Live From The Hotel Edison Times Square Chronicles Presents, is normally filmed from the Hotel Edison, but today we went on location at The Lambs, 1674 Broadway.
Live From The Edison Times Square Chronicles Presents: owner Suzanna Bowling and Foster Hirsch chat with Luke Yankee. writer, playwright, director and the the son of actress Eileen Heckart. He studied at the Juilliard Drama School, has an MFA in Playwriting and Screenwriting and was assistant directed six Broadway plays for such directors as Harold Prince, Ellis Rabb, Brian Murray, and Gerald Freedman. His play, The Last Lifeboat, has had 55 productions in North America. In 2010, his play The Jesus Hickey was staged and produced by the Katselas Theatre Company, starring Harry Hamlin. The same play received both the TRU Voices Award, and the Joel and Phyllis Ehrlich Award and just had a reading with Christopher Sieber (Death Becomes Her, Shrek the Musical, Spamalot), Marc Kudisch (Thoroughly Modern Millie, 9 to 5, Girl From the North Country), and Joyce Bulifant (The Happiest Millionaire, numerous television classics), along with Kyla Stone(currently featured in the Broadway production of The Great Gatsby), Samantha Borthwick, Nick Salamone, and Conner Piers.
Yankee's work on Marilyn, Mom & Me; a play about his mother's intense friendship with Marilyn Monroewhile shooting the film Bus Stop. It was the recipient of the 2022 Stanley Award for Drama.
Yankee has worked as producing artistic director of the Long Beach Civic Light Opera.. His memoir Just Outside the Spotlight: Growing Up with Eileen Heckart was published in 2006 by Backstage Books.
He is the Head of Playwriting at California State University, Fullerton and an adjunct professor at Chapman University.
I am so grateful to Luke Yankee for being with us and sharing his life and career with us.