Performing Arts

Michelle Wilson and Johanna Day star in Sweat, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Lynn Nottage.

Arts

Hey You, Prestige Television Fan: Here's Why You Should See A New Play

12:32pm April 18, 2017

by Linda Holmes

While musicals have good pop-culture presence in many cases, plays tend not to. But in an environment that has embraced idiosyncratic and complicated TV, there's no better time to change that.

Arts

Composer Tim Minchin Brings 'Groundhog Day' To Broadway

5:42pm April 17, 2017

by Jeff Lunden

Composer Tim Minchin brings his musical adaptation of the film, Groundhog Day, to Broadway. It's the story of a cynical weatherman who is forced to relive the same day over and over again.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

'Smart People' Asks Hard Questions About Racism In America

6:16pm April 15, 2017

by Michel Martin

Smart People is a thought provoking play that examines the difficulties of talking about race. Playwright Lydia R. Diamond discusses the genesis of the play.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

John Leguizamo Plays Professor In 'Latin History For Morons'

4:36pm April 12, 2017

John Leguizamo has been in over 90 films and written and starred in six one-man shows. His latest project is called "Latin History for Morons," which tells the story of his search for an understanding of Latin history. NPR's Audie Cornish sat down with Leguizamo at the Public Theater in New York to talk to him about the process of learning Latin history.

Queue Listen Now

Throughout his career, Prince played around with constructions of race, gender and sexuality.

Prince Contained Multitudes, New Book Confirms

10:31am April 10, 2017

by Leah Donnella

Prince on defining his music: "The only thing I could think of, because I really don't like categories, but the only thing I could think of is inspirational."

Queue Listen Now

The Nuyorican Poets Cafe remains a wildly diverse venue influenced by its mostly Puerto Rican founders who claimed it as a site of artistry and resistance in 1973.

The Nuyorican Poets Café, A Cauldron for Poetry And Politics

4:01am April 08, 2017

by Manuel Betancourt

It embodies the belief that anyone can take the stage and interpret one of the most accessible art forms and "reveal poetry as a living art."

Books
Arts

Clint Smith: What Do We Risk If We Don't Speak Up?

8:59am April 07, 2017

by NPR/TED Staff

Clint Smith is a poet and doctoral candidate at Harvard. As a high school English teacher, he taught his students the dangers of staying quiet and the importance of finding their voice.

Queue Listen Now

Wrestling Icon The Undertaker Retires In Wake Of Wrestlemania 33 Defeat

5:12pm April 05, 2017

After nearly 30 years in the ring, pro-wrestler The Undertaker has retired. Or, at least, that's what fans believe, after he laid down his iconic hat and overcoat at Wrestlemania 33 last weekend.

Queue Listen Now

Groundlings comedy troupe founder Gary Austin has died at 75. Here he attends a January 2016 Groundlings event with actress Victoria Carrol-Bell in West Hollywood, Calif.

Gary Austin, Founder of the Groundlings Improv Group, Dies

6:30pm April 04, 2017

by Richard Gonzales

Austin, relatively unknown outside of entertainment circles, taught and inspired many big names in comedy.

Wright describes Martha, her Americans character, as an "average, everyday person that's open and trusting and loving."

Arts

We Are All Martha: Alison Wright On How Her 'Americans' Character Became A Hit

7:45am March 25, 2017

by Scott Simon

Wright plays an FBI secretary who falls in love with an undercover Russian spy. She says Martha is "who we would all most likely be" if we found ourselves in the world of The Americans.