Broadway's HAND TO GOD, Frank Sinatra Exhibition and More Set for ARTS IN THE CITY, 6/12

The June 2015 edition of CUNY TV's ARTS IN THE CITY, hosted by Donna Hanover from the gardens of The Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park, begins Friday, June 12 (2015) at 10am, 3pm and 8:30pm on CUNY TV*. The show is repeated Sunday 6/14 at noon and returns Friday 6/26 at 10am, 3pm and 8:30pm and on Sunday 6/28 at noon on CUNY TV. On and after June 12, the program may be viewed anytime on www.cuny.tv.

Pat Collins tours Sinatra: An American Icon, a multimedia exhibition celebrating the life and career of Frank Sinatra - singer, performer, actor, and family man - at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Radio personality Jonathan Schwartz, LPA Executive Director Jacqueline Z. Davis, and exhibit designer Caitlin Whittington are interviewed about the artist and the man, and Collins examines the unusual collection of memorabilia assembled by the Sinatra Family for the exhibition.

Lisa Beth Kovetz goes behind the scenes of Broadway's new American play Hand to God, a dark comedy featuring a devilish sock puppet. She speaks with playwright Rob Askins and actor Steven Boyer about the play's long journey from off-Broadway productions to triumph on Broadway and five Tony Award nominations.

Brooklyn artist and designer Danielle Trofe literally grows some of her art, finding ways to bring innovative materials and technologies to design while protecting the environment by creating biodegradable materials. She shows Donna Hanover how she makes beautiful lampshades from mushroom fiber, a hydroponic vertical garden using gravity to water the roots, and a light that uses falling sand, like an hourglass, to power the illumination.

Continuing a previous ARTS IN THE CITY story about fine dining in museums, Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson visits Café Sabarsky in the Neue Galerie, The Wright at the Guggenheim, and the Morgan Library Dining Room, speaking with the executive chefs of all three about their views of food, décor and what they offer to the hungry museum-goer.

And Barry Mitchell enjoys Scott Wiener's Pizza Tour of the city's best pizza parlors, a four-hour bus-and-borough excursion to NoLita, Williamsburg and Bensonhurst to sample pies baked in coal, wood and gas ovens with particular chef variations. Mitchell and Wiener make an informative and hilarious comedy duo.

*CUNY TV is broadcast over-the-air in the tri-state area on Ch. 25.3, and cablecast in THE FIVE boroughs of New York City on Ch. 75 (Time Warner and Optimum), Ch. 77 (RCN) and Ch. 30 (Verizon FiOS).