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Thursday

Dangerous Dad Of 'Scandal' Turns The Tables

Actor Joe Morton has appeared in films like Speed and Terminator 2 and TV shows like Law & Order and The Good Wife. Matt Sayles/AP hide caption

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Matt Sayles/AP

Wisdom Watch

Dangerous Dad Of 'Scandal' Turns The Tables

Actor Joe Morton is probably best-known these days as one of TV's toughest dads, playing Rowan Pope on Scandal. Morton talks about the show's return, plus his 40-year career in film, TV and theater.

Dangerous Dad Of 'Scandal' Turns The Tables

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Monday

Black, British And 'Brain Drained': Playwright Takes Charge In Baltimore

Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director of Baltimore's Center Stage Theater. Richard Anderson/©2011 Richard Anderson Photogra hide caption

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Richard Anderson/©2011 Richard Anderson Photogra

Black History Month: #AfroGlobal

Black, British And 'Brain Drained': Playwright Takes Charge In Baltimore

As part of Black History Month, host Michel Martin asks actor, playwright and theater director Kwame Kwei-Armah why he, and so many other British actors, have chosen careers in the U.S.

Black, British And 'Brain Drained': Playwright Takes Charge In Baltimore

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Sunday

Saturday

Where Are The Heroes To Save Pittsburgh's African-American Center?

The $42-million August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh is for sale because it can't pay its bills. Some are questioning why the Center was allowed to fail. Keith Srakocic/AP hide caption

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Keith Srakocic/AP

National

Where Are The Heroes To Save Pittsburgh's African-American Center?

WESA

The August Wilson Center opened in 2009 as a hub for African-American culture. Now it's up for sale, unable to pay its bills, and some wonder why the Center has been allowed to fail.

Where Are The Heroes To Save Pittsburgh's African-American Center?

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Friday

A Reggae Romp For The Family, With Marley's Music At Heart

Shy Jamaican boy Ziggy (Jobari Parker-Namdar) and his friend Nansi (Brittany Williams) are main characters in Three Little Birds, an off-Broadway musical driven by Bob Marley's infectious reggae songs — and created by his daughter Cedella Marley. Michael Horan/New Victory Theater hide caption

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Michael Horan/New Victory Theater

Theater

A Reggae Romp For The Family, With Marley's Music At Heart

NPR's Audie Cornish talks to Cedella Marley about her new off-Broadway musical, Three Little Birds. It's adapted from her children's book — which itself was inspired by the song written by her father, the late reggae superstar Bob Marley.

A Reggae Romp For The Family, With Marley's Music At Heart

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Monday

Obituaries

Philip Seymour Hoffman On His Portrayal Of Willy Loman

Many famous actors have played the role of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Philip Seymour Hoffman became the fifth actor to play the harried, 63-year-old Loman on Broadway. (Steve Inskeep's conversation with Philip Seymour Hoffman initially aired on April 12, 2012 on Morning Edition).

Philip Seymour Hoffman On His Portrayal Of Willy Loman

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'After Midnight,' And The Cotton Club Is Swinging Again

Fantasia Barrino, the American Idol winner who went on to play the lead role in Broadway's The Color Purple, was among the rotating roster of guest stars in After Midnight, a Broadway revue celebrating Harlem's legendary Cotton Club and the stars who performed there. Matthew Murphy hide caption

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Matthew Murphy

Theater

'After Midnight,' And The Cotton Club Is Swinging Again

The legendary Harlem nightclub and the artists and music it's synonymous with are being celebrated in a new Broadway revue. Jeff Lunden talks to cast members and the creators about the pleasures and perils of paying homage to a place with a problematic history.

'After Midnight,' And The Cotton Club Is Swinging Again

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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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