Critics Rehash the Season, Joel Grey Stops by This Week's THEATER TALK

This week THEATER TALK presents Part Two of the Season's-End Critics panel - with Peter Marks of The Washington Post, Terry Teachout of THE WALL Street Journal, Elisabeth Vincentelli of The New York Times & The New Yorker, and Linda Winer of Newsday - discussing the notable plays of Spring 2017 on Broadway. Then, Tony winner Joel Grey joins co-hosts Michael Riedel of the New York Post and Susan Haskins to talk about his revealing memoir, "Master of Ceremonies" (Flatiron Books). The episode also features a surprise Michael Musto Roast featurette.

The critics find considerable disagreement about the merits of the season's plays A Doll's House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath; Indecent by Paula Vogel; Oslo by J.T. Rogers; and Sweat by Lynn Nottage. And their subsequent comments go farther afield: "The bar is much lower for men to make their Broadway debuts"; "Broadway only embraces musicals about women written by men." The segment concludes with a discussion about outstanding performances in plays this season.

Next, Joel Grey admits that early in his career he wanted to be Sir Laurence Olivier. It was during a national tour of Stop the World, I Want to Get Off (1963-64) when he seriously considered a career in musical theater, culminating in a Tony Award for his role of the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret (1966) and an Academy Award for the same role in the 1972 film version. He has appeared in the long runs of the Chicago revival as "Amos Hart," and in Anything Goes as "Moonface Martin." His memoir deals candidly with his closeted homosexuality, his long marriage to a woman, and how his work on Larry Kramer's THE NORMAL HEART influenced him to finally come out.

The Season's-End Critics, Part Two + Joel Grey edition of THEATER TALK can be seen in the NYC metropolitan area on PBS station Thirteen/WNET today, June 23 (2017) at 1:30 AM (early Saturday morning) and Sunday 6/25 at 11:30 AM; on CUNY TV Saturday 6/24 at 8:30 PM, Sunday 6/25 at 12:30 PM, and Monday 6/26 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM; on WLIW/21 Monday 6/26 at 5:30 PM; and on NYCLife Thursday 6/29 at 11 PM.

THEATER TALK is jointly produced by the not-for-profits Theater Talk Productions and CUNY TV. The program is taped in the Himan Brown TV and Radio Studios at The City University of New York (CUNY) TV in Manhattan, and is distributed to 100+ participating public television stations nationwide. THEATER TALK is made possible in part by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The CUNY TV Foundation, and The Friends of Theater Talk.

*CUNY TV, the City University of New York television station, is broadcast in the NYC metropolitan area on digital Ch. 25.3 and cablecast in the city's five boroughs on Ch. 75 (Spectrum & Optimum Brooklyn), Ch. 77 (RCN), and Ch. 30 (Verizon FiOS). THEATER TALK episodes are available online anytime at www.cuny.tv and www.theatertalk.org and via podcast on iTunes.

Pictured: (top left) Peter Marks, Terry Teachout, Elisabeth Vincentelli, Linda Winer; (right) Joel Grey. Images courtesy Theater Talk Prod. & CUNY TV.