By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
Every Friday night from Oct. 20 to Nov. 24, some of the best-loved Broadway shows are coming directly to PBS viewers.
Many of the programs in this special programming line-up were directed for television by David Horn, executive producer of Thirteen’s popular Great Performances series.
“For over 50 years, Thirteen has provided audiences locally and across the country with unparalleled access to some of the most exciting and eclectic theater offerings on Broadway and beyond. We’re pleased to continue this great tradition with a diverse mix of recent critically acclaimed productions,” Horn said.
Here’s the festival lineup:
- 8 p.m. Oct. 20: Great Performances presents the recent revival of She Loves Me, a musical adaptation of The Shop Around the Corner (which also inspired You’ve Got Mail). It stars Zachary Levi and Laura Benanti as shop clerks who are unknowingly in love with each other, with Jane Krakowski and Gavin Creel among the supporting cast. Click through for a preview of Krakowski and Creel. (I saw this through Fathom Events and Broadway HD recently at the United Artists Amarillo Star 14, and the production is simply smashing.)
- 8 p.m. Oct. 27: Live from Lincoln Center presents the recent revival of Falsettos, a contemporary musical about the making of a modern family in the height of the AIDS era. It stars Christian Borle, Stephanie J. Block and Andrew Rannells. (I saw this in New York City last year and found it to be one of the most emotionally powerful musicals I've ever seen.)
- 8 p.m. Nov. 3: Great Performances broadcasts Noel Coward’s Present Laughter starring Kevin Kline as an actor with a midlife crisis. Kline won a Tony Award for the role.
- 8 p.m. Nov. 10: Encore presentation of In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams about Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Broadway musical
- 8 p.m. Nov. 17: Indecent, an acclaimed drama by Paula Vogel about a controversial Broadway play in 1923
- 8 p.m. Nov. 24: Holiday Inn: The New Irving Berlin Musical, a stage adaptation of the 1942 film starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire
- 3 a.m. Dec. 2: Hamilton’s America, a documentary about the creation of the pop culture Broadway phenomenon and the history behind it (airing overnight because of November/December pledge programming)
Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
