THEATER TALK to Honor Jerry Herman, Begin. Today

The newest THEATER TALK features A Tribute to Jerry Herman - occasioned by the 50th Anniversary of Herman's Hello, Dolly!, featuring anecdotes and performances by Lee Roy Reams, Klea Blackhurst and Fred Barton - and A Romance in Radio with actor Richard Seff reminiscing about his career in radio when the medium was at its peak and just beginning to lose ground to TV in the 1950s.

Hosted by Michael Riedel and Susan Haskins, THEATER TALK's Tribute to Jerry Herman and Romance in Radio episode premieres in the New York metropolitan area Friday, February 21 (2014) at 1 AM (Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, and continues on CUNY TV* Saturday 2/22 at 8:30 PM, Sunday 2/23 at 12:30 PM, and Monday 2/24 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

Barton and His Orchestra are headlining An Evening of Jerry Herman featuring Reams and other performers on March 1 at Pace University's Schimmel Center in Manhattan. Reams, Blackhurst and Barton bring their professional associations with songwriter Jerry Herman to THEATER TALK along with an intimate familiarity with Hello, Dolly!: Reams performed in the first Broadway revival in 1978 and directed & choreographed the second revival in 1995; Blackhurst played Dolly at Goodspeed Opera House last summer. The trio's performances on this show celebrate Herman's remarkable skill and showbiz panache.

Also on the show is Richard Seff - actor, agent, author and librettist, and namesake of an annual award bestowed by Actors Equity - who recalls the fun and foibles of working in vintage time radio, particularly as the industry came to be dominated by TV, in his new novel, Take A Giant Step: A Romance in Radio. He shares colorful tales, particularly about essaying the role of Bruce Bigby, a young millionaire on "The Brighter Day," whose slight cough mutated into a terminal disease.

THEATER TALK is jointly produced by the not-for-profits Theater Talk Productions and CUNY TV. The program is taped in the Himan Brown TV and Radio Studios at The City University of New York (CUNY) TV in Manhattan, and is distributed to 100+ participating public television stations nationwide. THEATER TALK is made possible in part by The New York State Council on the Arts, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The TDF/TAP Plus Program, The CUNY TV Foundation and The Friends of THEATER TALK. *CUNY TV, the City University of New York television station, is broadcast in the New York metropolitan area on digital Ch. 25.3, and cablecast in the five boroughs of New York City on Ch. 75 (Time Warner and Cablevision/Optimum), Ch. 77 (RCN), and Ch. 30 (Verizon FiOS). The show is available online anytime at www.cuny.tv and www.theatertalk.org and via iTunes podcasts. CUNY TV is also live-streamed for mobile, tablet and desktop viewing on www.Aereo.com.

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