WNYC’s The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space Presents The Garson Kanin Fest

Six decades ago, Garson Kanin, director and playwright of productions such as A Man to Remember and Funny Girl, premiered his classic Broadway play, The Rat Race, on the Great White Way. On the play's 60th anniversary, The Greene Space in collaboration with Yorinks Theater Group celebrates the master American storyteller with two days of dialogue, film and a world premiere performance.

THURSDAY, May 20th at 7:30pm
The Greene Space and Yorinks Theater Group take the timeless New York City landscape of The Rat Race - with rarely granted permission from the Garson Kanin estate to adapt - and present this tender romantic comedy about an aspiring New York City musician as an audio presentation for the first time in the play's history. Adapted and directed by award-winning writer Arthur Yorinks, the performance offers a new opportunity for online audiences to tune in to see and hear this audio theater work via The Greene Space's live video webcast. The performance will be followed by a wine and cheese reception to meet and greet the artists.

"This work is a part of A New Theater of Sound Initiative that emerged out of a partnership with The Greene Space," said Yorinks. "The work is a call to arms to join a budding vision of what theater based on sound can be - a vision that asks for collaborators, like the great Lou Marini or John Rubinstein, whose passions align and who would like to evolve an early to mid-20th century form and establish it in this time for a 21st century audience."

This new adaptation of The Rat Race stars John Rubinstein with a cast of noted New York actors while an all-star jazz ensemble, featuring Lou Marini, Rick Wald and Joe Randazzo, will perform an original score to the brand new audio adaptation.

FRIDAY, May 21st at 5pm
The Greene Space will screen Robert Mulligan's film version of The Rat Race, starring Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds. The 1960 version, which features an appearance by jazz great Gerry Mulligan and captures the New York City struggle of a young musician as only Kanin could write it.

FRIDAY, May 21st at 7:30pm
A panel of New York luminaries closely associated with Kanin's work will reflect on the screenwriter's legacy. A dialogue between Howard Kissel, Philip Morgaman, Jay Binder and John Rubinstein will examine Kanin's productions and the influence he has had on today's writers and directors. Charlotte Booker will moderate the discussion and read selected excerpts from Kanin's work.

When: May 20th at 7:30pm; May 21st at 5pm & 7:30pm
Where: The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space
44 Charlton Street (at Charlton Street)
New York, NY 10014
Tickets: The Garson Kanin Festival, all three events: $45
The Rat Race audio theater world premiere: $30
The Rat Race film screening: $6 (free if you present another Kanin festival event ticket)
Post-film dialogue: $15
Available at www.wnyc.org/thegreenspace
33% friends & family discount for audio play and dialogue events with code Kanin1

Live Video Webcast of May 20th Performance of The Rat Race and May 21st Conversation: www.wnyc.org/thegreenespace

The Kanin Festival, a part of A New Theater of Sound initiative, is made possible through the generous support of the Sidney E. Frank Foundation.

MODERATOR:
Charlotte Booker is an actress familiar with the Kanin canon and has appeared on stage, television and film. She recently portrayed Ann Landers in a one-woman biographical play. She will lead the discussion and read choice excerpts from Kanin's work.

PANELISTS:
Howard Kissel writes the Sunday "Cultural Tourist" column and does reviews of art and classical music. He has been chairman of both the New York Film Critics Circle and the New York Drama Critics Circle. In 1994, he served on the drama jury for the Pulitzer Prize. He has written The Abominable Showman an unauthorized biography of David Merrick, and "Stella Adler on the Art of Acting," both published by Applause. In 1980, he played Woody Allen's manager in Stardust Memories.

Philip Morgaman is a Broadway producer whose recent credits include Cry-baby, a musical based on the John Waters film, and Hamlet, starring Jude Law.

Jay Binder is a Broadway casting director. Jay Binder C.S.A., along with his associates Jack Bowdan C.S.A., Mark Brandon C.S.A. and Nikole Vallins C.S.A., have cast over 70 Broadway shows and every City Center Encores! production since its inception in 1994.

John Rubinstein is an American film, Broadway, and television actor, a composer of film and theatre music, and a director in theatre and television. He made his Broadway acting debut in 1972 and received a Theater World Award for creating the title role in the musical Pippin, directed by Bob Fosse. In 1980 he won the Tony, Drama Desk, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, and Drama-Logue Awards for his portrayal of James Leeds in Mark Medoff's Children of a Lesser God, directed by Gordon Davidson.

WNYC Radio is New York's premier public radio franchise, comprising WNYC FM, WNYC AM, and WQXR, as well as www.wnyc.org and www.wqxr.org. As America's most listened-to AM/FM public radio stations, reaching more than one million listeners every week, WNYC extends New York City's cultural riches to the entire country on-air and online, and presents the best national offerings from networks National Public Radio, Public Radio International, American Public Media, and the British Broadcasting Company. WNYC 93.9 FM broadcasts a wide range of daily news, talk, cultural and music programming, while WNYC AM 820 maintains a stronger focus on breaking news and international news reporting. Classical 105.9 WQXR is New York City's sole 24-hour classical music station, presenting new and landmark classical recordings as well as live concerts from the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, among other New York City venues, immersing listeners in the city's rich musical life. In addition to its audio content, WNYC produces content for live, radio and web audiences from The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, the station's street-level multipurpose, multiplatform broadcast studio and performance space. For more information about WNYC, visit www.wnyc.org.