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

Performing Arts

Friday

'Testament Of Mary': A Familiar Mother, In First Person

Fiona Shaw rehearses for her role as the Virgin Mary in The Testament of Mary. Irish novelist Colm Toibin's one-woman play opens April 22 at Broadway's Walter Kerr Theater. Hugo Glendinning hide caption

toggle caption
Hugo Glendinning

Theater

'Testament Of Mary': A Familiar Mother, In First Person

Irish actress Fiona Shaw stars on Broadway in The Testament of Mary. It's a one-woman production by Irish novelist Colm Toibin and focuses on perhaps the most well-known mother ever: the Virgin Mary. Shaw talks about her intense, intimate role.

'Testament Of Mary': A Familiar Mother, In First Person

Listen · 8:01
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/175685701/175728385" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Catching Up With The World's Youngest Female Cannonball

Elliana Grace Hentoff-Killian grew up in the circus. She mastered her first circus act at 6, when she learned the Spanish web — an aerial act performed on a rope. Now, at 20, she is currently the world's youngest female human cannonball and is touring with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.

Catching Up With The World's Youngest Female Cannonball

Listen · 16:53
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/175573690/175575492" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Tuesday

Richard Seymour: How Does Beauty Feel?

Designer Richard Seymour at TED Salon. TED hide caption

toggle caption
TED

TED Radio Hour

Richard Seymour: How Does Beauty Feel?

Designer Richard Seymour says people "feel" the beauty before they think about it.

Richard Seymour: How Does Beauty Feel?

Listen · 11:01
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/174756128/177498521" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Bill Strickland: Can Beauty Change A Life?

"Beauty is not just for the imagination. It's actually a way of altering human behavior for the better." — Bill Strickland TED hide caption

toggle caption
TED

TED Radio Hour

Bill Strickland: Can Beauty Change A Life?

Civic leader Bill Strickland says beauty can rescue young people from poverty.

Bill Strickland: Can Beauty Change A Life?

Listen · 7:20
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/174728388/177315658" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Cameron Russell: Does Being Beautiful Make You Happy?

Cameron Russell at TEDxMidAtlantic David Quinalty/TED hide caption

toggle caption
David Quinalty/TED

TED Radio Hour

Cameron Russell: Does Being Beautiful Make You Happy?

Cameron Russell has spent the last decade modeling. Being beautiful has given her unexpected gifts, and believe it or not, a fair dose of insecurity.

Cameron Russell: Does Being Beautiful Make You Happy?

Listen · 9:04
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/174727961/177496449" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Denis Dutton: Are Some Things Universally Beautiful?

Philosopher Denis Dutton suggests that humans are hard-wired to seek beauty. James Duncan Davidson/TED hide caption

toggle caption
James Duncan Davidson/TED

TED Radio Hour

Denis Dutton: Are Some Things Universally Beautiful?

Philosopher Denis Dutton says the places and people we find attractive can be traced to the preferences of ancient man.

Denis Dutton: Are Some Things Universally Beautiful?

Listen · 12:29
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/174726813/176776807" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

10 Years Ago, A Night Vision Of The Iraq Invasion

A soldier with the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division on March 20, 2003, among the first troops to set foot in Iraq in that year's invasion. David P. Gilkey/Detroit Free Press/MCT hide caption

toggle caption
David P. Gilkey/Detroit Free Press/MCT

The Picture Show

10 Years Ago, A Night Vision Of The Iraq Invasion

NPR's David Gilkey was on the ground the night U.S. troops invaded Iraq 10 years ago this week. He describes a photograph he made that first night — one of the first photos of the invasion to come out of Iraq.

Familiar Folks Make Up A Play's 'Good People'

Johanna Day as Margie and Andrew Long as Mike in the recent Arena Stage production of David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People. The childhood friends drift apart as their lives take on very different socioeconomic dimensions. Margot Schulman/Arena Stage hide caption

toggle caption
Margot Schulman/Arena Stage

Theater

Familiar Folks Make Up A Play's 'Good People'

The most frequently produced play in America these days is a semiautobiographical look at class divides in the modern U.S. David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People explores what can happen when two kids from the same neighborhood grow up to become two very different adults.

