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

Performing Arts

Friday

Playwright Edward Albee, Who Changed And Challenged Audiences, Dies At 88

Albee, shown here in 1995, won Pulitzer Prizes for A Delicate Balance, Seascape and Three Tall Women and Tony awards for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? Jack Mitchell/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Jack Mitchell/Getty Images

The Two-Way

Playwright Edward Albee, Who Changed And Challenged Audiences, Dies At 88

"All art should be useful," Albee said. "If it's merely decorative, it's a waste of time." The Pulitzer-winning playwright of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? died Friday following a short illness.

Playwright Edward Albee, Who Changed And Challenged Audiences, Dies At 88

Listen · 5:07
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/462191417/494360291" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

Actress And Broadway Star Kristin Chenoweth Plays Not My Job
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!

Actress And Broadway Star Kristin Chenoweth Plays Not My Job

We've invited Chenoweth, who is 4 feet 11 inches, to answer three questions about 6-foot-1 model and actress Brigitte Nielsen.

Actress And Broadway Star Kristin Chenoweth Plays Not My Job

Listen · 9:30
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/493261456/493414402" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

'Come From Away' Musical Tells Story Of Resilience After 9/11
Rob Ball/WireImage

'Come From Away' Musical Tells Story Of Resilience After 9/11

On 9/11, 38 planes were rerouted to Gander, Newfoundland. More than 6,000 passengers and crew were taken in by families there. Their story is the subject of a new musical called, Come From Away.

'Come From Away' Musical Tells Story Of Resilience After 9/11

Listen · 5:34
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/493157938/493157939" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

AfroPunk Acts To Free Your Mind And Your ... Ears

People participate in the annual Afropunk Music festival on August 27, 2016 in New York City. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Opinion

Code Switch

AfroPunk Acts To Free Your Mind And Your ... Ears

This year's AfroPunk Festival in Brooklyn features artists who are expanding the universe of punk and ideas about who belongs there.

AfroPunk Acts To Free Your Mind And Your ... Ears

Listen · 5:24
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/491704798/491704945" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Saturday

'OSLO' Tells The Surprising Story Behind A Historic Handshake

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left) and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat (right) shake hands at the White House in front of President Bill Clinton in September 1993. The new play OSLO is a dramatization of events that led to a historic agreement. David Ake/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
David Ake/AFP/Getty Images

Theater

'OSLO' Tells The Surprising Story Behind A Historic Handshake

A new play chronicles the secret negotiations that brokered the 1993 Palestinian-Israeli peace accord. It's a thriller, says playwright J.T. Rogers: "The ticking clock is the dramatist's friend."

'OSLO' Tells The Surprising Story Behind A Historic Handshake

Listen · 5:10
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/488737544/488969966" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

At The Portrait Gallery, Students Tell The Stories That Pictures Can't

Daja Moorer performs an original monologue acting as the Hull House founder Jane Addams at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Moorer chose to portray Jane Addams for Portraits Alive! because of the mysterious nature of the portrait. Ruby Wallau/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Ruby Wallau/NPR

At The Portrait Gallery, Students Tell The Stories That Pictures Can't

Washington, D.C., teens get into the spirit of historical figures and tell visitors what the portraits miss. In one instance, a student imagines a private talk between Richard Nixon and his wife.

Thursday

Remembering Zelda Fichandler, Matriarch Of American Regional Theater

Zelda Fichandler co-founded Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Tom Fichandler, and drama teacher Edward Mangum. She is seen here with her husband in 1971. Courtesy of Arena Stage hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of Arena Stage

Obituaries

Remembering Zelda Fichandler, Matriarch Of American Regional Theater

When the co-founder of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., made her theater a nonprofit, hundreds of small regional stages followed suit. Fichandler died July 29 at the age of 91.

