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Topic: Arts & Ideas / Performing Arts

Performing Arts

The Pequod vs. The Enterprise

Studio 360: American Icons

November 27, 2009

In her modern opera, Songs and Stories from Moby-Dick, Laurie Anderson compares two great sagas about America: Moby-Dick and "Star Trek."


Tony Kushner

Studio 360: American Icons

November 27, 2009

Playwright Tony Kushner ("Angels in America") tells us that Moby-Dick had the single greatest impact on his own writing.


Moby-Dude

Studio 360: American Icons

November 27, 2009

Studio 360 presents "Moby-Dude" from David Ives, the master of the short play. Mark Price plays a contemporary teenager who summarizes the great American novel for his English teacher...in two minutes flat. Produced by Jonathan Mitchell.


Call Me Ishmael

Studio 360: American Icons

November 27, 2009

The composer and performer Laurie Anderson was so taken with Moby-Dick, she composed a strange, cool, modern opera called Songs and Stories from Moby-Dick. Anderson tells us how Melville hooked her in the first few pages.


Homo-Thespian

Studio 360

November 20, 2009

A new play, "Hominid," reenacts a violent incident that took place in a chimpanzee colony. Primate expert Frans de Waal and the play's actors describe what it took to stage a chimpanzee drama with a very human story. Produced by Philip Graitcer, with Rob Weisberg.


Deaf Actors Demand Equal Stage Time

November 17, 2009

"The Heart is a Lonely Hunter". started previews last week at the New York Theater Workshop. The action takes place in a small town in Georgia in the 1930's, and revolves around a central character, ....


Carrie Fisher

Studio 360

November 13, 2009

Broadway's "Wishful Drinking" stars Carrie Fisher as Carrie Fisher. Like memoir of the same name, the one-woman show blurs the line between person and performer for the movie star, as she draws from the most painful periods in her life for comic material. She tells Kurt that her public life started even before "Star Wars."


Sara Fishko

From the Archives: Chayefsky (Originally Aired Friday, October 20, 2006)

The Fishko Files

November 06, 2009

Film is a visual medium, but the words that inspire the pictures are critical. The screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky died 28 years ago, but people still remember his films, vividly; and what they tend to remember...are the words.


Timely Musical

The Brian Lehrer Show

November 06, 2009

Three members of the improvisational musical comedy group The Made-Up Musical Tara Copeland, Michael Martin, and Frank Spitznagel, demonstrate the art of "improv musicals."

Call for Ideas! Suggest a song title, pulled from the headlines, for the instant musical.


Cunningham Remembered Through Dance and Music

October 29, 2009

A memorial for dancer, choreographer, and artist Merce Cunningham was held last night at the Park Avenue Armory. WNYC's Kathleen Horan has more: REPORTER: Cunningham was considered at the forefront ....


Greene Space logo

Scary Good Tales With Mike Daisey

October 28, 2009

Spend Halloween night in The Greene Space with monologue maven Mike Daisey. He'll debut a brand new piece that's aptly dark and hilarious for the holiday. For more information and to buy tickets b....


People's Hall of Fame: James Hatch and Camille Billops

The Brian Lehrer Show

October 29, 2009

Five notable New Yorkers are inductees into the City Lore 2009 People's Hall of Fame. They join us as part of a week-long series.

Today: James Hatch and Camille Billops, creators of the Hatch-Billops Collection, discuss their work archiving the histories, memories, and cultural life of African American writers, performers, and visual artists in New York.


People's Hall of Fame: Margarita Kagan

The Brian Lehrer Show

October 28, 2009

Five notable New Yorkers are inductees into the City Lore 2009 People's Hall of Fame. They join us as part of a week-long series.

Today: Margarita Kagan, music educator at the Shorefront YM-YWHA, discusses her work fostering the arts and culture of Russian and Russian-Jewish communities in Brighton Beach.


