Arena

Episode Synopsis

What do the following have in common? Maria von Trapp, whose story became "The Sound of Music"; Bob Guccione, the editor of Penthouse; Martin Scorsese, the director of "The Color of Money" and "Mean Streets"; and the popular singers Mary O'Hara and Tony Monopoly. They all trained to be Catholic priests, nuns or monks. Fr Michael Cleary is a Dublin parish priest and also a comedian and singer; Fr Ernesto Cardenal is Nicaragua's Minister of Culture and one of Latin America's foremost poets. All of them feel that the vocation to the cloth and the vocation to art and entertainment are not dissimilar. Tonight's "Arena" tells their stories and examines the rich artistic traditions of Catholicism.