Arts

Set in London in the early 1930s, Dancing on the Edge is a five-part miniseries about a black jazz band trying to crack the dance halls and radio playlists. Made for BBC-2, the episodes will air starting Saturday night on the Starz cable network.

Arts

'Dancing On The Edge' Is Fun For Both The Eyes And The Ears

4:52pm October 17, 2013

by David Bianculli

Set in London in the early 1930s, the five-part miniseries is about a black jazz band trying to crack the dance halls and radio playlists. Critic David Bianculli says this music-centered show features full, unpredictable characters and some exceptionally intriguing performances.

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Books
Arts

Billy Crystal Finds Fun In Growing Old (But Still Can't Find His Keys)

3:48pm October 17, 2013

Crystal isn't happy about turning 65, but at least he's finding a way to laugh about it. The actor and comedian's new memoir — Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys? — is on the best-seller list and he'll be back on Broadway in November.

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Arts

Terry Kennedy's Newest Poetry Collection is New River Breakdown

8:37am October 17, 2013

by Bethany Chafin

Terry Kennedy has a new collection of poetry titled New River Breakdown. The book will be released on Sunday, October 20^th by Greensboro-based Unicorn Press. Each copy of New River Breakdown, in addition to including the 44 beautiful poems by Terry, will be hand-stitched and feature one of five original cover designs by area artists. The designs represent their personal interpretations of Terry's poems. Terry stopped by WFDD to read from his new work, and he was joined by Unicorn Press assistant editor and book designer Andrew Saulters. Terry began with the first poem in his new collection.

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Helena Bonham Carter plays Elizabeth Taylor in Burton and Taylor, a BBC America movie that focuses on the famous couple's stint acting together on Broadway in 1983.

Arts

Bonham Carter Takes On Taylor, And She Did Her Homework

6:39pm October 16, 2013

by NPR Staff

The actress spoke with NPR's Robert Siegel about playing the icon in BBC America's Burton and Taylor. The movie follows the preposterously famous '60s and '70s couple as they reunited for a 1983 Broadway production of Private Lives.

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In Kill Your Darlings, Dane DeHaan (left) plays Lucien Carr, a man whose charm and wit quickly command the attention of the young Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe) in their time at Columbia University. John Krokidas' film chronicles the "Libertine Circle"

Arts

Beat Manifesto: 'Kill Your Darlings,' Figuratively And ...

6:39pm October 16, 2013

by Bob Mondello

The film follows Beat Generation notables — Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac and Lucien Carr — as college students in the 1940s. NPR's Bob Mondello says it may succeed where other movies about the poets have failed. (Recommended)

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Billy Crystal returned to voice the role of Mike Wazowski in 2013's Monsters University, sequel to the hit Pixar comedy that introduced the outgoing one-eyed scareball — sidekick to John Goodman's furry blue-and-purple star.

Books
Arts

Billy Crystal's 'Foolin', Full Of Fun — And Feeling

5:07pm October 16, 2013

by NPR Staff

The comic and actor talks to NPR's Scott Simon about his insomnia, his friendship with baseball legend Mickey Mantle, and the love of his life. They're all topics in his memoir, Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell are My Keys?

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Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter star as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Burton and Taylor, a new made-for-TV movie from BBC America.

Arts

A Peek Into The Private Lives Of 'Burton And Taylor'

4:20pm October 16, 2013

by David Bianculli

A new made-for-TV movie from BBC America dramatizes one particular period in the intertwined lives of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Critic David Bianculli says less is more, and the film's narrow biographic focus is one of its strengths.

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Arts

An Evening of Poetry with Ed Wilson

8:35am October 16, 2013

by David Ford

"Two Tuesdays in October" at Centenary United Methodist Church kicks off with Dr. Edwin Wilson’s lecture entitled "The Three Ages of Man: Keats, Wordsworth and Yeats". The free lecture will be held at Centenary United Methodist Church on Tuesday evening, October 22nd, at 7:00. For many years at Wake Forest University, Ed taught a course on William Butler Yeats, and his 2009 lecture series at Centenary included the poetry of his favorite Yeats along with that of Thomas Hardy, and T.S. Eliot.

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Jayne Anne Phillips' previous novel, Lark and Termite, was selected as a finalist for the National Book Award in fiction in 2009.

Books
Arts

'Quiet Dell' Revives A Depression-Era Murder Story

6:12pm October 15, 2013

by Lynn Neary

In 1931, Harry Powers killed two women and three children at his home in Quiet Dell, W.Va. Writer Jayne Anne Phillips learned about the murders from her mother, who was a child when the deaths became a media sensation. Phillips' new novel retells the tragedy through the eyes of a young reporter.

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Graham Nash Has 'Wild Tales' To Spare

3:11pm October 15, 2013

by NPR Staff

As part of Crosby, Stills & Nash, the British singer-songwriter helped define a West Coast sound. Here, he discusses the influence of Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers and marijuana on his career, as well as his new memoir, Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life.

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