''Working in the Theatre'' is the

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

’s documentary series created to highlight the theatre industry's inner-workings. The series profiles notable members of the industry, and provides a closer look at unique stories and important work. ''Working in the Theatre'' aims to inform audiences about typically less well-known aspects of the theatre by sharing The Wing's extensive knowledge of the industry. The series has been running for more than four decades, and has featured extraordinary work from numerous members of the industry. ''Working in the Theatre'' receives leadership support from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation. The series is also supported, in part, by the

New York City Department of Cultural Affairs The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) is the department of the government of New York City dedicated to supporting New York City's cultural life. Among its primary missions is ensuring adequate public funding for non-profit cultur ...

in partnership with the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

and the

New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is an arts council serving the U.S. state of New York. It was established in 1960 through a bill introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell (1905–1996), ...

with the support of Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

and the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...

History

''Working in the Theatre'' was initially broadcast from the

Graduate Center of the City University of New York The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the ...

, led by Wing chair at the time Isabelle Stevenson, and moderated by various board members. Until 2005, the series was only available for viewing on CUNY-TV, a local

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

television station, or at a few NYC libraries. In March 2005 it was announced that The Wing would be releasing Working in the Theatre episodes for free streaming online.

Current production

In July 2017, The Wing was $60,000 in

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

(NEA) grants, $25,000 of which will directly support Working in the Theatre.

Episode list

Notable guests

* Actors/Actresses **

Nathan Lane Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. In a career spanning over 40 years he has been seen on stage and screen in roles both comedic and dramatic. Lane has received numerous awards including three Tony Awards, ...

Cherry Jones Cherry Jones (born November 21, 1956) is an American actress known for her roles on screen and stage. She has received various accolades for her performances in television and theatre including three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, thr ...

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994), ...

Lea Salonga Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga (; born February 22, 1971), known professionally as Lea Salonga, is a Filipino singer, actress, and columnist. Nicknamed "Pride of the Philippines," she is best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplyin ...

Phylicia Rashad Phylicia Rashad ( ) (née Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress, singer and director who is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University. She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby S ...

Natasha Richardson Natasha Jane Richardson (11 May 1963 – 18 March 2009) was an English actress of stage and screen. A member of the Redgrave family, Richardson was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson and the granddaugh ...

Jessica Lange Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. She is the 13th actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having won two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, along with a Screen Actors G ...

Brian Stokes Mitchell Brian Stokes Mitchell (born October 31, 1957) is an American actor and singer. A powerful baritone, he has been one of the central leading men of the Broadway theater since the 1990s. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2000 for ...

Jennifer Ehle Jennifer Anne Ehle (; born December 29, 1969) is an American actress, the daughter of English actress Rosemary Harris and American author John Ehle. She gained fame for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in the 1995 BBC miniseries ''Pride and Prejudice ...

Adam Pascal Adam Pascal (born October 25, 1970) is an American actor, singer, and musician, known for his performance as Roger Davis in the original 1996 cast of Jonathan Larson's musical ''Rent (musical), Rent'' on Broadway theatre, Broadway, the 2005 Rent ...

* Producers **

Emanuel Azenberg Emanuel "Manny" Azenberg (born January 22, 1934) is an American theatre producer and general manager whose professional relationship with playwright Neil Simon spans thirty-three years. Life and career Azenberg was born in The Bronx, the son of Han ...

Jeffrey Seller Jeffrey Seller (born 1964) is an American theatrical producer best known for his work on ''Rent'' (1996), ''Avenue Q'' (2003), ''In the Heights'' (2008), and ''Hamilton'' (2015), as well as inventing Broadway's first rush ticket and lottery ti ...

Harold Prince Harold Smith Prince (born Harold Smith; January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019), commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatre director and producer known for his work in musical theatre. One of the foremost figures in 20th century America ...

* Playwrights **

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), '' The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), '' A Delicate Balance'' (1966) ...

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Lauded for his work on stage he's most known for his seminal work ''Angels in America'' which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. At the turn ...

David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is an American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor at Columbia University in New York City. He has won three Obie Awards for his plays '' FOB'', '' Golden Child'', and '' Yellow ...

* Composers/Lyricists **

Mary Rodgers Mary Rodgers (January 11, 1931 – June 26, 2014) was an American composer, screenwriter, and author who wrote the novel ''Freaky Friday'', which served as the basis of a 1976 film starring Jodie Foster, for which she wrote the screenplay, as w ...

David Yazbek David Norman Yazbek (born 1961) is an American writer, musician, composer, and lyricist. He wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals ''The Full Monty'' (2000), '' Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'' (2005), ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Bre ...

* Directors/Choreographers **

David Esbjornson David Esbjornson is a director and producer who has worked throughout the United States in regional theatres and on Broadway, and has established strong and productive relationships with some of the profession's top playwrights, actors, and compan ...

Julie Taymor Julie Taymor (born December 15, 1952) is an American director and writer of theater, opera and film. Her stage adaptation of ''The Lion King'' debuted in 1997, and received eleven Tony Award nominations, with Taymor receiving Tony Awards for Best ...

Moises Kaufman Moises or Moisés is a male name common among people of Iberian origin. It is the Spanish, Portuguese and Tagalog equivalent of the name Moses. ;Places * Doctor Moisés Bertoni, a village in the Caazapá department of Paraguay * Moises Padilla, ...

* Lighting/Sound/Set/Costume Designers ** Lighting:

Beverly Emmons ''Beverly Emmons'' (b. December 12, 1943)
filmreference.com, accessed November 1, 2011 is an American lighting ...

Jules Fisher Jules Fisher (born November 12, 1937) is an American lighting designer and producer. He is credited with lighting designs for more than 300 productions over the course of his 50-year career in Broadway and off-Broadway shows, as well extensive ...

Natasha Katz Natasha Katz is an American lighting designer for the theatre, dance, and opera. Biography Early life and education A New York City native, Katz trained at Oberlin College, and early in her career was mentored by Roger Morgan, a lighting design ...

Howell Binkley Howell Binkley (July 25, 1956 – August 14, 2020) was a professional lighting designer in New York City. He received the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a Musical for ''Jersey Boys'' in 2006, and again in 2016 for ''Hamilton''. He died due ...

** Sound: David Meschter,

Abe Jacob Abe John Jacob (born October 7, 1944) is an American sound designer and audio engineer. Called the "Godfather of Sound", Jacob greatly influenced the design of sound reinforcement in modern musical theatre, and was one of the first persons credi ...

** Scenic:

David Rockwell David Rockwell (born July 25, 1956) is an American architect and designer. He is the founder and president of Rockwell Group, a 250-person cross-disciplinary architecture and design practice based in New York City with satellite offices in Madrid ...

, Eugene Lee ** Costume: Mary Peterson,

Ann Roth Ann Bishop Roth (born October 30, 1931) is an American costume designer. She has designed the costumes of various prominent films, and has been nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, winning twice for; ''The English Pa ...

Awards and recognition

* 2020 - Daytime Emmy: Outstanding Directing Special Class (nomination) * 2019 - Daytime Emmy: Outstanding Special Class Series (nomination) * 2019 - Daytime Emmy: Outstanding Directing Special Class (nomination) * 2018 - Webby Award: Online Film & Video: Documentary, Series (nomination) * 2017 - Daytime Emmy: Outstanding Special Class Series (nomination) * 2017 - Telly Award: Documentary (win - bronze telly) * 2017 - Brooklyn Webfest (nomination) * 2016 - Telly Award: Documentary (win - silver telly) * 2016 - Brooklyn Webfest (win) * 2016 - Webby Award: Online Film & Video: Documentary, Series (nomination) * 2015 - W3 Awards: Online Video - Documentary (win - silver award)

References

External links

*{{official, https://americantheatrewing.org/working-in-the-theatre/ 1976 American television series debuts Public television in the United States 1980s American documentary television series 1990s American documentary television series 2000s American documentary television series 2010s American documentary television series Theatre in the United States Television articles with incorrect naming style