Familiar Folks Make Up A Play's 'Good People'

Listen · 7:20
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/174308962/174598998" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

'The Last Five Years' Returns To New York

Adam Kantor and Betsy Woolfe star in the current off-Broadway revival of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years. The Hartman Group / Second Stage Theatre hide caption

toggle caption
The Hartman Group / Second Stage Theatre

Theater

'The Last Five Years' Returns To New York

A cult-favorite musical, The Last Five Years is a semi-autobiographical look at one couple's failed marriage. A revival hits off-Broadway this week, and the show's creator Jason Robert Brown joins host Jacki Lyden to talk about the last 11 years of the little show that could.

'The Last Five Years' Returns To New York

Listen · 10:14
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/173817976/173959666" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

For Berry Gordy, Broadway Is Memory Lane

Valisia LeKae, Sydney Morton and Ariana Debose play the Supremes in the show. Andrew Eccles hide caption

toggle caption
Andrew Eccles

Theater

For Berry Gordy, Broadway Is Memory Lane

The legendary music that makes up Broadway's upcoming Motown: The Musical offers audible proof that Berry Gordy's Detroit R&B label is the soundtrack of an American generation. But for Gordy, the new project is just the story of that label as he lived through it.

For Berry Gordy, Broadway Is Memory Lane

Listen · 4:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/173734121/173795183" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

August Wilson's Words Get New Life In Monologue Contest

Branndin Laramore (from left), Brian Weddington, Lia Miller and Ernesto Moreta pose after a recent rehearsal for the Chicago finals of the August Wilson Monologue Competition. Cheryl Corley/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Cheryl Corley/NPR

Theater

August Wilson's Words Get New Life In Monologue Contest

The legendary American playwright's words and characters are central to a national monologue contest that gives high school students a chance to discover themselves in stories of his Century Cycle.

August Wilson's Words Get New Life In Monologue Contest

Listen · 4:31
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/173731239/173755470" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

For This Pair Of Clowns, 'Old Hats' Means New Laughs

Nellie McKay, David Shiner and Bill Irwin use old-time comedy, newfangled tricks and zany music to score laughs in their new theatrical revue, Old Hats. Joan Marcus hide caption

toggle caption
Joan Marcus

Theater

For This Pair Of Clowns, 'Old Hats' Means New Laughs

Theatrical clowning duo Bill Irwin and David Shiner haven't shared the spotlight onstage since the late 1990s. Now, with a collaborative theater project running at off-Broadway's Signature Theatre, they bring their zany brand of participatory slapstick to a new generation.

For This Pair Of Clowns, 'Old Hats' Means New Laughs

Listen · 6:23
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/173176707/173559193" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

'Don't Underestimate The Guts' Of This Modern Leading Lady

Laura Osnes appears in the title role of a new Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. Though her career began unconventionally, she's already had considerably conventional success. Carol Rosegg hide caption

toggle caption
Carol Rosegg

Theater

'Don't Underestimate The Guts' Of This Modern Leading Lady

Winning a leading role on Broadway by way of a reality TV show may not have been the most traditional career path. But Laura Osnes proved she was the real deal. The young actress leads a revival of Cinderella opening this weekend.

'Don't Underestimate The Guts' Of This Modern Leading Lady

Listen · 6:58
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/173235652/173303500" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Women Of Grunge Reclaim Rock History In 'These Streets'

Ron Nine, Mitch Ebert, Eden Schwartz, Fiia McGann and Gretta Harley perform in These Streets, a new play based on a series of interviews with Seattle musicians. Courtesy of These Streets hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of These Streets

Music News

Women Of Grunge Reclaim Rock History In 'These Streets'

Two years ago, the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's Nevermind sparked a slew of retrospectives about the Seattle grunge scene. But those narratives left something out: the influence of women. A new play by Gretta Harley and Sarah Rudinoff aims to update the historical record.

Women Of Grunge Reclaim Rock History In 'These Streets'

Listen · 6:13
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/172963580/172998733" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript