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Friday

'Slave Play' playwright Jeremy O. Harris is on a mission to diversify theater

The award-winning playwright talks about his provocative Slave Play, which earned 12 Tony nominations. A new HBO documentary chronicles the making of the production. Originally broadcast June 2023.

'Slave Play' playwright Jeremy O. Harris is on a mission to diversify theater

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Monday

Sarah Paulson accepts the best leading actress in a play award for Appropriate, marking her halfway point to EGOT status.

Sarah Paulson is seen Sunday night accepting the best leading actress in a play award for Appropriate, marking her halfway point to EGOT status, a person who has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions hide caption

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Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions

5 takeaways from the 2024 Tony Awards

There were very few surprises during Sunday's Tony Awards, except for one: best musical. The final award of the night went to The Outsiders, the adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s beloved book.

Sunday

Broadway musical Illinoise’s sound mixer and designer Garth MacAleavy does his preparation for the evening show at the St. James Theatre in New York, on Wednesday, June 12, 2024.

Broadway musical Illinoise’s sound mixer and designer Garth MacAleavy does his preparation for the evening show at the St. James Theatre in New York, on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. Marco Postigo Storel for NPR hide caption

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Marco Postigo Storel for NPR

When you can hear every word, thank the sound mixers

They sit behind a console that looks like the bridge of a spaceship and use complicated technology to bring words from the actors mouth to the audience's ears.

When you can hear every word, thank the sound mixers

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Friday

Conservatives want to burn flags too; plus, the power of a singing POTUS

An American flag flown upside down near the U.S. Capitol. Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images/Getty Images hide caption

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Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images/Getty Images

It's Been a Minute

Conservatives want to burn flags too; plus, the power of a singing POTUS

Flags have been making a lot of headlines lately, and it's not because today is National Flag Day. The upside down flag that was flown outside of Justice Samuel Alito's house after January 6th is back in the headlines again. Plus the Colorado Republican Party has been making news for their post on X to "burn all the #pride flags this June." Host Brittany Luse is joined by Nick Capodice and Hannah McCarthy - hosts of NHPR's Civics 101 - to get into why both liberals and conservatives get so riled up by a piece of fabric.

Conservatives want to burn flags too; plus, the power of a singing POTUS

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Tuesday

Cole Escola literally changes history in 'Oh, Mary!'

Cole Escola as Mary Todd Lincoln in 'Oh, Mary!' Emilio Madrid hide caption

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Emilio Madrid

It's Been a Minute

Cole Escola literally changes history in 'Oh, Mary!'

Cole Escola is the star and creator of Oh Mary!, an upcoming Broadway play about Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of President Abraham Lincoln. But there's a twist: Mary is reimagined as a raging alcoholic with cabaret dreams and Lincoln is portrayed as an evil closeted gay man plotting on her misery. On the cusp of the show's Broadway debut, Brittany chats with Cole about the inspiration behind Oh Mary!, their favorite joke and why it's fun to play older women.

Cole Escola literally changes history in 'Oh, Mary!'

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Tuesday

Tony nominee Jocelyn Bioh puts braiders centerstage

Somi Kakoma and Lakisha May in Jaja's African Hair Braiding on Broadway Matthew Murphy/Manhattan Theatre Club hide caption

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Matthew Murphy/Manhattan Theatre Club

It's Been a Minute

Tony nominee Jocelyn Bioh puts braiders centerstage

This week, Brittany Luse sits down with playwright Jocelyn Bioh, whose new play, Jaja's African Hair Braiding, is up for five Tony Award nominations, including Best Play. The two discuss Bioh's unique approach to comedy, what it took to bring a hair affair to Broadway, and how to find humor in dark situations.

Tony nominee Jocelyn Bioh puts braiders centerstage

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Sunday

Playwright Paula Vogel is known not just for her work on Broadway — but for the generations of famous playwrights whose careers she has nurtured. Above, Jessica Lange in Paula Vogel's Mother Play.

Playwright Paula Vogel is known not just for her work on Broadway — but for the generations of famous playwrights whose careers she has nurtured. Above, Jessica Lange in Paula Vogel's Mother Play. Joan Marcus/Second Stage hide caption

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Joan Marcus/Second Stage

In honor of Mother's Day, here's 'Mother Play' — which gestated for 40 years

Playwright Paula Vogel is known not just for her work on Broadway — but for the generations of famous playwrights whose careers she has nurtured. Mother Play is about her own mother.

In honor of Mother's Day, here's 'Mother Play' — which gestated for 40 years

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Tuesday

Judi Dench reflects on a career built around Shakespeare

English actress Judi Dench at a dress rehearsal of 'Hamlet', making her London debut as Ophelia in 1957. Bob Haswell/Getty Images hide caption

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Bob Haswell/Getty Images

Consider This from NPR

Judi Dench reflects on a career built around Shakespeare

Dame Judi Dench has played everyone from the writer Iris Murdoch to M in the James Bond films. But among the roles the actress is most closely associated, are Shakespeare's heroines and some of his villians.

Judi Dench reflects on a career built around Shakespeare

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Thursday

Friday

A new play peers into a band's life, from the inside

To help the group feel like a band, Will Butler had them open for him in Brooklyn. Julieta Cervantes/Stereophonic hide caption

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Julieta Cervantes/Stereophonic

A new play peers into a band's life, from the inside

Stereophonic, a new play on Broadway with music by Arcade Fire's Will Butler, tracks the volatile creation of a rock and roll album over the course of a year in the 1970s.

A new play peers into a band's life, from the inside

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Saturday

'Lempicka' showcases a little-known queer artist's dazzling life

Amber Iman and Eden Espinosa in Lempicka. Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman/Lempicka hide caption

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Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman/Lempicka

'Lempicka' showcases a little-known queer artist's dazzling life

Once the toast of 1920s Paris, Tamara de Lempicka's story is now on Broadway. She was a modernist art deco artist who's better known in Europe than in the U.S.

'Lempicka' showcases a little-known queer artist's dazzling life

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Friday

'We want to help': Why climate activists are trying something new

Activists from Extinction Rebellion, left and center, protest during a performance of An Enemy of the People on Broadway, starring Jeremy Strong, right. Extinction Rebellion NYC hide caption

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Extinction Rebellion NYC

'We want to help': Why climate activists are trying something new

A recent disruption at An Enemy of the People on Broadway by Extinction Rebellion shows a new approach to climate change activism.

'We want to help': Why climate activists are trying something new

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