Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the new PBS documentary "The Rodgers and Hart Story: Thou Swell, Thou Witty." It's part of the Great Performances series and is broadcast in most cities on January 6.
First violinist Arnold Steinhardt is one of the founding members of the Guarneri (Gwa-NAIR-ee) String Quartet, which has been playing together for 35 years. He's written a new memoir, "Indivisible by Four: A String Quartet in Pursuit of Harmony" (Farrar Straus & Giroux). The Quartet is considered to be one of the finest string quartets performing today.
John Boorman directed the new film the The General, based on the life of the notorious Irish thief and gangster Martin Cahill. Cahill stole about 60 million dollars in a series of ingenioius robberies he masterminded in the 1980's. Boorman has directed many other films including Deliverance, Point Blank, Hope and Glory, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, and Beyond Rangoon.
Jon Voigt is one of the stars of John Boorman's new film The General. Voigt and Boorman go back a long way.Voigt co-starred in Boorman's 1972 film Deliverance. But it was Voigt's leading role in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy that made him a star. Jon Voigt won an Academy Award in 1979 for his role as a paraplegic Vietnam veteran, in Coming Home. His recent films include Mission Impossible, and The Rainmaker. He's also in the new film Enemy of
the State.
Musicians Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello join us to talk about their new collaborative album, "Painted From Memory." (Mercury) The two have been working together for nearly two years, beginning with the Grammy-nominated single "God Give Me Strength" (from the film "Grace of my Heart"), included on this album. Singer-songwriter Elvis Costello has recorded over 17 albums in his 25 year career. Composer Burt Bachrach is said to have revolutionized the sound of the sixties, with dozens of top ten hits, several Grammys and Academy Awards.
Rhino Records has just released "Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman." a new four CD box set that includes an entire disc of Newman's previously unreleased tracks. Newman's most popular songs include "Short People" and "I Love L-A." He's also written music for the films, "Ragtime," "The Natural," and "Toy Story," among many others.
Linda Douglass is the senior congressional correspondent for ABC News. She'll talk about how she handles rumors and allegations of officials' sex lives, and she'll tell us her opinion of the Flynt investigations.
Flynt joins us to discuss his investigations into the private lives of congresspeople. In light of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, he's gathering information on other officials. The coverage has led to the resignation of House Speaker Robert Livingston.
Jeffrey Toobin is the legal correspondent for ABC news and a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine. He will also discusses the impeachment vote against President Clinton.
Presidential historian Michael Beschloss discusses the upcoming Impeachment vote in the House. He is author of "Taking Charge: the Johnson White House tapes 1963-64" now in paperback.
T.J. Leyden is a former skinhead who now works for the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Tolerance, speaking out against hate and hate crimes. Leyden is 32 years old. He joined the Hammerskin, a Neo-Nazi group when he was 14, later became a recuiter, and left it at the age of 29. Now he is a consultant for the Center's Tools for Tolerance Program and speaks out around the country to school groups, church groups, law enforcement and military units.