People's Hall of Fame: Michael Smith

The Brian Lehrer Show

October 27, 2009

Five notable New Yorkers are inductees into the City Lore 2009 People's Hall of Fame. They join us as part of a week-long series.

Today: Michael Smith, carilloneur at St. Martin's Church in Harlem (he plays the bells). He is being inducted along with Dionisio Lind of Riverside Church.

Aha Moment: Billy Squier

Studio 360

October 23, 2009

Indie rocker Mitch Davis recently got to collaborate with his childhood idol: 80's guitar hero Billy Squier. Davis performs as Orba Squara -- his new album features Squier and brings everything full circle. Produced by Studio 360's Derek John.
Has a work of art changed your life? Tell us.


Sonos

Studio 360

October 23, 2009

Sonos takes a creative detour when it comes to a cappella. The L.A.-based indie outfit favors Radiohead, Björk, and Fleet Foxes for its unlikely harmonies. Kurt talks with the group and they perform live in the studio –- unaccompanied, of course.


100 Years of Whiffenpoofs

Studio 360

October 23, 2009

Every year at Yale, 14 male seniors are tapped to sing in an elite a cappella group called the Whiffenpoofs. Their repertoire ranges from Cole Porter to Gladys Knight, and they perform around the world. In early October, 600 Whiffenpoof alumni (aged 22-92) gathered in New Haven for their 100th reunion. And they sang. A lot. Produced by Gretta Cohn. Additional concert recording by Roger Arnold.


Sara Fishko

From the Archives: William Bolcom (Originally aired November 17, 2006)

The Fishko Files

October 16, 2009

American Composer William Bolcom's compositions are widely performed and recorded; he's written music of every type, comfortably mixing styles and genres. As WNYC's Sara Fishko tells us, Bolcom was, and is, a careful, passionate music-listener as well, and what he listens to tells us a lot about the history of music, both high and low.”


Joseph Moran

Fela Kuti

Studio 360

October 16, 2009

The Nigerian musician, activist, and father of Afrobeat inspired a generation of artists -- one of whom is choreographer Bill T. Jones. Kurt talks with Jones about his new Broadway musical "Fela!" which celebrates the art and life of a music legend. (Originally aired: December 19, 2008)


Body of Work

The Brian Lehrer Show

October 15, 2009

Writer and performer Anna Deavere Smith, talks about her new show "Let Me Down Easy," an exploration of the body's resiliency and vulnerability when confronted with illness.

Watch an excerpt from Let Me Down Easy:

"Let Me Down Easy" runs through December 6th at 2nd Stage Theater, 305 West 43rd Street.


Panhandling For Reparations

Studio 360

October 09, 2009

October 10th is the "National Day of Panhandling for Reparations." More than 30 people in dozens of cities will literally beg in the street for reparations. It's a performance project designed to call attention to the legacy of slavery today, organized by artist Damali Ayo. (Originally aired: May 8, 2004)


Danny Clinch

Stewart Copeland

Studio 360

October 09, 2009

Sting may have been the front man, but drummer Stewart Copeland was the heartbeat of The Police. In his new memoir Strange Things Happen Copeland talks about how the band’s creative friction helped sell over 50 million records. And he blows the cover on his father, who raised the young Copeland in Beirut while spying for the CIA.


Sara Fishko

From the Archives: Heart and Soul (Originally Aired: 11/22/06)

The Fishko Files

October 09, 2009

There are plenty of memorable melodies beloved by singers, but there’s one song that has a special place in the hearts all piano players. Why? Sara Fishko meditates on the mysterious of a popular tune.


Lipsynch: Marathon of Tales at BAM

October 06, 2009

Nine hours of speaking and thinking about words. The marathon show "Lipsynch", explores voice, speech and language, from babies crying, to soloists singing an aria, to characters struggling with thei....


Sara Fishko

From the Archives: Etudes (Originally Aired 12/8/2006)

The Fishko Files

October 02, 2009

Listening to a musician working on technique might not be your idea of fun; but as WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us, there is music that can make that sort of thing a real experience – for the player and the audience.