WNET Up Next: David Horn, The Wars of the Roses & Theater Close-Up

12/05/16 • 28 min

David Horn, WNET’s Director of Performance and Arts Programming and Executive Producer of Great Performances returns to the podcast to discuss several new productions from his portfolio, particularly The Wars of the Roses and Theater Close-Up. The Wars of the Roses is a three-part film adaptation of Henry VI, Parts I & II featuring Tom Sturridge, Sophie Okonedo and Hugh Bonneville; the final chapter is Richard III starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Dame Judi Dench. It will premiere on PBS on three successive Sunday evenings at 9PM: December 11th, 18th, and 25th. The series continues the saga of The Hollow Crown which showcased the Bard’s Henry IV and Henry V. Theater Close-Up, a series of plays from off-Broadway and regional theater, now in its second season, hopes to have a national airing on PBS next year. Notable episodes from this season include Buyer and Cellar with Michael Urie and Sam Shepard’s Buried Child with Ed Harris and Amy Madigan.

David also describes the December 23rd and 25th Great Performances special, Shakespeare Live! From the Royal Shakespeare Company, recorded in London earlier this year as a part of the commemoration of the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. Another local special slated for December 13th celebrates NYC-Arts, the weekly series devoted to the arts in New York. On New Year’s Day, Great Performances, in a long standing tradition, presents Julie Andrews hosting From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2017 with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.

In his conversation with Tom Stewart, David pays special tribute to his team of collaborators and producers who make these programs possible, including Joan Hershey, Bill O’Donnell, John Walker and Mitch Owgang.

This episode with David Horn is a sequel to an episode published in December of 2015.

WNET Up Next is a presentation of the Design and On Air Promotion Department of WNET New York Public Media

Production: Daena McBride

Audio: Jonathan Berman

Recorded at WNET Audio C on November 17th, 2016

The post WNET Up Next: David Horn, The Wars of the Roses & Theater Close-Up appeared first on The WNET Group.

This episode with David Horn is a sequel to an episode published in December of 2015.

WNET Up Next is a presentation of the Design and On Air Promotion Department of WNET New York Public Media

Production: Daena McBride

Audio: Jonathan Berman

Recorded at WNET Audio C on November 17th, 2016

The post WNET Up Next: David Horn, The Wars of the Roses & Theater Close-Up appeared first on The WNET Group.

Previous Episode

WNET Up Next: Sally Garner & Ally Gimbel, Military Medicine: Beyond the Battlefield

The film “Military Medicine: Beyond the Battlefield” is the first documentary produced by NJTV to receive a nationwide airing on PBS. The film, hosted by ABC news correspondent Bob Woodruff, covers military medical advances and technology from the battlefield to the return home. Executive Producer and Writer Sally Garner and Producer Ally Gimbel take us behind the scenes to share how the production came together from original idea to completion. The film features the stories of physicians, scientists, active duty troops, veterans, civilians and military families to show the impact and potential of military medicine. The film has been produced as a part of the multimedia “Veterans Coming Home” initiative which seeks to bridge the military-civilian divide.

The filmmakers share with host Tom Stewart their feelings about working on such an important and timely project, and how for both of them it was a great privilege to meet and interview the subjects involved and tell their story. The program first airs on PBS on Wednesday, November 9th, 2016.

Recorded on October 17th, 2016.

WNET Up Next is presentation of the Design and On Air Promotion Department of WNET New York Public Media

The post WNET Up Next: Sally Garner & Ally Gimbel, Military Medicine: Beyond the Battlefield appeared first on The WNET Group.

Next Episode

WNET Up Next: Mercy Street, Exec. Prod. David Zabel

David Zabel, Executive Producer of Mercy Street shares his thoughts on the series and his career as a writer-producer of television drama. Mercy Street is now in it’s second season; the first season received an overwhelmingly positive response, as it marked the first PBS dramatic series to be be presented in many years with an American cast and themes. The drama takes place during the Civil War and is centered on Mansion House, a luxury hotel being used as a Union Army hospital. Mercy Street follows the lives of civilians, female volunteers, doctors, wounded soldiers, free blacks, contraband, prostitutes, speculators and spies whose lives intersect at the hospital in Alexandria, Virginia. The second season, while continuing go explore events in Alexandria, broadens the focus to the battlefields and the confederate capitol of Richmond.

In his conversation with Tom Stewart, David reveals how the the series grew out of an earlier idea for a documentary on Civil War medicine. With his collaborator Lisa Q. Wolfinger, the idea evolved into a full fledged multipart historical drama with the support of Beth Hoppe, Chief Programming Officer of PBS. He speaks of the joy of writing for a PBS audience and has high praise for his actors, who are a cross section of Broadway stage performers (many TONY award winners) as well as those from film and television. Viewers will be captivated by the great atttention to accurate period detail, made possible by historical experts in many fields including medicine, women’s health, Southern gentility, and Civil War battles. Not only did the location shooting in Virginia provide authentic settings and a unique look for the series, but the input of the Virginia crews on the film provided a special degree of sensitivity and context for the filmmakers.

David has had a long career in television with previous long runs on dramatic series such as ER , but he has particularly enjoyed his relationship with PBS and its ability to entertain, educate, inform, and stimulate the audience’s thirst for finding out more about the subject at hand. If they get the go ahead, he has many stories ready for a third season.

Recorded at WNET’s Audio C on January 6, 2017

A presentation of the Design & On-Air Promotion Department of WNET New York Public Media

Special thanks to Jordan Lawrence of DKC

The post WNET Up Next: Mercy Street, Exec. Prod. David Zabel appeared first on The WNET Group.