Entertainment

NPR Topics: Performing Arts

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

Don Cheadle's Spy Turn In his latest movie, Traitor, Don Cheadle plays a CIA operative who goes undercover to work with a terrorist group — but then becomes a suspected terrorist himself. In Central Park, 'Hair' Line Brings A City Closer Free summer staging of the '60s musical has New Yorkers camping out overnight — but a sense of shared adventure (and bike messengers bearing delivery breakfasts) help pass the time. Political Comedian Mort Sahl: Still Laughing Mort Sahl has skewered presidents from Eisenhower through George W. Bush. The political comedian broke ground back in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a stand-up who looked to the day's headlines for his routines rather than relying on one-liners. Amy MacDonald: A Self-Taught Scot At 20, the guitarist and songwriter from Glasgow has already sold 1 million copies of her debut album overseas. On the eve of the U.S. release of This Is the Life, MacDonald played a few songs and spoke with Scott Simon. Waterboarding At Coney Island: The Thrill That Chills It might not be surprising that waterboarding, the controversial interrogation technique that simulates drowning, would become the subject of satire. But it was shocking to many when artist Steve Powers created an attraction called the Waterboard Thrill Ride. Musical 'Little House On The Prairie' Hits Stage Little House On The Prairie-The Musical has a lot going for it. Given its early success, there has been a lot of talk of the musical on Broadway. The stars are aligned and there are some deep Broadway pockets behind the show. Ballet's 'Flying Cuban' Looks Toward Home Ballet dancer Carlos Acosta is known for powerful leaps that make him seem to fly. Those leaps have earned him comparisons with Nureyev and Baryshnikov. He grew up in a poor neighborhood outside Havana. How that boy became a man who dances with grace and power is the subject of Acosta's memoir, No Way Home. Circus Smirkus: Training Clowns On Tour Where do circus clowns come from? Some of them are being trained by Circus Smirkus, an award-winning touring show for young aerialists, jugglers and rubber-nosed pranksters. Smirkus is an incubator of sorts, where scouts for big-time big tops find their new talent. Auntie Mame's Secret: The 'Loco' In Her Parentis An eccentric, a free spirit and an unflaggingly open-minded heroine, Mame Dennis taught more than one protege — including NPR's Bob Mondello — how to open new windows without worrying about the view. Cooking Up Characters From Old Grocery Lists Performance artist Hillary Carlip collects discarded shopping lists. She imagines their authors, transforms herself into them, and goes shopping. In one case, she even created an online dating profile for her character. 'Romeo & Juliet' Gets An Update — From 1935 Shakespeare's tragedy — and Prokofiev's ballet — are plenty familiar, but critic Lloyd Schwartz says Mark Morris's new staging isn't: It's based on a forgotten manuscript recently discovered in Russia, and it's truer to Prokofiev's original intent. Monty Python's Eric Idle Resurrects 'Life Of Brian' The Monty Python funnyman is back with Not The Messiah, an adaptation of the 1979 film Life of Brian. He reprises some of the original songs and characters, and laments that the sheep get more applause than he does. Ledger Likely Is A Long Shot For Oscar, Critic Says The late Heath Ledger gave a brilliant, creepy performance in the new Batman movie, and he's got the sympathy of his industry. But one critic says Hollywood's a tough town when it comes to awarding posthumous Oscars. In Concert, A Moment Of Sudanese Solidarity At a time of outright genocide in Darfur, and civil unrest throughout the Sudan, an unprecedented gathering of musicians from across the war-torn country presented a contrasting picture — one of harmony and unity — at the Sudanese Festival of Music and Dance in Chicago. Remembering Sweetheart Songstress Jo Stafford Jo Stafford was a favorite entertainer of soldiers during World War II. Stafford and her husband, pianist Paul Weston, also performed a bad cabaret act as their alter egos, Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. Stafford died of congestive heart failure Wednesday. She was 90.