Grant & Richardson Set for 4/17 Talk Radio Talkback

Fiction and reality will collide on April 17th, when radio personalities Bob Grant and David Richardson take the stage with the cast of Talk Radio to participate in a talkback with audience members following the 8pm show.

"Probably no one in the history of New York Talk Radio is more associated with controversy than Bob Grant who many recognize as the inventor of the controversial Talk Radio format," state press notes.  "Bob Grant was known for on-air attacks on public officials including New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and New York Governor Mario Cuomo. Critics charged that Grant was an inflammatory racist, pointing out Grant's statements (in disputed contexts) describing African Americans 'savages' and former New York Mayor David Dinkins as 'the men's room attendant at the 21 Club.'  Grant was occasionally admonished or suspended for short periods by station management, typically with a bluster of controversial, but possibly welcome, publicity."

"After being fired from WABC in 1996, Grant moved down the dial to WOR to host the same type of show in the same time slot...In the late 1990s his show went into national syndication, in the manner of Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh and other successful talkers, but few stations picked it up and it reverted to a local show....Grant's WOR run ended on January 13, 2006. Grant's ratings were not to blame for his departure, according to the New York Post, which mentioned that the decision was reached because the station's other shows had niche audiences to garner more advertising dollars.  Having left his options open for 'an offer he cannot refuse,' Bob Grant returned to WOR in February 2006 doing one minute 'Straight Ahead' commentaries, airing twice daily after news broadcasts until September 2006. Grant also appeared a couple of times as a guest on Sean Hannity's show on WABC, but no return to that station ever materialized. By December 2006 Grant began appearing on WFNY-FM 'Free FM' in a possible trial run for a slot on that station."

Richardson graduated from Yale where he was originally a Drama major and was a member of the Yale Drama School. He has performed in various theatrical productions around the world, including Venezuela . He has been doing theatre reviews twice a week for WOR radio for the last 4 years on The WOR Morning Show.  He can be heard on Tuesday and Friday at 6 : 40 AM and 8 : 40 AM and on Saturday morning during the season and on Wednesdays during the summer months.

Talk Radio, now playing the Longacre Theatre, is written by Eric Bogosian and stars Tony Award Winner Liev Schreiber in the role of Barry Champlain. Co-starring is Stephanie March ("Law and Order: SVU"), Peter Hermann ("United 93"), Michael Laurence (The Rainmaker at Arena Stage) and Sebastian Stan ("The Covenant"). The show also features the talents of Forbidden Broadway favorite Christine Pedi, Christ Pusz, Barbara Rosenblat, Marc Thompson, Adam Seitz, Kit Williamson and Cornell Womack.

The production is directed by Robert Falls, who is celebrating his twentieth year at the helm of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.  His recent Broadway credits include Shining City, Long Day's Journey Into Night and Death of a Salesman, for which he won a Tony Award. The design team for Talk Radio is Mark Wendland (Sets), Laura Bauer (Costumes), Christopher Akerlind (Lighting), and Richard Woodbury (Sound).

Visit www.talkradioonbroadway.com for tickets and more information.

Photo - Bob Grant