Remembering Zelda Fichandler, Matriarch Of American Regional Theater

Listen · 3:55
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/488710159/488722526" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

Second Acts: Heather Headley Is Back On Broadway — After A '15-Year Intermission'

Singer and actress Heather Headley (center) returns to Broadway after 15 years to wow audiences in her role as Shug Avery in a revival of The Color Purple. Matthew Murphy/Matthew Murphy hide caption

toggle caption
Matthew Murphy/Matthew Murphy

Second Acts: Heather Headley Is Back On Broadway — After A '15-Year Intermission'

The actress, who won a Tony in 1997 for her role in Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, returns to Broadway after 15 years, to play nightclub singer Shug Avery in a revival of The Color Purple.

Second Acts: Heather Headley Is Back On Broadway — After A '15-Year Intermission'

Listen · 7:56
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/487902853/488150535" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Rachel Chavkin Loves Chaos, And With 3 Shows In The Works, It Shows

Hadestown — a retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus -- is one of two off-Broadway shows director Rachel Chavkin has running right now. Above, from left, Shaina Taub, Lulu Fall, Damon Daunno, Nabiyah Be, Amber Gray, Chris Sullivan and Jessie Shelton. Joan Marcus/Matt Ross Public Relations hide caption

toggle caption
Joan Marcus/Matt Ross Public Relations

Theater

Rachel Chavkin Loves Chaos, And With 3 Shows In The Works, It Shows

The avant garde director has two shows running off-Broadway and a musical opening in October. Though she's working on several different projects, she says there's always "a conversation" between them.

Rachel Chavkin Loves Chaos, And With 3 Shows In The Works, It Shows

Listen · 4:26
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/484377005/487952569" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
New 'Merchant Of Venice' Recasts Shylock As A Sympathetic Everyman

Real life father and daughter Jonathan and Phoebe Pryce as Shakespeare's Jewish moneylender Shylock and his daughter Jessica, in a new production of The Merchant of Venice. Robbie Jack/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Robbie Jack/Corbis via Getty Images

Theater

New 'Merchant Of Venice' Recasts Shylock As A Sympathetic Everyman

Actor Jonathan Pryce is playing the Jewish moneylender in a new touring production of The Merchant of Venice that reimagines Shakespeare's supposedly-comic villain as a tragic and universal figure.

New 'Merchant Of Venice' Recasts Shylock As A Sympathetic Everyman

Listen · 5:57
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/487831441/487952557" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

'Ghost' Soprano Marni Nixon, Who Voiced Blockbuster Musicals, Dies At 86

Soprano Marni Nixon, shown above in June 1988, was dubbed "The Ghostess with the Mostest" in Time magazine. "Bad rhyme, but that sort of stuck," she said. Jack Mitchell/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Jack Mitchell/Getty Images

The Two-Way

'Ghost' Soprano Marni Nixon, Who Voiced Blockbuster Musicals, Dies At 86

You might not know Marni Nixon's name, but you've probably heard her. Nixon dubbed the voices for Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, Natalie Wood in West Side Story and Deborah Kerr in The King and I.

'Ghost' Soprano Marni Nixon, Who Voiced Blockbuster Musicals, Dies At 86

Listen · 4:15
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/466437387/487380944" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Theater

A Tribute To The Late American Composer Eubie Blake

Fresh Air

Blake's music is featured in the Broadway revival, Shuffle Along. Our tribute features live performances of his songs and interviews with pianist Dick Hyman, among others. Originally broadcast in '98.

A Tribute To The Late American Composer Eubie Blake

Listen · 44:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/484026320/484684346" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

This Shakespeare Reconstruction Sets 'Merchant' In Post-Civil War D.C.

In District Merchants, Akeem Davis plays Lance, a freed slave who has a crisis of conscience when he learns his boss, Shylock, may have been involved in the slave trade. Teresa Wood/Courtesy of the Folger Theatre hide caption

toggle caption
Teresa Wood/Courtesy of the Folger Theatre

Theater

This Shakespeare Reconstruction Sets 'Merchant' In Post-Civil War D.C.

In District Merchants, Shylock is still Jewish, but half of the other characters are freed slaves. The playwright says he was inspired but a reference to slavery in Shakespeare's original text.

This Shakespeare Reconstruction Sets 'Merchant' In Post-Civil War D.C.

Listen · 4:38
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/484197974/484215941" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Theater

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. Her new memoir is Then and Now.

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

Listen · 37:55
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/483560820/483726394" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday