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Performing Arts

Tuesday

'Louie Louie': The story behind the song everyone knows but no one understands

Left to right: Norm Sundholm, Lynn Easton, Dick Peterson, Mike Mitchell, and Barry Curtis of the touring version of the rock and roll band "The Kingsmen" perform onstage in 1964. Michael Ochs/Archives/Getty Images hide caption

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Michael Ochs/Archives/Getty Images

Music

'Louie Louie': The story behind the song everyone knows but no one understands

The Kingsmen's enduring recording of the song turns 60 this year, and remains a classic, in part because of its dramatic history.

'Louie Louie': The story behind the song everyone knows but no one understands

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Tuesday

Oops, I messed up! 7 common public speaking issues — and how to fix them
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Life Kit

Oops, I messed up! 7 common public speaking issues — and how to fix them

It can be anxiety-inducing to deliver a speech in front of an audience. How do you capture people's attention? What do you do if you stumble? A speechwriter and a speech coach share their best tips.

Oops, I messed up! 7 common public speaking issues — and how to fix them

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Monday

The task? Finish Stephen Sondheim's last musical. No pressure.

Sondheim had the highest standards for himself, the director of Here We Are said. Emilio Madrid/Here We Are hide caption

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Emilio Madrid/Here We Are

Theater

The task? Finish Stephen Sondheim's last musical. No pressure.

When the composer/lyricist died in 2021 at age 91, he left behind a partly finished show called Here We Are. But his collaborators say Sondheim loved a puzzle — and he left them all the pieces.

The task? Finish Stephen Sondheim's last musical. No pressure.

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Wednesday

Pianist Jahari Stampley just won a prestigious jazz competition — he's only 24

A 24-year-old piano prodigy, Jahari Stampley, has won one of the most prestigious awards in jazz. The competition held by the Herbie Hancock Institute is widely seen as anointing new stars. Marcio Toledo hide caption

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Marcio Toledo

Music News

Pianist Jahari Stampley just won a prestigious jazz competition — he's only 24

A 24-year-old piano prodigy, Jahari Stampley, has won one of the most prestigious awards in jazz. The competition held by the Herbie Hancock Institute is widely seen as anointing new stars.

Pianist Jahari Stampley just won a prestigious jazz competition — he's only 24

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Tuesday

Even Beethoven got bad reviews. John Malkovich reads them aloud as 'The Music Critic'

John Malkovich says theater is like surfing. Actors might think they are the wave — but they're not: "The wave is created by the collision between the material and the public. You ride the wave or you don't." Malkovich is pictured above in The Music Critic. Julia Wesely/Aleksey Igudesman hide caption

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Julia Wesely/Aleksey Igudesman

Theater

Even Beethoven got bad reviews. John Malkovich reads them aloud as 'The Music Critic'

A new live stage show features actor John Malkovich transformed into some of the meanest music critics ever — in real reviews skewering the work of great composers like Beethoven, Brahms and Chopin.

Even Beethoven got bad reviews. John Malkovich reads them aloud as 'The Music Critic'

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Monday

From opera to breakdancing and back again: Jakub Józef Orliński fuses two worlds

Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński also breakdances, two skills showcased in Semele at Munich's Bavarian State Opera this year before it heads to New York's Metropolitan Opera next season. Monika Rittershaus/Bavarian State Opera hide caption

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Monika Rittershaus/Bavarian State Opera

Deceptive Cadence

From opera to breakdancing and back again: Jakub Józef Orliński fuses two worlds

Polish countertenor and breakdancer Jakub Józef Orliński talks about his new album with Il Pomo d'Oro orchestra.

From opera to breakdancing and back again: Jakub Józef Orliński fuses two worlds

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Thursday

Sunday

Taylor Swift's stadium stop hikes up ticket prices for Chiefs-Jets game

Singer Taylor Swift and actor Ryan Reynolds are seen ahead of the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J. Elsa/Getty Images hide caption

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Elsa/Getty Images

Sports

Taylor Swift's stadium stop hikes up ticket prices for Chiefs-Jets game

Taylor Swift means business. The popstar brought an economic boost to the NFL after she was seen at a Chiefs game. Her appearance at MetLife Stadium gives the franchise another opportunity to cash in.

