Terri Childs on ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS

A Fun Program For Lovers Of All The Arts….

Saturday, 09 July 2011

I’ve always looked for really good Arts programs that will give me an enjoyable way to keep current with our cultural life.

Too often, the programs I attended lacked either the quality or the fun I was looking for, so I was delighted this spring when I was introduced through my good friend, Adriana Mnuchin, to a new program she’d co-founded with Nancy Becker called RoundTable Cultural Seminars.

As I say, Adriana is a dear friend, but my only connection with the program has been as a happy participant.

I took my first seminar this spring: Understanding the Art of Today, which is taught by a true expert, art historian Lowell Pettite.

I didn’t take the theater course in the spring, but another friend of mine did, and said it was wonderful. The seminar covered three plays – Tony Kushner’s THE INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL’S GUIDE TO CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM WITH A KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES; John Guare’s THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES; and Lynn Notage’s AND BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK.

The theater seminar was taught by Brian Kulick, the Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company, and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia. As part of the discussions, he invited representatives of Lincoln Center Theater and of Second Stage to share their insights into the three writers and their recent productions.

This fall’s theater seminar – American Family Drama – will also be taught by Brian Kulick, and will examine our theater as a reflection of the lighter and darker sides of our national character. Six plays will be read and discussed:

Thornton Wilder’s Our Town

Eugene O’Neill’s monumental Long Day’s Journey into Night

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and A Delicate Balance

I had so much fun in Lowell’s seminar, and learned so much, I’ll be taking his next installment this fall – UNDERSTANDING THE ART OF TODAY – along with:

FROM MAO TO NOW: Culture & Politics of the People’s Republic of China (Tim’s taking this one with me); and SIX GREAT ARCHITECTS: Lord Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, Richard Meier, Jean Nouvel, I.M. Pei, Renzo Piano, which will be taught by Architectural Historian Mathew Postal.

Each seminar meets every other week for a total of six informal 1-½ hour sessions, on the fifth floor of the townhouse that houses L&M Galleries, so we have the added pleasure of seeing the gallery’s art exhibits.

Besides the courses I’ve mentioned, RoundTable will offer seminars on film, literature, poetry, and classical music, each led by an outstanding figure in his or her field.

For more information, click here and you’ll be taken to the website.

If you do decide to sign up, be sure to let me know of your experience with RoundTable Cultural Seminars!