Atw - Downstage Center

Turnabout is fair play, as actor Richard Thomas is the guest host for a conversation with Howard Sherman, Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing. The longtime friends discuss the changes in the Wing since Sherman arrived in 2003, the unifying idea beyond the program expansion that has taken place since that time, and how ATW has evolved repeatedly over its 70 year history to meet the changing needs of the theatre community. Sherman also talks about his high school and college years as a performer; his eight years of "graduate school" at Hartford Stage under the mentorship of artistic director Mark Lamos and managing director David Hawkanson; the celebrity who helped to ease his parents' minds about his choice of a risky career in theatre; how Goodspeed Musicals' executive producer Michael Price gave him the opportunity to move beyond p.r. and into management; his stints at Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY and the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center in Connecticut; how personal priorities rather than professi