Actor Michael Sheen Stars in Dylan Thomas
A FREE Live Audio Broadcast
Sunday, Oct. 26?3 PM EST | 8 PM GMT www.92y.org/dylanthomas
INFO | www.92y.org/dylanthomas | 1395 Lexington Ave. | 212.415.5500
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In celebration of Dylan Thomas’s centennial, actor Michael Sheen directs and stars in a reading of Thomas’s beloved “play for voices,” Under Milk Wood, on Sunday, Oct. 26 at New York’s 92nd Street Y, on the same stage where the work premiered in 1953.
The live audio broadcast will stream on www.92y.org/dylanthomas at 3 pm EST and simultaneously on www.bbc.co.uk/radiowales at 8 pm GMT, bringing together Dylan Thomas fans from New York to Wales and all around the globe (see the schedule below).
Dylan Thomas made his American debut at 92nd Street Y’s Poetry Center in 1950 – and he famously premiered Under Milk Wood on its stage on May 14, 1953. There is only one recording of that performance (excerpted here), with Thomas himself in the cast. From 1950-53, Thomas read at 92Y a total of 12 times.
For Sheen, who is Welsh and well known for his roles in Frost/Nixon, The Queen and Masters of Sex, among others, this is a unique opportunity. “It's a real honor and an absolute thrill to be able to perform Under Milk Wood in this very special year and on the stage that it first found its voice,” he said. “And the live radio broadcast is an opportunity to celebrate him and his work in both New York—a city that became so important to Dylan—and, at the same time, in Wales, his inspiration and home.”
In addition to directing, Sheen reads the part of “First Voice,” the play’s narrator and a part Thomas himself read in the 1953 premiere. The all-Welsh cast also features actress Kate Burton, whose parents, Sybil Williams and Richard Burton, participated in the first BBC radio recording of Under Milk Wood in 1954—just two months after Thomas’s tragic death in New York. Burton also starred in the 1972 film adaptation of Under Milk Wood.
“It is very meaningful for me to be participating in this event as my parents were in the original recording,” said Burton. “I am very proud to be Welsh and to carry on the family tradition."
The cast also includes the actors Karl Johnson, Mark Lewis Jones, Francine Morgan, and Matthew Aubrey. WNYC, New York’s flagship public radio station, will offer an encore broadcast and webcast on Sunday, November 2, from 8-10 pm (EST) in on 93.9 FM, AM 820 in New York, and via live webstream.
Under Milk Wood – Livecast Schedule
In the US:
3 pm EST
2 pm CST
12 pm PST
In the UK:
8 PM GMT
About 92nd Street Y
Now celebrating its 140th Anniversary, 92nd Street Y is a world-class, nonprofit cultural and community center that fosters the mental, physical and spiritual health of people throughout their lives. 92Y harnesses the power of arts and ideas to enrich and change lives, and is reimagining the community center with initiatives like the award-winning #GivingTuesday, launched by 92Y in 2012. More than 300,000 people visit 92Y annually; millions more participate in 92Y’s digital and online initiatives. A proudly Jewish organization, 92Y embraces its Jewish heritage and welcomes people of all backgrounds and perspectives.