In this program, renowned theater director Sir Richard Eyre maps out the flowering of dramatic realism on Broadway. A study of Eugene O’Neill, an interview with Arthur Miller, and archival footage of Clifford Odets and Tennessee Williams reveal an artistic fascination with the dark side of the American Dream. Then, an interview with Hal Prince and a retrospective on Yiddish shund and similar venues set the stage for a study of musicals and the genre’s early innovators: Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, and Oscar Hammerstein II. Clips from Long Day’s Journey into Night, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, Showboat, and other productions reinforce each point along the way. A BBC Production. (51 minutes)