NPR Taking Shows On The Road

NPR, following the lead of other news and radio organizations, is widely expanding its live stage shows, with a slate of nearly two dozen events planned nationwide in the coming months, according to The NY Times.

The most ambitious of three “NPR Presents” series, “Water,” will marry news reports, oral histories and conversation about topics such as the drought in the West and mudslides in Seattle with theatrical and musical storytelling. The shows will be customized for each of their eight locales, in partnership with local NPR affiliates.

Kenny Leon, who won a 2014 Tony Award for directing the Broadway revival of “A Raisin in the Sun,” will direct the 90-minute one-night shows, which begin Oct. 25 in New Orleans.

Audiences have “a real desire for coming face to face with brands, touching the brand, but also building communities around topics, around hosts, around the conversation,” said Indira Etwaroo, executive producer and director of “NPR Presents.” She said the events would maintain NPR’s “journalistic rigor” and, without taking editorial license, would “create something entirely new in terms of the storytelling.”

Part of a new $1.2 million three-year operating grant from the Kresge Foundation will support the live events, which also have corporate sponsors and are intended to make money for NPR.

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