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Is Anything More American Than Oklahoma! in Oklahoma?

Forget Broadway’s Reopening—The Nation’s Artistic Heartbeat Is at Its Center

Is Anything More American Than Oklahoma! in Oklahoma? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

If there’s a more rambunctious and promiscuous genre than musical theater, I haven’t met it yet.

Musicals are an everywhere phenomenon. They touch an enormously broad swath of American lives, unapologetically building worlds that don’t yet exist. I see this commitment to the not-yet as an aspiration for the rest of us stuck living in the here-and-now.

I recently wrote a book about musicals, and visited communities in the heartland that were using musical theater to help understand their place in this country. I watched an original musical about Samson and Delilah …

by Jake Johnson |

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From the Porch to the Plaza, a Diaspora Looks Forward | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

From the Porch to the Plaza, a Diaspora Looks Forward

The Art of South Central Innervisions: An AfroLatinx Futurism

by Sarah Rothbard  |

Well before the pandemic began, Esperanza Community Housing was planning a public arts festival in South Central Los Angeles to challenge prevailing narratives about the community and celebrate its excellence …

Dance Has Reached a Turning Point | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Dance Has Reached a Turning Point

Freed from the Studio, an Art Form Finds the Space to Transform

by Christine Suárez |

My shoulder is aching. I’m going up the escalator at the Macy’s in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. My purse is weighed down with notebooks, a portable speaker, water bottle, …

If You Want to Change L.A., You’re Going to Need Artists | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

If You Want to Change L.A., You’re Going to Need Artists

When Policy Making Falls Short, Creativity Is a Catalyst

by Sarah Rothbard |

From giving communities a voice in land use and zoning to creating mutual aid networks, Los Angeles artists and arts organizations are finding ways to imagine a better future for …

What Is the Meaning of Life? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

What Is the Meaning of Life?

For Sir Paul Nurse, Creativity and Community Are Essential Building Blocks

by Sara Suárez  |

What does it take to create meaning in our lives? According to Sir Paul Nurse, a Nobel laureate geneticist and author of What Is Life?, supporting family and community as …

A Letter From Paris, Where the New Normal Is Less Grouchy Than You’d Expect | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

A Letter From Paris, Where the New Normal Is Less Grouchy Than You’d Expect

Through Three Lockdowns, Parisians Have Read, Biked, and Even Behaved Like Tourists in Their Own Town

by Olivia Snaije |

What is the new normal here in Paris? The answer is one that’s less grouchy than you might expect. Mais ça commence à bien faire—it’s getting a little much.

We’re more …


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