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Friday, November 02, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012

Star-Studded 'Heiress' Considers A Woman's Worth

Jessica Chastain makes her Broadway debut as Catherine Sloper in The Heiress. Chastain says she was moved by the arc of her character's story — initially defined by the men in her life, but ultimately finding strength in herself.

October 28, 2012 A much-anticipated revival of The Heiress, a 1947 play based on the Henry James novella Washington Square, opens in New York on Thursday. It marks the Broadway debut of two young stars — Jessica Chastain, the Academy Award nominee from The Help, and Dan Stevens from the hit series Downton Abbey.

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On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

Thursday, October 25, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012

A Celebration Of Janis Joplin And All Her Swagger

Mary Bridget Davies as Janis Joplin and Sabrina Elayne Carten as Blues Singer in the Cleveland Play House production of One Night with Janis Joplin.

October 21, 2012 In her short time on the scene, Joplin helped define the music of a generation with her bluesy rasp. A musical honoring her talent and her muses is playing now in Washington, D.C. While it doesn't get into the darker chapters of her life, the show is captivating lifelong fans — including the lead actress.

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On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012

'Beat Generation,' Kerouac's Lost Play, Hits Stage

The cast rehearses a scene from Jack Kerouac's only play, The Beat Generation.

October 14, 2012 WBURLegendary beat novelist Jack Kerouac shot to fame with On the Road, but unknown to many fans, he also wrote a play. The Beat Generation was never produced and quickly forgotten. Rediscovered in 2004, the play is now set to premiere in the writer's hometown.

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On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

Saturday, October 13, 2012
Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Racial Issues, Far From 'Invisible' On D.C. Stage

Teagle F. Bougere plays the titular Invisible Man in The Studio Theatre's adaptation of Ralph Ellison's novel.

October 3, 2012 An adaptation of Ralph Ellison's landmark novel The Invisible Man is electrifying audiences in the nation's capital. NPR's Audie Cornish talks to the writer, director and star about bringing a complicated story to the stage.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

A Broadway Mystery Worthy Of 'Rebecca'

The original Vienna production of a new musical based on the novel Rebecca didn't fall prey to the woes plaguing a planned New York staging.

September 25, 2012 A musical adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Gothic novel Rebecca was set to come to Broadway — until the existence of its major investor came into question. New York Times theater writer Patrick Healy discusses the mystery on All Things Considered.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Shorts Inspire Music In 'Sounding Beckett' Trilogy

In Ohio Impromptu, one of three short plays featured in Sounding Beckett, the silent character (Philip Goodwin, left, with Ted van Griethuysen) inspired music based on knocks and repetitions.

September 18, 2012 Samuel Beckett, the author of Waiting for Godot, is known for the spare, modern rhythms of his plays. Now, as Jeff Lunden explains, the off-Broadway show Sounding Beckett brings together three of the playwright's short works with new pieces of contemporary music they inspired.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Thursday, September 06, 2012

Performing Arts

In New York, Two Big Arts Institutions Go Small

LCT3's Claire Tow Theater is a two-story structure built on a steel truss that straddles the roof of Lincoln's Vivian Beaumont Theater. Before or after performances, theatergoers can mingle over drinks at a roofdeck bar that overlooks Lincoln Center and the surrounding neighborhood.

September 6, 2012 Lincoln Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music recently opened new, smaller theater spaces designed by architect Hugh Hardy. There, new works can be performed without the financial pressure of filling a large theater — and with cheaper tickets, they can attract the younger generation, too.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Turner Channels Molly Ivins In 'Red Hot Patriot'

Kathleen Turner stars as Molly Ivins in Red Hot Patriot.

September 6, 2012 Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Kathleen Turner stars as the sassy Texas newspaper columnist in the comedic one-woman show. Turner talks about the role, her career and the challenges of playing a political character.

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On Talk of the NationPlaylist

Sunday, September 02, 2012

Broadway Spoofers Return To 'Forbidden' Territory

Natalie Charle Ellis, Scott Richard Foster, Jenny Lee Stern and Marcus Stevens are part of Gerard Alessandrini's Forbidden Broadway troupe, which is returning to the stage after a three-year hiatus.

September 2, 2012 After a three-year hiatus, satirist Gerard Alessandrini is back with Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking! Alongside Once and The Book of Mormon, they also target the Broadway-centric TV series Smash — but like all good parody, the skewering comes from a loving place.

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On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

Saturday, September 01, 2012

George Takei Takes Story Of Internment To The Stage

George Takei rehearses a scene from Allegiance, a new musical inspired by Takei's childhood in Japanese-American internment camps during World War II.

September 1, 2012 The actor was born in 1937 to a Japanese-American family that, after Pearl Harbor, was sent to live in internment camps for the duration of World War II. His experience growing up in the camps inspired a new musical, Allegiance, which Takei also stars in.

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On Weekend Edition SaturdayPlaylist

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