Atw - Downstage Center

Tony Award nominee Kathleen Chalfant talks about doing double duty on New York stages right now: as the mother of the title character in "Dead Man's Cell Phone" at Playwrights Horizons and as the latter of the two title characters in "Vita And Virginia" at the Zipper Factory Theater. Chalfant ranges over her extensive career, explaining why she took the role in "Cell Phone" without having even read the script and her heritage as an early staff member at Playwrights Horizons; what Harvey Fierstein taught her about "upstaging"; how "The Jack Benny Show" influenced an aspect of her performance in the landmark "Angels In America"; and how she coped with personal loss during the her acclaimed run in Margaret Edson's "Wit". Original air date - March 7, 2008.