Theater

Broadway isn't just back — it's raising the bar. Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her and Maybe Happy Ending tied for most nominations. Plus, nods to George Clooney, Nicole Scherzinger and more.

Two new original musical comedies based on true historical events are the toast of Broadway this spring -- and both feature corpses as a major plot point.

The Grand Ole Opry is turning 100. The stage show is celebrating the milestone all year long by welcoming new and seasoned performers.

"Purpose" by playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, now on Broadway under the direction of longtime actress Phylicia Rashad, explores the generational conflicts in the civil rights movement.

The South African actor has been speaking out about racial injustice for decades, often in collaboration with the late playwright Athol Fugard. Kunene and the King is Kani's latest project.

Jasmine Amy Rogers is starring in her first Broadway musical. Eight years ago, NPR talked with her when she was still in high school.

Fugard, who died March 8, was a white South African whose plays explored the consequences of Apartheid. He was later awarded a Tony Award for lifetime achievement. Originally broadcast in 1986.

The celebrated South African playwright was known for Blood Knot, The Road to Mecca and "Master Harold"...and the Boys. He said his job was to make "leaps out of my reality and into other realities."

Sarah Silverman's musical "The Bedwetter" is largely autobiographical but she says its themes of self-awareness and taking care of one another are especially important right now.

Five years after the pandemic, have Broadway audiences come back? And what musicals and plays are opening, in the weeks ahead, that might draw in crowds?