Steven Hunt

KSKA: Friday, March 24 at 2:45pm Often considered the greatest play written in the English language, Shakespeare's Hamlet is as complicated it its psychological examination of the particular characters as it is enlightening of the human spirit. TBA Theatre is presenting this timeless work at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium on the campus of UAA March 24th through April 2nd and two of the actors, Wayne Mitchell and Jessica Faust drop by Stage Talk this week to let us know how they are approaching the play. LISTEN NOW

KSKA: Friday, March 17 at 2:30pm Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita) are recognized as two of the most popular musical theatre composer/lyricists today and The Alaska Fine Arts Academy of Eagle River is producing one of their most enduring, and earliest works based on the story of Joseph from the Old Testament, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. On this week's Stage Talk, AFAA's Executive Director Lailani Cook brings two of the actors, Arthur Braendel and Emma Wasko to talk about how this show is as entertaining for the entire family today as it was when it premiered in 1968. Joseph runs March 24-April 1st. LISTEN NOW 

KSKA: Friday, March 10 at 2:45pm Cyrano's Theatre Company is presenting Noel Coward's classic Comedy of Manners, Private Lives about a divorced couple, now on honeymoons with their new spouses, who meet and discover that they are still attracted to each other. Director Teresa Pond and actors Frank Delaney and Stefanie Suydam drop by Stage Talk this week to talk about how this play is still as "fantastically funny" as it was back when it was first produced in 1930. Private Lives runs March 10 through April 2 at Cyrano's Theatre Company. LISTEN NOW

KSKA: Friday, March 3 at 2:45pm A young 17-year old Tlingit leaves Juneau to go to his grandparents' remote village to begin a journey into himself and his culture is the subject of Frank Henry Kaash Katasse's play They Don't Talk Back being produced by Perseverance Theatre and performing in the Sydney Laurence Theatre March 3rd through the 12th. Skyler Ray-Benson Davis, who plays the young "Nick", stops by the studio this week along with Anchorage General Manager Josh Lowman to talk about among other things Skyler's own journey as a young Tlingit man who learned a lot about his own culture by performing in this exciting new play.

KSKA: Friday, February 24 at 2:45pm. Pre-Moth Radio Hour, This American Life and even Alaska's own Arctic Entries, author Studs Terkel took tape recorder in hand to interview real people doing real jobs across the country and then published a book about the people he met. Later, renowned composer Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin) collaborated with several other composers and song writers (James Taylor, Craig Carnelia, etc.) to bring that book to the stage in the form of the musical Working which is being presented by the University of Alaska Anchorage Department of Theatre and Dance. In their last weekend (Feb 24-26), Director Nova Cunningham and two of the actors from the show, Jacob Marforth and Jordan Crenshaw drop by Stage Talk this week to give us some background on all of these remarkable people. LISTEN NOW

KSKA: Friday, February 17 at 2:45pm Valley Performing Arts is presenting Ken Ludwig's popular farce, Lend Me a Tenor February 17th-March 5th at their theatre in Wasilla. Dropping by the studio this week to talk about it are Actor Todd Broste and Actor and Director Kelly Lee Williams. Listen to Stage Talk to hear how Williams, as Director, has made some very interesting choices to solve one of the more challenging aspects of the play and also how Broste considers his character to be one of the most fun ones he's ever played. LISTEN NOW

KSKA: Friday, February 10 at 2:45pm Anchorage Opera Company is presenting Tom Cipullo's opera Glory Denied based on the true story of the longest held American captive during the Vietnam War and what happens with his life when he returns. Stage Director Helena Binder and Conductor Douglas Kinney Frost drop by the studio this week to tell us about their unique concept of how they have chosen to present this moving story. Glory Denied performs in the Sydney Laurence Theatre starting February 10th and going through the 18th. LISTEN NOW

KSKA: Friday, February 3 at 2:45pm What's better than going to hear Billie Holiday perform at Emerson's Bar and Grill? Hearing four Billie Holidays performing at Anchorage Community Theatre in Lanie Robertson's Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill performing at ACT February 4th-19. Director Matt Fernandez, along with two of the "Billies", Vivian Melde and Kinley Norman drop by Stage Talk this week to give us the scoop on how they do it. LISTEN NOW

KSKA: Friday, January 27 at 2:45pm Unlike many of the area performing arts groups whose seasons go from fall to spring, Cyrano's Theatre Company's season runs from January through December. This week on Stage Talk Producing Artistic Director Teresa K. Pond drops by to give us a preview of what's in store.

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KSKA: Friday, January 20 at 2:45pm. Two people whose focus on life is through money meet. What is real and what is not? What is intangible and what has actual value? Cyrano's Theatre Company's Resident Playwright Dick Reichman's Money, which addresses many of these topics, comes back to Cyrano's in collaboration with RKP Productions to run January 20 through February 12. David Haynes and Becca Mahar drop by Stage Talk this week to talk about their characters, the play and the 25th anniversary of Cyrano's.

