The Next Big Thing

Milton Rogovin's <i>The Forgotten Ones</i>

Milton Rogovin's The Forgotten Ones

Not Forgotten

Show #338

Friday, May 16, 2003

This week, we take a look at almost but not quite forgotten city dwellers - from the subjects of a three-decade photography project to the human pawns in a life-size game of "urban chess." Also, Jonathan Ames in the role of the disturbed "diarist" from Eric Bogosian's recently revived play, "Notes from Underground." And more tunes from the American songbook, performed by cabaret favorite Eric Comstock.

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Talkety Talk

What happens when Dada meets the daily TV talk show … a scenario conceived and performed by Mary Purdy and Bruce Meakem. Produced by Curtis Fox.

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City Pawns

Living in the city, one often feels like a pawn at the mercy of crowds, subway conductors, the noisy neighbors upstairs. Last weekend, on New York's Lower East Side, this metaphor took on new life when a few dozen people were pawns - and rooks, knights, and queens. They were pieces in a life-size game of urban chess conceived by artist Sharilyn Neidhard. Next Big Thing contributor Matt Power moved among them as they took orders by cell phone from two players at a remote site. Produced by Amanda Aronczyk with Laura Starecheski.

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Old Manners

National Etiquette Week may have passed you by, but it's not too late to pick up a few tips. Host Dean Olsher brings you words of wisdom from one Miss Kaye Duff, broadcast to New York radio listeners circa 1937.

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Not Forgotten

Three times over the course of three decades--in 1972, 1992 and 2001--Milton Rogovin photographed residents of Buffalo's poor Lower West Side neighborhood. In the course of those years, some of his subjects died. Others ended up in prison. And others welcomed Rogovin--with camera, and even tape recorder--back into their lives. Now 93 years old, Rogovin looks back on his career - the people he met and the photos he took. His photos and the audio recordings are the subject of a new book, "The Forgotten Ones," an upcoming exhibit sponsored by the New York Historical Society and Sound Portraits. Produced by Jill Krauss.

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Notes from Underground

Writer/performer Jonathan Ames reads from Eric Bogosian's one-man play about an urban character struggling to rid himself of disturbing behaviors that prevent him from being "normal." Ames is now performing the role on stage at P.S. 122, the downtown performance space where Bogosian performed the play a decade ago.

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American Songbook, Part II

The second chapter in an ongoing conversation between three die-hard fans of American popular song. Host Dean Olsher talks jazz and cabaret with New York Times cultural critic Margo Jefferson and Eric Comstock - "a walking encyclopedia of show songs."

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Wearing Death

As towns across America prepare for Memorial Day, Katie Davis considers the never-ending memorial that takes place on the sidewalks and basketball courts of her Washington, D.C. neighborhood. Davis created this piece as part of her "Neighborhood Stories" series, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.