About the Speakers
Since 1980 Alec Baldwin has appeared on stage, in films, and on television and has received a Tony nomination (A Streetcar Named Desire, 1992) and an Oscar nomination (The Cooler, 2004) and won two Emmy awards and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards as Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on NBC’s 30 Rock. Baldwin is a 1994 BFA graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and received an honorary doctorate in 2010. He is also the radio announcer for and a board member of the New York Philharmonic.
Neil LaBute most recently saw the premiere of his play Reasons to Be Happy at the Lucille Lortel Theater in the Village. This was a sequel to his highly successful Reasons to Be Pretty, his first play to run on Broadway. Among the many plays he has written and/or directed are Bash: Latter-Day Plays(Douglas Fairbanks Theatre, Almeida Theatre); The Shape of Things (Almeida Theatre, Promenade Theatre); The Distance from Here (MCC Theatre, Almeida Theatre); The Mercy Seat(MCC Theatre, Almeida Theatre); Filthy Talk for Troubled Times(MCC Theatre); Fat Pig (MCC Theatre, Trafalgar Studios); Autobahn (MCC Theatre); Some Girl(s) (Gielgud Theatre, MCC Theatre); This is How it Goes (Donmar Warehouse, The Public Theatre); among many others. His films include In the Company of Men; Your Friends & Neighbors; Nurse Betty; Possession; The Shape of Things; The Wicker Man; Lakeview Terrace; Death at a Funeral; Some Girl(s); and Some Velvet Morning.
About the Ignorance Series
“It is ignorance that smothers, and it is carelessness that makes it invisible.” ““ Gautama Buddha in the Sutta Nipata
According to Buddhist thinking, ignorance is the greatest impediment to enlightenment. This fall we aim to clear the path a little with some help from our friends Laurie Anderson, Alec Baldwin, Rosanne Cash, and many others.