Every day is opening night.

MCNY to present “Joel Grey & Jon Robin Baitz / In Conversation” on Monday, August 1 at 6:30pm

Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Molly Barnett / Andy Snyder
rick@oandmco.com / molly@oandmco.com / andy@oandmco.com
212-695-7400

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
TO PRESENT
“ J O E L G R E Y & J O N R O B I N B A I T Z / I N C O N V E R S A T I O N ”

MONDAY, AUGUST 1 AT 6:30 P.M.

ONE-NIGHT-ONLY PUBLIC EVENT IS
PRESENTED IN CONJUCTION WITH
“ J O E L G R E Y / A N E W Y O R K L I F E ”

New York, NY (July 12, 2011) – The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) will present Joel Grey & Jon Robin Baitz / In Conversation, a rare dialogue between the Tony® and Oscar®-winning actor and acclaimed photographer Joel Grey and his friend and colleague: playwright, screenwriter, and television producer Jon Robin Baitz (Other Desert Cities, “Brothers & Sisters”). The one-night-only event will take place at MCNY (1220 Fifth Avenue) on Monday, August 1 at 6:30 p.m. and is open to the public. Joel Grey & Jon Robin Baitz / In Conversation is presented in conjunction with MCNY’s current exhibition Joel Grey / A New York Life, on display through the following Monday, August 8.

Joel Grey & Jon Robin Baitz / In Conversation will focus on Grey’s dual careers as actor and photographer, and how the two art forms intersect. Baitz has unique insight into Grey’s work, as both his personal friend and fellow theater artist. Baitz penned an essay entitled “Joel Grey / A Close Up Magician,” which explores Grey’s various artistic passions and the relationships between them. The essay is currently on display as part of Joel Grey / A New York Life.

Space is limited. Reservations are required. Ticket prices are $15 for Museum members; $20 for general admission. Please call (917) 492-3395 for reservations or visit www.mcny.org for additional information. Please note: a $2.00 surcharge will be applied to any “walk-in” visitors who do not reserve in advance.

LISTINGS INFORMATION:

Event title: Joel Grey & Jon Robin Baitz / In Conversation
Description: A one-night only discussion between Joel Grey and Jon Robin Baitz about Grey’s life and careers as both actor and photographer, and how the two art forms intersect.
Date: Monday, August 1, 2011
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: Museum of the City of New York (1220 Fifth Avenue)
Tickets: $15 for Museum members, $20 for general admission. Call (917) 492-3395 or visit www.mcny.org.

Joel Grey / A New York Life, examines the enduring impact that acclaimed actor Joel Grey and his adopted city have made on each other. Through rare artifacts from his stage and screen career, objects from his personal collection, and his own photography, MCNY offers a unique look at New York through Grey’s eyes as well as a visual retrospective of his career.

The exhibition caps a landmark year for Grey, who is represented with two concurrent Broadway productions this spring: starring in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Tony® Award-winning production of Anything Goes and co-directing (with George C. Wolfe) the Tony® Award-winning Broadway premiere of The Normal Heart.

Biographies:
In a career that was launched in the early 1950’s, JOEL GREY has created indelible stage roles each decade since: as the iconic Emcee in Cabaret (1966, Tony Award), as song and dance man George M. Cohan in George M! (1967, Tony nomination), as Charles VII in Goodtime Charlie (1975, Tony nomination), as Jacobowsky in The Grand Tour (1979, Tony nomination), as Olim in New York City Opera’s Silverlake (1981), as Amos Hart in the landmark revival of Chicago (1996), and as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz in Wicked (2004).

Grey’s non-musical stage roles include John Guare’s Marco Polo Sings a Solo (1975) at the Public Theater; the title role in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of Chekhov’s Platonov (1978); Larry Kramer’s seminal The Normal Heart (1986) at the Public Theater; the American Repertory Theatre’s production of Ibsen’s When We Dead Awaken (1991) at the Sao Paulo Biennale, directed by Robert Wilson; Herringbone at Hartford Stage (1992); John Patrick Shanley’s A Fool and Her Fortune (NY Stage and Film, 1992); and in the Roundabout Theatre production of Brian Friel’s Give Me Your Answer, Do! (1999), for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination.

Grey’s film credits include Cabaret (Academy Award); Frank Perry’s Man on A Swing (1974); Robert Altman’s Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976); Herbert Ross’ The Seven Percent Solution (1976); Guy Hamilton’s Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985, Golden Globe Nomination); Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka (1991); Altman’s The Player (1992); Phillip Haas’ The Music of Chance (1993); Michael Ritchie’s adaptation of The Fantasticks (2000); Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark (2000) with Bjork and Catherine Deneuve; and Clark Gregg’s Choke, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Grey’s recent television credits include “Alias,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Brooklyn Bridge” (Emmy Award-nomination), “Oz,” “Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” “House,” “Brothers & Sisters,” “Private Practice,” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” In April 2010, The Paley Center for Media in New York presented “An Evening with Joel Grey,” celebrating Joel’s remarkable, multi-decade career in television.

Grey is also an internationally exhibited, acclaimed photographer. He has had three photography books published: Pictures I Had to Take (2003), Looking Hard at Unexamined Things (2006), and 1.3: Images from My Phone (2009).

Joel Grey is one of the only two actors to have won the Tony, Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe awards for the same role (as the Emcee in the stage and screen versions of Cabaret). In 1984, he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame and has received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is also the recipient of the Distinguished Artist Award from the Los Angeles Music Center. In 1993, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis presented Grey with the Municipal Arts Society medal naming him a Living New York Landmark. In October 2009, Grey performed at Carnegie Hall, alongside Lady Gaga, Bono, Rufus Wainwright and more to benefit (RED) to help stop AIDS in Africa.

Grey is currently represented on Broadway with two concurrent productions: starring (opposite Sutton Foster) in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Tony-winning production of Anything Goes and co-directing (with George C. Wolfe) the Tony-winning Broadway premiere The Normal Heart.

JON ROBIN BAITZ's plays include The Paris Letter, Ten Unknowns, Mizlansky/Zilinsky or Schmucks, A Fair Country, The Film Society, The Substance of Fire, The End of the Day. and Three Hotels. He has also written the screenplays for “The Substance of Fire” and “People I Know” as well as for TV's “Brothers & Sisters” (which he created), “The West Wing” and “Alias.” His play, Other Desert Cities, played a sold-out run at Lincoln Center Theater last season and is scheduled to open on Broadway this coming season.

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