Enjoy our late summer programming as we continue to practice social distancing with some of our Broadway at Home lineup, Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles, Macbeth and more. In these unprecedented times, we hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy. All of us at Great Performances are dedicated to carrying on our legacy of bringing the best of the performing arts to you.
Noël Coward’s Present Laughter
Available through August 28
Kevin Kline’s Tony Award®-winning performance in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter, first produced in 1942 with Coward himself in the leading role. This comedy follows a self-obsessed actor in the midst of a mid-life crisis. Juggling his considerable talent, ego and libido, the theater’s favorite leading man suddenly finds himself caught between fawning ingénues, crazed playwrights, secret trysts and unexpected twists.
In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams
Available through September 4
Mark Morris Dance Group: L’Allegro
Available through September 7
Choreographer Mark Morris’ signature work comes to television for the first time, hosted by Mikhail Baryshnikov. Morris garnered international fame for this piece, set to George Frideric Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato with libretto based on John Milton’s poetry. This performance of the Mark Morris Dance Group with live music was filmed at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain.
Much Ado About Nothing
Available through September 11
This bold interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedic masterpiece features Danielle Brooks (“Orange is the New Black,” Broadway’s “The Color Purple”) and Grantham Coleman (“Buzzer,” “The Americans”) as the sparring lovers Beatrice and Benedick. Set in contemporary Georgia with an election race underway, Much Ado About Nothing finds the community of Messina celebrating a break from an ongoing war, but not all is peaceful amid the merriment. Former rivals battle it out, revenge is sought and trickery runs amok in this timeless comedy of romantic retribution and miscommunication.
Musical Greetings from the Vienna Philharmonic
Available through December 31
As the world goes through a huge crisis and performing live music is no longer an option, the Vienna Philharmonic sends a small musical greeting from Vienna with their kindest regards and love.
Macbeth
Available through December 31
Following a London West End run in December 2007, a sold-out limited engagement at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in March 2008, and an eight-week run on Broadway, director Rupert Goold’s stage production of Macbeth was filmed for television at the end of 2009 with Patrick Stewart in his Tony-nominated performance as the ambitious general, and Tony-nominated Kate Fleetwood as his scheming wife.
Twilight: Los Angeles
Available through June 2021
Anna Deavere Smith’s powerful one-woman theater piece about the 1991 Rodney King beating, the violent aftermath of the 1992 verdict, and the lasting impact of the L.A. riots on America’s conscience. Award-winning director Marc Levin weaves Smith’s stage performance with news footage and interviews to create a portrait of rage, sorrow, loss, and battered hope.
Coming Soon
Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2014
Available August 14 – December 31
Led for the first time by guest conductor Christoph Eschenbach, the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic returns for their 11th open-air concert in the magnificent gardens of Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. The concert soloist is acclaimed piano virtuoso Lang Lang, with whom Eschenbach shares a long-standing artistic friendship.
Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2017
Available August 14 – December 31
Led for the second time by German pianist and conductor Christoph Eschenbach, the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic returns for its 14th open-air concert with a program inspired by fairytales and myths in Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace Gardens. The concert soloist is renowned soprano Renée Fleming who performs two arias from operas by Antonin Dvořák: The famous ‘Song to the Moon’ of the water nymph Rusalka and the aria of the sorceress Armida from the operas of those names, as well as three songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff: “Twilight,” “Sing not to me, beautiful maiden” and “Spring Waters.”