92nd Street Y Pays Tribute to Thornton Wilder with Guare, Vogel and Waterston

By Andrew Gans
January 12, 2004

A starry evening devoted to the works of Thornton Wilder will be held Jan. 26 at Manhattan's 92nd Street Y.

Poet J. D. McClatchy will introduce the evening, which is simply titled A Tribute to Thornton Wilder and will feature a reading of Wilder works. Those scheduled to read include John Guare, Penelope Niven, Paula Vogel, Kurt Vonnegut, Sam Waterston and Tappan Wilder; the latter is the playwright's nephew and the editor of his collected short plays.

Two of Thornton Wilder's full-length dramas won the Pulitzer Prize, Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth. He was also awarded a Pulitzer for "The Bridge of San Luis Rey," one of his seven novels. Wilder also wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's "Shadow of Doubt." Harper Collins is currently in the process of bringing all of Wilder's works back into print; a new edition of "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" is due in stores this month.

A Tribute to Thornton Wilder will be held in the 92nd Street Y's Kaufmann Concert Hall, located at 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Tickets for the evening are priced at $16 and are available by calling (212) 415-5500. For more information visit www.92Y.org.