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Performing Arts News, interviews, and commentary on theater, the arts, music, and dance.

Performing Arts

Tuesday

The rules of improv can make you funnier. They can also make you more confident.
Annelise Capossela for NPR

Life Kit

The rules of improv can make you funnier. They can also make you more confident.

Improv comedy is about more than making people laugh. It can help performers be more creative and self-assured — and combat anxiety, both on and off stage.

The rules of improv can make you funnier. They can also make you more confident.

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Saturday

The Museum of Broadway reveals the show behind the show

The Wiz is just one of the shows celebrated in the new Museum of Broadway. Monique Carboni/Museum of Broadway hide caption

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Monique Carboni/Museum of Broadway

Culture

The Museum of Broadway reveals the show behind the show

A new museum celebrating the history of Broadway is now in New York's theater district.

The Museum of Broadway reveals the show behind the show

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Friday

For playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, theater doesn't just reflect reality – it creates it

Suzan-Lori Parks (right), and the cast of Plays for the Plague Year. Parks, a prolific playwright, is doing something new with this play — she's acting. Joan Marcus hide caption

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Joan Marcus

Theater

For playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, theater doesn't just reflect reality – it creates it

With a revival of her Pulitzer-winning play Topdog/Underdog on Broadway, and her new show about COVID off-Broadway, the acclaimed playwright is still learning new things about herself.

For playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, theater doesn't just reflect reality – it creates it

Listen · 7:55
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Wednesday

Three global bands to look out for, courtesy of WOMEX

The Mexican band Son Rompe Pera, one of the highlights of the 2022 edition of the WOMEX festival. Marc van der Aa/Courtesy of the artists hide caption

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Marc van der Aa/Courtesy of the artists

Culture

Three global bands to look out for, courtesy of WOMEX

A Mexican cumbia-punk band called Son Rompe Pera, a traditional singer from West Bengal named Rina Das Baul and a group from near Timbuktu called Al Bilali Soudan: three global acts on the rise.

Three global bands to look out for, courtesy of WOMEX

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Monday

Sunday

Friday

Theater

Yiddish 'Fiddler On The Roof' is a dream come true for its lead actor

Fresh Air

The Yiddish language production of the musical is back. Steven Skybell, who plays Tevye, and Joel Grey, who directed the original, explain the musical's resonance. Originally broadcast July 10, 2019.

Yiddish 'Fiddler On The Roof' is a dream come true for its lead actor

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Monday

'It chips away at you': Misty Copeland on the whiteness of ballet

Misty Copeland has been a principal ballerina with the American Ballet Theatre since 2015. She took a break from performing due to COVID-19 and the birth of her son in spring 2022, but she hopes to be back on stage in 2023. Drew Gurian/MasterClass hide caption

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Drew Gurian/MasterClass

Dance

'It chips away at you': Misty Copeland on the whiteness of ballet

Fresh Air

For years Copeland was told that her skin color, her body and her hair didn't conform to what ballerinas were supposed to look like. Her memoir is The Wind at My Back.

'It chips away at you': Misty Copeland on the whiteness of ballet

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Thursday

Friday

Author Interviews

Billy Porter makes peace with himself: 'I set myself free, honey. No more secrets'

Fresh Air

Porter won an Emmy for Pose, and a Tony for the Broadway musical Kinky Boots. In addition to performing, he's also a star on the red carpet. His memoir is Unprotected. Originally broadcast in 2021.

Billy Porter makes peace with himself: 'I set myself free, honey. No more secrets'

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Saturday

Festival Cervantino, Latin America's biggest cultural event, returns with new energy

A scene from "Entremeses Cervantinos," three one-act plays written by Miguel de Cervantes, at Plaza San Roque, Guanajuato, Mexico. Germán Romero, courtesy of Cervantino International Festival hide caption

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Germán Romero, courtesy of Cervantino International Festival

Culture

Festival Cervantino, Latin America's biggest cultural event, returns with new energy

After a virtual edition in 2020, and hybrid version last year, the Cervantino International Festival is back in person and celebrating 50 years.

Festival Cervantino, Latin America's biggest cultural event, returns with new energy

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Friday

Thursday

Wednesday

When a regional theater got millions to remake itself, it focused on racial healing

Weathering at the Penumbra Theatre Caroline Yang hide caption

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Caroline Yang

The Next Stage

When a regional theater got millions to remake itself, it focused on racial healing

The historically Black Penumbra Theatre has received millions in grants to remake itself into a center for racial healing. What will its choices reveal about regional theater's future?

When a regional theater got millions to remake itself, it focused on racial healing

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