Theater

Nishikawa's one-man show "I'm on a Mission from Buddha," is about some of the culturally-based absurdities he's endured as a Japanese-American. Nishikawa said he wrote it to answer, "all the nerdy, cliche-ridden, Asian-American images." His characters include a Japanese-American World War Two hero and a Sushi-phobic redneck. "I'm on a Mission from Buddha," can also be seen on PBS.

The L.A. based musician and performance artist fronted the punk-rock group, Black Flag. He's also the current leader of the Henry Rollins Band. His spoken word performances go back and forth between comedy and serious commentary. He has a new album of these performances, "Boxed Life," and a video, "Talking from the Box."

Lahr has written a number of books and screenplays, including "Notes on a Cowardly Lion:" (about his father, the comedian Bert Lahr), and "Prick up Your Ears; The Biography of Joe Orton. Lahr has been the drama critic for over 25 years for "The Village Voice," and for "Vogue" (of Britian). He's written a new book about Barry Humphries and his creation, the dandy/alter ego Dame Edna Everage.

Strauss talks about the revival of the Broadway classic. A new cast album has just been released. Strauss has worked as musical director in numerous off-Broadway and Broadway productions, including "Drood," "Evita," and "Very Good Eddie."

Music archivist Joseph Weiss recently wrote the liner notes on "An Evening With Frank Loesser," a CD featuring the late Broadway composer performing his own songs.

Kramer is considered the "voice of articulate rage," railing against the government for its indifference to AIDS. His plays include, "The Normal Heart," and the new "The Destiny of Me."Kramer founded the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP) and the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC). Terry will talk with him about being a writer, an activist, and a person with HIV.

Actor Rocky Carrol, who plays Joey Emerson on the popular sitcom, talks about the show's recent change to a live broadcast format. He says it works because Carroll and his costars have ample experience in theater.

Feuer co-produced the original "Guys & Dolls" on Broadway, which is currently in revival. He also produced 11 other Broadway musicals with Ernest Martin, including "Can-Can," "The Boyfriend," and "Silk Stockings." They also produced the film versions of "Cabaret," and "A Chorus Line."

Smith will discuss her one-woman show, Fires in the Mirror, which is currently playing to sold-out audiences at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York. It's about racial and ethnic tensions between African Americans and Hasidic Jews in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Playwright and director George C. Wolfe. He wrote and directed the hit Broadway musical Jelly's Last Jam, starring Gregory Hines, about Jelly Roll Morton. Wolfe also wrote the play The Colored Museum, a satire about the black experience in America. Jazz pianist and composer Joel Forrester joins the interview to perform some of Morton's music.