Atw - Downstage Center

Jeff Daniels talks about his return to the New York stage after a 14 year absence in David Harrower's Olivier Award-winning "Blackbird" at Manhattan Theatre Club, including how he works himself up to a performance level of fear and anger for the very first moment in the play; recalls being taken out for a drink while still in college by director Marshall Mason and invited to join the Circle Repertory Company as an apprentice, and the extraordinary ensemble feeling fostered at Circle Rep; discusses his lengthy relationship with playwright Lanford Wilson and how it has influenced his own playwriting for his Purple Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea Michigan; and describes how he has built the Purple Rose as both an arts resource and economic engine for his community. Original air date – April 20, 2007.