, who leads a touring troupe performing "King Lear" and from 2005, "Mrs. Henderson Presents," starring Dame Judi Dench, whose character revives a derelict London theater by putting on an all-nude revue. Bob Hoskins is the showman who becomes her partner. (Ok, I admit I'm an Anglophile. And if it involves a big country house, so much the better. I loved "Mrs. Miniver," too).

If you'd like more suggestions, here's a thread on the subject from rottentomatoes.com. The list overlaps a bit with Filmspotting, but there are some different ones. Several of them I've heard of but haven't seen, including a movie of Michael Frayn's play "Noises Off," about a traveling theater troupe, and director Louis Malle's "Vanya on 42nd Street," about actors in New York rehearsing Chekov's play.

iPod therefore I am, Part II

Since some of you out there unwrapped iPods on Christmas or Hanukkah, I thought I'd continue to write about my favorite podcasts. I covered films earlier. Here are some book-related ones that I like. After reading a good book, I often poke around on the Internet searching for interviews with the author, and these are good places to start.

But first, before you start uploading your iPod with your favorie tunes and podcasts, iLounge is a great reference source for reviews of iPod accessories, including that all-important case with a screen protector to keep your baby looking shiny and new.

Barnes & Noble Meet the Writers: These are short podcasts, usually running from 10 to 15 minutes, but the authors provide some interesting insight into the writing process. Recent guests have included Washington Post senior Pentagon correspondent Thomas Ricks talking about "Fiasco," his bestseller about the war in Iraq, humorist David Sedaris, Chris Van Allsburg, prize-winning author and illustrator of children's books, and Vince Flynn, writer of political thrillers, who discusses struggle with dyslexia and how he got started as an author. The Web site also has links to video interviews, including a nice one with "Wicked" author Gregory Maguire.

BBC's World Book Club: The BBC's Harriet Gilbert has a half-hour monthly program that offers World Service listeners a chance to send in their questions. Recent episodes have included a fifth-anniversary interview with Michael Ondaatje, who discusses his novel "The English Patient," a talk with "Tales of the City" author Armistead Maupin, and crime writer Sara Paretsky. January's program will feature J.G. Ballard, talking about "Empire of the Sun." You can submit a question here.

Fresh Air with Terry Gross from WHYY in Philadelphia and On Point with Tom Ashbrook from WBUR in Boston: While these programs cover more than books, they often have authors as guests. Each show is about 45 minutes, long enough for some in-depth, thought-provoking questions. I've especially enjoyed Terry Gross' interviews with novelist Philip Roth and playwright Tony Kushner. Tom Ashbrook's recent shows have included a look at Jane Austen mania and an interview with "Little Children" author Tom Perrotta.

NPR Books: Like it does for music and movies, National Public Radio collects the best segments on books from all of its shows each week and puts them in one tidy podcast package ranging from 15 to 45 minutes. The books podcast includes author interviews, reviews and feature stories. Recent segments have looked at taking British novelist Ian McEwan's "Atonement" from page to screen, remembering author Norman Mailer, and a discussion of "The Dirt on Clean," Katherine Ashenburg's new book on the history of cleanliness. You can find a complete list of NPR podcasts here.

Slate's Audio Book Club: Slate.com assembles a roundtable of panelists who discuss a single title. There's no set schedule, they seem to do it once every few months. Each program runs about an hour. The choices have included fiction and nonfiction, newly published books and classics, ranging from Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking" to Toni Morrison's "Beloved," to Philip Roth's "Everyman" to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope."

Washington Post Book World: Book World editors Marie Arana and Ron Charles interview two authors in the half-hour show. Recent guests have included the very funny Christopher Buckley, author of "Thank you for Smoking," talking about his new book "Boomsday," and former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, who's moved on from the Greatest Generation to chronicling the 1960s.

iPod therefore I am

Podcasts take up a big chunk of my iTunes library. I listen to them when I exercise, when I'm driving around doing errands, when I'm waiting for appointments. It seems hard to believe now, but when I got my first iPod a few short years ago, they barely existed. Now, there are thousands, maybe millions, on every subject imaginable.

