Jan 15 Watch 1:15 Remembering Carol Channing, theater star who didn’t let life pass her by Carol Channing passed away Tuesday at the age of 97. The Broadway legend won fame as Dolly Levi in "Hello, Dolly!" and performed it more than 5,000 times. Continue watching
Apr 05 Watch 3:33 Anna Deavere Smith puts herself into other people’s words By PBS News Hour Anna Deavere Smith, actor, playwright and activist, says she has been trying to become America, word for word. By conducting interviews and creating a narrative, she aims to make a current problem come alive. Deavere Smith offers her Brief but… Continue watching
Jul 05 Watch 5:47 J.K. Rowling brings magic to the theater with a new Harry Potter play By PBS News Hour At London’s Palace Theater, fans of J.K. Rowling can leap back into her now-familiar magical world of a certain boy wizard. In “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” a new stage play told in two parts, Harry is back, but… Continue watching
Apr 29 Watch 6:05 Remixing ‘Shuffle Along,’ a musical that brought new sounds and moves to Broadway By PBS News Hour Almost everything has been forgotten about "Shuffle Along," the 1921 Broadway musical written, performed and directed by African Americans. But the production was hugely influential, altering the evolution of the art form. Now there's a new "Shuffle Along," a new… Continue watching
Apr 11 Watch 7:12 Playwright Tracy Letts unravels different ages of identity in a single life By PBS News Hour Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts has famously depicted family dysfunction, but his latest play, “Mary Page Marlowe,” is more concerned with questions of identity, examining the life of its protagonist from infancy to old age in non-linear fashion to find… Continue watching
Feb 18 Watch 3:09 When Danai Gurira couldn’t find complex stories about African women, she wrote her own By PBS News Hour Danai Gurira is a playwright and performer who wants to make sure women of color don’t search in vain for stories they can relate to. Her latest play, "Eclipsed," is premiering on Broadway, and she also has a starring role… Continue watching
Sep 29 Watch 7:25 Anna Deavere Smith tackles school-to-prison pipeline on stage By PBS News Hour For Anna Deavere Smith, actress and path-breaking performance artist, Baltimore is home. After the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, the city became a sadly appropriate setting for Smith to tackle her latest project: a one-woman show about the "school… Continue watching
Sep 29 Watch MacArthur ‘genius’ Lin-Manuel Miranda on falling in love for a living By PBS News Hour In our NewsHour Shares moment of the day, Lin-Manuel Miranda is one of 24 new recipients of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowships, also known as “genius grants.” The composer/playwright/performer explains what it’s like to fall in… Continue watching
Dec 09 Watch 8:15 ‘This is M.E.’ embraces Melissa Etheridge’s musical spectrum By PBS News Hour Singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge has been known for her country and rock hits, but on her new album, "This Is M.E.," she also adds R&B and soul to the mix. Gwen Ifill sits down with the veteran musician to discuss her… Continue watching
Dec 08 Watch 8:55 Kennedy Center honors Al Green for soul and staying power By PBS News Hour Al Green was one of five artists honored at the Kennedy Center this year. Jeffrey Brown talks to the singer, whose iconic voice has stirred souls with pop music and gospel for decades, about a life of making music and… Continue watching