Ann Hampton Callaway, Alan Bergman, Alison Bechdel and More Featured in 92Y Virtual Talks and Classes in April and May

Theater and LGBTQ luminaries are featured in 92Y's upcoming virtual talks and classes in April and May. The programs will feature Alan Bergman, Ann Hampton Callaway, Alison Bechdel and many more!

See the full programming below:

ART AND ACTIVISM: Agnes Gund AND CATHERINE GUND IN CONVERSATION WITH Anna Deavere Smith

Wed, Apr 14, 8 pm ET, FREE - watch here

Join Agnes Gund, along with Emmy-nominated director Catherine Gund as they discuss Aggie, a feature-length documentary that explores the nexus of art, race, and justice through the story of art collector and philanthropist Agnes "Aggie" Gund's life. Together they talk to Anna Deavere Smith about the power of art to transform consciousness and inspire social change.

Harvey Granat Presents | MARILYN AND Alan Bergman

Harvey Granat and Special Guest Alan Bergman, with performances by Christine Andreas and Ann Hampton Callaway
Thu, Apr 22, 12 pm, $30*

Harvey Granat celebrates one of the most remarkable and successful songwriting teams in history - the multiple award-winning Marilyn and Alan Bergman. With a songbook that includes The Way We Were, What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life, Windmills of Your Mind, How Do You Keep the Music Playing? and many more, and ranges from the score for Yentl to the theme song for Maude , the Bergmans are songwriting royalty. Harvey talks about how they crafted and tailored songs for luminaries including Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra and Fred Astaire, and he shares the charming behind-the-scenes stories you'll only hear from him. As always, he sings, in his enchanting and inimitable style, with special guest Alan Bergman joining him along with additional performances by Christine Andreas and Ann Hampton Callaway in reminding us why these exquisite songs are among the most enduring of all.

FIERCE THURSDAYS! MICHAEL W. TWITTY AND RABBI RUTH ADAR

Thu, Apr 22, 7 pm ET, FREE, watch here

Fierce Thursdays (formerly known in-person as Fierce Fridays) are back and happening online - more accessible than ever! We're continuing our series on April 22 with a spiritual pre-game of Shabbat and a moderated conversation and Q+A. This time they welcome African American-Jewish culinary historian and former Hebrew teacher Michael W. Twitty, author of the 2018 James Beard Award-winning The Cooking Gene and his latest, Rice. Our spiritual leader of the evening is Rabbi Ruth Adar known for her blog "Coffee Shop Rabbi." Check it out here ! Registration is free of charge. Past guests (in-person) include RuPaul's Drag Race star Alexis Michelle, Phillip Picardi, Kate Bornstein, Abby Chava Stein, Garrard Conley, Masha Gessen, and more.

Cabaret Conversations with Michael Kirk Lane | T. Oliver Reid

Mon, Apr 26, 6 pm, $25*

For the past 20 years, T. Oliver Reid has worked on Broadway shows including Hadestown, Once on this Island, Chicago, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Kiss Me Kate, and more, which have amassed more than 20 Tony Awards from the American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards. He is also an accomplished cabaret artist and multiple award winner for his solo show Drop Me Off In Harlem which he directed, wrote and starred in. T. Oliver Reid is the co-founder of Black Theatre Coalition.

THE WAY FORWARD: THEATER'S EVOLUTION IN MOMENTS OF CHANGE

A Three-Part Series Presented by 92Y and Town & Country magazine
Curated by The Public Theater

PART II: PRESENT - CULTURE AND CRISIS:
Oskar Eustis, Nataki Garrett, MARIA MANUELA GOYANES, AND KWAME ANTHONY APPIAH WITH STELLENE VOLANDES
Mon, Apr 26, 7 pm ET, FREE, watch here

Join them for the second of a free, three-part digital series of conversations exploring the past, present, and future of theater during moments of social inflection, curated by The Public Theater. Moderated by Stellene Volandes, Editor in Chief of Town & Country and Editorial Director of Elle Decor , these conversations pose fundamental questions about the art form. What are the historical forces that created the modern theater, and how in turn has theater's role in our society helped shape our culture at large? How has the last year upended the way artists work? Who will carry theater into the future? Making a gift today helps shape the stories of tomorrow. Please consider donating to The Public Theater and support the care of our artistic community and the creation of groundbreaking theater for generations to come.

We are in a moment of evolution in the American theater - reconceiving the very nature of our work amid a worldwide pandemic. It is a period of meaningful and sustained reckoning, one that asks: Who is your true community? How do we create better, more inclusive organizations? What do we want to give to the next generation of artists and audiences? How can our government better support the arts workers who tell our country's story? Join Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Nataki Garrett, Woolly Mammoth Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes, and cultural theorist and philosopher Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah for a conversation about the how they have adapted their leadership and deepened their practice in 2020-21.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM - SONDHEIM IN THE REALM OF FARCE

Louis Rosen
Thu, Apr 29, 1:30 pm, $50*

Stephen Sondheim wrote, "When we opened on Broadway...the reception was ecstatic-for everything but the songs. Shortly thereafter, Forum was nominated for eight Tony Awards (and won six), the only major category missing being Best Score." For Forum, Sondheim tried to unlearn everything his mentor, Oscar Hammerstein, had taught him about songwriting for the theater. 92Y School of Music teacher Louis Rosen explores the show that was, in fact, the biggest hit (in its Broadway run) that Sondheim was ever connected with.

THE SECRET TO SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH: ALISON BECHDEL IN CONVERSATION WITH Roz Chast

Tue, May 4, 7 pm ET, $40*

Fun Home author, comics giant and MacArthur Genius Award winner Alison Bechdel and beloved New Yorker cartoonist and author Roz Chast join them for a conversation about Bechdel's new book, The Secret to Superhuman Strength . Bechdel's quest for this elusive secret leads her not just through a succession of fitness fads and exercise exploits, but into the more immaterial realms of creativity, loss, desire, addictive behavior, mortality, the problem of the self, and, for good measure, the nature of the universe. On her circuitous path, she enlists the aid of literary figures from the Transcendentalists and the British Romantics to Jack Kerouac. This deeply-layered graphic memoir charts one person's lifelong effort, as diverting as it is dogged, to get the mind and body on the same page. Bechdel and Chast are two of the most original and influential figures in comics. Don't miss the chance to hear them.

Signed copies of The Secret to Superhuman Strength may be purchased with your ticket, courtesy of Greenlight Bookstore. If you are purchasing a book bundle, please include your shipping address during checkout, or email us. Please note: domestic shipping only.

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