NPR’s latest on the performing arts

The Seattle Children's Theatre is the latest to say they will no longer perform at the Kennedy Center since Trump took over last year.
Author: Ivy Buck
Posted: January 20, 2026, 5:44 pm
Georgetown University is moving Let Freedom Ring, its annual event celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr., to the historical Howard Theatre in order to save money, the university said.
Author: Elizabeth Blair
Posted: January 14, 2026, 6:37 pm
The WNO is just the latest to say they will no longer perform at the Kennedy Center since Trump took over last year.
Author: Chloe Veltman
Posted: January 10, 2026, 5:58 pm
The 18-time Grammy Award winner is the latest musician to cancel an show at the Kennedy Center. Béla Fleck says he cannot currently perform there because it "has become charged and political."
Author: Anastasia Tsioulcas
Posted: January 7, 2026, 7:34 pm
Three women in their 90s are performing right now on New York stages, sometimes as often as eight performances a week.
Author: Jeff Lunden
Posted: January 5, 2026, 9:28 pm
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A previously unpublished radio play written by Tennessee Williams as a college student has been published in The Strand magazine.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