23:

Drama Bug

Originally aired 05.10.1996
Stories of the people who fall for a life in the theater.

Prologue.

As high-school freshmen, Kim, Tiffany, and Laura were enamored of their fellow students who netted the leads in all the school plays. They're seniors now, and they're the ones landing all the lead roles. But that doesn't stop them from continuing to gush about the "stars" that went before them (3 minutes).

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Act One.

David Sedaris reads his story of getting the drama bug. (14 minutes)

Song: "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," Cybill Shepherd

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Act Two. Lost In Yonkers.

Host Ira Glass follows the last month of rehearsals of Oak Park and River Forest High School's production of Neil Simon's Lost In Yonkers. (22 minutes)

Song: "Showtime," Sammy Davis, Jr.

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Continuation of Act One. More drama.

David Sedaris continues his story. (10 minutes)

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Act Three. From The Audience Seats.

Mark O'Brien is in an iron lung and comes out for short periods of time. What does he do with those precious moments free of the machinery that keeps him alive? He goes to the theater. (6 minutes)

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Photo: Omega Man

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