George C. Wolfe Videos

Tom Hanks was the surprise guest on last night's THE COLBERT REPORT on Comedy Central. The actor stopped by to share some inexpensive Halloween costume ideas that would make for a 'spooktacular' holiday. Check out the fun below!

On last night's LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON, actor Tom Hanks performed a spoken-word poem about the 1990's sitcom 'Full House.' Check out his performance below!

THE NORMAL HEART closes this Sunday, July 29 at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The production stars Broadway cast members Patrick Breen and Luke MacFarlane as well as Tom Berklund (Broadway's The Addams Family) as Craig Donner/Grady, Michael Berresse (Broadway's A Chorus Line) as Mickey Marcus, Christopher Dinolfo (Round House Theatre's Next Fall) as David, Christopher J. Hanke (Broadway's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) as Tommy Boatwright, Jon Levenson (understudy for Broadway's The Normal Heart) as Hiram Keebler/Examining Doctor, Nick Mennell (Broadway's A Free Man of Color) as Bruce Niles and John Procaccino (Lincoln Center Theater's Blood and Gifts) as Ben Weeks. BroadwayWorld brings you highlights from the production below!

Happy Birthday Tony Kushner! Kushner's best known work is Angels in America, a seven-hour epic about the AIDS epidemic in Reagan-era New York, which was later adapted into a miniseries for which Kushner wrote the screenplay. His other plays include Hydriotaphia, Slavs!: Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness, A Bright Room Called Day, Homebody/Kabul, and the book for the musical Caroline, or Change. His new translation of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children was performed at the Delacorte Theater in the summer of 2006 starring Meryl Streep and directed by George C. Wolfe. Kushner has also adapted Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan, Corneille's The Illusion, and S. Ansky's play The Dybbuk.

textTHE NORMAL HEART, which ran a limited run on Broadway last year, is currently playing Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. through July 29. Get a first look at the production below!

Ailey II recently completed a successful four week international tour with performances in Luxemburg, Germany, Poland and Lithuania. While in Warsaw Poland, Ailey II appeared on Poland's version of "So You Think You Can Dance." Troy Powell who will become Artistic Director of Ailey II next month, taught the four finalists choreography from his 2011 work Reference Point and the finalists attended Ailey II's performance at Poland's Palace of Culture and Science.

Today in 2000, The Wild Party opened at the Virginia Theatre (now the August Wilson Theatre), where it ran for 68 performances. The Wild Party is a musical with a book by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe and music and lyrics by LaChiusa. It is based on the 1928 Joseph Moncure March narrative poem of the same name. The Broadway production coincidentally opened during the same theatrical season (1999-2000) as an off-Broadway musical with the same title and source material. Its plot centers on a party - fueled by bathtub gin, cocaine, and uninhibited sexual behavior - hosted by Queenie and Burrs, whose relationship is disintegrating. The cast included Toni Collette (making her Broadway debut) as Queenie, Mandy Patinkin as Burrs, and Yancey Arias as Black.

Last night, October 3, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), just honored acclaimed director George C. Wolfe with the 2011 'Mr. Abbott' Award for his incredible breadth and depth of work in the American Theatre. Broadway Beat was on hand for the event and takes you inside the ceremony below!

The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) presented Joel Grey & Jon Robin Baitz / In Conversation, a rare dialogue between the Tony and Oscar-winning actor and acclaimed photographer Joel Grey and his friend and colleague: playwright, screenwriter, and television producer Jon Robin Baitz (Other Desert Cities, 'Brothers & Sisters') August 1. Joel Grey & Jon Robin Baitz / In Conversation was presented in conjunction with MCNY's current exhibition Joel Grey / A New York Life, on display through Monday, August 8. Check out the conversation by clicking below!

The Broadway premiere of Larry Kramer's ground-breaking play The Normal Heart will play the final performance of its limited, 12-week engagement this Sunday, July 10 at 7:00 p.m., as scheduled. Produced by Daryl Roth and directed by Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe, The Normal Heart began performances on Tuesday, April 19 at the Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street) and opened to rave reviews on Wednesday, April 27, 2011.

The Normal Heart made its World Premiere at The Public Theater in 1985 and premiered on Broadway on April 19, 2011 before opening to rave reviews on April 27, 2011. The limited engagement, which stars Ellen Barkin, Patrick Breen, Mark Harelik, John Benjamin Hickey, Luke MacFarlane, Joe Mantello, Lee Pace, Jim Parsons, Richard Topol and Wayne Alan Wilcox, runs through July 10, 2011. In the video below, Patrick Healy visited the Tony Award-winning revival of 'The Normal Heart' to see if its relevant to younger gay people today.

