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

Performing Arts

Thursday

Mel Brooks Says It's His Job To 'Make Terrible Things Entertaining'

Mel Brooks' office is lined with awards — he's in the elite EGOT club, having won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. Danny Hajek/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Danny Hajek/NPR

Humor & Fun

Mel Brooks Says It's His Job To 'Make Terrible Things Entertaining'

Brooks, 91, has made a career of poking fun at topics that normally wouldn't make you laugh. "The comedy writer is like the conscience of the king," Brooks says. "He's got to tell him the truth."

Mel Brooks Says It's His Job To 'Make Terrible Things Entertaining'

Listen · 6:45
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/605297774/605944240" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Asylum-Seeking Student Says Nothing Can Stand Between Him And Poetry

Allan Monga, a Deering High School junior, won Poetry Out Loud contests at school and at the state level. He was initially denied entry to the national competition because he's an asylum seeker and not a U.S. citizen. Portland Press Herald/Press Herald via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Portland Press Herald/Press Herald via Getty Images

Culture

Asylum-Seeking Student Says Nothing Can Stand Between Him And Poetry

Allan Monga of Portland, Maine recently won the right to compete in the national Poetry Out Loud festival. He was initially barred because he's an asylum seeker and not a U.S. citizen.

Asylum-Seeking Student Says Nothing Can Stand Between Him And Poetry

Listen · 5:06
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/605260963/605401512" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Edible Oddities: David Bowie-Inspired Menus Reflect His Many Personas

From left: Aladdin Sane, Thin White Duke, Ziggy Stardust, Major Tom, The Man Who Fell to Earth, and Halloween Jack are Bowie-inspired cocktails made by BKW by Brooklyn Winery. Shelby Hearn/BKW by Brooklyn Winery hide caption

toggle caption
Shelby Hearn/BKW by Brooklyn Winery

The Salt

Edible Oddities: David Bowie-Inspired Menus Reflect His Many Personas

Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke are just two of the characters David Bowie created for himself. The innovator explored music and identity, and his art exhibition inspires chefs and mixologists.

Muggles Rejoice: 'Harry Potter And The Cursed Child' Is Now On Broadway

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is an original play by John Tiffany, Jack Thorne and J.K. Rowling. Matthew Murphy/Courtesy of Boneau/Bryan-Brown hide caption

toggle caption
Matthew Murphy/Courtesy of Boneau/Bryan-Brown

Theater

Muggles Rejoice: 'Harry Potter And The Cursed Child' Is Now On Broadway

The play, co-written by J.K. Rowling, opened on Sunday and picks up where the last novel left off, with Harry sending his son off to Hogwarts.

Muggles Rejoice: 'Harry Potter And The Cursed Child' Is Now On Broadway

Listen · 4:35
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/604437213/605045087" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Shall We Dance: Balanchine Sets Tchaikovsky In Motion

Ballerinas of the New York City Ballet perform Serenade by George Balanchine at the Mariinsky theatre in St.Petersburg, July 30, 2003. AFP/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Deceptive Cadence

Shall We Dance: Balanchine Sets Tchaikovsky In Motion

Conductor Marin Alsop muses on the power of ballet and her memories of watching choreographer George Balanchine bring the music of Tchaikovsky to life with the New York City Ballet.

Shall We Dance: Balanchine Sets Tchaikovsky In Motion

Listen · 6:42
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/603589940/604551328" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

Not My Job: Actor Laurie Metcalf Gets Quizzed On Three Short Men
Jordan Strauss/Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!

Not My Job: Actor Laurie Metcalf Gets Quizzed On Three Short Men

Metcalf co-stars in the Broadway production of Edward Albee's Three Tall Women. So we've invited her to play a game about Tom Cruise, Charlie Chaplin and a short man named Pete Conrad.

Not My Job: Actor Laurie Metcalf Gets Quizzed On Three Short Men

Listen · 8:36
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/602280303/602467726" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Life Above A Library Was Like Living In Neverland

Sharon Washington on stage in her play Feeding the Dragon, about her childhood in a library. James Leynse hide caption

toggle caption
James Leynse

Life Above A Library Was Like Living In Neverland

Sharon Washington grew up in an apartment above a branch of the New York Public Library — her father was its custodian. After hours, she had the run of the place. She tells that story in a new play.

Life Above A Library Was Like Living In Neverland

Listen · 4:27
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/601970869/602288733" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
No More Hotel Auditions, Says Union Representing Actors

SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris, shown here at January's Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, is calling for an end to auditions at private hotel rooms or homes. Vince Bucci/Invision/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Vince Bucci/Invision/AP

The Two-Way

No More Hotel Auditions, Says Union Representing Actors

SAG-AFTRA is calling for an end to auditions in private hotel rooms or residences, after a spate of sexual harassment allegations against powerful Hollywood figures.

Monday

Theater

How Rodgers And Hammerstein Revolutionized Broadway

Fresh Air

Todd Purdum's new book, Something Wonderful, is about the creative partnership and strained personal relationship behind such hit shows as Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific and The Sound of Music.

How Rodgers And Hammerstein Revolutionized Broadway

Listen · 43:47
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/600818943/600879676" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Sarah Kay: What Advice Would You Give Your Future Daughter?

Sarah Kay on the TED stage. James Duncan Davidson/TED hide caption

toggle caption
James Duncan Davidson/TED

TED Radio Hour

Sarah Kay: What Advice Would You Give Your Future Daughter?

Spoken word poet Sarah Kay imagines what it would like to raise a child in a world of happiness, heartache, and everything in between.

Sarah Kay: What Advice Would You Give Your Future Daughter?

Listen · 4:55
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/600096880/600100604" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
On Broadway, They Wear Pink: 'Mean Girls' Is Now A Musical

Cady (Erika Henningsen, left) wears pink along with fellow Plastics Gretchen (Ashley Park), Regina (Taylor Louderman) and Karen (Kate Rockwell) in the musical Mean Girls. Joan Marcus/Boneau/Bryan-Brown hide caption

toggle caption
Joan Marcus/Boneau/Bryan-Brown

Theater

On Broadway, They Wear Pink: 'Mean Girls' Is Now A Musical

A lot has changed since Mean Girls came out in 2004, but Tina Fey points to one reason the story still holds up: Older women and teens can both see themselves playing out their worst behavior.

On Broadway, They Wear Pink: 'Mean Girls' Is Now A Musical

Listen · 7:19
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/599813454/600055801" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Kim Jong Un Was 'Deeply Moved' After K-Pop Performance

A picture provided by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (back, center) and his wife Ri Sol-Ju (second row, sixth from left) posing with South Korean musicians after their performance in the East Pyongyang Grand Theater in Pyongyang. KCNA via KNS/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
KCNA via KNS/AFP/Getty Images

The Record

Kim Jong Un Was 'Deeply Moved' After K-Pop Performance

The North Korean leader hosted a South Korean delegation Sunday, becoming the first leader in his country's history to take in the talents of K-pop stars in his capital city.

Saturday

John Legend Pulls From Familiar Roots To Play Jesus In 'Jesus Christ Superstar Live'

John Legend sits before actors playing the 12 disciples in Jesus Christ Superstar Live. Virginia Sherwood/NBC hide caption

toggle caption
Virginia Sherwood/NBC

Music Interviews

John Legend Pulls From Familiar Roots To Play Jesus In 'Jesus Christ Superstar Live'

NBC's latest one-night musical event revives the 1970s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, starring John Legend in its daunting lead role.

John Legend Pulls From Familiar Roots To Play Jesus In 'Jesus Christ Superstar Live'

Listen · 4:40
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/598331386/598575875" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Glenda Jackson Stands Tall, On And Off Stage

Glenda Jackson plays A, the eldest of the three women in the new Broadway production of Edward Albee's Three Tall Women. Brigitte Lacombe hide caption

toggle caption
Brigitte Lacombe

Theater

Glenda Jackson Stands Tall, On And Off Stage

The Academy Award-winning actress (and former member of British Parliament) returns to Broadway after a 30-year absence in Edward Albee's Three Tall Women.

Glenda Jackson Stands Tall, On And Off Stage

Listen · 6:04
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/598340901/598503666" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

'Frozen' Hits Broadway, In 'A Sophisticated Dignified Adult Psychological' Way

Caissie Levy plays Elsa (left) and Patti Murin plays her sister Anna in the Broadway musical version of Frozen. Deen van Meer/Disney Theatrical Productions hide caption

toggle caption
Deen van Meer/Disney Theatrical Productions

Theater

'Frozen' Hits Broadway, In 'A Sophisticated Dignified Adult Psychological' Way

The creators of the highest-grossing animated film of all time aren't just simply letting it go — they've written a dozen new songs for a very sold-out theatrical adaptation.

'Frozen' Hits Broadway, In 'A Sophisticated Dignified Adult Psychological' Way

Listen · 4:20
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/596117176/596647557" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript