Alda, Clark & Durang Scheduled for 92Y Fall Events

The 92nd Street Y announces a wide-variety of theatre-events this fall, including a vocal master class with Tony Award-winner Victoria Clark, a chat with playwright Christopher Durang, and a theatrical celebration of poet William Blake's 250th birthday.  Also listed below is a preview of theatrical events coming to the Y in spring of 2008.

The 92nd Street Y is located at 1395 Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street.  For tickets and information call 212-415-5500 or visit www.92Y.org.

Alan Alda with Roger Rosenblatt: Talking About Talking
Sunday, September 23 at 7:30PM
Tickets: $26

"Most widely known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce on the television series M*A*S*H, Alan Alda won a Drama Desk Award in 2005 for his performance in Glengarry Glen Ross, and is a three-time Tony Award nominee. His most recent book, 'Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself,' is a follow-up to his bestselling memoir, 'Never Have Your Dog Stuffed.' He appears in discussion with Roger Rosenblatt, who is an award-winning essayist, author and playwright."

Afternoon Night Table: Christopher Durang
Wednesday, October 24 at 1PM
Tickets: $20

"OBIE Award-winner Christopher Durang, author of more than 30 plays, including Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, Baby with the Bathwater and Miss Witherspoon, joins award-winning journalist Roger Rosenblatt at the Y's Afternoon Night Table.  In this series of intimate afternoon discussions, writers talk about their work, their passions and the books on their night tables."

Master Class: Victoria Clark
Sunday, November 11 at 7PM
Tickets: $25

"Tony Award-winning singer and actress Victoria Clark has appeared in such Broadway productions as The Light in the Piazza, Titanic and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. She has also created the musical staging for many operas and musicals, including Don Giovanni and Regina for the Chautauqua Opera. This November, Clark shares her expertise with advanced students in a vocal master class at the 92nd Street Y."

The Poets' Theatre: William Blake at 250, A One-Person Show by Ruth Rosen
American Premiere Monday, December 3 at 8Pm
Tickets: $18

"The 92nd Street Y Poets' Theatre is an ongoing series of verse dramas, plays and theatrical adaptations of literary texts designed to emphasize language and the aural experience of theater. In the first performance of the season, Ruth Rosen, one of Britain's leading theater actors, draws from William Blake's poems, letters and prose to create a dramatic presentation of Blake as an artist, poet and visionary. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Rosen has collaborated with Harold Pinter, Andrew Motion, Yehuda Amichai and D.M. Thomas."

Seven
Monday, January 21 at 8Pm
Tickets: $18

"Seven award-winning playwrights, including Anna Deveare Smith and Susan Yankowitz, created monologues based on interviews with and oral histories of seven women from Russia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Guatemala and Cambodia. Each monologue tells the story of a woman who overcame injustice to emerge as a leader in her community. Cast to be announced."

The Lyricist's Voice: Paul Simon with Billy Collins
Wednesday, February 20 at 8P
Tickets: $18

"This season of The Lyricist's Voice, the Y's series of conversations focused on the literary aspects of lyric-writing, opens with a conversation between two of today's most talented wordsmiths. Twelve-time Grammy Award-winner Paul Simon talks about the art of lyric writing with former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins."

An Evening of Shakespeare: Anthony and Cleopatra
Monday, March 3 at 8PM

"In 2008, two-time Tony Award-winner Christine Baranski is scheduled to star in the Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.  She joins other members of the cast at the Y in a reading of scenes from the play.  Following the performance, Darko Tresnjak, the play's director, talks with Jeffrey Horowitz, TFANA Artistic Director, and the performers."

The Poets' Theatre: Gilgamesh, Directed by Robert Scanlan
Monday, April 28 at 8PM

"The 92nd Street Y Poets' Theatre is an ongoing series of verse dramas, plays and theatrical adaptations of literary texts designed to emphasize language and the aural experience of theater. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa and dramaturge Chad Gracia bring their adaptation of the Sumerian epic Gilgamesh to the Y's stage. The dramatic reading will be directed by Robert Scanlan, whose previous Poetry Center productions include Dante's Inferno and Samuel Beckett at 100: Three Plays."

Photo: Victoria Clark (2007) by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd