Public Theater's Oskar Eustis Talks to Lewis Lapham At Joe's Pub 1/20

Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin, Linda Emond, Taylor Mac, Mandy Patinkin and Lapham's Quarterly Editor Lewis Lapham will celebrate the release of Lapham's Quarterly's Winter 2011 issue "Celebrity" on Thursday, January 20 at 7 p.m. at Joe's Pub. The evening will feature a discussion about celebrity, a performance by Mandy Patinkin and Taylor Mac of "Unworthy of Your Love" from Assassins, and lively selections from the magazine, which will include excerpts from Charles Lindbergh, Lillie Langtry, John Hinckley, Billy Wilder, Andy Warhol, John Adams, and tales from the Thousand and One Nights, among others. Limited tickets to the one-night-only event are $20 and on sale now at (212) 967-7555 or www.publictheater.org.

"We look forward to an entertainment of a match with brilliance of the onstage names in lights," said Founder and Editor of Lapham's Quarterly Lewis Lapham.
Oskar Eustis is the Artistic Director of The Public Theater and has worked as a director, dramaturg, and artistic director for theaters around the country. Throughout his career, Eustis has been dedicated to the development of new plays as both a director and a producer. At The Public he directed the New York premiere of Rinne Groff's The Ruby Sunrise and Hamlet. He is currently directing Rinne Groff's Compulsion with Mandy Patinkin which will open at The Public in February. He commissioned Tony Kushner's Angels in America at the Eureka Theatre Company in San Francisco and directed its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum. Eustis was the lead producer on the Tony Award-winning revival of Hair and the acclaimed rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson on Broadway and is the lead producer on the current acclaimed production of The Merchant of Venice.

LEWIS H. LAPHAM is the founder and editor of Lapham's Quarterly, which has been called "lavishly detailed, handsomely produced, and conceptually brilliant" by Vanity Fair. He is the editor emeritus of Harper's Magazine and was inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame in 2007. He is the author of 13 books, among them Money and Class in America, The Wish for Kings, Waiting for the Barbarians and Theater of War.
Alec Baldwin most recently hosted The Public Theater's Public Forum event "Afghanistan After America, America After Afghanistan." He last appeared on stage in the 2010 Guild Hall production of Peter Shaffer's Equus. His other stage includes Mr. Sloane, Loot, Serious Money, Prelude to a Kiss (Obie Award), A Street Car Named Desire (Tony nomination), Macbeth, and The Twentieth Century. Baldwin has appeared in over 40 films, including Beetle Juice, Working Girl, Miami Blues, The Hunt for Red October, Glengarry Glen Ross, Ghosts of Mississippi, State and Main, The Cooler (National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor, Oscar nomination), The Aviator, The Departed, and It's Complicated, among many others. On television Baldwin currently stars with Tina Fey on NBC's "30 Rock," winner of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. Baldwin has received four SAG Awards, three Golden Globes, the Television Critics Award and two Emmy awards as Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance on the show.
Linda Emond was most recently seen at The Public in the Shakespeare in the Park production of The Winter's Tale and will be seen this spring in Tony Kushner's The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide To Capitalism and Socialism With A Key To The Scriptures. Her Broadway credits include Life x 3 and 1776. Her Off-Broadway credits include A Spanish Play, Homebody/Kabul, Arturo Ui, and The Dying Gaul. Her films include Julie & Julia, Stop-Loss, Across the Universe, North Country, and City by the Sea.
Philip Seymour Hoffman was last seen at The Public in last season's Othello. His other Public Theater credits include The Seagull, and The Skriker. His Public/LAByrinth directing credits include The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and The Little Flower of East Orange. His Broadway credits include Long Day's Journey Into Night, and True West. His films include Doubt (Academy Award nomination), Charlie Wilson's War (Academy Award nomination), Capote (Academy Award), Almost Famous, and The Big Lebowski. Hoffman has been a LAByrinth Theater Company member since 1995.

TAYLOR MAC is a playwright, actor, singer-songwriter, and sometime director and producer. TimeOut New York has called him, "One of the most exciting theater artists of our time." He was last seen as part of the Under The Radar Festival with his play The Walk Across America For Mother Earth. Other plays include The Lily's Revenge, The Young Ladies Of, The Be(A)st of Taylor Mac, Red Tide Blooming, Dilating (an evening of one-acts), Blue Grotto, and his first play The Hot Month.

Mandy Patinkin's career encompasses theater, film, television, recordings and the concert stage. He is currently at work on Rinne Groff's Compulsion, directed by Oskar Eustis, which will open at The Public in February. His Broadway credits include Trelawny of the ‘Wells', Evita (Tony Award), The Secret Garden, Sunday in the Park with George, Falsettos, and The Wild Party. His solo concerts include Dress Casual, Celebrating Sondheim, and Mamaloshen. His Public Theater credits include Leave It To Beaver Is Dead, The Knife, The Winter's Tale, Rebel Women, and Hamlet. Over 20 feature films, multiple television series and solo recordings. Patinkin continues touring his solo concerts, a concert with Patti LuPone and a new concert with Nathan Gunn.

LAPHAM'S QUARTERLY was founded by Lewis Lapham in 2007 after serving as editor in chief of Harper's Magazine for more than 30 years. Each issue of Lapham's Quarterly explores a single theme-war, money, nature, education-to provide a broad range of historical perspectives from approximately 100 "Voices in Time." It is published by the American Agora Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to fostering an interest in - and developing an acquaintance with - history. The American Agora Foundation was created with the purpose of funding Lapham's Quarterly, as well as other projects that promote an understanding and appreciation of history. Lapham's Quarterly's unique thematic format and its incorporation of four millennia of literature, art, and discourse allow for the magazine to become part of a broader historical discussion and, additionally, to further American Agora's own educational mission. It is the goal of the American Agora Foundation and of Lapham's Quarterly to add to the teaching resources of the educational community and to bring a love of history to a new generation of citizens.

The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Andrew D. Hamingson, Executive Director) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals, and productions of classics at its downtown headquarters and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day onstage and through extensive outreach and education programs. Each year, over 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public has won 42 Tony Awards, 151 Obies, 41 Drama Desk Awards and four Pulitzer Prizes. The Public has brought 54 shows to Broadway, including Sticks and Bones; That Championship Season; A Chorus Line; The Pirates of Penzance; The Tempest; Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In ‘Da Funk; On the Town; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; Topdog/Underdog; Elaine Stritch at Liberty; Take Me Out; Caroline, or Change; Well; Passing Strange; the Tony Award-winning revival of Hair; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson; and currently, the 2010 Shakespeare in the Park production of The Merchant of Venice. www.publictheater.org.

Limited tickets to the one-night-only Lapham's Quarterly "Celebrity" event are $20 and on sale now at (212) 967-7555. For additional information about Joe's Pub and The Public Theater, visit The Public Theater website at www.publictheater.org.