Friday

Hasan Minhaj and the limits of representation

Stephanie Mills in The Wiz, and Hasan Minhaj on stage. Hulton Archive/Kevin Winter hide caption

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Hulton Archive/Kevin Winter

It's Been a Minute

Hasan Minhaj and the limits of representation

A recent New Yorker piece on Hasan Minhaj found that some crucial bits of his stand-up act didn't stand up to fact-checking. Stretching the truth in comedy is par for the course, but how does that work for a figure like Minhaj, who'd previously doubled down on these stories in interviews and is known for his political satire shows? Brittany is joined by writer Imran Siddiquee and journalist Allana Akhtar to make sense of an entertainment industry that created the conditions for his fame.

Hasan Minhaj and the limits of representation

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Thursday

Michael Gambon, who played Dumbledore in 'Harry Potter,' dies at 82

Actor Michael Gambon took over the role of Albus Dumbledore in The Prisoner of Azkaban. Carl Court/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Carl Court/AFP via Getty Images

Obituaries

Michael Gambon, who played Dumbledore in 'Harry Potter,' dies at 82

Gambon was best known for playing Albus Dumbledore in most of the Harry Potter movies. The Irish-born actor got his start on stage and worked under Laurence Olivier.

Michael Gambon, who played Dumbledore in 'Harry Potter,' dies at 82

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Wednesday

A Jim Crow satire returns to Broadway after 62 years — and it's a romp, not a relic

Leslie Odom Jr., who won a Tony playing Aaron Burr in Hamilton, is now back on Broadway as Purlie. Marc J. Franklin/Purlie Victorious hide caption

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Marc J. Franklin/Purlie Victorious

Theater

A Jim Crow satire returns to Broadway after 62 years — and it's a romp, not a relic

In 1961, actor and Civil Rights activist Ossie Davis wrote the blistering play Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch. Now, Leslie Odom Jr. stars in the revival.

A Jim Crow satire returns to Broadway after 62 years — and it's a romp, not a relic

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Monday

Saturday

Free babysitting on Broadway? This nonprofit helps parents get to the theater

Broadway tickets are expensive — add babysitting to that and the costs are often prohibitive. But a nonprofit is trying to bring free babysitting to theaters around the country. Kohei Hara/Getty Images hide caption

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Kohei Hara/Getty Images

Theater

Free babysitting on Broadway? This nonprofit helps parents get to the theater

Broadway tickets are expensive — add babysitting to that and the costs are often prohibitive. But a nonprofit is trying to bring free babysitting to theaters around the country.

Free babysitting on Broadway? This nonprofit helps parents get to the theater

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Friday

A black market, a currency crisis, and a tango competition in Argentina

Dancers Saya Date and Shashank Duggal (center couple) perform in the improvised "Tango de Pista" category at the annual Mundial de Tango competition in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Lucas Babic/NPR hide caption

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Lucas Babic/NPR

Planet Money

A black market, a currency crisis, and a tango competition in Argentina

The Nobel-prize winning economist Simon Kuznets once analyzed the world's economies this way — he said there are four kinds of countries: developed, underdeveloped, Japan... and Argentina.

A black market, a currency crisis, and a tango competition in Argentina

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Wednesday

Franne Lee, who designed costumes for 'SNL' and 'Sweeney Todd,' dies at 81

Franne Lee at the New York Public Library's Hal Prince exhibition in 2019. Lee designed the costumes for Prince's Sweeney Todd and Candide. Doug Reside/New York Public Library hide caption

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Doug Reside/New York Public Library

Obituaries

Franne Lee, who designed costumes for 'SNL' and 'Sweeney Todd,' dies at 81

From SNL's Coneheads to Killer Bees, Broadway's Sweeney Todd and Candide, we remember Tony Award-winning costume designer Franne Lee who died on Aug. 27.

Franne Lee, who designed costumes for 'SNL' and 'Sweeney Todd,' dies at 81

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