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Saturday, February 09, 2013

Theater

The Scottish Play (The Olivier Way)

Laurence Olivier, seen here in his film adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, also intended to create a film version of Macbeth.

February 9, 2013 British stage and screen legend Laurence Olivier had always hoped to produce his own film version of Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. Now, decades after Olivier's death, a researcher has stumbled across his lost screen treatment of "the Scottish play."

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On Weekend Edition SaturdayPlaylist

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Monkey See

Ann Harada, From 'Smash' To Stepsisterhood

Actress Ann Harada (in pink) returns to the stage in the Broadway premiere of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, an update of the made-for-TV movie from 1957. Her other theater work has included Avenue Q and Les Miserables.

February 5, 2013 Smash's dauntless stage manager (Ann Harada) returns to TV tonight — though the actress herself will be on Broadway in Cinderella.

Summary

Theater

Rebecca Luker Has 'Got Love' For Jerome Kern

Soprano Rebecca Luker made her Broadway debut as an understudy to Sarah Brightman in Phantom of the Opera in 1988.

February 5, 2013 The Broadway star has a new album, I Got Love: Songs of Jerome Kern, which features songs by the great Broadway composer. The collection came out of a live show Luker performed at the Manhattan club 54 Below.

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World

In Moscow, Scandals Shake A Storied Ballet

Sergei Filin, artistic director of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre's Bolshoi Ballet, was nearly blinded by an attacker on Jan. 17.

February 5, 2013 The Bolshoi Ballet is deeply beloved in Russia. But a series of recent scandals — capped by a nasty acid attack on the company's artistic director in mid-January — has sent shock waves through artistic circles.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Theater

25 Years Strong, 'Phantom Of The Opera' Kills And Kills Again

Hugh Panaro is The Phantom and Sierra Boggess is Christine in the 25th anniversary cast of The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.

January 27, 2013 Invited guests packed the Majestic Theater on Saturday night to celebrate the longest-running Broadway musical ever. Times have changed, but the Phantom, that tortured genius who haunts the Paris Opera House, creating havoc and causing the chandelier to fall, has endured.

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On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

Saturday, January 26, 2013
Friday, January 18, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013

Theater

A Cooler Roof For A New 'Cat'

In Rob Ashford's new production of the classic play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Scarlett Johansson plays an earthier version of restless sex kitten Maggie.

January 17, 2013 A Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' iconic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof may feature big names, but it aims for a quiet kind of authenticity. Director Rob Ashford asked his cast to take their characters off the pedestal of dramatic history and put them back in the scene.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Theater

'Adventure Hour' Is A New Take On Old-Time Radio

Mark Gagliardi and Autumn Reeser, as aviator Amelia Earhart, perform in The Thrilling Adventure Hour. Actors dress up and read scripts onstage in front of a live nightclub audience.

January 10, 2013 The Thrilling Adventure Hour is both an update and an homage to old radio dramas. Created eight years ago by college friends Ben Blacker and Ben Acker, the pseudo radio show features actors reading from scripts in front of a live nightclub audience.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Theater

Bobby Cannavale, At Home On Broadway

Bobby Cannavale (right) stars in Glengarry Glen Ross on Broadway. Cannavale has also starred in television shows such as HBO's Boardwalk Empire and in films such as The Station Agent.

January 9, 2013 The actor, who's currently starring in Glenngarry Glen Ross opposite Al Pacino, has been acting for the stage since he was a teenager in Union City, N.J. "It was the only thing I ever wanted to do, really," he says.

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On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Theater

A Vet's Haunted Homecoming In 'Water By The Spoonful'

Liza Colon-Zayas plays a troubled character named Odessa Ortiz, who finds her better self online. She's pictured above with Bill Heck, as Fountainhead.

January 8, 2013 Quiara Alegria Hudes' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama opens off-Broadway on Tuesday. The play is the second in a trilogy focused on an injured Iraq veteran named Elliot — a character based on Hudes' cousin. "I just remember the instant I saw him, there was just something changed in his eye," she says.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

Monday, January 07, 2013
Sunday, January 06, 2013

A Way Without Words: Mummenschanz Mimes Celebrate 40

Troupe member Philipp Egli says the genius of Mummenschanz lies in simplicity. The most beautiful pieces, he says, start with black space and some people on stage.

January 6, 2013 WBURThe experimental Swiss mime troupe took Broadway by storm in the 1970s. Now the masked performers are bringing their hard-to-describe characters back to the U.S. for a five-month national tour celebrating the troupe's 40th anniversary.

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On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

Friday, December 21, 2012

Spirit Of The Season

Broadway's Profit-Turning, Crowd-Pleasing Christmas Story

Jordan Gelber plays Buddy the Elf in Elf on Broadway. The limited-run production may not turn a profit immediately, but producers have a multipronged strategy for making money.

December 21, 2012 With hordes of tourists descending on New York for the Christmas season, Broadway is looking to turn a profit — by staging limited-run holiday musicals like A Christmas Story and Elf. But with production costs so high, how can these shows make money back? The answer, it turns out, is complicated.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

Thursday, December 06, 2012

Theater

'Pullman Porter Blues' Travels Back In Time

Left to right: Actors Cleavant Derricks (as Sylvester), Warner Miller (as Cephas) and Larry Marshall (as Monroe) star in Pullman Porter Blues.

December 6, 2012 NPR's Michel Martin speaks with actor Larry Marshall and playwright Cheryl West about Pullman Porter Blues, a play that tells the story of three generations of African-American railway porters in 1937.

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