Edward Asner, Anne Meara, Ed Begley, Jr., Dan Castellaneta and Derek Cecil to Star in NPR News Radio Play

Live Program - November 1 in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES-Morning Edition from NPR News will stage two performances of an original radio miniseries, I'd Rather Eat Pants, at The Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills on November 1, 2002. Written by playwright and screenwriter Peter Ackerman for NPR and produced by L.A. Theatre Works, it stars the legendary Edward Asner, comic and actress Anne Meara, Ed Begley, Jr., Dan Castellaneta, Clea Lewis, Emily Bergl, Kendall Schmidt, Jonathan Banks and Derek Cecil from ABC's Push, Nevada.

The five-act radio comedy, directed by award-winning television director Gordon Hunt, is a hilarious story of an elderly couple's trek from New York to Los Angeles-on a young slacker's motorcycle-to find fame, fortune and a whole lot more. NPR personalities Susan Stamberg and Bob Edwards also have roles. I'd Rather Eat Pants will be broadcast in five segments on Morning Edition the week of December 16 on 577 public radio stations.

WHAT: I'd Rather Eat Pants

WHO: Edward Asner, Anne Meara, Ed Begley, Jr., Dan Castellaneta, Derek Cecil, Clea Lewis, Emily Bergl, Dan Castellaneta, Kendall Schmidt, Jonathan Banks, Bob Edwards, and Susan Stamberg

WHEN: Friday, November 1 at 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. PST.

WHERE: The Museum of Television & Radio; 465 North Beverly Drive; Beverly Hills, CA

CONTACT: NPR: Laura Gross, 202-513-2304, lgross@npr.org
L.A. Theatre Works: Lucy Pollak, 818-887-1499, lucypr@flash.net
The Museum of Television & Radio: Tess McCarthy, 310-786-1038, tmccarthy@mtr.org

MEDIA: Media wishing to cover the radio drama need to reserve a seat. To do so, please contact Laura Gross at NPR.

NPR, renowned for journalistic excellence and standard-setting news, information and cultural programming, serves a growing audience of nearly 20 million Americans each week via more than 680 public radio stations. NPR Online at www.npr.org brings hourly newscasts, news features, commentaries and live events to Internet users through original online reports, audio streaming and other multimedia elements. NPR also distributes programming to listeners in Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa via NPR Worldwide, to military installations overseas via American Forces Network and throughout Japan via cable.