Books
Turan's Book Spotlights Theater Producer Joe Papp
[7 min 19 sec]
Performing Arts
Anthony Kuhn/NPRIn China, Creating A Menagerie Through Mimicry
()Professional mimics in China used to imitate sounds as a form of entertainment. Not many practitioners are left, but one family is trying to preserve the art. Cheng Jiaqiang, who learned his skills from his grandfather, has a barnyard repertoire but specializes in bird songs.
One-Woman Show Explores Human Side Of Health Care
Actress Anna Deavere Smith discusses her latest theater production Let Me Down Easy.
()Arts & Life
Theater Producer Takes The Stage As New NEA Chair()
November 5, 2009 Former Broadway producer Rocco Landesman is about to embark on a journey that will take him way off-Broadway: Peoria, Ill. is his first stop on "Art Works," a six-month tour of arts organizations around the country.
Theater
'Finian's Rainbow' Arcs Over Broadway Again()
October 29, 2009 The 1947 musical gets its first full-scale Broadway revival starting Oct. 29. The production took 10 years to assemble, but producers say the timing is great: Yip Harburg's witty lyrics and the show's pointed political satire make it the perfect musical for a country still reeling from a major economic recession.
Music Reviews
Jackson's New Career: Permanent, Posthumous Brand()
October 28, 2009 The Michael Jackson concert film This Is It — cut together from rehearsals filmed in the months before the pop star's death — is just the latest venture to highlight how valuable the coin of celebrity can remain even after a star's life is over. Nate DiMeo looks at the big business of posthumous brand management.
Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
NBC News Anchor Brian Williams Plays 'Not My Job'()
October 24, 2009 Williams joins Wait Wait at New York City's Carnegie Hall to play a game called "You are the very worst act ever to play this stage": three questions about music legend(?) Florence Foster Jenkins.
Asia
A Murder Mystery Musical Targets China's Yuppies()
October 21, 2009 Meng Jinghui is China's most avant-garde theater director: One of his plays focuses on the obsessive love of a rhino keeper. Now, he takes a stab at reinventing the musical with a story that deals with murder, death and "people collapsing in this ridiculous society."
Theater
Tales Of Suffering And Succor, Written On The Body()
October 14, 2009 As the health care debate rages on, solo theater artist Anna Deavere Smith brings her own singular perspective to the table. For her new documentary play, Let Me Down Easy, she talked to more than 300 people on three continents. Their stories became a show about "the power of the body, the cost of care and the resilience of the spirit."
