Edward Albee, Josh Brolin, Ruby Dee and Sidney Lumet Added to The New York Times Arts and Leisure Week January 7 - 13

Business Wire, Dec 28, 2007

TimesTalks also include Paul Auster, Roger Bart, Philip Bosco, Tom Brokaw, Mel Brooks, Bob Drogin, Feist, John Gannon, Leslie Gelb, Jeff Koons, Nicole Krauss, James Levine, "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner and cast members including Jon Hamm and John Slattery, Theodore Mann, Wynton Marsalis, Rick Moody, Mark Morris, Megan Mullally, The Naked Brothers Band, Julian Schnabel, Thomas Schumacher, Frances Sternhagen, Martha Stewart, Susan Stroman, Jeffrey Toobin and Cornel West

NEW YORK -- The New York Times announced today that three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Albee, "No Country for Old Men" and "American Gangster" actor Josh Brolin, Emmy Award-winning actress Ruby Dee and "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" director Sidney Lumet were recently added to the list of guests participating in The Times's 2008 Arts & Leisure Week. The newly expanded Arts & Leisure Week will take place from Jan. 7 to 13 in TheTimesCenter, The Times's performance venue in its new headquarters in Times Square. The expansion of the 2008 festival includes a wide range of activities, from interviews between journalists and their guests to special offers at cultural institutions around the world. For more information or to purchase advance tickets, which are $25 for each interview, please visit www.ArtsAndLeisureWeek.com.

At TheTimesCenter, 242 West 41st Street, The Times will host a series of special TimesTalks discussions featuring an array of luminaries from the arts, film, music, media and politics in conversation with New York Times critics, reporters and editors. The roster of participants also includes Tony Award-winning actors Philip Bosco and Frances Sternhagen and Circle in the Square producer Theodore Mann with Patricia Cohen, culture reporter; news anchor and best-selling author Tom Brokaw with Rick Berke, assistant managing editor for news; award-winning author Bob Drogin, former chairman of the National Intelligence Council and deputy director of the CIA John Gannon, and president emeritus and board senior fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations Leslie Gelb with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Tim Weiner; indie-rock musician Leslie Feist with chief pop music critic Jon Pareles; award-winning contemporary artist Jeff Koons with art critic Carol Vogel; music director of the Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony Orchestra James Levine with Anthony Tommasini, chief music critic; AMC's "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner with cast members Jon Hamm, January Jones, Vincent Kartheiser, Elisabeth Moss and John Slattery co-moderated by advertising columnist Stuart Elliott and book critic Janet Maslin; Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz composer and Jazz at Lincoln Center artistic director Wynton Marsalis with John Rockwell, a former Arts & Leisure editor; author, homemaking advocate and business magnate Martha Stewart with food reporter Kim Severson; renowned dancer, choreographer and director Mark Morris with culture reporter Daniel J. Wakin; the cast of Nickelodeon's highly acclaimed children's television series The Naked Brothers Band, with culture reporter Jacques Steinberg; prominent artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel with Lynn Hirschberg, New York Times Magazine editor at large; president of Walt Disney Theatrical Productions Thomas Schumacher with performances from "Mary Poppins" and "The Little Mermaid" with Patricia Cohen; best-selling author Jeffrey Toobin with Supreme Court correspondent Linda Greenhouse; Broadway's "Young Frankenstein" creator Mel Brooks, director Susan Stroman and cast members Roger Bart and Megan Mullally with culture reporter Campbell Robertson; Princeton professor of religion and African-American studies Cornel West with Frank Rich, Op-Ed columnist; Brooklyn-based best-selling authors Paul Auster, Nicole Krauss and Rick Moody with Bill Goldstein, founding editor of NYTimes.com/books; among others.

The Times will again offer an Access Pass to many events presented throughout the week. The Pass will be available in event program guides, published in The New York Times, in the Sunday Magazine and posted on the Arts & Leisure Week Web site. Details will be updated regularly at www.ArtsAndLeisureWeek.com.

This year's presenting sponsor for Arts & Leisure Week is KIA. Lead sponsors are Greater Fort Lauderdale, HBO and iShares. Corporate sponsors are Design Within Reach; New York University, School of Continuing and Professional Studies; Rodney Strong; and The Container Store. WCBS-TV is this year's media sponsor. Companies interested in advertising opportunities for Arts & Leisure Week can get more information by contacting their New York Times account manager or Roger Schwoerer, advertising director at (212) 556-1314 or schworo@nytimes.com. For sponsorships, please contact Penfield Marketing Group account manager Doug Metchick at (203) 222-0817 or doug@penfieldmarketing.com.

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Arts & Leisure Week was originally established as the Arts & Leisure Weekend in 2001 to mark The Times's 150th anniversary and to give back to its readers. Due to popular demand, Arts & Leisure Weekend is being extended this year to a seven-day event. Throughout the week, The Times collaborates with hundreds of cultural institutions in the United States and Europe to offer free admission, reduced prices and special events at museums, theaters, performing arts centers, tourist attractions, movie theaters, restaurants, spas and health clubs.