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

Performing Arts

Tuesday

Katrina & Beyond

Carnival Culture from Around the World on Display

The Museum of International Folk Art has compiled an audio-visual history of carnival celebrations around the world: their pageantry, history, and a glimpse of the future.

Carnival Culture from Around the World on Display

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Six Months After Katrina

New Orleans Artists Return to an Altered City

After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans theaters were shuttered, jazz clubs went silent and museums and galleries were locked up. The city's artists scattered across the country. They are starting to return but are finding that making art in New Orleans is a different experience.

New Orleans Artists Return to an Altered City

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Monday

Katrina & Beyond

Marching Band Represents New Orleans in Parades

High school marching bands have always played their part in New Orleans Mardi Gras parades. But with most city high schools closed, there are few local students marching this carnival season. One exception is the the MAX School's band.

Marching Band Represents New Orleans in Parades

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Saturday

Obituaries

Don Knotts, TV's 'Barney Fife,' Dies at 81

Don Knotts, the skinny, lovable nerd who kept generations of television audiences laughing as bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, dies at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills.

Don Knotts, TV's 'Barney Fife,' Dies at 81

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Friday

The DVD Room

Catching Vintage Jazz Tap on DVD

Fresh Air

Several recent DVD releases feature great black entertainers of the 20th century. For classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz, his favorites feature the great tap dance team of Harold and Fayard Nicholas.

Catching Vintage Jazz Tap on DVD

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Richard Adler's Broadway Visions Live On

Fresh Air

In the '50s, Richard Adler collaborated with his partner, Jerry Ross, on the Broadway musicals Damn Yankees and The Pajama Game. Currently, there is a new Broadway staging of The Pajama Game, starring Harry Connick Jr., and Michael McKean. This interview originally aired on August 9, 1990.

Richard Adler's Broadway Visions Live On

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Wednesday

Big Moves for Plus-Sized Dance Troupes

From ballet to burlesque, women who weigh as much as 300 pounds are taking to the live stage on both coasts. These plus-size dance troupes are part of an organization called Big Moves. Their motto? "Because every body can dance." Fawnee Evnochides of member station KALW has this report.

Big Moves for Plus-Sized Dance Troupes

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Monday

National

Anna Deavere Smith's 'Letters to a Young Artist'

Anna Deavere Smith is renowned for her one-woman shows, which have helped redefine modern theater. In her new book, Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts-for Actors, Performers, Writers, and Artists of Every Kind, she talks about the joy and pain of her peculiar profession.

Anna Deavere Smith's 'Letters to a Young Artist'

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Sunday

Two Women, One Story 'In the Continuum'

A two-woman play about dealing with HIV, In the Continuum began as a graduate school acting project. Now the off-Broadway show has been named one of the 10 best plays of the year by The New York Times.

Two Women, One Story 'In the Continuum'

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Thursday

Neil Young And Jonathan Demme On The Pain And Power Of 'Heart Of Gold'

Neil Young (left) and director Jonathan Demme. Peter Bregg/Getty Images hide caption

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Peter Bregg/Getty Images

Music Interviews

Neil Young And Jonathan Demme On The Pain And Power Of 'Heart Of Gold'

Fresh Air

A surgery, and the brain aneurysm that prompted it, served as catalysts for Neil Young to create some of the most compelling music of his career, and inspired a music film from Jonathan Demme.

Neil Young And Jonathan Demme On The Pain And Power Of 'Heart Of Gold'

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Tuesday

Sunday

Music Interviews

Marc-Andre Dalbavie, Composing in 'Color'

French composer Marc-Andre Dalbavie, 44, is a hit with U.S. orchestras despite caution over trying "new" music on audiences. His latest is a piano concerto. What's his secret? Vivian Goodman of member station WKSU goes looking.

Marc-Andre Dalbavie, Composing in 'Color'

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Saturday

The Grammy Awards

Indie Labels Take a Risk, and Win, with Musicals

A handful of indie labels are preserving the recorded legacy of original cast albums, at a time when the major labels are doing fewer and fewer of them. The work has not gone unnoticed at the Grammys this year, where several indie-produced albums are nominated.

Indie Labels Take a Risk, and Win, with Musicals

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Monday

Obituaries

Playwright Wendy Wasserstein Dies at Age 55

Playwright Wendy Wasserstein died Monday in New York City after battling cancer. She was 55 years old. Day to Day has this remembrance of her prolific career and award-winning plays that celebrated women, including The Heidi Chronicles and The Sisters Rosenweig.

Playwright Wendy Wasserstein Dies at Age 55

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Obituaries

Recalling the Life of Playwright Wendy Wasserstein

A look at the life and career of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein, who died Monday in New York City. Her plays included The Heidi Chronicles and The Sisters Rosensweig. Wasserstein died of lymphoma at the age of 55.

Recalling the Life of Playwright Wendy Wasserstein

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