Performing Arts

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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Arts

Disruptive Broadway Audiences Master Stage Whisper

5:36am June 11, 2013

by Margot Adler

Cell phone rings. Loud talking. Candy wrappers crinkling. Even fights in the aisles. Have Broadway audiences gotten ruder?

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T-Bone Burnett, John Mellencamp and Stephen King are the creative team behind Ghosts of Darkland County, a stage show based on a true story of small-town tragedy.

A Rock Star, A Novelist And A Super-Producer Write A Musical

8:04am June 10, 2013

by NPR Staff

No, it's not the setup to a joke. John Mellencamp, Stephen King and T-Bone Burnett are the creative team behind Ghosts of Darkland County, a stage show based on a true story of small-town tragedy.

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