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

Performing Arts

Friday

Music News

Jazz Education Group Sounds Its Siren Song

For 40 years, the International Association of Jazz Education has worked to promote jazz instruction at middle schools, high schools and colleges around the world. This week, the IAJE announced it was filing for bankruptcy protection and shutting down.

Jazz Education Group Sounds Its Siren Song

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Morgan Freeman's New Role: An Actor, In Extremis

After nearly 20 years away from the stage, he's back on Broadway in The Country Girl, directed by Mike Nichols. His character: a washed-up actor with a love for the bottle and an uncertain gift.

Morgan Freeman's New Role: An Actor, In Extremis

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Thursday

Music News

What Did I Do With My Violin?

Every few months seems to bring another headline about a lost violin. This week, it was Philippe Quint, who lost his violin in New York City. David Sternbach, director of the Center for Arts and Wellness, talks with Robert Siegel about what makes classical musicians so forgetful.

What Did I Do With My Violin?

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Wednesday

Saturday

Enter New Playwrights, Stage Left, in Denver

Three years ago, Kent Thompson became the artistic director of the Denver Center Theatre Company. Under his leadership, the company has become one of a handful of regional theaters around the country committed to developing new work.

Enter New Playwrights, Stage Left, in Denver

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Sunday

In Character

Stage Mother from Hell: Needy, Greedy Mama Rose

Gypsy's antiheroine is a woman boiling over with frustrated ambition, who channels all her energies into turning her daughters into stars — woe be to anyone who gets in her way. Jeff Lunden has an appreciation.

Stage Mother from Hell: Needy, Greedy Mama Rose

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Thursday

Review

Movies

Elderly Rock Singers Put on a Good Show

Los Angeles Times and Morning Edition film critic Kenneth Turan reviews the film Young at Heart. It's a documentary about a choir made up of senior citizens who perform songs by rock, punk and soul music artists.

Elderly Rock Singers Put on a Good Show

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Tuesday

Business

May I Have Your Rather Valuable Autograph?

Al Wittnebert, an elder statesman of the autograph business, says there is a code of honor in seeking famous signatures — and that it can be a lucrative way to make a living.

May I Have Your Rather Valuable Autograph?

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Review

Music Reviews

The Breeders' Scrappy 'Mountain Battle'

Esquire music critic Andy Langer discusses the week's new album releases, including albums from The Breeders, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Hayes Carll, Ike Reilly, and Man Man.

The Breeders' Scrappy 'Mountain Battle'

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Monday

National

Commuter Concerto Helps Writer Net Pulitzer

For his Pulitzer-prize winning feature story, Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post convinced world-class violinist Joshua Bell to play beautiful music in a Metrorail station to gauge commuters' reaction.

Commuter Concerto Helps Writer Net Pulitzer

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Climate Connections

A Ukrainian Pop Star's Would-Be Revolution

Ruslana, Ukraine's biggest pop star, switches between two roles on stage: a limp, pale, synthetic woman chained to a machine for energy and a vibrant warrior whose energy comes from clean, renewable resources. But in post-Soviet Ukraine, her fans are more interested in capitalist consumption than conservation.

A Ukrainian Pop Star's Would-Be Revolution

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Friday

Opinion

Obituaries

Bette Davis: In Those Eyes, Always a Glint of Fire

She was the Hollywood star for two decades, then a washout, then an Oscar nominee again — twice. On the centenary of her birth, NPR's Bob Mondello looks back at a star you think you know.

Bette Davis: In Those Eyes, Always a Glint of Fire

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Music

An Ideal Song for Senegalese Independence Day

It's Senegalese Independence Day. That's why "Dieureudieuf," by Coumba Gawlo, is the best song in the world today, says BPP intern Laura Silver, who spent three months in Senegal volunteering in a rural town.

An Ideal Song for Senegalese Independence Day

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Thursday

In Revival, 'South Pacific' Still Has Lessons to Teach

In the Broadway revival of South Pacific, Paulo Szot and Kelli O'Hara take on parts made famous by opera star Ezio Pinza and Broadway sweetheart Mary Martin. Joan Marcus hide caption

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Joan Marcus

In Revival, 'South Pacific' Still Has Lessons to Teach

The 1949 musical is getting its first Broadway remount, and its creative team says the story — about culture, life in wartime and the impact of American power abroad — resonates as profoundly as ever.

In Revival, 'South Pacific' Still Has Lessons to Teach

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