Festival planner Marilyn Wood. Using dance, film, sound and light, Wood designs celebrations of the urban environment. She organized celebrations and festivals like the first Riverfront Celebration in Columbus, Ohio, The Hong Kong Arts festival, and the opening of the Tehran Museum of Art. Wood used to be a dancer with the Merce Cunningham dance company. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a 1973 recording of the South African quintet Spear, featuring saxophonist Dudu Pukwana. Like many of South Africa's best-known jazz artists, Pukwana emigrated in the middle 60s, settling in England and helping to spark the rich jazz scene there.
Peter Phillips, director of the Tallis Scholars, a group of eight British singers who specialize in unaccompanied Renaissance choral music. The group will be touring the country throughout April. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews the revival of Cole Porter's musical "Anything Goes," currently on stage at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center. The production stars Patti LuPone.
Robert Parrish has at various times been an actor, film editor, director and writer. As a child, he appeared in the "Our Gang" comedies and in Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights." He worked with film director John Ford and won an Academy Award for editing in the film "Body and Soul." He's written two books of memoirs about his Hollywood experiences. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
Paul Kennedy, professor of history at Yale University and author of the new book The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000. In it, Kennedy contends that all great powers have floundered over their inability to limit foreign commitments in the face of rising domestic obligations. The book has introduced the term "imperial overstretch" to the political vocabulary. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
New York based post-modern dancer and choreographer Bebe Miller. Her choreography stands out for its energetic, aggressive physicality and for its themes of family and relationships. Miller is the winner of the prestigious "Bessie" New York Dance and Performance Award. In 1984, Miller formed her own company, Bebe Miller and Company.
Classical guitarist David Tanenbaum. Tanenbaum is chairman of the guitar department at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. While he is best known for his interpretations of early music for the guitar, his interpretations of 20th Century works have won wide praise. His new album is a collection of lute music adapted for the classical guitar. (Interview with Faith Middleton)
Fred de Cordova, executive producer of "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." His autobiography, "Johnny Came Lately," is a behind-the-scenes tell-all about the workings of one of television's longest-running and highest rated shows. de Cordova credits include directing Ronald Reagan in "Bedtime for Bonzo," directing "The Jack Benny Show," "The Burns and Allen Show," and "My Three Sons."
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the latest album from avant-garde saxophonist and composer John Zorn, in which Zorn plays homage to the detective writer Mickey Spillane.
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Biloxi Blues," the new film based on Neil Simon's Broadway play of the same name. The film stars Matthew Broderick and was directed and produced by Mike Nichols.
Television Critic David Bianculli previews the return of "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd," the short-lived but highly praised NBC series that ran for 13 weeks in the Spring of 1987. The series stars Blair Brown as Molly Dodd, the eccentric New Yorker who lurches from one mid-life crisis to the next.
Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews new albums by George Strait and Steve Wariner. Their music is marketed as country, but Ken says their style is similar to that of singer-songwriters of the late '60s and early '70s, like James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the recorded work of the Tallis Scholars, a group of eight British singers who specialize in unaccompanied Renaissance choral music. The group will be touring the country throughout April.
Hedrick Smith, the Washington correspondent for The New York Times. His new book looks at power and how it works in our nation's capital. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
British novelist Fay Weldon. Her works include The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, Praxis and Down Among the Women. Her latest novel, a love story, is titled The Hearts and Lives of Men, and was written as a serial over the course of a year for the British magazine Woman. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
Andrew Weil. He's a doctor of holistic medicine and an ethnobotanist, which is the study of how medicinal plants are used in different cultures. (Interview by Faith Middleton).
