Performing Arts

Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog), Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth), Flee and Drive My Car are among this year's Oscar nominations.

Arts

6 quick takeaways from this year's Oscar nominations

6:42pm February 08, 2022

by Glen Weldon

Fears of an #Oscarssowhite redux go largely unfounded in this year's acting nominations, and the actress categories provided some real surprises. The battle for best picture will be fascinating.

Books
Arts

How did the 20th century learn to act? 'The Method'

10:03am February 05, 2022

by Scott Simon

Scott Simon talks with author and critic Isaac Butler about his new book, "The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act."

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Illustrator Peter Emmerich says he drew on both research and his own personal memories to draw people like Stephen Sondheim. "I put him in the book wearing what he was wearing when I met him," says Emmerich. "Because, like, I will never forget him in that

Books
Arts

Theater stars spring to life on the pages of 'B is for Broadway'

5:20pm January 29, 2022

by Jeff Lunden

A few years ago, a children's book called A is for Audra celebrated musical theater divas. Its creators have written a new book, B is for Broadway, celebrating theater from auditions to Ziegfeld.

Mrs. Doubtfire is one of the Broadway shows that reopened but then had to shut down for a while after cases of COVID spread among cast and crew.

Arts

Omicron hampers Broadway. Fewer tourists are there for just a score of shows

7:59am January 23, 2022

by Jeff Lunden

Tickets may be easier and cheaper to get for the plays that are still open. Some producers reopened until the virus raced through the cast and crew. Future productions are hard to see on the horizon.

Arts

After almost 4 decades, the San Francisco Ballet has a new director

11:15am January 15, 2022

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Tamara Rojo, the new artistic director of the San Francisco Ballet, about her vision for the role.

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Arts

Opinion: Remembering a friendship with Terry Teachout

11:14am January 15, 2022

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon remembers theater critic and playwright Terry Teachout, who died this week at the age of 65.

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Lynn Nottage photographed at A Broadway Celebration at the Times Square EDITION, in December 2021.

Two-time Pulitzer winner Lynn Nottage turns a triple play in New York City

2:37pm January 14, 2022

by Jeff Lunden

Nottage, the only woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice, has a new play on Broadway, an opera at Lincoln Center Theater and a Michael Jackson musical opening soon.

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Critic Terry Teachout in 2014 in New York.

Cultural critic Terry Teachout is remembered as 'unafraid of being human in public'

1:27pm January 14, 2022

by Neda Ulaby

Teachout has died at the age of 65. He wrote acclaimed biographies of such arts figures as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and George Balanchine.

15th September 1980: Sidney Poitier , the American actor and film director.

Sidney Poitier: actor, activist, and trailblazing heartthrob

4:29pm January 13, 2022

by Karen Grigsby Bates

Tributes have cascaded in since Sidney Poitier died. And so they should have. He was an unparalleled actor, a committed activist, and a beloved family member. He was also, frankly, a heartthrob.

Cecily Strong is putting her personal spin on a celebrated one-woman show at The Shed in New York City this month.

Arts

Cecily Strong finds 'Signs of Intelligent Life' in a celebrated one-woman show

5:28pm January 11, 2022

by Jeff Lunden

The 'Saturday Night Live' cast member and 'Schmigadoon!' star performs in "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe," a one-woman show made famous by Lily Tomlin.