Performing Arts News, interviews, and commentary on theater, the arts, music, and dance.

Performing Arts

Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh appear onstage during the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Feb. 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, Calif. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Kevin Winter/Getty Images

2023 marks a watershed year for Asian performers at the Oscars

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1160314717/1162886845" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Los Angeles artist Kristina Wong in Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, a co-production with East West Players. Javier Vasquez hide caption

toggle caption
Javier Vasquez

From elected official to 'Sweatshop Overlord,' this performer takes on unlikely roles

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1162003515/1162954368" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Shawn Waldron/Getty Images

Adults complained about a teen theater production and the show's creators stepped in

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1160731547/1162120370" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sheryl Lee Ralph performs "Lift Every Voice and Sing" ahead of Super Bowl LVII. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Sheryl Lee Ralph explains why she almost left showbiz — and what kept her going

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1158362922/1158363295" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Colombian pianist Teresita Gómez is a legendary figure in that country's classical music scene. Akiro Palacio/The Cartagena Music Festival hide caption

toggle caption
Akiro Palacio/The Cartagena Music Festival

At 3 she snuck in to play piano, at nearly 80, she's a Colombian classical legend

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1151752433/1158169229" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A ballet dancer warms up before an open rehearsal at the Audi automobile factory in Gyor, Hungary, on Thursday. The Ballet Company of Gyor is rehearsing at the factory after being forced to shutter its rehearsal hall in response to soaring energy prices. Denes Erdos/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Denes Erdos/AP

Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan star in a rarely revived Lorraine Hansberry play. Catalina Kulczar/Brooklyn Academy of Music hide caption

toggle caption
Catalina Kulczar/Brooklyn Academy of Music

A rarely revived Lorraine Hansberry play is here — and it's messy but powerful

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1155171985/1156344099" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

The multidisciplinary artist Samora Pinderhughes, whose Healing Project has won a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. Ray Neutron/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Ray Neutron/Courtesy of the artist

An artist's 'Healing Project,' focused on incarceration and violence, wins $1 million

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1155783321/1155927125" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Gustavo Dudamel conducts the New York Philharmonic, March 9, 2022. Chris Lee/New York Philharmonic hide caption

toggle caption
Chris Lee/New York Philharmonic

N.Y. Philharmonic chief looks to Gustavo 'Dudamel era' after historic appointment

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1155363103/1155799632" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

A repurposed school bus from Control Group Productions' climate change-focused immersive theater experience, The End. Katie Weisberger/Control Group Productions hide caption

toggle caption
Katie Weisberger/Control Group Productions

Theater never recovered from COVID — and now change is no longer a choice

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1153453450/1154739493" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Variety

Iryna Zhalovska and other dancers with The United Ukrainian Ballet train at The Kennedy Center. The company is performing Giselle there this week. Keren Carrión/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Keren Carrión/NPR

60 dancers who fled the war now take the stage — as The United Ukrainian Ballet

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1153530700/1153936643" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Matt Butler performing at the Central Utah Correctional Facility. Liam Trouchard/Matt Butler hide caption

toggle caption
Liam Trouchard/Matt Butler

Matt Butler has played concerts in more than 50 prisons and jails

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1151365311/1152524263" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
JC Olivera/Getty Images

Natasha Lyonne on the real reason she got kicked out of boarding school

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1152121831/1152275262" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

United Ukrainian Ballet Company members Liza Gogidze and Oleksii Kniazkov in Giselle, choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky. Altin Kaftira/The United Ukrainian Ballet hide caption

toggle caption
Altin Kaftira/The United Ukrainian Ballet

Ballet dancers from across Ukraine bring 'Giselle' to the Kennedy Center

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1151321855/1152387317" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Playwright Paula Vogel speaks onstage during the 2017 Tony Awards. Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions hide caption

toggle caption
Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions

Trade, created by Emma O'Halloran and Mark O'Halloran, will be featured at the PROTOTYPE festival this year. Maria Baranova/Unison Media hide caption

toggle caption
Maria Baranova/Unison Media

Who says opera needs a grand stage? This festival is all about intimate productions

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1064489015/1147737288" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript