This week, we’re taking a deep dive into the performing arts, including theater, dance, and opera. Go behind the curtain and get a backstage look at some of our favorite performers and productions. Break a leg!
Yours in media,
Elizabeth He, Visual Communications Editor
Curtain Up
“Keep Marching” from Suffs on Broadway
Alice Paul (Shaina Taub) is joined by her fellow activists to encourage the next generation to keep fighting for women’s rights. Listen and get inspired.
Ballet Flamenco de Andalucia
Úrsula López, artistic director of Ballet Flamenco de Andalucia, explains why Albéniz is important to the history of flamenco. Then, the dance group performs a piece choreographed for Albéniz’s “El Puerto.”
Josh Groban Performs Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods
Listen to a Sondheim mash-up of “Children Will Listen” from Into the Woods and “Not While I’m Around” from Sweeney Todd.
Square Dance by George Balanchine
George Balanchine joined the traditions of American folk dance with classical ballet in this choreography. He felt the two types of dance, though widely different in style, had common roots and a similar regard for order.
Arts: “A Love Letter to Dance”
Six Seattle dance artists share insights on dance: their obsession and their passion.
Backstage Stories
Times Have Changed — But the Rockettes Keep Kicking
Nearly 1,000 women from around the country flew to New York City to audition for the dance troupe on its 100th anniversary last year. Why has it lasted so long?
Angela Lansbury Reflects on Her Great Performances
The Tony Award®-winning actor, who died in 2022, starred in the Broadway musicals Mame, Gypsy, and Sweeney Todd, and was known for television programs and films such as Gaslight, The Manchurian Candidate, Beauty and the Beast, and Murder, She Wrote.
PBS Arts Talk: Misty Copeland and Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp, a National Medal of the Arts honoree and dance and choreography icon, explores her storied career and creative process with internationally acclaimed dancer and host Misty Copeland. They share their experiences learning different dance styles.
“Movement Never Lies”: 100 Years of the Martha Graham Dance Company
Martha Graham was a creative force in the performing arts. She wanted dance to express authentic, human emotions – a revolutionary idea in the late 1920s.
One of the Country’s Oldest Opera Companies Premieres Black Opera Project
There have been Black composers and Black storylines in opera, but they’ve often failed to gain traction with performing companies and audiences. This summer, Cincinnati Opera changed that.
Broadway Legend André De Shields Helps Bring Hadestown to the Big Screen
De Shields made his Broadway debut in the 1975 original production of The Wiz. He won a Tony® in 2019 for his performance in Hadestown and co-stars in the new film of last year’s London revival. Listen to this interview with him by Fresh Air's Terry Gross.
If You Feel Like Shakespeare Isn’t For You, Look Deeper
NPR’s Juana Summers talks with Adjoa Andoh, the inaugural Director’s Resident at the Folger Shakespeare Library, about Shakespeare’s relevance in modern times.
Recipe of the Week
Austrian Apple Strudel from Milk Street Television
Austria is world-famous for opera and ... apfelstrudel (apple strudel)! Try making your own at home.
Powerful Performances
* Experience five-time Olivier Award nominee Kate Prince’s dance and theater show, Message in a Bottle, set to the songs of 17-time Grammy® winner Sting.
* Watch this Shakespearean classic, Hamlet, directed by Tony Award® winner Kenny Leon.
* Inspired by the iconic 1935 movie musical starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Irving Berlin’s Top Hat is directed and choreographed by three-time Tony® winner Kathleen Marshall.
* Alonzo King LINES Ballet performs the elegant piece Deep River in collaboration with Grammy Award®–winning vocalist Lisa Fischer and Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran.
* This new Met opera about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera will be coming to Great Performances this October. Find out more!
Dive Into America 250
With Gratitude and Hope, Yo-Yo Ma Looks to the Future
Legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma speaks about the power of practicing gratitude, music’s role in restoring the spirit, and what we can learn from Johannes Brahms.
Then, listen to the “We The People” concerts that he curated as part of a week-long festival for the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood.
Off Topic
1. Under the Radar speaks with Meg Anderson, Kirsten Miller, and Katie Holt – three authors whose latest releases center on bookstores, libraries, librarians, and book lovers. They write books about books!
2. See the 5 most valuable items ever appraised on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW! How much does each cost?
3. NOVA’s What the Physics?! finds that genetic diversity may be more complicated than we think. (See the full interview with Ella Al-Shamahi here)
