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Fresh Air Weekend: David Alan Grier, Sacha Baron Cohen

In <em>Porgy and Bess</em>, David Alan Grier plays the drug dealer Sporting Life, a role closely associated with Sammy Davis Jr. and Cab Calloway.
Courtesy of the American Repertory Theater
In Porgy and Bess, David Alan Grier plays the drug dealer Sporting Life, a role closely associated with Sammy Davis Jr. and Cab Calloway.

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors, and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

David Alan Grier's 'Sporting Life' On Broadway: The stand-up comedian and star of In Living Color was recently nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal of Sporting Life in the opera Porgy and Bess. "I think the character of Sporting Life is a salesman so he has to be flamboyant, the life of the party," he says.

Sacha Baron Cohen: The Fresh Air Interview: Actor and writer Sacha Baron Cohen is famous for taking his characters — Ali G., Borat, Bruno — into the real world, interacting with people who have no idea that they're dealing with a fictional character. But his new movie, The Dictator, is a scripted comedy about a tyrant on the loose in New York.

You can hear the original broadcasts here:

  • David Alan Grier's 'Sporting Life' On Broadway
  • Sacha Baron Cohen: The Fresh Air Interview
  • Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

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