NPR’s latest on the performing arts

After President Trump added his name to the Kennedy Center, artists have been canceling their performances in protest, putting a damper on holiday events, including the New Year's Eve celebrations.
Author: Andrew Limbong
Posted: December 31, 2025, 9:45 am
NPR's A Martinez speaks with choreographer Doug Varone about his decision to cancel upcoming performances by his dance company at the Kennedy Center.
Author: A Martínez
Posted: December 31, 2025, 9:45 am
A previously unpublished radio play written by Tennessee Williams as a college student has been published in The Strand magazine. What does the work say about the playwright before he became famous?
Author: Hosts
Posted: December 29, 2025, 9:45 am
The Kennedy Center is planning legal action after jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled an annual holiday concert. Redd pulled out after President Trump's name appeared on the building.
Author: Kristin Wright
Posted: December 27, 2025, 7:24 pm
Nearly half of the revenue for large American ballet companies each year comes from the cozy seasonal favorite The Nutcracker. Since COVID, they have become even more dependent on those sugarplum fairies.
Author: Anastasia Tsioulcas
Posted: December 22, 2025, 9:46 am
Washington, D.C.'s performing arts center was named for President Kennedy after his assassination. But his vision for the arts as a cornerstone of democracy was shared by Eisenhower and Johnson.
Author: Anastasia Tsioulcas
Posted: December 19, 2025, 9:18 pm
The arts institution will be called the Trump-Kennedy Center. The president's press secretary said it comes after a unanimous vote by the center's board, which Trump took over earlier this year.

Author: Andrew Limbong
Posted: December 18, 2025, 8:53 pm
Almost eight years after Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened on Broadway, Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the films, is now playing him as an adult onstage.
Author: Jeff Lunden
Posted: December 17, 2025, 7:45 pm
Nearly 1,000 women from around the country flew to New York City to audition for the dance troupe on its 100th anniversary. What's helped it last so long?
Author: Jennifer Vanasco
Posted: December 14, 2025, 2:10 pm
Stoppard, who died Nov. 29, wrote Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and The Real Thing, and the screenplays for Empire of the Sun and Shakespeare in Love. Originally broadcast in 1991.
Author: Terry Gross
Posted: December 5, 2025, 10:00 am