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Here is the latest Arts News from NPR.

As A Japanese Mountain Village Shrinks, So Do Its Prospects For Kabuki
For more than 300 years, children have performed kabuki, Japan’s classical theater, in the village of Damine. But as residents age or leave for cities, Damine is running out of young performers.

Family Drama Meets Existential Horror In ‘The Humans’
On its surface, the play sounds pretty ordinary: A young woman and her boyfriend have her family over for Thanksgiving dinner. Then things start to get weird.

Misty Copeland Achieves #SquadGoals In The Documentary ‘A Ballerina’s Tale’
Misty Copeland talks body image, ballet, and blackness in the new PBS documentary A Ballerina’s Tale.

‘Scalia/Ginsburg’ Opera Commemorates Sparring Supreme Court Friendship
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the late Justice Antonin Scalia were ideologically at the opposite ends of the Supreme Court bench. Despite their dissenting opinions, they were also great friends. And their arguments with each other were put to an opera.

‘Trapped In Time,’ The Last Showgirl Revue On Vegas Strip, Will Close
With its elaborate headdresses, colorful sequined gowns and statuesque dancers, Jubilee was the classic Las Vegas show. But times and tastes change, and the last performance will be on Feb. 11.

To Sorkin A Mockingbird: Screenwriter Will Adapt Novel For Broadway
How will Aaron Sorkin’s rapid-fire dialogue fit with Harper Lee’s tale of racism and justice in the South?

Why Do Theater? Every Year, International Festival Looks For Answers
Organizers of Under the Radar regularly search the globe for cutting-edge theater that is urgent and relevant. This year’s festival features works from Rwanda, the U.S. and Japan.

Years After Its Curfew Killed Theater, Ghana Gets A Second Act
Back in the ’80s, Ghanaian theater went dark under military curfew. Now, a dapper businessman-turned-playwright is leading an onstage revival — and doing it with a sense of humor.

’60s ‘Dish’ Maggie Smith Says, ‘That Was Never Me’
“It must be lovely to be beautiful, but that’s a really difficult thing to lose,” says Smith, now 81. Best known in the U.S. for her role in Downton Abbey, she’s now starring in The Lady in the Van.

‘Fiddler’ Songwriters Discuss Putting Themselves In The ‘Soul Of The Characters’
Together Sheldon Harnick and the late Jerry Bock wrote the songs for the Broadway show Fiddler on the Roof. Both men spoke to Fresh Air in 2004; Harnick spoke to Fresh Airagain in 2014.

‘Glory Of The World’ Is More Wacky Birthday Party Than Traditional Play
The play celebrates Catholic monk Thomas Merton’s 100th birthday. But it isn’t really about Merton — it’s about human complexity, and at times the action resembles the filmAnimal House.

In ‘Sweat,’ Adapting To Change Is The Hardest Work Of All
Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage spent two years visiting Reading, Pa., to research her new play. Sweat explores how industrial decline affected workers in the former steel and textile town.

From Streets To Stage, Two Dance Worlds See Harmonization And Chaos
When a San Francisco-based choreographer decided to take turf dancers off of the streets and trains of Oakland and put them on stage with ballet dancers, chaos ensued. Until she let them all improv together.

Young Theater Fans Find Their Tribe At The First Ever BroadwayCon
For one 14-year-old fan, BroadwayCon was a chance to meet people who understand her theater obsession. “We can share what we love,” she says.

Can’t Buy A Ticket To That Concert You Want To See? Blame Bots
A report from New York’s attorney general points to abusive practices in the market for live-event tickets on sites such as StubHub. Computer programs snap up seats faster than humans can.

From Football To Opera: Singer Morris Robinson Takes Center Stage
Once Morris Robinson dreamed of fame on the football field. Now, he’s moving audiences across the world with the power of his voice, and changing the face of opera.

At 42, Matthew Rushing Might Just Be The Peyton Manning Of Dance
Dancers typically retire at a relatively young age. Rushing, however, is still going strong — and he’s about to kick off a 20-city tour.

‘We’re Mostly Republicans’: New Hampshire Voters Explained By ‘Our Town’
After NPR’s Bob Mondello used The Music Man to help explain the Iowa caucuses, he wished there was a musical of Our Town so he could do the same for New Hampshire. It turns out there is one.

At 82, Broadway ‘Master Of Ceremonies’ Joel Grey Says, ‘Life Seems Full’
Grey explains how he brought his decadent Cabaret character to life on both the stage and screen, and reflects on coming out as gay after years of living closeted. His memoir isMaster Of Ceremonies.

American Musicals Are So Popular In Paris, They’re Coming Back To The U.S.
French audiences have flocked to Paris productions of American musicals like Kiss Me, Kate, which closes this week. France’s versions of some of these plays are also being exported back to the U.S.

Video: UCLA Gymnast Sophina DeJesus Whips, Nae Naes And Slays
The viral video of DeJesus’ routine doesn’t show an athlete dominating in a traditionally white sport despite her race. She’s an athlete celebrating her identity in the sport she loves.