Drama

After six and a half years, first as co-host and then as host of Stage Talk, Steve Hunt has decided to exit stage left. With his departure the show will take a short hiatus and then re-appear in August in a new format with a new name, but still focusing on the arts. To help commemorate the last episode of the show, Hunt has invited as his guest, Stage Talk creator and first host, Catherine Stadem. Join Steve and Catherine today on Stage Talk as they talk about its beginnings almost twenty years ago through its history of celebrating the performing arts up to today.Thanks for listening!

Linda Benson and Bruce Kelly of Stories at the Cemetery drop by Stage Talk this week to chat about all the fascinating characters that are brought to life in the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery. This annual event, in which the general public walks from grave site to grave site to hear live actors reenact the lives of former Anchorage residents, will happen this July 8th from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. And on August 12th, the event repeats with all the actors performing on a single stage.Thanks for listening!

Written, directed and performed by Glyka Stoiou, the Commedia dell'arte-influenced Don Quixotes (based on Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes) performs at Cyrano's Theatre Company for one weekend only. Visiting Stage Talk from her native Greece, Stoiou, along with cast mate and fellow Greek Angeliki Karakaxidou, talks about her play, her process and the absolute zaniness of the performance. Also joining Stoiou and Karakaxidou is Cyrano's Producing Artistic Director Teresa K. Pond. Don Quixotes performs June 21-24.Thanks for listening!

Professional actors and teachers Shelley Virginiaand Ty Hewitt are starting a new theatre company in Anchorage called Cazart (ku-'zart) and will be presenting their premier production of Duncan MacMillan's Lungs in August. Today, both Ty and Shelley drop by Stage Talk to give us some background on the company and their plans for the future.Thanks for listening!

Anchorage Community Theatre's Executive Director Matt Fernandez drops by Stage Talk this week to give us an overview of what they have planned for their 2018-2019 season. a farce, an historical musical, a drama, an adaption of a Newberry Medal winning novel and a work from an "honorary local" are in the works.Thanks for listening!

Nick Jones, writer for the popular show Orange is the New Black, has penned a play that features a character not quite like many you've met. His name is Trevor and he is a chimpanzee who had fame as a youth but now is going through growing pains. Trevor is an exploration of communication and humanity and is both hilarious and troublesome. Join R. Scott Cantrell who plays the title character, along with Director Charlie Cardwell and Louisa Martin who plays next door neighbor Ashley on this week's Stage Talk. Trevor performs at Cyrano's Theatre Company May 18-June 9.Thanks for listening!

Before Muhammad Aliwas "The Greatest" he was the younger "Cassius Clay" fighting to find out who he was and where he was going in life. Anchorage Community Theatre is presenting Idris Goodwin's award winning play And In This Corner: Cassius Clay through May 13th. Director Matt Fernandez and Xavier Love, who plays Cassius Clay at age 18, drop by Stage Talk this week to talk about Ali's early life and the forces that forged him to become one of the most recognized figures in the world.Thanks for listening!

Of more than a hundred scripts submitted to the 2018 Earth Matters on Stage (EMOS) New Play Competition, New York based playwright Crystal Skillman's Rain and Zoe Save the World was selected as the winning entry and is being produced by The University of Alaska Anchorage Department of Theatre. This week on Stage Talk, director Ty Hewitt drops by to talk about EMOS as well as the play which follows two Seattle teenagers on an across the country motorcycle trip that results in them learning more about themselves than they ever anticipated. Rain and Zoe Save the World performs April 27-29 at the UAA Mainstage located in the UAA Fine Arts Building.Thanks for listening!

Playwright, actor and director Austin Pendelton's play Orson's Shadow, a fictional exploration of a 1960 rehearsal with some of the most famous theatre luminaries of the time is the latest offering by Cyrano's Theatre Company. The "Orson" of the title refers to "Orson Wells", director and actor of such works as Citizen Kane and War of the Worlds. Other famous characters include Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Joan Plowright and Kenneth Tynan. David Haynes, who plays the title character along with Stefani Suydam (Vivien Leigh) and director Dave Dahl drop by Stage Talk this week to chat about how the play has been going. Orson's Shadow is currently performing at Cyrano's and continues its run until April 1st.LISTEN HEREKSKA: Friday, March 23 at 2:45pm

KSKA: Friday, February 16 at 2:45pm UAA Department of Theatre's Brian Cook started working on a collaborative project with students over a year ago to research the earthquake that devastated south central Alaska in 1964 with the purpose of creating a presentation that would explore this defining moment in Alaskan history. The result is Earthquake '64, a multidisciplinary performance that weaves personal stories, movement and music together into an exciting evening of theatre. Joining Brian today on Stage Talk are three of those student-collaborators, Adi Davis, Kaeli Meno and Paitton Reid. Earthquake '64 performs at the Fine Arts Center on the campus of UAA February 16-18.LISTEN HERE