Great Performances

Great Performances
Genre Performing Arts
Directed by Steve Ruggi
Presented by Walter Cronkite (1988–2009); Julie Andrews (1989–present), among others
Theme music composer John Williams
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 46
Release
Original network PBS
Original release November 4, 1972 (1972-11-04) – present
External links
Website

Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) public television since 1972. The show is produced by WNET in New York City (originally in conjunction with KQED San Francisco, WTTW Chicago, Maryland Public Television, South Carolina ETV and KERA-TV of Dallas/Fort Worth).

The series is the longest running performing arts anthology on television, as opposed to a program like Hallmark Hall of Fame, which presents only adaptations of plays and novels as well as made-for-TV films. Great Performances presents concerts, ballet, opera, an occasional documentary such as Toscanini: The Maestro, and plays. The series has also won many television awards, including an Emmy Award, three Peabody Awards[1][2][3] and an Image Award, with nods from the Directors Guild of America and the Cinema Audio Society.[4]

The program's spin-off, Great Performances: Dance In America, which began on PBS in 1976, concentrates solely on dance. The first episode "Sue's Leg: Remembering the Thirties" featured choreography by Twyla Tharp. Later episodes featured such performers as Mikhail Baryshnikov. Although it is not seen as often as previously, there have recently been new Dance in America programs, such as the Emmy-winning 2005 production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, starring Angel Corella, Gillian Murphy and the American Ballet Theatre.

In 2007, Great Performances began telecasting performances from the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series,[5] a series of HD opera tapings re-purposed from their original purpose as Fathom Events films carried in high-quality movie theaters for a premium admission price.

Repeat guest hosts include Walter Cronkite, Julie Andrews and Whoopi Goldberg. Major underwriters throughout the show's run have included The National Endowment for the Arts, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS viewers, Exxon, Martin Marietta, Texaco, Deluxe, Duracell, Ernst & Young, Chase Manhattan Bank and UBS.

In 2009, a new theme music for Great Performances was introduced, composed by John Williams.[6]

Episodes

Season 1 (1972–73)

Season 2 (1973–74)

  • The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd (January 16, 1974)
  • Enemies (January 23, 1974)
  • June Moon (January 30, 1974)
  • Cyrano de Bergerac (February 6, 1974)
  • Antigone (February 13, 1974)
  • King Lear (February 20, 1974)
  • In Fashion (March 20, 1974)
  • Feasting with Panthers (March 27, 1974)
  • Theater in America: A Touch of the Poet (May 15, 1974)
  • Monkey, Monkey, Bottle of Beer, How Many Monkeys Have We Here? (May 22, 1974)

Season 3 (1974–75)

  • The Windowing of Mrs. Holroyd (May 8, 1974)
  • Bernstein at Tanglewood (December 25, 1974)
  • The Seagull (January 5, 1975)
  • The Ceremony of Innocence (March 1, 1975)
  • The Rules of the Game (April 30, 1975)

Season 4 (1975–76)

  • Dance in America: Martha Graham Dance Company (April 7, 1976)
  • The Patriots (May 26, 1976)

Season 5 (1976–77)

  • Secret Service (January 12, 1977)
  • Arthur Rubinstein at 90 (January 26, 1977)

Season 6 (1977–78)

  • The Royal Family (November 9, 1977)[7]
  • Verna: USO Girl (January 25, 1978)
  • Uncommon Women and Others (May 24, 1978)

Season 7 (1978–79)

  • The Good Doctor (November 8, 1978)

Season 8 (1979–1980)

  • The Five Forty-Eight (November 7, 1979)
  • Samuel Beckett's Happy Days (June 25, 1980)

Season 9 (1980–81)

  • Beverly! Her Farewell Performance (January 5, 1981)
  • Great Performances at the Met: "L'Elisir D'Amore" (March 2, 1981)
  • The Girls in their Summer Dresses and Other Stories (June 1, 1981)

Season 10 (1981–82)

  • Norma (September 20, 1981)
  • La Clemenza di Tito (October 19, 1981)
  • Brideshead Revisited (January 18, 1982)

Season 11 (1982–83)

  • Great Performances' 10th Anniversary Celebration (December 6, 1982)
  • Ellington: The Music Lives On (March 7, 1983)
  • The Innocents Abroad (May 9, 1983)

Season 12 (1983–84)

  • Alice in Wonderland (October 3, 1983)
  • Callas: An International Celebration (December 11, 1983)
  • The Magic Flute (January 9, 1984)
  • La Cenerentola (February 6, 1984)
  • Choreographer's Notebook: Stravinsky Piano Ballets by Peter Martins (February 13, 1984)

