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Performing Arts

Friday

'Still Turning Heads' At Lunar New Year, An All-Female Lion Dance Troupe

Gund Kwok troupe member Heang Ly takes a break next to her lion costume during a rehearsal in Boston's Chinatown. Hansi Lo Wang/NPR hide caption

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Hansi Lo Wang/NPR

Code Switch

'Still Turning Heads' At Lunar New Year, An All-Female Lion Dance Troupe

A group of Asian-American women in Boston are redefining a Lunar New Year tradition every year by performing in an all-female lion and dragon dance troupe. The Chinese martial art is traditionally performed by men, often during new year's parades. The Lunar New Year starts Friday.

'Still Turning Heads' At Lunar New Year, An All-Female Lion Dance Troupe

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Saturday

Artist Transforms Guns To Make Music — Literally

Mexican artist Pedro Reyes received 6,700 weapons from the Mexican government, from which he sculpted instruments. Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images hide caption

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Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

National

Artist Transforms Guns To Make Music — Literally

Mexican Artist Pedro Reyes wants to encourage questions about the availability of deadly weapons, so he turns guns into shovels and most recently, unique musical instruments.

Artist Transforms Guns To Make Music — Literally

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Neuwirth Returns To Broadway, With More 'Class' Than Ever

Taking on her third role in the long-running revival of the musical Chicago, Bebe Neuwirth (left) plays prison matron Mama Morton. Amra-Faye Wright currently plays Velma Kelly — the part for which Neuwirth won a Tony Award in 1997. Jeremy Daniel hide caption

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Jeremy Daniel

Theater

Neuwirth Returns To Broadway, With More 'Class' Than Ever

The Broadway veteran, who played the icy Lilith on TV's Cheers and Frasier, is back onstage in the musical Chicago for a third time — this time playing prison matron Mama Morton.

Neuwirth Returns To Broadway, With More 'Class' Than Ever

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Wednesday

Culture

These Guitars Are For The Birds — Literally

A new exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., features a flock of 70 finches and an array of tuned and amplified guitars. As the flock fills the open room, the birds are free to land on the guitars, making music of their own as they move and jump off the instruments.

These Guitars Are For The Birds — Literally

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Sunday

The Case Against Hugging, Dead Authors, Sharon Jones

Sharon Jones' new album with the Dap-Kings, Give the People What They Want, comes out Jan. 14. Kyle Dean Reinford/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Kyle Dean Reinford/Courtesy of the artist

Weekends On All Things Considered Podcast

The Case Against Hugging, Dead Authors, Sharon Jones

In this week's podcast, we hear a researcher's objections to hugging, comedian Paul F. Tompkins brings authors back from the dead, and Sharon Jones beats cancer and releases a long-awaited album.

The Case Against Hugging, Dead Authors, Sharon Jones

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Saturday

Bringing 'Dead Authors' To Life For Book-Smart Comedy

The late science fiction author H. G. Wells, shown here in 1944, is the ostensible time-traveling host of the Dead Authors Podcast. Comedian Paul F. Tompkins plays the role at the Upright Citizens' Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles. Erich Auerbach/Getty Images hide caption

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Erich Auerbach/Getty Images

Theater

Bringing 'Dead Authors' To Life For Book-Smart Comedy

Every month, comedian Paul F. Tompkins plays the late science fiction author H.G. Wells in hosting different famed writers (played by some of comedy's hottest stars) for in-depth interviews about their work, their personal lives and their anger at critics.

Bringing 'Dead Authors' To Life For Book-Smart Comedy

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Monday

Madrid's Street Performers Now Must Audition To Hold Out A Hat

Street musician Valentino Juanino, right, plays his bagpipe at the Conde Duque Cultural Center last month after taking a quality test to obtain official permission to perform in the streets of Madrid. Paul White/AP hide caption

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Paul White/AP

Europe

Madrid's Street Performers Now Must Audition To Hold Out A Hat

A new noise reduction law in Spain's capital also prohibits amplifiers and requires entertainers to move along every two hours. The city's famed buskers who pass an audition get a free, one-year renewable permit to perform outdoors; those who don't pass muster could face fines for disturbing the peace.

Madrid's Street Performers Now Must Audition To Hold Out A Hat

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Friday

Broadway's 'Spider-Man' Musical Turns Off The Lights At Last

Reeve Carney (right) handed off the lead role in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark to successor Justin Matthew Sargent in September 2013. The show closes Jan. 4, and the Smithsonian Institution announced today that it's acquiring Carney's costume. Rob Kim/Getty Images hide caption

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Rob Kim/Getty Images

Theater

Broadway's 'Spider-Man' Musical Turns Off The Lights At Last

By most estimates, the trouble-plagued show will have lost about $60 million when it closes tomorrow. It has been commercial theater's most stunning flop.

Broadway's 'Spider-Man' Musical Turns Off The Lights At Last

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Don't Call Him Theo: Malcolm-Jamal Warner On Life After 'Cosby'

Malcolm-Jamal Warner plays Dr. John Prentice in Arena Stage's production of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Amy Ta/NPR hide caption

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Amy Ta/NPR

Theater

Don't Call Him Theo: Malcolm-Jamal Warner On Life After 'Cosby'

Malcolm-Jamal Warner famously played Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show. Now he's starring in a new stage production of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Warner talks to NPR's David Greene about his audition for the part of Theo, what he learned from Bill Cosby and how his new play differs from the 1967 movie that inspired it.

Don't Call Him Theo: Malcolm-Jamal Warner On Life After 'Cosby'

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Thursday

Television

Malcolm Jamal Warner On Growing Up On 'The Cosby Show'

Actor Malcolm Jamal Warner may be best known for his role as Theo on The Cosby Show. Now he's starring in a stage production based on the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. In the first of a two-part interview, David Greene talks to Warner about coming of age on The Cosby Show.

Malcolm Jamal Warner On Growing Up On 'The Cosby Show'

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Wednesday

Friday

Shane Koyczan: What's It Like To Be Young And Bullied?

"I can't let my life be this. Because if I give up now, that's what my life will be. I'll never walk out the front door." — Shane Koyczan James Duncan Davidson/TED hide caption

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James Duncan Davidson/TED

TED Radio Hour

Shane Koyczan: What's It Like To Be Young And Bullied?

Shane Koyczan describes growing up endlessly tormented by bullies. When he turned to spoken-word poetry to cope, he found that millions related to his anti-bullying message.

Shane Koyczan: What's It Like To Be Young And Bullied?

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Sunday

Peter O'Toole, A Life Even Larger Than 'Lawrence'

Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Academy Award for his title role in Lawrence of Arabia. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment hide caption

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Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Obituaries

Peter O'Toole, A Life Even Larger Than 'Lawrence'

Peter O'Toole, the Hollywood legend who was made famous in his title role in Lawrence of Arabia, died on Saturday in a London hospital. The 81-year old Irishman was nominated for eight Oscars in his distinguished career, and was known as a bit of a hellraiser.

Peter O'Toole, A Life Even Larger Than 'Lawrence'

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Saturday

Draining The Daring From A High School Production Of 'Rent'

Anthony Rapp (left) and Adam Pascal perform a scene from the New York Theatre Workshop production of Rent in 1996. Joan Marcus/AP hide caption

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Joan Marcus/AP

Opinion

Simon Says

Draining The Daring From A High School Production Of 'Rent'

Recently, the principal of Trumbull High School in Connecticut canceled a student production of Rent. The rock musical, about a group of young people living in New York, features characters dealing with drugs, sexuality and AIDS.

Draining The Daring From A High School Production Of 'Rent'

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Friday

Theater

In a New Play, Trusty Sidekick Is a Supercomputer

Fed up with human shortcomings, the characters in Madeleine George's play turn to high-tech companions. Could machines be assistants, friends, and even partners? The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence explores the amazing things technology can do for us...and what it can't.

In a New Play, Trusty Sidekick Is a Supercomputer

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