Arts & Culture

In March, when it became apparent that live theater would be almost impossible to produce during the Covid-19 pandemic, many theaters either shut down or experimented with streaming platforms.

WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel trade cards.

Films and TV series about LGBTQ+ adults are not uncommon. Most are distributed with a mainstream audience in mind and are quite popular. The recently released feature film version of the Broadway revival of Mart Crowley’s play The Boys in the Band on Netflix is one example of a lively, evocative production centering around a small group of gay men in 1968. Crowley’s play was quite controversial when it opened off-Broadway pre-Stonewall riots when gays were closeted for the most part and shunned by many.

What a "day!" Resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel and WAMC's Ian Pickus switch seats for a show about weekdays.

Last week's challenge
Start with the phrase DARK COMEDY. Change one letter to a U and you can rearrange the result to spell the five-letter title of a movie from the 1970s and the five-letter title of a TV series from the 1970s. What are the titles?
Answer: If you change a D to a U, you can spell Rocky and Maude.

It would take half this radio piece to explain all the awards that Sophia Loren has received over the decades.  Her film career in Italy and Hollywood blossomed in the 1950s when producer Carlo Ponti changed her name from Scicolone to Loren and redesigned her career.  They married in 1957.

The ideal situation for any artist is when you can develop a quality product and use it for the good of the community.

WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel turn on the dark.

The Clark Art Museum is currently presenting its first outdoor exhibition on the museum’s extensive and bucolic grounds in Williamstown, Massachusetts. “Ground/work” features site-responsive sculptural creations by six different contemporary artists placed around The Clark’s 140 acre campus.

Organized by the Clark, under the leadership of guest curators Molly Epstein and Abigail Ross Goodman, Ground/work is free and open to the public and will be on view into October of 2021.

We welcome New York Post theater columnist Michael Riedel to the Roundtable this morning with the publication of his second book, Singular Sensation: The Triumph of Broadway.

With over 150 insider interviews, Singular Sensation portrays the people, money, and power that created the blockbuster shows and aesthetic spectacle that has dominated not only a couple of acres of real estate in the heart of Manhattan but has also captured the hearts and minds of millions of people around the world.

Michael Riedel has been the theater columnist for the New York Post since 1998. Michael’s first book, Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway was a New York Times bestseller.

Born in Warsaw shortly after World War II, filmmaker Agnieszka Holland has had a prolific career writing and directing for film and television. Her parents were journalists who fought in the resistance.  She’ll be remembered for her works centering on the horrors of World War II, particularly Europa, Europa in 1990 and In Darkness in 2011.  She also directed several episodes of House of Cards.

WAM Theatre will be presenting the second digital production of their re-imagined fall season beginning later this week, the wickedly funny satire "The Thanksgiving Play" by Larissa FastHorse, directed by Associate Artistic Director Talya Kingston. The production will be available online November 19-22.

The play is fast-paced satire where good intentions collide with absurd assumptions, as a troupe of white Liberal teaching artists scramble to devise a grade school theatre performance that somehow manages to celebrate Turkey Day, while also honoring Native American Heritage Month.

To tell us more, we welcome Director Talya Kingston and actress Molly Parker Myers.

Almost everyone has a person who intersects their life at unexpected, random moments.   For some reason, intermittent personal contact can be as strong as it is with a person with whom you have had a strong single bonding experience.

WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel switch seats to honor a trivia forebear.

For the thirtieth anniversary of its premiere, film critic Glenn Kenny has written an immersive history behind Martin Scorsese’s signature film "Goodfellas," hailed by critics as the greatest mob movie ever made.

BERKSHIRES – There was once a television series called “The Millionaire.” The concept was that one unassuming person who lived a humble but exemplary life was given a million dollars by a mysterious benefactor.

WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel swap seats for an altered Halloween show.

I was just reading a book about an evil younger brother who conspires to destroy the life of his weaker older brother in order to seize the elder’s more powerful position. The child of the brother who has been destroyed speaks out, revealing the sins of the younger brother.  No, I wasn’t reading Hamlet; I was reading Mary Trump’s book, Too Much and Never Enough.

As the pandemic continues into its eighth month in the U.S. and an administration rails against the fact-based findings of doctors and medical advisors, the Barrington Stage Company is revisiting Mark St. Germain’s play, "Typhoid Mary," where arguments between God and science take center stage.

The virtual reading of "Typhoid Mary," a play by BSC Associate Artist Mark St. Germain, stars two-time Tony Award winner Judith Ivey as Mary Mallon aka ‘Typhoid Mary.’ The reading also features actors: Frances Evans, T.R. Knight, Kate Mac Cluggage and Joe Morton. The production is directed by Matthew Penn.

This is the true and turbulent story of Mary Mallon, known better as Typhoid Mary. As one of the most infamous women in America, her career as a cook left deaths in her wake. A carrier of typhoid, Mary refused to believe she was responsible, citing God’s will and the lies of science instead. Imprisoned on North Brother Island, the conflicts between her and the doctors were as impassioned then as they are today.

The reading will be available to stream on October 30 & 31 at 7:30 pm. Judith Ivey won two Tony Awards as Best Featured Actress in a Play for "Steaming" in 1983 and "Hurlyburly" in 1985. She was also nominated for "Park Your Car in Harvard Yard" in 1992 and a revival of "The Heiress" in 2013.