After 16 years and more than 600 events in Los Angeles, a speaker series known for bringing prominent authors, actors and thinkers together for live conversations has found a second home across the country in Tarrytown.
Live Talks Productions recently launched Live Talks NY at the Tarrytown Music Hall, beginning with Academy Award-winning actor Ke Huy Quan in conversation with ABC News anchor Juju Chang. The new series is expected to bring approximately a dozen events to Tarrytown each year, with Barbara Kingsolver, Andy Serkis, Amy Tan and Michael Lewis already scheduled for the coming months.
For Live Talks founder and producer Ted Habte-Gabr, the path to Tarrytown began somewhat unexpectedly.
Habte-Gabr was visiting an old friend in the village and walking from the train station to her home when he saw a performance letting out at the Music Hall. He decided to walk inside.
“I fell in love with the space immediately and knew it would be perfect,” Habte-Gabr said. “It was just what I’d been hoping to find.”
His interest in bringing people together for conversations goes back much further. Growing up in Ethiopia, Habte-Gabr remembers wanting to listen as his parents and their friends sat around talking. Later, while attending the University of Iowa, he became involved with a student-run speaker series and booked prominent authors.
Although he initially worked in engineering, Habte-Gabr said he continued dreaming of turning that interest into a career. He launched what became Live Talks Los Angeles 16 years ago.
Now, that model is expanding to New York.
While New York City’s boroughs have plenty of literary events, Habte-Gabr saw an opportunity beyond them. His familiarity with the River Towns and their communities convinced him there was an audience for author conversations closer to home.
“I knew there was a built-in audience eager for these kinds of events,” he said. “People are hungry to see authors on stage talking about their work. And I feel people hunger to gather around shared interests.”
That belief was tested with Live Talks NY’s first event, featuring Quan, whose career includes an Academy Award-winning performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” discussing his book with Chang.
The response was encouraging.
Karina Ringeisen, Theatre Manager at the Tarrytown Music Hall, described the reaction to the first event as “very positive.” She and Music Hall Executive Director Björn Olsson see the series as an opportunity to reach people who may not otherwise attend events at the historic theater.
“It opens up a whole new audience base, attracting people who may not come to other events and who probably have never visited Tarrytown before,” they said.
Habte-Gabr said attendees at the first event even traveled from New Jersey, reinforcing his belief that the series could attract audiences from throughout the region.
For Habte-Gabr, the concept behind the events can be distilled into four words: “Stories, ideas, great conversations and community.”
Live Talks primarily focuses on authors who are currently touring and works with publishers to pair them with interviewers who can create engaging conversations. Books are also central to the events, with Tarrytown’s Transom Bookshop providing books for the series.
The local partnerships are part of what excites Habte-Gabr about the expansion.
“I’m thrilled to also be working with the Transom Bookshop,” he said.
The series continues Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Kingsolver. Actor and author Andy Serkis follows Nov. 2 at 8 p.m., while author Amy Tan will appear Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. Michael Lewis is scheduled for Dec. 7.
While Music Hall representatives declined to choose a favorite from the lineup, they acknowledged one event generating some extra excitement behind the scenes.
“We cannot be picking favorites, but I know that Björn Olsson, the Music Hall Executive Director, as a Tolkien fan, is a little extra excited about Andy Serkis, as both an actor and author,” Ringeisen said.
For the Music Hall, the partnership is intended to extend beyond the initial group of events. When asked whether they hoped Live Talks NY would become a long-term part of the theater’s programming, Ringeisen and Olsson gave an emphatic “YES!”
The enthusiasm is already visible outside the theater, Ringeisen said.
“It’s so wonderful to see people walk by the theater and gasp in delight to see all of these amazing authors coming to Tarrytown.”
Habte-Gabr sees the Tarrytown series as a natural extension of a company that has already developed an international audience through its YouTube channel and virtual programming. But the in-person experience remains central to what he wants Live Talks to offer.
He hopes audiences leave reminded of “how great it is to be out for an evening or afternoon in a beautiful space filled with other curious people.”
And after years of producing conversations on the West Coast, Habte-Gabr now has another reason to return regularly to the Rivertowns.
He said he is grateful for the partnerships with the Music Hall and Transom Bookshop, as well as for a “built-in excuse” to visit the friend whose Tarrytown home indirectly led him to the theater in the first place.
