Performing Arts

In a Broadway transfer of the American Repertory Theatre's acclaimed production of The Glass Menagerie, Cherry Jones plays Amanda, mother to the very troubled Laura (Celia Keenan-Bolger). The play cemented Tennessee Williams' reputation as an American ori

Arts

An American Masterpiece, And A 'Menagerie' Of Stars

7:19pm September 26, 2013

by Jeff Lunden

A revival of Tennessee Williams' glorious 1945 drama opens tonight at Broadway's Booth Theater. Zachary Quinto and Cherry Jones star in the play, which is partly based on the playwright's own life and family.

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Daniel Craig, at right, is probably best known as the current incarnation of James Bond. He's in rehearsal now for a Broadway production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal, alongside Rafe Spall and Rachel Weisz — who plays his wife, and is that in real life, t

Arts

Daniel Craig Heads Back To Broadway With 'Betrayal'

8:01pm September 18, 2013

by NPR Staff

The actor joins NPR's Robert Siegel to talk about an upcoming revival of the 1978 Harold Pinter play. In the show, directed by Mike Nichols, Craig is acting with his real-life wife, Rachel Weisz — but he says the two don't talk about it outside the office.

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Arts

'One Night In Miami', More Than Clay Beats Liston

8:53am August 12, 2013

by Iris Mann

A new play tells the story of the night Cassius Clay, who changed his name to Muhammad Ali, beat Sonny Liston to take the world heavyweight title. It takes place in a hotel room after the fight where Clay, Sam Cooke, Malcolm X and Jim Brown talk about their lives, and their hopes for the future.

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Tim Curry as Pennywise in a 1990 TV adaptation of Stephen King's It. Come on, tell us you aren't just a little creeped out.

Arts

Fear Of Clowns: Yes, It's Real

12:53am August 09, 2013

by NPR Staff

Clowns are terrifying — that's pretty much a given. Even children, to whom they're supposed to appeal, are said to dislike them instinctively. Writer Linda McRobbie says darkness has always been a part of clowning.

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In Season 2 of The Newsroom, Jim Harper (John Gallagher Jr.) goes on the 2012 campaign trail.

Arts

John Gallagher Jr. On 'Newsroom' Dialogue And Staging Green Day

2:28pm July 29, 2013

In addition to playing a cable news producer on Aaron Sorkin's HBO drama, Gallagher is a Tony Award-winning Broadway performer. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about starring in a punk rock musical and rehearsing Sorkin's Newsroom scripts.

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Exorcistic, a rock parody inspired by a certain 1971 novel and the William Friedkin film made from it, showcases Merlin as a rapping priest inspired by Max von Sydow's Father Merrin. Above, the show poster for the musical's Los Angeles fringe production.

Arts

For Hannibal & Co., A Horrifying New Stage

2:26pm July 24, 2013

by Beth Accomando

One Los Angeles performer has played Dr. Hill in Re-Animator, Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, and now Father Merrin in The Exorcist. Did we mention he sings opera, too?

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Daniel Breaker, a Juilliard-trained actor who's earned praise for roles as varied as Donkey in Shrek the Musical and the protagonist Youth in Passing Strange, gets to play a king in a new musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost.

Arts

'Love's Labours,' Tuned Up And Playing In The Park

7:14pm July 23, 2013

by Jeff Lunden

For the first time since the Tony Award-winning adaptation of Two Gentlemen of Verona in 1972, New York's Public Theater is presenting a brand-new musical as part of the Shakespeare in the Park series. The team behind the hit Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson have adapted Love's Labour's Lost.

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The Long Walk, Brian Castner's memoir of PTSD and a difficult homecoming, will soon be an opera.

A Veteran's Piercing True Story Leaps From Page To Stage

6:26pm July 23, 2013

by Quil Lawrence

Iraq vet Brian Castner wrote a memoir of post-traumatic stress disorder and a difficult homecoming. His book, The Long Walk, got good reviews. But Castner never expected that it would get turned into an opera in New York City.

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Krysta Rodriguez played Ana Vargas in the recently canceled backstage-on-Broadway TV series Smash, and Zachary Levi earned a fervent following in the title role of NBC's Chuck. Both performers have backgrounds in the theater, and they'll be together on Br

Arts

Broadway's 'First Date': A Greek Chorus Of Emotional Baggage

12:37pm July 09, 2013

by NPR Staff

Turns out the nerd-turned-spy from the TV show Chuck can sing. Zachary Levi is rehearsing for his first role on Broadway — a new musical comedy called First Date, which also features Krysta Rodriguez, the star of another NBC program, Smash.

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Leitzel is remembered as the first true circus diva.

Books
Arts

Lillian Leitzel, The High-Flying 'Queen' Of The Circus

7:52pm June 29, 2013

by NPR Staff

In the golden age of the circus, aerialist Lillian Leitzel captivated crowds around the world with her effortless, high-flying stunts under the big top. Dean Jensen's new book, Queen of the Air, chronicles Leitzel's difficult but glamorous life, and the lives of her performing family.

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