Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Baker, Jean-Claude
2. Busch, Charles
3. Riedel, Michael (Theater critic)
4. Haskins, Susan
5. Walker, Adam
6. Theater Talk Productions, Inc

Description

1. 1 videocassette (Betacam SP) (28 min.) : sd., col. SP; 1/2 in.

Summary

1. Jean-Claude Baker speaks with Theater talk co-hosts Michael Riedel and Susan Haskins. The adopted son of celebrated entertainer Josephine Baker, Jean-Claude is the author of the biography Josephine: the hungry heart, on which a Broadway musical may be based. He expounds on Baker's upbringing in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of a white father and an African American mother, her theatrical career in the United States, and her arrival in Paris in 1925 as nineteen year-old. Baker's erotic dance performances mesmerized European audiences, and she became a sex symbol in Paris. Jean-Claude elaborates on the emotional forces that he feels "drove" his mother to perform, her later performances, her ongoing financial troubles, and her love affairs.
2. Actor/playwright Charles Busch speaks with Theater talk co-hosts Michael Riedel and Susan Haskins about the Broadway production of his play, The tale of the allergist's wife. Busch first came to prominence as both author and performer in such Off-Broadway plays as Vampire lesbians of Sodom (1984), Psycho beach party (1987), and The lady in question (1989), in which he performed in drag. He discusses his new-found Broadway success and the challenge he set for himself in writing the play, about a "real" New York woman whom he did not intend to portray onstage; and his satisfaction in being able to earn a living in his chosen profession, the theater.

Series statement

1. Theater talk

Alternative title

1. Theater talk. Baker & Busch

Subject

1. Talk shows
2. Television
3. Musical theater > New York (State) > New York
4. Baker, Josephine, 1906-1975 > Family
5. Authors > Interviews
6. Dramatists > Interviews
7. Busch, Charles > Interviews
8. Theater > New York (State) > New York
9. Theater > Production and direction
10. Baker, Josephine, 1906-1975 > Friends and associates
11. Busch, Charles > Tale of the allergist's wife
12. Interviews
13. Baker, Jean-Claude > Interviews
14. Actors > Interviews

Genre/Form

1. Television.
2. Talk shows.
3. Interviews.

Call number

1. NCOX 2018

Note

1. Credits at end of videocassette.
2. This is episode #830 of Theater talk.

Performer (note)

1. Interviewers: Michael Riedel and Susan Haskins.

Event (note)

1. Interview with Jean-Claude Baker videotaped in the CUNY-TV studios at The Graduate School & University Center/CUNY, New York, N.Y. on May 17, 2002. The interview with Charles Busch was taped on Nov. 2, 2001.

Linking entry (note)

1. Forms part of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive, Billy Rose Theatre Division.

Title

1. Theater talk. Jean-Claude Baker and Charles Busch [videorecording] / Susan Haskins, executive producer ; Theater Talk Productions ; director, Adam Walker.

Imprint

1. New York, c2002.

Series

1. Theater talk

Performer

1. Interviewers: Michael Riedel and Susan Haskins.

Event

1. Interview with Jean-Claude Baker videotaped in the CUNY-TV studios at The Graduate School & University Center/CUNY, New York, N.Y. on May 17, 2002. The interview with Charles Busch was taped on Nov. 2, 2001.

Local note

1. Gift of Susan Haskins.

Linking entry

1. Forms part of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive, Billy Rose Theatre Division.

Connect to:

1. Request Access to Theatre on Film and Tape Archive Special Collections material

Added author

1. Baker, Jean-Claude, interviewee.
2. Busch, Charles, interviewee.
3. Riedel, Michael (Theater critic), interviewer.
4. Haskins, Susan, interviewer.
5. Haskins, Susan, producer.
6. Walker, Adam, director.
7. Theater Talk Productions, Inc.
8. Haskins, Susan, donor.

Research call number

1. NCOX 2018