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"An Issue of Blood" by Marcus Gardley at Victory Gardens Theater.

Offscript: Chay Yew and the King

This week’s guest is Chay Yew, the artistic director of Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago who previews next season at the theatre (it includes Hillary Clinton) and what he thinks of ‘The King and I’ on Broadway. Plus, the editors talk about your favorite topic: cell phones!

Every other week, the editors of American Theatre curate a free-ranging discussion about the lively arts in our Offscript podcast.

Yes, we know we’re late in getting this episode out. In our defense, associate editor Diep Tran (our podcast producer/guru) was out of town for two weeks at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. She catches us up about what she saw and that time Greg Kotis (of Urinetown) asked her what she thought of his play. Crazy talk! We also introduce our editorial assistant Allison Considine on our podcast, and she tells us about her crazy weekend at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival. Finally, Diep, Allison and now-editor-in-chief Rob Weinert-Kendt discuss everyone’s favorite topic: cell phones!

This week’s guest is Chay Yew, playwright and the artistic director of Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago. He previews what’s going on next season at the theatre (it includes Hillary Clinton!), how to talk to audiences about race, and what he thinks of The King and I on Broadway.

Download the episode here. Subscribe via iTunes or RSS.

This week’s recommendations:

  • ZM, the new musical from Greg Kotis and Mark Hollman, about zombies and fast food. It had a reading at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and is looking for productions. Someone give them a stage!
  • The Hirshfeld Century, edited and with text by David Leopold. If you love Al Hirschfeld, then this is the book for you, with 360 (!) drawings.
  • On Clover Road by Steven Dietz, currently running at Contemporary American Theatre Festival. It’s a thriller, which is all-too-rare in the theatre.
  • Theatre podcast the Subtext, from @ This Stage theatre magazine. This week’s guest is Kilroys Joy Meads and Meg Miroshnik.

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