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Theater

At BAM, A Raft Of Classics, Shipped In From Overseas

As the star of The Diary of a Madman, Geoffrey Rush discovered threads of modern absurdism in Nikolai Gogol's writing. Heidrun Lohr/Brooklyn Academy of Music hide caption

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Heidrun Lohr/Brooklyn Academy of Music

At BAM, A Raft Of Classics, Shipped In From Overseas

New York is one of the world's great theater cities, but it's not every year that several of the world's greatest theater companies visit to perform several of the greatest plays of classical theater. At the Brooklyn Academy of Music, it's happening this season.

At BAM, A Raft Of Classics, Shipped In From Overseas

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Performing Arts

Shirley Jones Sings For Richard Rodgers

Shirley Jones is probably best known, at least to a certain generation, for her role as Shirley Partridge. Host Liane Hansen interviews the actress and singer, who recently released her newest album, a tribute to her early champion Richard Rodgers.

Shirley Jones Sings For Richard Rodgers

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Spiderman Takes A Time-Out Before Broadway

The Broadway production of Spiderman can't seem to get on its eight legs. Opening night has been pushed back to March, producers said, "to allow for more time to fine-tune aspects of the show."

Spiderman Takes A Time-Out Before Broadway

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Remembering Ellen Stewart, Giant Of N.Y. Theater

As the founder and artistic director of La MaMa Experimental Theater Club in 1961, Ellen Stewart launched Off Off Broadway and provided a stage for such playwrights as Harvey Fierstein -- whose Torch Song Trilogy started there -- and such actors as Harvey Keitel and Olympia Dukakis. Godspell also began at La MaMa. Stewart died this week at the age of 91.

Remembering Ellen Stewart, Giant Of N.Y. Theater

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Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong Takes Broadway

Green Day formed in 1987 with frontman Billie Joe Armstrong (right), bassist Mike Dirnt (left) and drummer Tre Cool (center). Marina Chavez hide caption

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Marina Chavez

Music Interviews

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong Takes Broadway

Fresh Air

The frontman for the pop-punk band Green Day details the group's early days in Berkeley and describes what it's been like to see American Idiot, the Broadway musical based on one of his albums.

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong Takes Broadway

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Bringing The Bard Behind Bars In South Africa

At a juvenile detention center in Cape Town, South Africa, a theater company runs a crash course teaching inmates speech and acting, culminating in the production of a Shakespearean play. Its most recent production was of Hamlet. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Africa

Bringing The Bard Behind Bars In South Africa

At a juvenile detention center in South Africa, a prison outreach program is helping rehabilitate young men -- and producing some decent actors in the process. A theater group's three-week crash course in Shakespeare is casting juvenile inmates in a different light.

Bringing The Bard Behind Bars In South Africa

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'Spider-Man' Actor Reflects On His Injury

NPR's Michele Norris talks with Chris Tierney, the actor and dancer whose 30-foot fall last month during Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark stunned and shocked preview audiences. Tierney's safety harness failed and he broke his skull, some ribs, and cracked three vertebrae. He is the fourth actor to be injured in the multimillion-dollar production.

'Spider-Man' Actor Reflects On His Injury

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National

The George Family's Most Spectacular Flop

Broadway's most expensive production ever staged, Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, is troubled by money woes, injuries and delays. Writer Jennifer George can sympathize. Her family's 1972 production, Via Galactica, was also plagued from the start. She calls it her family's big flop.

The George Family's Most Spectacular Flop

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Lauren Molina A Show-Stopper In 'Candide' Revival

NPR's Robert Siegel talks to actor/singer Lauren Molina about her performance in the musical Candide by Leonard Bernstein, now revived in Washington, D.C.

Lauren Molina A Show-Stopper In 'Candide' Revival

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Phylicia Rashad Probes 'Dimensions Of Motherhood'

In Frankie & Alice, Rashad plays the mother of Halle Berry's character, who suffers from a multiple personality disorder. Sergei Bachlakov hide caption

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Sergei Bachlakov

Phylicia Rashad Probes 'Dimensions Of Motherhood'

The actress best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show has taken on two more complex mom roles. She's a preacher, mother and healer in the play every tongue confess; and mother to a daughter with a personality disorder in Frankie & Alice. Rashad says she learned "everything" from her own mom.

Phylicia Rashad Probes 'Dimensions Of Motherhood'

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More Woes For Broadway's 'Spider Man'

There are more troubles for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the record-breaking $65 million musical in previews on Broadway. An actor playing Spider Man fell into a pit while performing a stunt during Monday night's performance.

More Woes For Broadway's 'Spider Man'

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World

Political Theater Is No Laughing Matter In Belarus

As the eastern European nation of Belarus heads towards a presidential election Sunday, one of the few signs of opposition is on stage. The Belarus Free Theatre has been using its plays to highlight the current president's human rights record and demand democratic freedoms. The acting troupe is unregistered and illegal, and their performances have come at a personal cost.

Political Theater Is No Laughing Matter In Belarus

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National

A Final Lesson On The Meaning Of Christmas (Carols)

For 24 years, William Studwell, a retired professor, chose a Christmas "Carol of the Year" to highlight to newspapers, radio newsrooms and TV stations across the country. Though he died in August, Studwell left notes to elucidate his 25th -- and final -- selection, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas."

A Final Lesson On The Meaning Of Christmas (Carols)

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Broadway's Shuttered 'Scottsboro,' Others May Get Another Op'nin' In Hollywood

Not the end of the line? Though the Scottsboro Boys -- including Joshua Henry (center), with Julius Thomas III (left), Josh Breckenridge and Kendrick Jones -- found only a short welcome on Broadway, there's already talk that their musicalized adventures might become a feature film. Paul Kolnik hide caption

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Paul Kolnik

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Broadway's Shuttered 'Scottsboro,' Others May Get Another Op'nin' In Hollywood

The just-closed Kander and Ebb musical and a handful of other surprisingly complex stage shows are being considered for big-screen adaptations.