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Performing Arts

Thursday

Great Expectations, And Some Hope Of Meeting Them

In plays like FOB, M. Butterfly and Chinglish, David Henry Hwang, seen here at a 2006 gala, touches on the obstacles that can stand between immigrants and the American dream. Amy Sussman/Getty Images hide caption

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Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Opinion

American Dreams: Then And Now

Great Expectations, And Some Hope Of Meeting Them

Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang has written extensively on Asian immigrants' assimilation into American culture. The American dream, he says, is defined by the ability to imagine a future, and then have hope of fulfilling it.

Great Expectations, And Some Hope Of Meeting Them

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Wednesday

Nora Ephron: From 'Silkwood' To 'Sally,' A Singular Voice

Author and screenwriter Nora Ephron died Tuesday in New York. She was 71. Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images hide caption

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Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Obituaries

Nora Ephron: From 'Silkwood' To 'Sally,' A Singular Voice

Nominated for multiple Oscars, the director and screenwriter gave us two of the most indelible scenes in contemporary cinema — and they're startlingly different.

Nora Ephron: From 'Silkwood' To 'Sally,' A Singular Voice

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Monday

Fresh Air Remembers Broadway's Richard Adler

Celebrated composer and lyricist Richard Adler has died at the age of 90. Bob Gomel/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images hide caption

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Bob Gomel/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Obituaries

Fresh Air Remembers Broadway's Richard Adler

Fresh Air

Richard Adler, who co-wrote the musicals The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees with his partner, Jerry Ross, died Thursday at his home in Southampton, N.Y. He was 90. Fresh Air remembers the composer and lyricist with excerpts from a 1990 interview.

Fresh Air Remembers Broadway's Richard Adler

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Saturday

Shirley Clarke's 'Connection': Will It Click At Last?

In The Connection, Leach (Warren Finnerty, right) and his friends wait around for their heroin fix, which eventually comes courtesy of Cowboy (Carl Lee). The controversial film was shut down in New York after two screenings in 1962. Milestone Film hide caption

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Milestone Film

Movies

Shirley Clarke's 'Connection': Will It Click At Last?

When it was released in the early '60s, Shirley Clarke's controversial film about heroin addicts got shut down by New York police after two screenings. Now, a half-century later, audiences get a second chance to see the newly restored movie in theaters.

Shirley Clarke's 'Connection': Will It Click At Last?

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On This Stage, Jesus Is A Robber; The Devil's A Rapist

David Sonnier Jr., from Jeanerette, La., plays the Devil in Angola Prison's production of The Life of Jesus Christ. He was convicted of aggravated rape and is serving a life sentence. Deborah Luster/for NPR hide caption

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Deborah Luster/for NPR

National

On This Stage, Jesus Is A Robber; The Devil's A Rapist

The Angola Prison Drama Club performed a play unlike any other in the prison's experience. Seventy inmates took part in The Life of Jesus Christ. For the untrained actors, this production held special meaning, as they saw pieces of their own lives revealed in the characters they played.

On This Stage, Jesus Is A Robber; The Devil's A Rapist

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Friday

Richard Adler, Broadway Composer And Lyricist, Dies

Celebrated composer and lyricist Richard Adler has died at the age of 90. Bob Gomel/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images hide caption

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Bob Gomel/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

The Record

Richard Adler, Broadway Composer And Lyricist, Dies

He co-wrote Pajama Game and Damn Yankees, then hired Marilyn Monroe to sing "Happy Birthday" to John F. Kennedy.

Richard Adler, Broadway Composer And Lyricist, Dies

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Pop Culture Happy Hour: Of True Tales, Fantasy Adventures And Happy-Making Things
NPR

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Of True Tales, Fantasy Adventures And Happy-Making Things

We bounce from chronicles sober and silly to the question of what makes a solid first-person shooter, and confess to being pleased by some of the strangest things.

Listen To Pop Culture Happy Hour

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Thursday

Delacorte Theater: 50 Years Later, Still Free, Still Battling The Weather

Orlando (David Furr), Rosalind (Lily Rabe, right) and Celia (Renee Elise Goldsberry) in As You Like It. The Public Theater's production opens the 50th-anniversary season at New York's Delacorte Theater. Joan Marcus/The Public Theater hide caption

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Joan Marcus/The Public Theater

Theater

Delacorte Theater: 50 Years Later, Still Free, Still Battling The Weather

This summer marks the half-century anniversary of Central Park's Delacorte Theater, home of the free annual Shakespeare in the Park. Jeff Lunden looks at the theater's beginnings and how it continues its work today with a new production of As You Like It.

Delacorte Theater: 50 Years Later, Still Free, Still Battling The Weather

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Tuesday

Sunday

The Stage On Which Juliet First Called Out For Romeo

Archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology recently excavated the site of the 16th-century Curtain Theatre, where Shakespeare staged some of his plays. Museum of London Archaeology/AP hide caption

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Museum of London Archaeology/AP

Theater

The Stage On Which Juliet First Called Out For Romeo

Archaeologists have found the remains of the Curtain Theatre, where Shakespeare first staged some of his most famous plays. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Chris Thomas, who dug up the theater.

The Stage On Which Juliet First Called Out For Romeo

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Friday

Theater Diary: When Reactions Speak Louder Than Words

Mariah, at right, is the steel-spined matriarch of Porgy and Bess's Catfish Row. Actress NaTasha Yvette Williams, with Norm Lewis's Porgy and Bryonha Marie Parham's Serena, creats one of the show's pivotal moments without having to speak a word. Michael J. Lutch hide caption

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Michael J. Lutch

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Theater Diary: When Reactions Speak Louder Than Words

Sometimes high-octane histrionics are what makes a show unforgettable. And sometimes it's the little moments — and how they reflect what's gone before.

Wednesday

Theater Diary: Ludacris Meets The Von Trapps, And A Bartender Proves Unreliable

Three's company: M (Jason Butler Harner, left) and F (Amanda Quaid) spar over the affections of the paralyzingly uncertain John (Cory Michael Smith) in Mike Bartlett's The Cockfight Play. Joan Marcus hide caption

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Joan Marcus

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Theater Diary: Ludacris Meets The Von Trapps, And A Bartender Proves Unreliable

Things I learned over the course of two very busy days in New York, including why you shouldn't believe every rumor you hear in a 9th Avenue saloon.

Tuesday

Sunday

Tony Predictions From A Record-Breaking Season

Philip Seymour Hoffman (center) and Andrew Garfield (left) with Finn Wittrock and Linda Emond in the revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. The play received seven nominations in total. Brigitte Lacombe/New York Magazine hide caption

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Brigitte Lacombe/New York Magazine

Theater

Tony Predictions From A Record-Breaking Season

The box office was bigger than ever, but serious cash didn't necessarily translate to Tony nominations. Writer Jeff Lunden looks back at the Broadway season, and offers predictions about who'll take home the major prizes this year.

Behind The Stars, The Sets That Help Them Shine

The idea behind Ost's design was to keep the set out of the way of the storytelling --€” and of Newsies' kinetic ensemble. Mike Coppola/Getty Images hide caption

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Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Theater

Behind The Stars, The Sets That Help Them Shine

All eyes will be on the actors and their shows when the 66th annual Tony Awards are handed out in New York. But elemental to the success of both productions and performances is a good-looking set. Jeff Lunden looks at this year's Tony-nominated set designers.

Behind The Stars, The Sets That Help Them Shine

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