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Performing Arts

Shane Koyczan: What's It Like To Be Young And Bullied?

"I can't let my life be this. Because if I give up now, that's what my life will be. I'll never walk out the front door." — Shane Koyczan James Duncan Davidson/TED hide caption

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James Duncan Davidson/TED

TED Radio Hour

Shane Koyczan: What's It Like To Be Young And Bullied?

Shane Koyczan describes growing up endlessly tormented by bullies. When he turned to spoken-word poetry to cope, he found that millions related to his anti-bullying message.

What's It Like To Be Young And Bullied?

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Peter O'Toole, A Life Even Larger Than 'Lawrence'

Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Academy Award for his title role in Lawrence of Arabia. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment hide caption

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Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Obituaries

Peter O'Toole, A Life Even Larger Than 'Lawrence'

Peter O'Toole, the Hollywood legend who was made famous in his title role in Lawrence of Arabia, died on Saturday in a London hospital. The 81-year old Irishman was nominated for eight Oscars in his distinguished career, and was known as a bit of a hellraiser.

Peter O'Toole, A Life Even Larger Than 'Lawrence'

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World

Iranian Comedian Tries The U.S., Again

British-Iranian comedian and actor Omid Djalili gained a degree of fame in the United States talking about and even joking about issues of terrorism and the Middle East following 9/11. After several years and success in Britain, he's coming back to the States.

Iranian Comedian Tries The U.S., Again

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Draining The Daring From A High School Production Of 'Rent'

Anthony Rapp (left) and Adam Pascal perform a scene from the New York Theatre Workshop production of Rent in 1996. Joan Marcus/AP hide caption

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Joan Marcus/AP

Opinion

Simon Says

Draining The Daring From A High School Production Of 'Rent'

Recently, the principal of Trumbull High School in Connecticut canceled a student production of Rent. The rock musical, about a group of young people living in New York, features characters dealing with drugs, sexuality and AIDS.

Draining The Daring From A High School Production Of 'Rent'

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Theater

In a New Play, Trusty Sidekick Is a Supercomputer

Fed up with human shortcomings, the characters in Madeleine George's play turn to high-tech companions. Could machines be assistants, friends, and even partners? The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence explores the amazing things technology can do for us...and what it can't.

In a New Play, Trusty Sidekick Is a Supercomputer

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Original 'Dreamgirl' Jennifer Holliday: 'I'm Not Going Nowhere'

Jennifer Holliday at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. Amy Ta/NPR hide caption

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Amy Ta/NPR

Music Interviews

Original 'Dreamgirl' Jennifer Holliday: 'I'm Not Going Nowhere'

Jennifer Holliday sprang to stardom in the 1980s for her Tony Award-winning performance in Dreamgirls and went on to a recording career after Broadway. But her life wasn't always glamorous: She suffered from depression and obesity, and once attempted suicide. She talks about the message she's trying to send with her forthcoming album, The Song is You.

Original 'Dreamgirl' Jennifer Holliday: 'I'm Not Going Nowhere'

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Delightful 'Six By Sondheim' Leaves You Wanting Six More

The life and work of composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim is examined in Six by Sondheim, a documentary from James Lapine, who also directed several of Sondheim's shows. Jerry Jackson/HBO hide caption

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Jerry Jackson/HBO

Television

Delightful 'Six By Sondheim' Leaves You Wanting Six More

Fresh Air

HBO's new TV special is part biography, part music-appreciation lesson and part performance piece. Critic David Bianculli says it's a superbly compiled work, overseen by two of the people most intimately familiar with the composer himself.

Delightful 'Six By Sondheim' Leaves You Wanting Six More

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'On Sondheim': The Musical-Theater Legend At 80

Sondheim, shown here in 1974, won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for Sunday in the Park with George. He has also received eight Tony Awards, eight Grammy awards and a Kennedy Center Honor. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Theater

'On Sondheim': The Musical-Theater Legend At 80

Fresh Air

The New York Times calls Stephen Sondheim the "greatest and perhaps best-known artist in American musical theater." Sondheim composed the music and lyrics for, among others, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods and Company. In 2010 he joined Fresh Air to discuss his career in musical theater.

'On Sondheim': The Musical-Theater Legend At 80

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History

'Project Unspeakable' Asks The Big Questions

A group of people inspired by a book on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy are creating theater around the idea that his death could have been part of a conspiracy. And the questions don't stop there.

'Project Unspeakable' Asks The Big Questions

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Around The U.S., Holiday Theater With Local Flair

Seven In One Blow, which plays at New York City's Axis Theater, is one of many recurring holiday-season productions across the U.S. that bring a distinctly local flavor and history to bear. Dixie Sheridan/ hide caption

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Dixie Sheridan/

Theater

Around The U.S., Holiday Theater With Local Flair

Each year as they begin to deck the halls, theaters around the country put on seasonal shows. And not just the old standbys: Singularly local stories, including a New York City fairy tale and a Chicago-set musical, have become real holiday traditions.

Dance

At STREB Action Lab, Dance and Physics Collide

Choreographer Elizabeth Streb pushes the boundaries of Newtonian physics--with dance. In her show Forces, dancers fly, fall, and collide in mid-air. No wonder the "action architect" has her share of scientist fans, among them, big-thinking particle physicist Lisa Randall.

At STREB Action Lab, Dance and Physics Collide

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A Couple Of Knights (And Matinees) On Broadway

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen play Vladimir and Estragon in Waiting for Godot, one of two 20th-century classics they're doing in repertory this season on Broadway. Joan Marcus/ hide caption

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Theater

A Couple Of Knights (And Matinees) On Broadway

Friends, X-Men, notables of the British Empire: Now Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart have teamed up again on Broadway this season, performing two classic plays in repertory — Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Harold Pinter's No Man's Land.

A Couple Of Knights (And Matinees) On Broadway

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Theater

Broadway's Season Of Adventure

It's an exciting theater season on Broadway. NPR's Trey Graham saw five shows in three days, including Twelfth Night, Richard III and Fun Home. He shares his winter picks with host Scott Simon.

Broadway's Season Of Adventure

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Here's A Wild Idea For Shakespeare: Do It His Way

Mark Rylance as Olivia (right) and Samuel Barnett as Viola in Twelfth Night. The Broadway production, which first played at London's Globe Theatre, is done in the Elizabethan tradition, with an all-male cast. Joan Marcus/ hide caption

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Theater

Here's A Wild Idea For Shakespeare: Do It His Way

In the new Broadway productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III, imported from London's Globe Theatre, the director and actors put on the shows pretty much as the Bard would have staged them — with an all-male cast and everything.

Here's A Wild Idea For Shakespeare: Do It His Way

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