Great Performances

Great Performances

Arts and Music Series / 6 Seasons

Great Performances brings the best in the performing arts from across America and around the world to a US television audience. It presents a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.

Watch Latest: S49 E28

1h 49m / TV-14

Great Performances: Merry Wives

S49 E28 / 1h 49m / TV-14

Experience Shakespeare’s comedic masterpiece from the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park set in South Harlem telling the story of the trickster Falstaff and the wily wives who outwit him in a celebration of Black joy, laughter and vitality.

Great Performances: Anything Goes

S49 E27 / 2h 20m / TV-14

Enjoy this London production of Cole Porter’s classic musical led by Sutton Foster who reprises her Tony-winning role as Reno Sweeney directed by Kathleen Marshall with favorite songs like “I Get A Kick Out of You” and “You’re the Top.”

Now Hear This "New American Voices"

S49 E25 / 54m 25s / TV-PG

Scott Yoo discovers how American composers are inspired by their immigrant roots today through two composers: Brazilian-born Sergio Assad and Indian American Reena Esmail.

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Now Hear This "Amy Beach: American Romantic"

S49 E22 / 53m 54s / TV-PG

Host Scott Yoo and his wife, flutist Alice Dade, perform the work of Romantic era classical composer Amy Beach at Festival Mosaic and uncover Beach’s many musical influences. Featuring performances of Beach’s works, the duo visits places Beach took inspiration from throughout her life, including an artist residency at MacDowell in New Hampshire.

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Great Performances: The Conductor

S49 E20 / 1h 24m

Follow Marin Alsop’s journey to become the first female music director of a major American symphony despite repeated rejection by the classical music industry. Features archival footage with her mentor Leonard Bernstein and is set to a soundtrack of her performances.

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Movies for Grownups® Awards 2022 with AARP The Magazine

S49 E19 / 1h 23m

First broadcast on PBS in 2018, Movies for Grownups Awards with AARP the Magazine returns for a fifth year to celebrate and encourage filmmaking with unique appeal to movie-lovers with a grownup state of mind—and recognize the inspiring artists who make them. Each year the centerpiece honor is the Career Achievement Award, celebrating the contributions cinema legends.

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Great Performances – Reopening: The Broadway Revival

S49 E16 / 54m / TV-G

Go behind the scenes of Broadway as shows reunite, rehearse and re-stage for their long-awaited reopening nights while the theater industry learns how to turn the lights back on after its longest hiatus in history due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Great Performances: Unforgettable With Love - Natalie Cole

S49 E12 / 1h 2m / TV-G

Enjoy this special encore of Natalie Cole’s Emmy-winning concert of her GRAMMY-winning album in Great Performances: Unforgettable With Love - Natalie Cole. Featuring classics such as “Mona Lisa,” “The Very Thought of You” and “For Sentimental Reasons,” the concert also features a special performance of Nat King Cole’s signature song “Unforgettable” sung as a duet by Natalie Cole and her father.

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Great Performances: San Francisco Symphony Reopening Night

S49 E9 / 1h 22m / TV-PG

Celebrate opening night of San Francisco Symphony’s 110th season as it welcomes its new GRAMMY-winning music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, featuring music by John Adams, esperanza spalding & Wayne Shorter and performances by Alonzo King LINES Ballet.

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Great Performances: San Francisco Symphony Reopening Night

S49 E9 / 1h 22m / TV-PG

Celebrate opening night of San Francisco Symphony’s 110th season as it welcomes its new GRAMMY-winning music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, featuring music by John Adams, esperanza spalding & Wayne Shorter and performances by Alonzo King LINES Ballet.

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Great Performances: A John Williams Premiere at Tanglewood

S49 E8 / 1h 24m / TV-G

Experience a concert of works by legendary composer John Williams from Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home at Tanglewood including Williams’ new violin concerto performed by virtuoso Anne-Sophie Mutter and other works conducted by Andris Nelsons.

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Now Hear This "Beethoven's Ghost"

S49 E6 / 54m 25s / TV-G

Go inside the mind of a genius as host Scott Yoo and fellow musicians undertake a recording of Beethoven's most personal music at a historic Berkshires manor to explore the composer’s brilliant career—where they are visited by some unexpected guests.

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The Red Shoes

S49 E3 / 1h 37m / TV-14

Experience Hans Christian Andersen’s dark fairytale from acclaimed director-choreographer Matthew Bourne with this Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation starring Ashley Shaw, Adam Cooper, Dominic North and Michaela Meazza.

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Yannick – An Artist’s Journey

S49 E1 / 1h 49m / TV-PG

Experience the music director of the Metropolitan Opera’s meteoric rise to become one of the most acclaimed and sought-after music directors of his generation in this documentary from cinema verité filmmaker Susan Froemke.

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