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

Performing Arts

Saturday

Friday

Lawrence Wright's 'Trip to Al-Qaeda'

My Trip to Al-Qaeda, a one-man play in New York, is an emotional journey for the audience and the writer, who plays himself on stage. It documents Lawrence Wright's quest to understand the rage at the roots of the terrorist group.

Lawrence Wright's 'Trip to Al-Qaeda'

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Monday

Monday

Artist Takes Inspiration from Amputation

Lisa Bufano lost her legs and her fingers from a staph infection when she was 21. The award-winning artist recently premiered a modern dance piece, Five Open Mouths, about coming to terms with her body as it is.

Artist Takes Inspiration from Amputation

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Friday

Culture

Method or Madness? Jury Decides Hamlet's Fate

Was Hamlet criminally responsible for killing his ex-girlfriend's father, Polonius? That is the question argued in a mock trial, part of a Shakespeare festival in Washington, D.C. Lawyers Abbe Lowell and Miles Ehrlich presented oral arguments before a jury.

Method or Madness? Jury Decides Hamlet's Fate

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Saturday

Music

France Says Vive Edith Piaf, One More Time

A new film — as well as several recently published books — have introduced a younger generation of French citizens to Edith Piaf, the singer nicknamed "the Sparrow." She was only 47 when she died of cancer in 1963.

France Says Vive Edith Piaf, One More Time

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Wednesday

L.A. Opera Celebrates Nazi-Repressed Composers

The Los Angeles Opera is launching a multi-year project to perform the music of composers whose work was suppressed by the Nazis. The inaugural concerts this March include a fully staged performance of Alexander Zemlinksy's A Florentine Tragedy. Visual art also suppressed in Nazi Germany will be projected on the stage during the concert.

L.A. Opera Celebrates Nazi-Repressed Composers

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Tuesday

Culture

Artists Retreat into Solitude at MacDowell Colony

The MacDowell Colony, 100 years old this month, is a haven where artists of all types — writers, composers, sculptors — can sweep away distractions and just create. Though solitude is the retreat's main draw, interdisciplinary feedback is central to its appeal.

Artists Retreat into Solitude at MacDowell Colony

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Culture

N.Y. Plays from Monologists

Eric Bogosian and Spalding Gray became well-known for their one-man shows in the 1980s and 1990s. Two shows opening in New York this week aim to prove that the work of these idiosyncratic authors can be taken on by other actors.

N.Y. Plays from Monologists

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Monday

Movies

And the Nominees Are... British

Last week, Helen Mirren won the Oscar for best actress with Judi Dench and Kate Winslet rounding out that category. In his op-ed that appeared in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, Jonathan Last asks the question, "What do British actors have that U.S. film actors don't?"

And the Nominees Are... British

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Monday

79th Annual Academy Awards

Scorsese, 'Departed' Grab Top Oscars

After decades of success, director Martin Scorsese has his first Oscar. His film The Departed also won Best Picture. Among actors, Forest Whitaker was honored for playing Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, Helen Mirren for The Queen.

Scorsese, 'Departed' Grab Top Oscars

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Thursday

Wednesday

Tuesday

New York Critics Hail 'Heights' Composer

Dominican/Cuban composer Lin-Manuel Miranda is drawing critical praise for mixing salsa, meringue, hip-hop and other Latin styles with traditional Broadway fare. In the Heights is set in Washington Heights, a primarily Latino neighborhood in northern Manhattan.

New York Critics Hail 'Heights' Composer

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Pop Culture

Creator Seeks to Preserve 'Electric Slide'

The Electric Slide slithered out of '70s disco venues to global popularity. But choreographer Richard Silver says his creation has lost key steps in more recent representations. He's considering a suit to protect the artistic integrity of his dance.

Creator Seeks to Preserve 'Electric Slide'

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