Theater

Biographer Peter Manso has written "Brando: The Biography," the result of seven years of research and over 700 interviews. It tells the story of Brando as a man with a hidden troubled life. Mans is also the author of an oral biography of Norman Mailer.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the newest retelling of the Frankenstein story, "Mary Shelly's Frankenstein," directed by Kenneth Branagh.

From the Metropolitan Opera, soprano Dawn Upshaw. She has a new recording of Broadway showtunes, called "I Wish It So." It includes lesser known works by Marc Blitzstein and Kurt Weill as well as songs by Sondheim and Bernstein. Upshaw has played more then 20 roles at the Met, including the current "The Marriage of Figaro" and the recently completed "Idomeneo," both by Mozart.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Bullets Over Broadway," about a hack playwright whose work is rewritten and improved by a New York gangster.

TV dramas are becoming wildly popular again. Critic David Bianculli says two stand out from the rest: "Homicide: Life on the Streets" and "Picket Fences."

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Love Affair," the remake of "An Affair to Remember," starring Warren Beatty and Annette Bening.

The two actors co-wrote and co-starred in the 1981 film, "My Dinner with Andre." They have since worked on many other projects individually in television, theater, and film. They have now collaborated again in "Vanya on 42nd Street," a film adaptation of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya."

Mamet's plays include "American Buffalo," "Speed-the-Plow," "Glengarry Glen Ross (for which he won a Pulitzer), and "Oleanna." His movies include, "Homicide," "House of Games," and "Things Change." Mamet is best known for his style of writing, which New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich described as "burying layers of meaning into simple precisely distilled idiomatic language." Mamet has written several books of essays; he's just published his first novel, "The Village."

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Pulp Fiction." He says it's far from perfect -- but it's so good, you won't care.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the season premiere of "NYPD Blue," which he says continues to be good. On the other hand, he can't stomach "Roseanne: An Unauthorized Biography."

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new film, "Ed Wood," starring Johnny Depp.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new adventure movie, "The River Wild." It co-stars Kevin Bacon.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "The New Age," starring Judy Davis and Peter Weller. The film is directed by Michael Tolkin, author of "The Player."

Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the new Robert Redford film, about a real-life game show scandal in the 1950s.

Aside from "My So-Called Life," critic David Bianculli isn't impressed by any of the new TV offerings this fall. But with so many excellent returning shows, the season is guaranteed to be good.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Fresh," a movie about black youth in Brooklyn, directed by Boaz Yakin, who is white and Jewish.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Natural Born Killers," starring Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis.

Actor and playwright Vernel Bagneris and pianist Morten Gunnar Larsen perform selections from their show, "Jelly Roll Morton: A Me-morial," with music written by Morton, and a script taken from Library of Congress tapes of Morton from 1938. The New Yorker calls it, "an experimental study, done within a traditional Broadway-musical framework, of the life and death of a black misanthrope. . . a psychomusical." This concert was first broadcast in 1992.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews ABC's excellent new teen drama by the producers of "thirtysomething." This series premieres tonight.

Film Critic Stephen Schiff reviews the Hitchcock-esque, psychological drama by director Richard Rush.