"Great Performances" (1972) TV series 1972-????

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

Steve Ruggi

Seasons:

1 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 36 | 37 | 38 | unknown

Release Date:

4 November 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Musical | Romance

Plot:

Great Performances is the longest running performing arts anthology on television. It is part of of the PBS tradition of bringing the arts to viewers free of charge.

Plot Keywords:

Dance | Opera | Concert | Broadway Musical

Awards:

Won 19 Primetime Emmys. Another 9 wins & 51 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 8

12:15 PM

PBS

Beverly Sills: Made in America

Cast

Walter Cronkite	...	Himself - Host / ... (10 episodes, 1988-2008)
Julie Andrews	...	Herself / ... (6 episodes, 1989-2004)
Liza Minnelli	...	Herself / ... (6 episodes, 1987-2003)
Andrea Bocelli	...	Himself (5 episodes, 2000-2008)
Nathan Lane	...	Himself / ... (5 episodes, 1983-2003)
Chita Rivera	...	Herself (5 episodes, 1985-2003)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Filming Locations:

Radio City Music Hall - 1260 6th Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

Movie Connections:

Spin off "Great Performances: Dance in America" (1976)

and the greatest performance was...

"Nixon in China", which was shown on April 15, 1988. Peter Sellars directed his usual wonderful cast of James Maddalena as Richard Nixon and Sandford Sylvan as Chou En-lai in John Adams' superb opera about Nixon's visit to China in February, 1972. (Alice Goodman's libretto was sculpted from the actual words of the historical characters.) One of the nicer touches was that Walter Cronkite, who followed the Nixon entourage, gave the historical grounding for the opera before the performance and then during the intermission.

The music is lyrical and incantatory and the entire cast does it justice. And the staging!... I vividly remember the end of Act 1, when Nixon and Chou toast each other's countries ("Gambei") and as they clink glasses a score of newspaper photographers snap their pictures -- and then all the house lights went out! Wowzy-wow-wow! And Nixon's entrance, as he walks out of a huge mock-up of Air Force One and gives his stiff arms-up salute made me applaud wildly, and I am a flaming leftist.

Ah, if only this were on DVD. Or even VHS. It's unfortunate that it can't be seen at all. After I emailed WNET, the original sponsors of "Great Performances", I received a response that said that they did not own the copyright and weren't really sure who did!

Consider this posting a cry in the wilderness -- please, someone make this work of art available to us.