Atw - Downstage Center

Playwright Douglas Carter Beane talks about how his fascination with Greek myths dovetailed with a producer's overture to adapt a famously bad movie, resulting in the new musical "Xanadu"; describes his years of making ends meet by staffing the hearing device booths at Broadway theatres, and manning the stage door at the Neil Simon Theatre; recalls his break-through year as a writer with "Advice From A Caterpiller" and "The Country Club"; chronicles the origin of his influential Off-Broadway company The Drama Department; and considers why he's managed to write roles with specific actresses in mind in both "As Bees In Honey Drown" and "The Little Dog Laughed", only to have those shows play to great success with entirely different women in the leads. Original air date – June 22, 2007.