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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

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

August 30, 2012 The actress plays Bess in the Broadway musical Porgy and Bess. The show, which won two Tony Awards, closes next month.

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On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

August 30, 2012 The stand-up comedian and star of In Living Color played Sporting Life in the opera Porgy and Bess. The show, which won Tony Awards, closes on Broadway next month.

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On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

August 23, 2012 As the party conventions approach, elaborate theatrics on the part of presidential candidates are at the forefront. NPR critic Bob Mondello takes a look at the ways campaigns frame their candidates to make them stand out like Broadway stars.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

August 10, 2012 Stephen Sondheim's fractured musical fairy tale is getting a major revival in Central Park. NPR's Trey Graham had a look.

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August 7, 2012 When it opened in 1953, nobody expected much of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. But what began 60 years ago as two plays in a tent is now a major theater festival. It attracts half a million ticket-buyers a year to the small Ontario town — which also boasts homegrown heartthrob Justin Bieber.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

August 2, 2012 South African playwright, actor and director Athol Fugard was a thorn in the apartheid regime's side. Now 80, he calls any suggestion that he would slow down "nonsense."

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On Tell Me MorePlaylist

July 27, 2012 The International AIDS Conference isn't only about medical research. People from around the world met at its Global Village to share their experiences with the AIDS epidemic through music, art and dance. This year's highlights included a condom campaign and lube tasting booth.

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July 15, 2012 The Academy Award-winning actress was a star on both stage and screen, best known for roles in Gentleman's Agreement, All About Eve and Oklahoma!

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

July 15, 2012 KUOWAfter financial problems forced it to close midseason last year, Seattle's Intiman Theater is reopening with a more limited offering: an eight-week summer festival. The comeback shows include a drag version of The Miracle Worker.

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On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

July 10, 2012 Alan Cumming stars in a creative reinterpretation of Shakespeare's Scottish play Macbeth. Cumming stars as Fred, a mental patient who performs his own highly personal version of the classic tragedy, playing nearly every character.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

July 4, 2012 Mike Nichols has won every major entertainment award over a long career in theater, comedy, TV and film. He returned to Broadway directing a revival of Death of a Salesman, which picked up seven Tony nominations. Nichols warns the production may be his last. Originally broadcast May 23, 2012.

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On Talk of the NationPlaylist

June 28, 2012 Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang has written extensively on Asian immigrants' assimilation into American culture. The American dream, he says, is defined by the ability to imagine a future, and then have hope of fulfilling it.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist