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

Performing Arts

Tuesday

Anne Hathaway plays a nameless drone pilot in Julie Taymor's latest directing project, Grounded. Joan Marcus/Courtesy of The Public Theater hide caption

toggle caption
Joan Marcus/Courtesy of The Public Theater

Director Julie Taymor Steers A 'Grounded' Portrait Of A Drone Pilot

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/402641742/402856144" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Inna Brayer (center) with students, Alex Volynsky (left) and Simone Lempert (right) at her dance studio in Brooklyn, New York. Alexandra Starr hide caption

toggle caption
Alexandra Starr

Why Russian-American Jews Are Ballroom Dance Leaders

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/402833811/402856162" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

Voices In Your Head, from the University of Chicago, performs their competition set. In the front, you can see Kari Wei — she's the one with the pitch pipe around her neck. Joe Martinez Photography hide caption

toggle caption
Joe Martinez Photography

The Hard Work And Close Bonds Of Competitive College A Cappella

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/401992557/402160028" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Small South Carolina Newspaper Takes Home Top Pulitzer Prize

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/401048755/401048756" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

Asad Ali, 63, was unemployed for four years when Pakistan clamped down on live music in 1977. He now plays the guitar for Sachal Studios Orchestra around the globe and in his hometown, Lahore. Courtesy of Mobeen Ansari hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of Mobeen Ansari

Thursday

Sydney Lucas as Small Alison and Michael Cerveris as her father in the new production of Fun Home. Joan Marcus hide caption

toggle caption
Joan Marcus

Broadway Passes The Bechdel Test With 'Fun Home'

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/400095882/400178423" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Monday

German writer Günter Grass arrives at Günter Grass-Haus, a museum in Luebeck, Germany, for his 80th birthday celebration on Oct. 27, 2007. Sean Gallup/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Günter Grass, Who Confronted Germany's Past As Well As His Own, Dies At 87

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/375402373/399414450" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

Edie Falco stars in Showtime's "Nurse Jackie." David M. Russell/Showtime hide caption

toggle caption
David M. Russell/Showtime

'Nurse Jackie' Ends As TV's Most Honest Depiction Of Addiction

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/398713112/399138768" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

As the new season of Game of Thrones begins, Tyrion Lannister (played by Peter Dinklage) is on the run after killing his manipulative father. HBO hide caption

toggle caption
HBO

'Game Of Thrones' And 'Veep' Anchor HBO's Killer Sunday Lineup

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/398487249/398824645" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Oliver Smith (1918–1994). Scenic design for Jerome Robbins' Broadway. Watercolor and pen and ink drawing. Music Division, Library of Congress hide caption

toggle caption
Music Division, Library of Congress

'Grand Illusion' Exhibit Lifts Curtain On The Secrets Of Setting The Stage

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/398559340/398704513" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Misty Copeland (left) and Brooklyn Mack play Odette/Odile and Prince Siegfried in this year's Washington Ballet production of Swan Lake. It is the first time that two black dancers star in Swan Lake in a major American production. Emily Jan/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Emily Jan/NPR

Who Gets To Dance In 'Swan Lake'? The Answer Is Changing

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/398508457/398575554" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Bill Nighy is starring a revival of David Hare's 1995 drama Skylight. "I adore it. It's probably my favorite play," he says. John Haynes/Philip Rinaldi Publicity hide caption

toggle caption
John Haynes/Philip Rinaldi Publicity

Bill Nighy And David Hare Team Up Again In 'Skylight' Revival

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/398101964/398123491" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

The times, they may be changing — but the cast of AMC's Mad Men find it difficult to change with them. Frank Ockenfels/AMC hide caption

toggle caption
Frank Ockenfels/AMC

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same As 'Mad Men' Winds Down

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/397054551/397213164" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Actor Mark Rylance, seen here as Thomas Cromwell in Masterpiece's Wolf Hall, views Cromwell as a survivor who knows how to manipulate power to his advantage. "He has the mind of a chess player," Rylance says. Giles Keyte/Playground & Company Pictures for Masterpiece/BBC hide caption

toggle caption
Giles Keyte/Playground & Company Pictures for Masterpiece/BBC

'Wolf Hall' On Stage And TV Means More Makeovers For Henry VIII's 'Pit Bull'

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/396399191/396505350" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript