BANSHEE by John Patrick Shanley (Summer 2022 Re-Release)

Tony, Oscar and Pulitzer Prize winner John Patrick Shanley (Doubt, Moonstruck, Outside Mullingar) wrote and directed this short play about a banshee, a fantastical Irish spirit, who pays an ailing teacher a visit and makes him an otherworldly proposal. The mystical comedy features Geraldine Hughes (THE MANDELA EFFECT, TWO CROWS APART, Jerusalem, Gran Torino) and Aidan Quinn (“Elementary,” Michael Collins, Desperately Seeking Susan). Stay tuned after the performance for a conversation between the playwright, actors, and founder and consulting director Claudia Catania that includes a few delightfully surprising responses.

Download on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [ 25 Minutes 46 Seconds]

YOU BELONG TO ME by Daniel Reitz (Summer 2022 Re-Release)

This week's summer re-release features Daniel Reitz's (NAPOLEON IN EXILE) affecting one-act YOU BELONG TO ME, featuring Amy Ryan (Oscar nominated for Gone, Baby, Gone, "The Office," "Only Murders in the Building," and a five-time Playing On Air MVP) and Michael Stuhlbarg (a recent Emmy nominee for "Dopesick," "The Staircase," "Boardwalk Empire," A Serious Man, and four-time Playing On Air veteran), as former lovers--who've gone very separate ways in the intervening years--having a chance meeting on the subway. Stay tuned after the performance for a spirited conversation between Reitz and the play’s director, Playing on Air founder and consulting director Claudia Catania.

Download on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [ 17 Minutes 58 Seconds]

MISADVENTURE by Donald Margulies (Re-Release)

We're re-releasing 5 of our most popular episodes for a 2020 fresh start! 
(Psst: keep your eyes open for an exciting announcement, coming soon...)

The police picked up teenage Ethan (Timothée Chalamet) for drunkenly wandering down the highway. Now, he's facing the real reckoning for his Misadventure: the wrath of his big sister (Zoe Kazan).

Playwright and director Donald Margulies is a Pulitzer Prize winner for Dinner with Friends and a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Sight Unseen and Collected Stories.  

Best known for her leading role in The Big Sick, Zoe Kazan has also played on Broadway and off in A Behanding in Spokane and Angels in America, among others. Her film credits include It’s Complicated, happythankyoumoreplease, and Ruby Sparks. 

Timothée Chalamet has received Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for Call Me By Your Name.  Other screen credits include Little Women, Lady Bird, and Beautiful Boy. He won acclaim on Broadway in John Patrick Shanley’s Prodigal Son. After the play, host Claudia Catania talks shop with the entire creative team.

Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [12 Minutes 11 Seconds]

THERE YOU ARE by Leslie Ayvazian

"Have you spoken of it?"
“No. No one."

After 31 years apart, two widows meet by chance at a concert and consider the whirlwind romance that they didn't dare to pursue - until now. Oscar winner Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck, Netflix's "Tales of the City) and Tony nominee Maria Tucci (The Slap, Broadway's The Rose Tattoo) star in Leslie Ayvazian's THERE YOU ARE. After the play, Ayvazian and host Claudia Catania, the play’s director, discuss music onstage, desire, and the playwright's craft.

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [12 Minutes 30 Seconds]

NEW YORK STORY by Mike Reiss

"It's not luck, it's fate. You, me - a couple of old showbiz pros. At the same place, at the same time..."

When a slick comedian (Ed Asner) and leading lady (Elizabeth Ashley), now both in their seventies, meet by chance in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, the retired performers catch a glimmer of the magic they've been missing in their daily lives.

Also featuring Daphne Rubin-Vega and Peter Jacobson and directed by Michael Wilson, "The Simpsons" writer Mike Reiss's NEW YORK STORY is a wryly funny answer to the question, "Whatever happened to that guy?" After the play, the cast joins host Claudia Catania to chat about Vaudevillians and the tenacity showbiz requires.

New York Story was supported by Don and Linda Silpe.

Download on iTunes, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [31 Minutes 27 Seconds]

If We're Using A Surrogate, How Come I'm The One With Morning Sickness? by Marco Pennette

Presents are wrapped, carols are playing - and the department store Santa is asking some awkward questions. In the comedy IF WE’RE USING A SURROGATE, HOW COME I’M THE ONE WITH MORNING SICKNESS?  by Marco Pennette (“Ugly Betty” and “Desperate Housewives”), a gay dad rants and reminisces about having a baby.  Performed by Oscar-winning screenwriter and actor Celeste Lecesne (co-founder of The Trevor Project), the episode includes a behind-the-scenes artist interview moderated by our host and the play’s director, Claudia Catania.

Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [13 Minutes 37 Seconds]

Hector Cafferata by Stephen Lang

“As starkly moving as taps at dusk” says the Washington Post about Beyond Glory, a powerful tribute to military valor written and performed by stage and screen star Stephen Lang (Colonel Quaritch in Avatar). This piece features Stephen Lang portraying Private First Class, 1st Marine Division, Korea, Hector Cafferata, and is based on his own words. Hector Cafferata is a portrait from Stephen Lang’s one-man show, Beyond Glory, adapted from the book by Larry Smith of the same title. Stay tuned for a conversation between Mr. Lang and Playing on Air’s producer and host, Claudia Catania.

Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [ 22 Minutes 16 Seconds]

GOODBYE, HOWARD by Romulus Linney

In GOODBYE, HOWARD, a rich comedy by Romulus Linney, three North Carolinian sisters in a total tizzy about their esteemed 85-year-old kid brother's imminent death try to avoid an embarrassment worse than death. Three virtuosos: Lois Smith (two-time Obie Winner and two-time Oscar nominee), Frances Sternhagen (two-time Tony winner), and Dana Ivey (five-time Tony nominee) play Howard's three adoring sisters. They are joined by T. Cat Ford, Jacob Callie Moore, and Scott Sowers. 

Romulus Linney is one of America's great playwrights and a master of the short form. He conjures up a particular time and place in this confection of a play. Stay tuned after the performance for a conversation with actors Lois Smith, Frances Sternhagen, and Scott Sowers moderated by the play’s director, host Claudia Catania.

IT'S ALL GOOD by David Ives

In IT'S ALL GOOD, a short play by a master of the form, David Ives (Venus In Fur, All in the Timing), a Chicago native visits his hometown and encounters his past. Directed by Tony Award winner John Rando, IT'S ALL GOOD features Carson Elrod, Rick Holmes and Kelly Hutchinson. As you'll hear, this is a four character play, but at the last minute, one stellar actress was struck down by extreme flu and Kelly valiantly assumed both roles! Stay tuned after the performance for a conversation moderated by our Producing Artistic Director, Claudia Catania.

Download on iTunes, Podbay, Player FM, subscribe to our RSS feed, search ‘Playing on Air’ in your favorite podcasting app – or stream below! [ 25 Minutes 10 Seconds]