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

Performing Arts

Monday

Sasheer Zamata Uses Comedy To Address Intolerance

Sasheer Zamata performs at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal. Joseph Fuda/Just For Laughs hide caption

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Joseph Fuda/Just For Laughs

Sasheer Zamata Uses Comedy To Address Intolerance

The comedian just came off four seasons on Saturday Night Live. Now, she wants to break through to the next part of her career — convincing people she's a writer as well as a performer.

Sasheer Zamata Uses Comedy To Address Intolerance

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Wednesday

Stretch & Bobbito On Race, Hip-Hop, And Belonging

Hip Hop deejays Stretch Armstrong (right) aka Adrian Bartos and Bobbito (left) aka Robert Garcia became legends on The Stretch Armstrong Show during the 1990s. Back then, they were hip hop tastemakers on college station WKCR in New York City. Now they're back together hosting "What's Good? With Stretch and Bobbito," an NPR podcast. Nickolai Hammar/NPR/. hide caption

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Nickolai Hammar/NPR/.

Code Switch

Stretch & Bobbito On Race, Hip-Hop, And Belonging

The pioneering hip-hop radio duo drop by the Code Switch podcast to talk about making their way in a traditionally black genre and their new NPR interview show, What's Good? with Stretch & Bobbito.

Stretch & Bobbito On Race, Hip-Hop, And Belonging

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Monday

Feeling 'Young, Scrappy And Hungry'? Have A 'Hamilton'-Inspired Meal

Hamilton-inspired cupcake toppers. It was only a matter of time before fans of the Broadway hit sought out culinary tributes to their most treasured folk hero. Courtesy of Alexis Murphy hide caption

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Courtesy of Alexis Murphy

The Salt

Feeling 'Young, Scrappy And Hungry'? Have A 'Hamilton'-Inspired Meal

It was only a matter of time before fans of the Broadway hit sought out culinary tributes to their most treasured folk hero. Here are historically minded ideas to eat like the Founding Father.

Thursday

3 Top Ballet Companies Convene For The Golden Anniversary Of 'Jewels'

Dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet perform "Emeralds," the first movement of George Balanchine's Jewels, which marks its 50th anniversary this year. (Jewels, choreography by George Balanchine, © The George Balanchine Trust) Agathe Poupeney/Paris Opera Ballet hide caption

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Agathe Poupeney/Paris Opera Ballet

Dance

3 Top Ballet Companies Convene For The Golden Anniversary Of 'Jewels'

George Balanchine's modernist masterpiece was the first full-length, nonnarrative ballet. Russian, American and French ballet dancers have gathered to perform it together in New York City.

3 Top Ballet Companies Convene For The Golden Anniversary Of 'Jewels'

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Monday

From Injury To Recovery, A Ballerina Fought To Retire On Her Own Terms

Wendy Whelan danced with the New York City Ballet for three decades. Paul Kolnik/The George Balanchine Trust Credit/Abramorama hide caption

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Paul Kolnik/The George Balanchine Trust Credit/Abramorama

Dance

From Injury To Recovery, A Ballerina Fought To Retire On Her Own Terms

Fresh Air

Wendy Whelan feared she would never dance again after undergoing hip surgery. The documentary Restless Creature chronicles her recovery and final performance with the New York City Ballet.

From Injury To Recovery, A Ballerina Fought To Retire On Her Own Terms

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Wednesday

Playwright Edward Albee's Incomplete Works May Never See The Light Of Day

Edward Albee, pictured here in 1967, won three Pulitzer Prizes over the course of his career. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Theater

Playwright Edward Albee's Incomplete Works May Never See The Light Of Day

Albee died in 2016, and in his will he asked that all his incomplete manuscripts be destroyed — including a play that was supposed to open off-Broadway.

