Brooklyn is getting a taste of the Balkans this weekend. The Zlatne Uste Golden Festival, New York’s largest Balkan music event, is celebrating its 28th year of regional music, food, drink and arts starting Friday evening. 

Before they hit the stage, Broadway actors can often be found cocooned in their makeup rooms. But, what exactly do they do in there?

It’s a tale worthy of Hitchcock (with a few shades of "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark" thrown in for good measure). The lawyer for the lead producer of the $12 million production of “Rebecca” says that an exhaustive search by private investigators in New York and London revealed that four of the show's investors, including one who purportedly died of malaria, did not actually exist.

Is New York the cultural capital of the world? The World Cities Culture Report, commissioned by the Mayor of London, takes a look at how 12 world cities compare in their cultural offerings. Vote on what cities you think rank as the most cultural.

Jay S. Fishman, the chief executive officer of the insurance giant Travelers, will succeed John Vogelstein, who has held the post since 2008. Robert I. Lipp, who has been on the board for more than 25 years, will become its president. The changes will take effect on July 1.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music unveiled its new performing arts space on Thursday. The 40,000 square-foot Richard B. Fisher Building, or BAM Fisher, sits in the footprint of the old Salvation Army building at 321 Ashland Place in Fort Greene. The space, which has its official opening on Sept. 5, will be devoted to showing the work of emerging and established artists.

Once again, we're tossing wild edibles into the 60-Second Stir-Fry, talking about burdock with forager Leda Meredith on this week's Last Chance Foods. But Meredith is a former dancer, and that's what got her sizzling on the hot seat for our 60-second lightning round of questions.

Community members and elected officials gathered at the company's theater on Friday to hear the terms of the new agreement -- which lowers DNA's monthly rent and rental debt.

About 100 elementary school kids will dance their way into the hearts of audience members when they honor tap legend Bill Bojangles Robinson with a performance Friday on what would have been his 134th birthday. It is also National Tap Dance Day. Listen to students practicing their moves.

New York City Ballet announced its 2012-'13 season — which features 150 performances of 65 ballets and musical scores by 44 composers — on Monday.

Soul legend Bobby Womack, hip-hop artist Big Daddy Kane and improv troupe The Upright Citizens Brigade are among the artists who will be performing at this year's SummerStage. The free outdoor performance series, now in its 27th year, will feature more than 110 shows, including 16 theater and dance premieres, at 18 city parks this summer.

Starting Thursday, the Mark Morris Dance Group is dancing for three nights to two fascinating musical works, Beethoven’s “Choral Fantasy” and Virgil Thomson’s “Four Saints in Three Acts,” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Learn more about the performances and listen to classic recordings of the music.

The Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation's executive director, Sharon Gersten Luckman, has announced she's leaving the company at the end of next year to pursue other endeavors, including working with other arts non-profit groups.

On New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2011 passed into 2012. And with it passed one of the country’s most important cultural institutions. Learn more about the man behind the dance company here.

Shen Wei, who choreographed the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, brings his dance company to perform at the Park Avenue Armory this week. Then Elizabeth Streb's company, STREB Extreme Action, will take over the armory, followed by the final performances of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

On Tuesday, composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim will receive the Handel Medallion, the city's highest award for achievement in the arts.

Small to mid-sized Brooklyn performing arts dance companies can now apply for 14 free months of professional development through the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the DeVos Institute of Arts Management.

At long last, a decades-old arts education group has a permanent home uptown. On Tuesday night, the National Dance Institute will inaugurate its first-ever headquarters in central Harlem, complete with studios and a 175-seat performance space.