Susan Stroman to be Featured on NYC-ARTS, 5/29

The next edition of NYC-ARTS, THIRTEEN's weekly arts and culture multi-platform showcase for the tri-state area, will feature program co-host and New York Emmy winner Paula Zahn's interview with five-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman.The segment will air on Thursday, May 29 at 8 p.m. on THIRTEEN, and will be available for streaming on NYC-ARTS.org.

In the interview, Zahn and Stroman discuss Stroman's latest project directing and choreographing the Broadway musical adaptation of Woody Allen's 1994 crime comedy film, Bullets Over Broadway. Nominated for six Tony Awards, Bullets Over Broadway stars Zach Braff, Marin Mazzie, Nick Cordero, Karen Ziemba, Vincent Pastore and Brooks Ashmanskas. The Tony Award winners will be announced at a ceremony taking place on June 8. Recently honored by the New Dramatists with the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award, Stroman has also been nominated for two Drama Desk Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award for her work on Bullets Over Broadway.

Stroman sheds light on her research process; she is known to circulate to her dancers packets filled with information about the time period which is being portrayed in each show. She also talks about her experience collaborating with Woody Allen to adapt the movie to the stage.

The interview touches on her earlier work and marriage to the late director Mike Okrent, Stroman's choreography for the ballet, and her experience working with Mel Brooks on the award-winning adaptation of The Producers.

Additionally, Stroman reveals that while she has experienced sorrow in her life, the theater has been a positive place for her. "I have had a lot of loss in my life," explains Stroman. "But the theater has saved me and it fills me where I have had loss."

Stroman has earned five Tony Awards for choreography for the Gershwin musical Crazy For You, the 1994 revival of Show Boat, the dance musical Contact and The Producers, which also earned her a Tony for Best Direction. Coming up on her slate, Stroman is producing and choreographing a production of The Merry Widow at The Metropolitan Opera starring Renée Fleming.

NYC-ARTS is a production of THIRTEEN Productions LLC in association with WNET, one of America's most prolific and respected public media providers.

Executive Producer: David Horn. Editorial Director: Joan Hershey. Supervising Producer: Mitch Owgang. Senior Producer: Bob Morris. Segment Producers: Bill O'Donnell and Richard Schilling. For the digital platforms, General Manager: Dan Greenberg. Director of Digital Strategy: Joe Harrell.

Funding for NYC-ARTS is made possible by Rosalind P. Walter, The Agnes Varis Trust, Jody and John Arnhold, Elise Jaffe and Jeffrey Brown, Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation, and Elroy and Terry Krumholz Foundation. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Additional funding provided by members of THIRTEEN. NYC-ARTS is also made possible in part by First Republic Bank.

Visit the NYC-ARTS Web site at NYC-ARTS.org for additional information.

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