Playwright Edward Albee's Incomplete Works May Never See The Light Of Day

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Saturday

How 'Fiddler On The Roof' (And Writing Its Sequel) Helped An Actress Find Closure

After Anatevka: A Novel Inspired by "Fiddler on the Roof", by Alexandra Silber. Pegasus Books hide caption

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Pegasus Books

Author Interviews

How 'Fiddler On The Roof' (And Writing Its Sequel) Helped An Actress Find Closure

Alexandra Silber's father died when she was just 18 — the same age as Fiddler's Hodel when she leaves her dad at a train station. Silber's new novel, After Anatevka, tells the rest of Hodel's story.

How 'Fiddler On The Roof' (And Writing Its Sequel) Helped An Actress Find Closure

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'These Kids Are Insane': Jimmy Awards Celebrate Outstanding Teen Performers

Jasmine Rogers performs a number as the Witch from Into the Woods. Henry McGee/NHSMTA hide caption

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Henry McGee/NHSMTA

Theater

'These Kids Are Insane': Jimmy Awards Celebrate Outstanding Teen Performers

Seventy-four high school singers, actors and dancers, selected from a pool of 50,000 students across America, recently came to New York City for a Broadway boot camp.

'These Kids Are Insane': Jimmy Awards Celebrate Outstanding Teen Performers

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Friday

The Impact of War

Broadway Chanteuse Barbara Cook: 'My First Memories Are Of Singing'

Fresh Air

After starring in Broadway shows like The Music Man and Candide, Cook struggled with addiction, then staged a successful second career as a cabaret singer. Originally broadcast June 27, 2016.

Broadway Chanteuse Barbara Cook: 'My First Memories Are Of Singing'

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Sunday

Julius Caesar Production Closes, But Debate Over Art And Politics Likely to Rage On

People arrive for the opening night of Shakespeare in the Park's production of Julius Caesar at Central Park's Delacorte Theater on June 12 in New York. Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images

Politics

Julius Caesar Production Closes, But Debate Over Art And Politics Likely to Rage On

A production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar has drawn the ire of conservatives for its depiction of President Trump as the ill-fated Roman politician.

Saturday

'1984' Comes To Broadway And 'It's Not An Easy Evening'

Olivia Wilde and Tom Sturridge star as Julia and Winston in the stage adaptation of George Orwell's 1984. Julieta Cervantes/DKC/O&M hide caption

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Julieta Cervantes/DKC/O&M

Theater

'1984' Comes To Broadway And 'It's Not An Easy Evening'

George Orwell's dystopia returned to bestseller lists after the inauguration. "It's quite something to bring it to New York now, in this political climate," says adaptation co-author Duncan Macmillan.

'1984' Comes To Broadway And 'It's Not An Easy Evening'

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Friday

Atop Ancient Ruins, A Rock Opera About Emperor Nero Leaves Some Romans Unimpressed

A stage constructed amidst Roman ruins to host the rock opera Divine Nero has led some archaeologists and art historians to denounce what they see as the commercialization of the city's heritage. Stefano Montesi/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption

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Stefano Montesi/Corbis via Getty Images

Parallels

Atop Ancient Ruins, A Rock Opera About Emperor Nero Leaves Some Romans Unimpressed

A new musical seeks to present a different side of the emperor, known best for fiddling while Rome burned. But some historians object to what they see as the commercialization of Roman heritage.

Atop Ancient Ruins, A Rock Opera About Emperor Nero Leaves Some Romans Unimpressed

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Monday

Delta, BofA Drop Support For 'Julius Caesar' That Looks Too Much Like Trump

The Public Theater's production of Julius Caesar in New York's Central Park features a titular character who wears a Donald Trump-like costume and is stabbed to death onstage. Verena Dobnik/AP hide caption

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Verena Dobnik/AP

The Two-Way

Delta, BofA Drop Support For 'Julius Caesar' That Looks Too Much Like Trump

A New York production's Caesar has blond hair, a fondness for long ties and a wife who speaks with a Slavic accent. Delta said the assassination tale "crossed the line on the standards of good taste."