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GREAT PERFORMANCES "Bill Irwin, Clown Prince"

"Fred Astaire on mojitos" is how Robin Williams describes him. Brendan
Fraser calls him "a living treasure of the American Theatre, bar
none."  Explaining a funnyman is not easy, but the comedian and actor
are among the devoted colleagues and fans who take the plunge in GREAT
PERFORMANCES "Bill Irwin, Clown Prince , " airing on PBS Wednesday,
December 15. 2005, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET.

Actor, playwright, director, choreographer, clown ­ Irwin, indeed, defies 
categorization. In the decades since he began cavorting with San 
Francisco’s famed Pickle Family Circus, his diverse career has included 
original works for Broadway, including the Tony Award-winning Fool Moon ; 
star turns in Mike Nichols’ production of Waiting for Godot , with Robin 
Williams and Steve Martin, and Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? ; 
Hollywood blockbusters like Popeye and How the Grinch Stole Christmas ; not 
to mention his guise as Sesame Street ’s Mr. Noodle.

"Bill is impossible to categorize," says theater director Barry Edelstein. 
"Bill is original, and anybody who is completely original cannot be reduced 
to a single label."

Adds Mark Mannucci, who produced and directed "Bill Irwin, Clown Prince , " 
"A lot’s been said about how Bill has reinvented the clown, about his 
prowess as physical comedian, about his utter originality and unique brand 
of theater ­ and it’s all true. But the bottom line is that he’s funny. 
Funny like silent-screen clowns Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold 
Lloyd were funny. Funny because, like them, he makes us laugh at the little 
stuff that reveals the larger truths about life."

Such truths are on vivid display throughout the program, which draws from 
25 years of Irwin’s most memorable comic moments. Particular attention is 
paid to his recent season in residence at New York’s Signature Theatre 
Company. From there, viewers will savor highlights from Irwin’s updated 
production of The Regard of Flight , a comedic tour-de-force commentary on 
the theater; the world premiere of The Harlequin Studies , his incarnation 
of the mischievous rogue from the tradition of Italian commedia dell’arte ; 
and Mr. Fox: A Rumination , the story of the rise and fall of George Fox, 
America’s first celebrity clown.

Also included are sequences from the original Regard of Flight , as it was 
seen on GREAT PERFORMANCES in 1982; Irwin’s Broadway productions of Largely 
New York and Fool Moon , and his amazing performance as Lucky in the 
Lincoln Center adaptation of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot .

Along the way, "Bill Irwin, Clown Prince" also explores how the performer 
creates his unique brand of theater and his relationship to the work of 
many of the physical comedy legends that have inspired him.

In addition to insights from Irwin himself, the program offers observations 
from director Julie Taymor ( The Lion King ), playwright John Guare ( Six 
Degrees of Separation ), New York Times theater writer Mel Gussow, Time 
film critic Richard Schickel, Broadway producer James Freydberg ( Fool Moon 
, Largely New York ), James Houghton, artistic director, Signature Theater, 
and Geoff Hoyle, actor, clown and longtime collaborator with Irwin.

Underwriters: Ernst & Young LLP, National Endowment for the Arts, Irene 
Diamond Fund, Public Television Viewers, PBS and Corporation for Public 
Broadcasting. Producer: Thirteen/WNET New York. Executive producer: Jeff 
Folmsbee. Producer/director: Mark Mannucci. Editor: Vanessa Procopio. 
Director of photography. Scott Sinkler. Series executive producer: Jac 
Venza. Format: CC Stereo Letterbox. Online: pbs.org

– PBS –

CONTACT: Bill Grayson, Thirteen/WNET Tel.: 212/560-3053; Fax: 212/560-3016; 
grayson@thirteen.org

Dara Bostick, Thirteen/WNET, Tel.: 212/560-3034; Fax: 212/560-3016; 
bostickd@thirteen.org

GREAT PERFORMANCES online, 
pbs.org/wnet/gperf/ , contains additional 
information about this and other GREAT PERFORMANCES programs. The colorful 
Web companion contains a wide variety of images, in-depth information about 
the programs and activities for teachers, including lesson plans, tips and 
resources.