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KSKA: Friday, January 13 at 2:45pm The Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Conductor/Maestro Randy Fleischer, brings back its annual collaboration between music and film as it performs the original soundtracks to two of Charlie Chaplin's more popular films, The Kid and The Idle Class while the films are shown. Fleischer and Education Coordinator Susan Windgrove-Reed come by Stage Talk today to give some background on Chaplin and how Fleischer works to combine the music with the films during the showings. Both films, along with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra perform Saturday at 8pm in the Atwood Concert Hall. LISTEN NOW

KSKA: Friday, January 6 at 2:45pm Perseverance Theatre starts off the new year with Hold These Truths, a one-man show about Gordon Hirabayashi, the son of Japanese immigrants who was ordered to report to an interment camp outside of Seattle at the start of World War II and how he resisted. Director Leslie Ishii and Actor Greg Watanabe engage in a captivating conversation this week on Stage Talk. The play runs January 6-15 in the Sydney Laurence Theatre and on Sunday, January 7th, the playwright Jeanne Sakata will join the company and audience in a public talk-back. LISTEN NOW

KSKA: Friday, December 16 at 2:45pm UAA Department of Music and Anchorage Opera have teamed up again under the leadership of Associate Professor Mari Hahn to present two one-act operas, Savitri by Gustav Holst and Dr. Miracle by Georges Bizet, both performing Friday, 12/16 through Sunday 12/18 in the UAA Fine Arts Building Recital Hall. Hahn, who rewrote both librettos and who directed both productions brings two of the performers, Linda Porter and Zaide Manzano to Stage Talk today. LISTEN NOW

KSKA: Friday, December 9 at 2:45pm TBA Theatre's holiday offering this year is the stage adaptation of the classic film about Santa Clause (a.k.a. Kris Kringle) being put on trial, Miracle on 34th Street. Join actors Morgan Mitchell and Ivan Taylor as they drop by Stage Talk this week to tell us all about it. Miracle on 34th Street opens December 9th and runs through the 18th at Alaska Pacific University's Grant Hall Theatre. LISTEN NOW

KSKA: Friday, December 2 at 2:45pm Cyrano's Theatre Company is bringing back two favorites for its holiday offerings this year: Pinkalicious the Musical written by Elizabeth Kann and Victoria Kann (based on their picture book by the same name) with music and lyrics by John Gregor and Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and then some) by Michael Carlton, Jim Fitzgerald and John K. Alvarez. Teresa Pond, who directed both plays (as well as the New York premier of Pinkalicious) joins actors Sarah Baird and Austin Roach this week on Stage Talk. Both plays perform through December 18th.

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KSKA: Friday, November 18 at 2:45pm Joseph Robinette's stage adaptation of C. S. Lewis' popular story of four children who enter a magical world through an ordinary wardrobe, meet fantastic characters and begin a battle between good and evil opens November 18 as Anchorage Community Theatre presents The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Director Dave Block and actors Hadley Earl and Todd Sherwood drop by Stage Talk this week to talk about the show which runs Thursdays-Sundays through December 11th. LISTEN NOW

KSKA: Friday, November 11 at 2:45pm Allison Gregory's "meta-theatre" play Not Medea mixes modern motherhood with the Greek myth of Medea and tosses in some audience participation as well. And, as part the National New Play Network Rolling World Premier, Perseverance Theatre brings it to life this week at the Sydney Laurence Theatre (playing November 11-20). Director Tom Robenolt, Actor Shelly Virginia and Anchorage Perseverance Theatre General Manager Josh Lowman drop by the studio this week to tell us all about it. LISTEN NOW

KSKA: Friday, November 4 at 2:45pm The University of Alaska Anchorage Department of Theatre and Dance brings to life a play about a lot of people getting killed in Agatha Christie's classic murder mystery, And Then There Were None. Now in their second (and last) week of performance, Director Dr. Brian Cook along with actors LisaMarie Castro and Isaac Kumpula drop by the studio this week to talk about the play as well as the educational benefits Ms. Castro has received by using the play as the focus of her senior project. LISTEN NOW

KSKA: Friday, October 21 at 2:45pm Cyrano's Theatre Company is presenting Calendar Girls based on the film of the same name by Tim Firth, opening October 21 and running through November 20. Join three of the "girls" today on Stage Talk and they talk about friendship, struggle and an ingenious way of raising money. Based on a true story. LISTEN NOW

Imagine Shakespeare's story of murder and magic, Macbeth as re-set in Bayou St. John in New Orleans during the time of famed Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voodoo, Marie Leveue and you have Tonia Hays' Voodoo Macbeth. Tune into Stage Talk this Friday to hear Actors Stephen Lochner and Kendra Gladwell along with Director Glenys Mee from Alaska Fine Arts Academy explain how it all goes together. Voodoo Macbeth runs only October 14th and 15th. KSKA: Friday, October 14 at 2:45pm LISTEN NOW