The Drama League Will Host a Conversation with Taylor Mac and Judith Light

The Drama League has announced its final Spring 2019 In Conversation Series events: Gary with Taylor Mac on Monday, April 22, 2019 at 7:00 p.m., and Judith Light on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. to be held at The Drama League Theater Center (32 Avenue of the Americas) in Tribeca.

In Conversation grants audiences a rare chance to discuss the art and careers of America's leading theatre makers in an intimate venue. Earlier events this season focused on the creative minds behind To Kill A Mockingbird (Aaron Sorkin and Bartlett Sher), Hillary and Clinton (Lucas Hnath), Oklahoma! (Daniel Fish), the upcoming Shakespeare in the Park production of Hercules(Lear deBessonet) and the all-female design team of Lifespan of a Fact. To reserve seats for the remaining events in the Spring 2019 series, please visit: dramaleague.org/events.

Spring 2019 In Conversation Series

All events held at the Drama League Theater Center, 32 Avenue of the Americas

Gary with Taylor Mac
Moderated by Drama League Education Manager Nilan Johnson

Monday, April 22, 2017 at 7:00PM
Premium Seating: $40
General Public: $30
Drama League/SDC/AEA Members: $20

In Gary, Taylor Mac's singular world view intersects with Shakespeare's first tragedy, Titus Andronicus. In Mac's extraordinary new play, set during the fall of the Roman Empire, the years of bloody battles are over. The civil war has ended. The country has been stolen by madmen, and there are casualties everywhere. And two very lowly servants-Lane and Nielsen-are charged with cleaning up the bodies. It's the year 400-but it feels like the end of the world.

Taylor Mac (who uses "judy"-lowercase sic-as a gender pronoun) is a playwright, actor, singer-songwriter, performance artist, director and produce. Plays include: Gary, A Sequel to Titus Andronicus (Broadway), A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (shown in its 24-hour entirety at St. Ann's Warehouse, The Curran Theater, the Ace Theater, the Melbourne Festival, upcoming at the Berliner Festspiele), Hir (Magic Theater, Playwrights Horizon, Steppenwolf and over sixty professional productions), The Walk Across America for Mother Earth (La Mama with the Talking Band), The Lily's Revenge (HERE Arts Center, Magic Theater, American Repertory Theater), The Young Ladies Of (HERE Arts Center, Playmakers Repertory, Manchester's Library Theater), Red Tide Blooming (PS 122), and The Be(a)st of Taylor Mac (highlights include: The Public Theater, The Sydney Opera House, and Edinburgh Fringe Festival)

Mac, aside from acting in much of judy's own work, sometimes plays with others. Most notably: Shen Teh/Shui Ta in The Foundry Theater's production of "Good Person of Szechwan", in the City Center's Encores production of "Gone Missing", Puck/Egeus in the Classic Stage Company's "A Midsummer's Night Dream", and in the two-man vaudeville, "The Last Two People On Earth", which judy co-created with Mandy Patinkin and director Susan Stroman.

Mac is a MacArthur Fellow, a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama and the recipient of multiple awards including the Kennedy Prize, a NY Drama Critics Circle Award, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a Guggenheim, the Herb Alpert in Theater, The Booth Award, the Peter Zeisler Memorial Award, the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award, two Bessies, two Obies, two Helpmann's, and an Ethyl Eichelberger Award. An alumnus of New Dramatists, judy is currently the resident playwright at the Here Arts.

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Judith Light
Moderated by Drama League Executive Artistic Director Stelian-Shanks

Wednesday, May 1, 2017 at 7:00PM
Premium Seating: $45
General Public: $30
Drama League/SDC/AEA Members: $20

Tony and Emmy Award winner Judith Light has captivated audiences around the world with her iconic performances in film, television, and theatre. An impassioned activist and advocate to end HIV/AIDS, Ms. Light will discuss her life and career from its early beginnings, her theatrical successes including Wit, Other Desert Cities, The Assembled Parties, and Lombardi, her recent turns in ""American Crime Story, "Transparent," and "Ugly Betty," as well as her upcoming series with Ryan Murphy, "The Politician." Widely beloved throughout the industry, Ms. Light will share wisdom gleaned from decades of success in Hollywood and on Broadway...and her hopes for the future of the American theatre.

Judith Light is known for her extensive body of work in television, film, and onstage.

This fall, Light will star with Bette Midler and Ben Platt in Ryan Murphy's Netflix series, "The Politician," as well as in the musical finale of "Transparent," Amazon Prime's Golden Globe winning series created by Jill Soloway, for which she received two Emmy nominations, a Golden Globe nomination and three Critics' Choice nominations.

Last year, her role in Ryan Murphy's "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" garnered her an Emmy nomination as well as a Critics Choice nomination.

Light stars with Alec Baldwin and Mandy Patinkin in the indie film Before You Know It, which premiered at Sundance in January 2019 and has been picked up by distributor 1091, as well as Ms. White Light, the independent drama that premiered at SXSW this year. This past winter, Lifetime released the Judith Light and Christina Ricci helmed movie, "Nellie Bly." Upcoming, Judith will be seen in the film Hot Air with Steve Coogan.

Her 2017 performance in All the Ways to Say I Love You (MCC) garnered her a Drama League Award nomination. That same year, she could be seen in God Looked Away with Al Pacino (Pasadena Playhouse). The year previous, Light won an Outer Critics Circle Award for the Broadway production of Thérèse Raquin with Kiera Knightly. In 2012 and 2013, Light won two consecutive Tony and Drama Desk awards for her performances in Other Desert Cities, and The Assembled Parties; these two performances dubbed her the first actress in nearly two decades to win consecutive Tony Awards.

For the Pulitzer Prize winning Wit, she was awarded the Helen Hayes and Eliot Norton awards. In 2011, Light received a Tony nomination for her role as Marie Lombardi in Lombardi directed by Thomas Kail.

Light starred in and produced the film, Save Me, which was written by husband Robert Desiderio and premiered at Sundance in 2007. The year before, Light could be seen in the indie film Ira and Abby.

Selected TV includes: "Ugly Betty" (Emmy Nomination), "Law and Order, SVU", "Dallas", "Who's the Boss", "One Life to Live" (Two consecutive Emmys).

Light has been an impassioned advocate to end HIV/Aids and is a champion for LGBTQ and human rights and supports organizations such as, Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids, among many others.

She is on the Board of Directors of the MCC Theatre in NYC.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski