Danielle Brooks, John Turturro, Kate Hamill and More Announced for CSC's CLASSIC CONVERSATIONS Series

Classic Stage Company has announced the Spring 2021 season of the free, online version of their discussion series Classic Conversations, premiering Thursdays at 6pm on YouTube and Facebook, and available to view afterwards on these platforms and Instagram IGTV. The virtual Classic Conversations began in 2020 with members of CSC's pandemic-postponed production of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Assassins, and since then have expanded to panoramically capture stories and voices from across a theater world at a moment of crisis and transformation: grappling with stalled creativity and lost income, responding to a pandemic and considering its own inequities amidst the racial justice movement, and galvanized with hope for the future of the field.

This season, the range of participants includes:

Performers: Tony nominee Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple, Orange Is the New Black), January 21; Emmy winner John Turturro (The Cherry Orchard at CSC, Do the Right Thing)

Playwrights working on classics: 2017 Wall Street Journal Playwright of the Year Kate Hamill (Dracula at CSC, Sense and Sensibility), February 18; Pulitzer Prize Finalist Sarah Ruhl (In the Next Room, The Clean House), March 4

Musicians and composers: Shaina Taub (Twelfth Night and As You Like It at The Public Theater), February 24; Tony winner John Kander (Cabaret, Chicago), April 1; and Grammy nominee Jon Batiste (Soul, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert), April 8

Former CSC Artistic Directors: Founding Artistic Director Chris Martin (Oedipus Cycle and The Homecoming at CSC), January 28; Barry Edelstein (Artistic Director at The Old Globe, Steve Martin's The Underpants at CSC), February 25; and Carey Perloff (Former Artistic Director of A.C.T., Elektra at CSC), March 18.

Guests for March 11 and 25 will be announced at a later date.

As CSC awaits the return of live productions, its timely virtual Classic Conversations initiative (alongside the CSC Podcast) offers extraordinarily revealing discussions with an array of theater luminaries. When theaters were forced to shut down this spring, CSC quickly adapted its signature series Classic Conversations, with the theater releasing the episodes free of charge. The first conversations, featuring members of the upcoming Assassins production, included Brandon Uranowitz; Will Swenson; Adam Chanler-Berat; Tavi Gevinson; Eddie Cooper; Ethan Slater; Steven Pasquale; Bianca Horn; Wesley Taylor; Andy Grotelueschen; Brad Giovanine, Katrina Yaukey, Whit K. Lee, and Rob Morrison; and Judy Kuhn. Then, in summer 2020, CSC produced a new lineup featuring eminent actors who have collaborated with Doyle and/or CSC on other projects: George Takei, André De Shields, Becky Ann Baker, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, and Heather Headley. In fall 2020, CSC further expanded the Classic Conversations programming to feature prominent voices across disciplines within the theater world, including Ben Brantley, Tonya Pinkins, Nataki Garrett, Rufus Norris, Marianne Elliott, Timothy Douglas, Anika Noni Rose, John Weidman, Hilton Als, and Faith Prince.

Due in part to Doyle's being a fellow artist, a collaborator, and, in many cases, a friend, the series' guests have spoken with remarkable candor. And because artists and audiences have been unable to convene in-person, the songs the musical theater stars have sung during the conversations have been particularly poignant.

Spring 2021 Classic Conversations Schedule by Date

January 21: Danielle Brooks

January 28: Chris Martin

February 4: Shaina Taub

February 11: John Turturro

February 18: Kate Hamill

February 25: Barry Edelstein

March 4: Sarah Ruhl

March 11: TBA

March 18: Carey Perloff

March 25: TBA
April 1: John Kander

April 8: Jon Batiste