On Sunday night, June 12th, the Broadway premiere production of Larry Kramer's ground-breaking play The Normal Heart took home the Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Play, Best Featured Actor in a Play (John Benjamin Hickey) and Best Featured Actress in a Play (Ellen Barkin). These wins helped 'The Normal Heart' become the number one search term on Google all across America on 'Tony Sunday.' Since then, The Normal Heart's daily box office wrap has more than tripled from their average daily sales before Sunday's Tony Awards.

The Normal Heart made its World Premiere at The Public Theater in 1985 and premiered on Broadway on April 19, 2011 before opening to rave reviews on April 27, 2011. The limited engagement, which stars Ellen Barkin, Patrick Breen, Mark Harelik, John Benjamin Hickey, Luke MacFarlane, Joe Mantello, Lee Pace, Jim Parsons, Richard Topol and Wayne Alan Wilcox, runs through July 10, 2011.

The Normal Heart made its World Premiere at The Public Theater in 1985 and premiered on Broadway on April 19, 2011 before opening to rave reviews on April 27, 2011. The limited engagement, which stars Ellen Barkin, Patrick Breen, Mark Harelik, John Benjamin Hickey, Luke MacFarlane, Joe Mantello, Lee Pace, Jim Parsons, Richard Topol and Wayne Alan Wilcox, runs through July 10, 2011.

On Monday, May 23, Harvey Fierstein hosted the 56th Annual Drama Desk Awards at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan. Matthew Rodrigues was in the winners room for the evening to catch up with the talent, and to figure out what a 'Drama Desk,' well, is. Click below for the theories (and to hear from the winners, too)!

The 2011 Tony Award nominees were announced live from the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in New York City on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. The next day, proud nominees gathered at the Millenium Hotel in Times Square to celebrate and meet the press. Broadway Beat was on hand, of course, to speak with all of the proud nominees. In anticipation of Tony night on June 12, 2011, BroadwayWorld will be bringing you new clips of the stars in conversation each week so be sure to check back! Below, we bring you George C. Wolfe, Best Director of a Play nominee for The Normal Heart. Wolfe gained national recognition with his 1991 musical Jelly's Last Jam, a musical about the life of jazz musician Jelly Roll Morton; after a Los Angeles opening, the play moved to Broadway, where it received 11 Tony nominations and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical. Two years later, Wolfe famously directed Tony Kushner's Angels in America: Millennium Approaches to great critical acclaim, as well as a Tony award. Wolfe also directed the world premiere of the second part of Angels, Perestroika, the following year. Wolfe served as artistic director and producer of the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater from 1993-2004. During his tenure, he created the musical Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk, which won him a second Tony Award for direction. Additional credits include Tony Kushner's Caroline, or Change, The Wild Party, Suzan-Lori Parks' Pulitzer Prize-winning play Topdog/Underdog,and a new translation of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Austin Pendleton.

The Broadway premiere of Larry Kramer's ground-breaking play The Normal Heart officially opened last night, Wednesday, April 27, at the Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street). The limited, 12-week engagement, directed by Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe, began performances on Tuesday, April 19. Broadway Beat was on hand to celebrate and speak to the stars!

The Lincoln Center Theater production of John Guare's new play, A FREE MAN OF COLOR, directed by George C. Wolfe, opened on November 18 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. The cast features Yao Ababio, Peter Bartlett, Nicole Beharie, Arnie Burton, Rosal Colón,Veanne Cox, Paul Dano, Sara Gettelfinger, Derric Harris, Justina Machado, Joseph Marcell, John McMartin, Nick Mennell, Mos, Teyonnah Parris, Postell Pringle, Esau Pritchett, Brian Reddy, Reg Rogers, Triney Sandoval, Robert Stanton, Wendy Rich Stetson, Jerome Stigler, Senfaub Stoney,David Emerson Toney and Jeffrey Wright. Broadway Beat was on hand to bring you interviews with the cast and creative!

The Lincoln Center Theater production of John Guare's new play, A FREE MAN OF COLOR, directed by George C. Wolfe, opens tonight Thursday, November 18 at 6:45pm at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. The cast features Yao Ababio, Peter Bartlett, Nicole Beharie, Arnie Burton, Rosal Colón, Veanne Cox, Paul Dano, Sara Gettelfinger, Derric Harris, Justina Machado, Joseph Marcell, John McMartin, Nick Mennell, Mos, Teyonnah Parris, Postell Pringle, Esau Pritchett, Brian Reddy, Reg Rogers, Triney Sandoval, Robert Stanton, Wendy Rich Stetson, Jerome Stigler, Senfaub Stoney, David Emerson Toney and Jeffrey Wright. Click below for a look at A FREE MAN OF COLOR onstage!

Signature's Angels in America at 20 Years Video Series continues with a video interview with George C. Wolfe, the director of the Broadway production of Angels in America.