Season 13 (1984–85)

Alice in Wonderland 1985)

Season 14 (1985-86)

  • Doctor Fischer of Geneva (October 11, 1985)
  • Three by Three (October 18, 1985)
  • Laurence Olivier -- A Life (October 25, 1985)
  • The Gospel at Colonus (November 8, 1985)
  • (November 18, 1985)
  • Sylvia Fine Kaye's Musical Comedy Tonight III (The Spark and the Glue) (November 22, 1985)
  • The Importance of Being Earnest (November 29, 1985)
  • San Francisco Ballet in Cinderella (December 7, 1985)
  • Falstaff (December 13, 1985)
  • Rossini at Versailles (December 27, 1985)
  • From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 1986 hosted by Walter Cronkite (January 1, 1986)[8]
  • On the Razzle (January 3, 1986)
  • (January 14, 1986)
  • Heartbreak House (January 24, 1986)
  • Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera (January 31, 1986)
  • The Cotton Club Remembered (February 7, 1986)
  • Irving Berlin’s America (March 7, 1986)
  • Follies in Concert (March 14, 1986)
  • Cavalleria Rusticana (March 21, 1986)
  • Bernstein Conducts Haydn’s Mass in Time of War (March 28, 1986)
  • Elektra (April 11, 1986)
  • Early Days (April 18, 1986)
  • Choreography by Jerome Robbins with the New York City Ballet (May 2, 1986)
  • Grown Ups (May 9, 1986)
  • Boxes: With the Sydney Dance Company (May 16, 1986)
  • Bernstein on Brahms: Reflections and Performance (May 23, 1986)

Season 15 (1986-87)

Season 17 (1988-89)

From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 1989 hosted by Walter Cronkite (January 1, 1989)[8]

Show Boat 1989 Paper Mill Playhouse production

Season 18 (1989-90)

Season 19 (1990-91)

Season 20 (1991-92)

Season 21 (1992-93)

Season 22 (1993-94)

Season 23 (1994-95)

Season 24 (1995-96)

Season 25 (1996-97)

Season 26 (1997-98)

Season 27 (1998-99)

Season 28 (1999-2000)

Season 29 (2000-01)

Season 30 (2001-02)

Season 31 (2002-03)

Season 32 (2003-04)

Season 33 (2004-05)

Season 34 (2005-06)

Show Boat 1989 Paper Mill Playhouse production

Season 36 (2007-08)

Season 37 (2008-09)

Show Boat 1989 Paper Mill Playhouse production

Season 38 (2009-10)

Show Boat 1989 Paper Mill Playhouse production

Season 39 (2010-11)

Season 40 (2011-12)

Season 41 (2012-13)

Season 42 (2013-14)

Season 43 (2014-15)

Show Boat 1989 Paper Mill Playhouse production

Season 44 (2015-16)

Season 45 (2016-17)

Season 46 (2017-18)

References

  1. ↑ 73rd Annual Peabody Awards, May 2014.
  2. ↑ 69th Annual Peabody Awards, May 2011.
  3. ↑ 63rd Annual Peabody Awards, May 2004.
  4. ↑ Comprehensive IMDb listing of awards
  5. ↑ PBS: Great Performances: Opera on Film
  6. ↑ "John Williams Composes Theme Music for Thirteen's Great Performances in Unique Collaboration" (Press release). WNET. March 16, 2009. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2017 – via Reuters.
  7. ↑ "Television This Week: Of Special Interest". The New York Times. November 6, 1977. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 pbs.org From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2009
  9. ↑ pbs.org Great Performances: From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2011
  10. ↑ kpbs.org Great Performances: From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2011
  11. ↑ pbs.org Great Performances: From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2012
  12. ↑ pbs.org Great Performances: From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2013
  13. ↑ pbs.org Great Performances: From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2014
  14. ↑ pbs.org Great Performances: From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2015
  15. ↑ Driving Miss Daisy: About the Play – Premiere date: July 17, 2015. PBS.org
  16. ↑ pbs.org Great Performances: From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2016
  17. ↑ pbs.org Great Performances: From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2017
  18. ↑ Foo Fighters – Landmarks Live in Concert: A Great Performances Special, November 10, 2017, retrieved November 27, 2017
  19. ↑ pbs.org "Great Performances Toasts 2018 with New Host Hugh Bonneville for Annual Broadcast Tradition From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration".
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