In fact, before there were podcasts, I'd make my own, by taping my favorite National Public Radio programs off the Web with a utility called WireTap, converting the files into MP3 format and uploading them to my iPod. It was a pretty time-consuming process. Luckily, I don't have to do that anymore, since any program I could ever want is only a click away.

Jan, the blogger behind Broadway & Me, recently posted a great list of the best podcasts for theater lovers. Since she's got that topic covered, I started to think about some of my favorite podcasts on other subjects.

To start things off, here are some of my favorite podcasts about movies. (And you don't need an iPod or other MP3 player. You can listen to all of these programs on your computer through the show's Web site).

Filmspotting I started listeningn to this weekly podcast out of Chicago when it was hosted by Adam Kempenaar and Sam van Hallgren. I loved the witty banter between the two of them as they discussed, and often argued, about the merits of a particular movie. It was like spending an hour with two good friends talking about a subject they were knowledgable about, and truly loved. Well, Adam's moved on and been replaced by Matt Robinson. While the show's not quite as witty, it's still a very worthwile listen for film fans. Filmspotting features an in-depth interview of at least one new release, listener feedback, and a marathon built around a single theme. Recent marathons have included Hitchcock, documentaries, musicals and silent films. There's also a contest, Massacre Theater, in which the hosts act out a scene from a classic film. Listeners have to guess the film. All the correct entries are put into a hat, and one lucky fan wins the DVD of their choice.

NPR Movies: National Public Radio's arts coverage is unparalleled. Every week, NPR gathers some of the movie-related segments that run on its shows, including Morning Edition, Weekend Edition and Fresh Air, and puts them into one neat podcast package of about 30 minutes. There are reviews of new releases and interviews with actors and filmmakers, as well as movie news, such as how Sputnik left its mark on the silver screen, a stage version of the cult movie "Donnie Darko," the new wave of cinematic talent coming out of Mexico and the 40th anniversary of one of my favorites, "The Graduate."

The Treatment: Elvis Mitchell, a former New York Times and sometime NPR film critic, interviews someone once a week from the world of film, television or popular culture on this show on radio station KCRW in Santa Monica, Calif. Some of my favorite interviews have included Entourage star Adrian Grenier, directors John Badham, Bryan Singer, Paul Greengrass, Ridley Scott and Bill Condon, and playwright Jon Robin Baitz, creator of one of my current small-screen favorites, the hit ABC series Brothers and Sisters.

The Business: Another one of my favorites from KCRW. Here's a description from the program's Web site: The Business looks deep inside the business of entertainment. A half-hour of thoughtful and irreverent dialogue with Hollywood's top deal-makers, filmmakers, moguls, artists and agents, The Business will clue you in on who's making pop culture pop and what's keeping Hollywood's Blackberries juicy. Recently, host Claude Brodesser-Akner has covered the writer's strike in a series of programs, chatted with Hollywood's man in Washington, the Motion Picture Association of America's Dan Glickman. interviewed "Wicked" producer Marc Platt, and discussed the process of product placement in movies and television.

Creative Screenwriting: As you'd expect, Jeff Goldsmith, senior editor of Creative Screenwriting magazine focuses on the writers. Goldmsith conducts an in-depth discussions with writers of current films, talking about how they got their start in the business, the writing process and what their role is once filming begins. When movies are released, it's usually the actors and directors who get the spotlight. But where would they be without the writers? These interviews offer a great look at side of the movie making process that's usually overlooked by the public. Goldsmith also talks with actors, directors and producers. Recently, he's interviewed co-writing and directing team Joel and Ethan Coen about "No Country for Old Men," Ben Affleck about "Gone Baby Gone" and Matthew Michael Carnahan, writer of "The Kingdom."