Atw - Downstage Center

"Collected Stories" star Linda Lavin discusses why she's playing the role of Ruth Steiner in Donald Margulies' play for a fourth time, likens the two-character play to a duet that changes with each new co-star, and explains why she turned the role down the first time she had the opportunity to play it. She also talks about her musical heritage growing up in Maine; how she got her Equity card after her freshman year studying drama at the College of William and Mary; how a chorus role in her first Broadway show, "A Family Affair", grew to afford her four character roles by opening night; the unexpected success of "The Mad Show", which was originally planned for a two-week holiday run; the experience of creating roles in two Neil Simon plays, "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers" and "Broadway Bound", including the story of how swiftly Simon wrote her impressive act two monologue for the latter; whether it was tough for her to be considered for stage roles after nine seasons on TV's "Alice"; how she saw the characte