Performing Arts News, interviews, and commentary on theater, the arts, music, and dance.

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Aparna (from left), Ranee and Ashwini Ramaswamy. Aparna Ramaswamy hide caption

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Aparna Ramaswamy

How a mother and her daughters created an innovative Indian dance company

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Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Parkwood; Ray Love Jr.

The musical adaptation of Monsoon Wedding has opened at Brooklyn's St. Ann's Warehouse. Matthew Murphy hide caption

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Matthew Murphy

You're invited to 'Monsoon Wedding' — a musical nearly 15 years in the making

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NPR

Beyoncé's Renaissance tour begins; revisiting house music history with DJ Honey Dijon

Host Brittany Luse revisits her 2022 conversation with the legendary DJ Honey Dijon. As one of the only Black trans DJs playing the biggest venues in the world, she's not only become an icon of the scene, but an arbiter of the culture. It's no surprise that Beyoncé tapped Honey for her biggest album yet, Renaissance. Brittany and Honey talk house music's Black roots, the evolution of the club scene, and working with Beyoncé on "Alien Superstar" and "Cozy."

Beyoncé's Renaissance tour begins; revisiting house music history with DJ Honey Dijon

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John Mulaney in his latest Netflix comedy special Baby J. Marcus Russell Price/Netflix hide caption

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Marcus Russell Price/Netflix

Benjamin Matthews, one of the founders of Opera Ebony. Opera Ebony hide caption

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Opera Ebony

Opera Ebony broke boundaries in classical music for 50 years — but what comes next?

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Writer Neil Gaiman (center) makes music with FourPlay (L-R: Peter Hollo, Shenton Gregory aka Shenzo Gregorio, Lara Goodridge and Tim Hollo) Chris Frape/Riot Act Media hide caption

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Chris Frape/Riot Act Media

Writer Neil Gaiman debuts his first music album with an Australian string quartet

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Barry Humphries performs as Dame Edna for a farewell tour in London on Nov. 13, 2013. Tony Award-winning comedian Barry Humphries, internationally renowned for his garish stage persona Dame Edna Everage, died on Saturday in Sydney. Joel Ryan/Joel Ryan/Invision/AP hide caption

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Joel Ryan/Joel Ryan/Invision/AP

Chita Rivera as Anita in the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story. AP hide caption

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AP

Broadway legend Chita Rivera dances through her life in a new memoir

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John Riddle as Raoul, Laird Mackintosh as the Phantom and Emilie Kouatchou as Christine, take a bow at the end of the final performance of the Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theater in New York City on April 16, 2023. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

'Phantom of the Opera' takes a final Broadway bow after 13,981 performances

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The third episode in season four of the HBO hit 'Succession' has the dysfunctional Roys dealing with grief and death. HBO hide caption

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HBO

Death and grief in 'Succession'; plus, privacy and the abortion pill

This week, host Brittany Luse is joined by UC Berkeley Law professor Khiara Bridges to connect the dots between the recent legal battles over the abortion pill mifepristone and our constitutional right to privacy. Then, Linda Holmes of NPR's 'Pop Culture Happy Hour' stops by to chat about the television episode that still has our group chats in a chokehold, and how it eloquently captured the way we experience death and grief in real life.

Death and grief in 'Succession'; plus, privacy and the abortion pill

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Terence Blanchard's opera on the troubled life of boxer Emile Griffith premieres

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Ryan Speedo Green as Young Emile Griffith in Terence Blanchard's Champion. Zenith Richards/Met Opera hide caption

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Zenith Richards/Met Opera

'Champion' is not your grandmother's Metropolitan Opera

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Thomas Bangalter, half of the former Daft Punk duo, composed the score for the ballet Mythologies, choreographed by fellow Frenchman Angelin Preljocaj. Jean-Claude Carbonne/Biz 3 hide caption

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Jean-Claude Carbonne/Biz 3

From Daft Punk to ballet: Thomas Bangalter makes full swing to classical

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Annaleigh Ashford and Josh Groban in the 2023 Broadway production of Sweeney Todd. Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman hide caption

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Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

As 'Sweeney Todd' returns to Broadway, 4 Sweeneys dish about the difficult role

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The Queen's Cartoonists perform at the Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown, PA on November 22, 2019. Lindsey Theong/The Queen's Cartoonist hide caption

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Lindsey Theong/The Queen's Cartoonist

The Queen's Cartoonists: Where jazz meets animation and hints of musical circus

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Santiago Felipe/Getty Images

Sam Waterston on being the most recognizable pretend lawyer in New York

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