Opening Up Language Through Tongue Twisters December 29, 2005 • The students in Judith Sloan's theater program in Queens, N.Y., are mostly new immigrants. Like any high school kids, they can be hard to motivate. So, Sloan turns to tongue twisters and clapping games to help them prepare for a performance. Opening Up Language Through Tongue Twisters Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5074711/5074721" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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World Fewer Top Stars Willing to Sign Up with USO December 27, 2005 • For almost 65 years, the USO has provided entertainment for U.S. troops, getting movie stars, musicians and comics to visit war zones. But today, it's a bit more difficult to get top celebrities to go. USA Today correspondent Martin Kasindorf and radio commentator Al Franken explore the reasons why. Fewer Top Stars Willing to Sign Up with USO Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5071269/5071270" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Obituaries Character Actor Vincent Schiavelli Dies December 27, 2005 • Vincent Schiavelli died of lung cancer Monday at age 57 in Italy. Schiavelli had memorable turns as a mental-ward patient in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and as a science teacher in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. In 1997, Vanity Fair named him one of America's best character actors. Character Actor Vincent Schiavelli Dies Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5070410/5070411" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Character Actor Vincent Schiavelli Dies Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5070410/5070411" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Weekend Edition Saturday Putting a 'White Christmas' On Stage December 24, 2005 • Every November and December, arts organizations around the country compete for the lucrative "family holiday entertainment" dollar. A production based on Irving Berlin's tunes is aiming to be musical theater's newest seasonal tradition. Putting a 'White Christmas' On Stage Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5066315/5068780" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Holiday Music Christmas Around the Country: 2005 December 23, 2005 • Performance Today's annual tradition of holiday concerts features a range of beautiful holiday music from a variety of sources: the Baltimore Consort from NPR's Studio 4A; the Empire Brass from Florida; Canticle from Santa Barbara, Calif.; and Chanticleer from Petaluma, Calif. Christmas Around the Country: 2005 Audio for this story is unavailable.
Opinion Remembering the Lost Tradition of Quartet Contests December 23, 2005 • Commentator Bruce Nemerov shares the story of long-forgotten high school quartet contests sponsored by the New Farmers of America -- a kind of black equivalent of the Future Farmers of America. The two groups merged in 1965 and the quartets came to an end. Remembering the Lost Tradition of Quartet Contests Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5068169/5068170" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Movies Guiding 'The Producers' on Screen and Stage Fresh Air December 22, 2005 • Director and choreographer Susan Stroman makes her screen directing debut with the new film version of The Producers, the screen adaptation of the Broadway hit starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. Stroman also directed the musical on stage. Guiding 'The Producers' on Screen and Stage Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5066011/5066012" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Guiding 'The Producers' on Screen and Stage Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5066011/5066012" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Culture Baroque Pipe Organ on Display in Rochester December 22, 2005 • A full-size Italian Baroque organ -- a 17th-century marvel with 600 pipes and more than 2,000 parts -- is on display at the University of Rochester's Memorial Art Gallery. It's the only organ of its kind in the Americas. Baroque Pipe Organ on Display in Rochester Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5066165/5066166" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Baroque Pipe Organ on Display in Rochester Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5066165/5066166" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
'Cuttin Up': Barbershops on Stage December 21, 2005 • Wilma Consul reports on Craig Marberry's book Cuttin' Up: Wit and Wisdom from Black Barber Shops, which has been made into a play opening in Washington, D.C. 'Cuttin Up': Barbershops on Stage Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5064332/5064333" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Culture A Conversation with Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave December 20, 2005 • Sisters Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave have a new film The White Countess -- the first feature film they've ever appeared in together. They discuss how their relationship as sisters has helped them through years of performing on stage and screen. A Conversation with Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5063338/5063339" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Admission Essays Go Onstage at U. of Virginia December 17, 2005 • The beginning of January marks the deadline for most college admissions applications. The Unversity of Virginia's freshmen may not be anxious to revisit this period, but they can anyway: A play called Voices of the Class, 2009 offers adaptations of their application essays. Admission Essays Go Onstage at U. of Virginia Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5058594/5058633" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Admission Essays Go Onstage at U. of Virginia Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5058594/5058633" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Culture LaChanze and Celie: Tough Times in Common December 16, 2005 • Actress LaChanze portrays the central character Celie in the Broadway production of The Color Purple. Like Celie, LaChanze has overcome hardship and challenges in her own life, as she tells Ed Gordon. LaChanze and Celie: Tough Times in Common Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5056574/5056575" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Holiday Music Traditions Old and New: 'Jazz Piano Christmas' December 16, 2005 • Legendary pianists mix with promising newcomers at the Jazz Piano Christmas, recorded live at the Kennedy Center. The 16th edition of the annual concert features Hilton Ruiz, Marcia Ball and others playing jazzy renditions of holiday classics. Traditions Old and New: 'Jazz Piano Christmas' Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5054118/5055995" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Culture Carol Burnett Returns to the 'Mattress' Fresh Air December 16, 2005 • Sunday night, Carol Burnett returns to the national television in a version of Once Upon a Mattress. She plays Queen Aggravian. The role comes some 40 years after Burnett launched her career with her Tony-winning portrayal of Princess in the Broadway version of Mattress. Carol Burnett Returns to the 'Mattress' Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5056760/5056761" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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'Mortified' Finds Success in Public Humiliation December 15, 2005 • A Hollywood stage show has become a hit by playing juvenile angst for laughs. Mortified features adults from all walks of life reading aloud from diaries, letters and poems they composed as teens for the amusement of total strangers. 'Mortified' Finds Success in Public Humiliation Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5055129/5055557" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
'Mortified' Finds Success in Public Humiliation Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5055129/5055557" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript