Loudon Wainwright III, David Greenspan & More to Honor Talking Band This Month

Talking Band, the seminal downtown New York City theater collective, continue their 40th anniversary celebration with a gala evening that will bring together many of the countless artists with whom they have collaborated since Paul Zimet, Ellen Maddow and Tina Shepard founded the company in 1974. The event will take place Monday, April 27 at the Ukrainian National Home Ballroom (140 Second Ave, between St. Mark's Place and East 9th Street) in the East Village. Proceeds will support the Talking Band's artistic programs.

Ben Brantley of The New York Times has called Band "one of the boldest and most venerable politically minded companies in New York experimental theater." American Theater has deemed them "one of the most exceptional theater companies in the country." Forty years in, the company's work remains as vital as ever. Helen Shaw, in a review for Time Out New York, described Talking Band's most recent production, The Golden Toad, a"soap-operatic epic-with-music [that is] the Band at its best: both long-considered and ragged, Brechtian and full of invitation."

Whether through collaboration or simply via the lasting impact of their paradigmatic artistry-with its commitment to radical collaboration, and to the fusion of diverse theatrical styles and perspectives-Talking Band has influenced generations of artists, both experimental and more mainstream, even in art forms beyond theater. Talking Band collaborators spanning four decades will perform at the April 27 gala, including David Greenspan, Loudon Wainwright III, Theresa McCarthy, Kamala Sankaram, Peter Gordon, James Tigger! Ferguson, Kim Gambino, Steven Rattazzi, Jack Ferver, Tom Nellis, Randy Reyes, "Blue" Gene Tyranny, Michelle Rios, William Badgett, Viva deConcini, Sam Kulik, Michael Evans, Jack Wetherall, Maria Kovacevic and Harry Mann, in addition to Talking Band founders Tina Shepard, Ellen Maddow and Paul Zimet.

Talking Band has been making innovative and influential theater works in New York for 40 years. Collectively, the founders have earned 11 OBIE awards and numerous other honors. The company has performed at nearly all of New York City's celebrated downtown venues, including La MaMa, PS 122, Theater for the New City, Dance Theater Workshop, The Ohio Theater, The Flea Theater and HERE Arts Center. Nearly 50 of its original productions have toured the United States and the world. Notable productions include Marcellus Shale, The Walk Across America For Mother Earth, Bitterroot, Radnevsky's Real Magic, Painted Snake in a Painted Chair, Black Milk Quartet and The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol.