John Kander, composer of the newly opened musical The Visit, shares the story of adapting "Zorba the Greek" into the musical Zorba!, which is being staged at City Center beginning May 6.

Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya got a workout in the movies a few years back. Now, it seems its time for the camera to focus on The Cherry Orchard. Katrin Cartlidge, Alan Bates, and Charlotte Rampling have been announced to star in Varya, a 1999 adaptation of Chekhov's 1904 masterpiece.

The Tony– and Oscar-winning actor and Tony-nominated director shares why he directs, how he chooses his work, his Jewish roots, and how this Fiddler became “magical.”

Quick: Name the lead characters in Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard. The Ranevskaya siblings, of course, Lyubov and Gaev, and the capitalist Lopakhin. You could add Lyubov’s daughters, Anya and Varya. The ancient butler Feers would probably qualify, too.

Quick: Name the lead characters in Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard. The Ranevskaya siblings, of course, Lyubov and Gaev, and the capitalist Lopakhin. You could add Lyubov’s daughters, Anya and Varya. The ancient butler Feers would probably qualify, too.

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT -- Sept. 1998

ROCKIN' ROBBINS: Actor-turned-director Tim Robbins, who steered wife Susan Sarandon to an Academy Award nomination for Dead Man Walking, is currently filming some controversial theatre history -- namely, the U.S. government's attempt to muzzle the premiere of Marc Blitzstein's left-wing "labor opera," The Cradle Will Rock, as helmed by a 22-year-old hothead named Orson Welles in June of 1937. Despite Robbins's round-faced resemblance to Welles, he assigned that role to Angus MacFadyen; Blitzstein will be played by Hank Azaria, Nelson Rockefeller by John Cusack and John Houseman by Cary Elwes. A chunk of today's theatre community has been drafted into playing the theatre community six decades back: Cherry Jones, Henry Stram, Vicki Carr, Ruben Blades, Sarandon, John Turturro, Vanessa Redgrave, Joan Cusack and Emily Watson. . . . "Hey, Cut Out the Parading Around Stark Naked!" and 11 other rowdy romps comprise A Dozen French Farces: Medieval to Modern, edited by Albert Bermel and published by Limelight Editions. Best-known titles: The Imaginary Invalid by Moliere and The Barber of Seville by Beaumarchais. . . . Pamela's First Musical, a children's book by Wendy Wasserstein, is being turned into a musical for ABC-TV by the composer and lyricist of City of Angels, Cy Coleman and David Zippel. Dealing with a kid's introduction to theatre, the score has a song called "Pamela, Welcome to Sardi's."

Can it be? Is Chicago really about to see the inside of a movie theatre? Have screenwriter Bill Condon and director Rob Marshall succeeded where Nicholas Hytner, Larry Gelbart, Wendy Wasserstein, Bob Fosse himself and countless others failed?

Can it be? Is Chicago really about to see the inside of a movie theatre? Have screenwriter Bill Condon and director Rob Marshall succeeded where Nicholas Hytner, Larry Gelbart, Wendy Wasserstein, Bob Fosse himself and countless others failed?

Creating a Character: The Moni Yakim Legacy looks at the theatre teaching legend who counts Patti LuPone, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, and more as his former students.