Theater

Durang is best-known for his controversial play, "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You." A new collection of six of his plays has just come out called "Christopher Durang Explains It All For You." He joins Fresh Air to talk about some of his successes and failures, and his frustrations with New York theater.

Television's "second season" is underway, and television critic David Bianculli reviews a couple of new shows: "Sons and Daughters" and "Undercover."

Magnuson starred in the movies, "Making Mister Right," and "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon," and on the TV series, "Anything But Love." She's had numerous one woman monologue shows in Manhattan. She joins Fresh Air for an interview, and shares an excerpt of one of her life performances, about groupies following Doors' frontman Jim Morrison.

Film critic Stephen Schiff review the new film, in which the muscled actor plays a cop who goes undercover as a teacher to capture a drug kingpin. Schiff says the movie tries to be all things to all people, but it somehow works.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews the new Masterpiece Theatre series, "Scoop," based on the Evelyn Waugh novel of the same name. It's about a young, inexperienced foreign correspondent in 1935.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews what he says is Coppola's best movie since the last Godfather. He says it's not perfect, but it's better than anything else in theaters right now.

Kevin Whitehead, who normally reviews jazz for Fresh Air, looks at the new movie "The Russia House," an adaptation of the recent John LeCarre spy novel. Whitehead says it's neither good nor bad, but he likes Sean Connery's performance.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews Sydney Pollack's new movie, a love story that's supposed to be steamy, but, according to Schiff, lacks both passion and political sophistication.

Classical Music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the Great Performances telecast of Peter Sellars' production of "The Marriage of Figaro." It airs this Friday night on PBS.

Luft is featured on the new complete recordings of the 1930 musical Girl Crazy -- she sings the part that gave Ethel Merman her start on Broadway. Luft's mother was Judy Garland, and her sister is Liza Minnelli.

Critic Owen Gleiberman reviews Edward Scissorhands, the new movie directed by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder. Gleiberman says the film shows Burton's artistry taking a new leap.

Writer Wendy Smith is author of Real Life Drama, about the Group Theater, which was founded in the early thirties to bring social realism to the Broadway stage. The ensemble of actors and directors stayed together for ten years and had a lasting effect on American theater.

The actor started his career during the era of the Hollywood studio system. In 1988, he went to China in 1988, and directed an all Chinese production of "The Caine Mutiny." Heston's written about that project in a new book, Beijing Dairy. He joins Fresh Air to talk about his decades-long career in cinema.

Critic Owen Gleiberman reviews the newest Stephen King film adaptation, about a romance novelist who is kidnapped and tortured by an obsessive fan.

Classical Music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews new CD reissues of original cast recordings of classic Broadway musicals, including Oklahoma, Carousel, and Annie Get Your Gun.

Whitelaw is well-known in Britain, but she's little-recognized in America. She can be seen in the new gangster movie, The Krays. Whitelaw also worked with playwright Samuel Beckett.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews the new show about a group of misfit, psychologically impaired cops. He says it brings the police drama to new conceptual highs -- and lows.

Owen Gleiberman reviews the latest in the Rocky franchise. Directed by John G. Avildsen, Gleiberman says it tries to recapture the innocence and humanity of the original, but never quite reaches its goal.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the director's new film about the famous painter and his brother. Schiff says it's as much about them as it is the bond between art and commerce.

We finally know who killed Laura Palmer. Or do we? Television critic David Bianculli has some thoughts on this week's episode of "Twin Peaks." He recommends sticking with the show over the new ABC mini-series, "It," based on the Stephen King novel.