Great Performances Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Pennsylvania Ballet At 50

This special showcases one of Philadelphia’s cultural treasures, Pennsylvania Ballet, and honors the company’s golden anniversary. Pennsylvania Ballet At 50 will present performances in three spectacular works, premiering Friday, May 2 at 9 p.m. on West Virginia PBS.

Featured are the pas de deux from After the Rain by Christopher Wheeldon, Under the Sun Pas de Deux by Margo Sappington and “Diamonds” from Jewels by George Balanchine. Included are interviews with Barbara Weisberger, Pennsylvania Ballet founder, and Roy Kaiser, artistic director of the company.

Artists of Pennsylvania Ballet in George Balanchine’s Diamonds from Jewels.

Sleeping Beauty, A Romance For All Ages

Great Performances: Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty airs Friday, April 25 at 9 p.m., repeats Saturday, April 26 at 2 a.m. on West Virginia PBS.

This timeless fairy tale about a princess cursed to sleep for a hundred years was adapted into a ballet by Tchaikovsky and choreographer Marius Petipa in 1890. In a highly theatrical production, Bourne takes this date as his starting point, setting the story at the height of the fin de siècle epoch when fairies, vampires and decadent opulence fed the gothic imagination. As the heroine Aurora matures into a young woman, the period shifts to the confines of the Edwardian era. Decades later, awakening from her century-long slumber, Aurora finds herself in the modern day — a world she finds more mysterious and wonderful than any fairy tale. Bourne’s haunting new scenario is a romance for all ages. Choreographer Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty marks the choreographer’s return to the music of Tchaikovsky to complete his acclaimed reinterpretations of the composer’s trio of masterworks that began in 1992 with Nutcracker! and followed in 1995 with Swan Lake.

Peter Pan and Tinkerbell Brought to Life By Milwaukee Ballet

It was the toast of Milwaukee’s performing arts community and now Peter Pan From the Milwaukee Ballet, recorded and produced for television by Milwaukee Public Television (MPTV), will premiere on Friday, April 18 at 9 p.m. on West Virginia PBS.

Choreographed by Milwaukee Ballet Artistic Director Michael Pink, Peter Pan took Milwaukee by storm, playing to sold-out houses and earning standing ovations nightly. Featuring an original score from British composer Philip Feeney, this impressive stage show features dancers flying high over the action and a looming, full pirate ship that sails across the stage

The ballet features Leading Artist Marc Petrocci as the iconic Peter Pan and rising star Valerie Harmon as Wendy. The production also boasts a top-notch creative team, including Emmy Award-winning lighting designer David Grill.

Peter Pan from the Milwaukee Ballet is part of the ongoing, multi-platform “PBS Arts” initiative, which highlights PBS’s commitment to the performing and visual arts, and gives millions of viewers a front-row seat and a backstage pass for the best music, theater, dance, art, and cultural history programs on-air and online. For more information, visit www.pbs.org/arts.

The Dave Clark Five, Fifty Years After the British Invasion

Rare footage and star-studded interviews highlight this two-hour Great Performances special, Tuesday, April 8 at 8 p.m. on West Virgina PBS.

The Dave Clark Five and Beyond – Glad All Over features newly filmed interviews with Tom Hanks, Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt of The E Street Band, Stevie Wonder, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Gene Simmons of Kiss, Whoopi Goldberg, Dionne Warwick, ’60s fashion icon Twiggy and Sir Ian McKellen, all sharing their memories of how the music of the 60s and the cultural revolution of 1964 changed their lives forever.

Included in the film are the DC5’s iconic performances on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” along with rare live concert footage and their countless appearances on television with American musical icons. Much of this material — much of it on 35mm film — has not been seen in decades, either on television or home video.

The film also features never-before-seen footage from Clark’s personal archives together with performances by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Dusty Springfield, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Freddie Mercury of Queen and Sir Laurence Olivier. The DC5 were the first English group to tour America (in May 1964), thus spearheading the British Invasion.

They achieved a record-breaking 15 consecutive Top 20 U.S. hit singles within a two-year period — more than any other group in the world except the Beatles. They appeared a record-breaking 18 times on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” with its weekly audience of 70 million viewers — more than any other rock, pop or R&B artist. They took the world by storm and helped change the rock scene, blasting hit after hit over the world’s radio airwaves.

The Dave Clark Five and Beyond features scenes from their feature film Catch Us If You Can (Having a Wild Weekend in the U.S.). The group is seen with Lucille Ball (on whose “Lucy in London” special they guest-starred), Dean Martin, and Richard Chamberlain.

The DC5, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were all war babies, born during the World War II. The film highlights the DC5’s working-class roots in war-torn England and tells in fascinating detail the story of how the five — Clark, Mike Smith (an underrated rock vocalist, as several of the luminaries in the film attest), Denis Payton, Rick Huxley and Lenny Davidson — met while training in the gym two nights a week in Tottenham and their rise to worldwide fame, selling more than 100 million records in the process.

Clark, a fan of the legendary Buddy Rich, was the drummer and manager of the group; his drumming was a key influence on Springsteen, Max Weinberg, Van Zandt and others. Clark — whom Elton John praises in the film as a “stone-cold genius” — made sure they owned the masters of all their music and video appearances.

Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs: The Dukes of September

Great Performances: The Dukes of September premieres Friday, March 28 at 9 p.m. on WV PBS.

Three music legends join forces as an all-star super group, taped in concert at New York’s Lincoln Center.

Rock and roll royalty Donald Fagen (Steely Dan), Michael McDonald (The Doobie Brothers) and Boz Scaggs join forces as their own new super group, The Dukes of September, paying tribute to the R&B and soul music that inspired them along with fresh, exciting performances of some of their greatest hits.

Among the many crowd-pleasing favorites are “What a Fool Believes,” “Lowdown,” “Lido Shuffle,” “Pretzel Logic,” “Reelin’ in the Years” and many more.

The Dukes of September Rhythm Revue, formed in 2010, is a resurrection of their previous New York Rock and Soul Revue. They play a combination of hits from the members’ respective careers as well as a number of classic R&B and soul covers.

Donald Jay Fagen, musician and songwriter, was the co-founder (along with Walter Becker) and lead singer of the jazz/rock band Steely Dan. After the breakup of Steely Dan in 1981, he launched a long-running solo career in 1982, with four albums to date. In 1993, Fagen and Becker reunited as Steely Dan. Their first comeback album, “Two Against Nature,” won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2001.

Five-time Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Michael McDonald is renowned for his soulful baritone. He began his career singing back-up vocals with Steely Dan. He was a member of the Doobie Brothers from 1976 to 1982, a period that resulted in several hit songs for the band, after which he began an illustrious solo career.

William Royce “Boz” Scaggs, singer, songwriter and guitarist, gained fame in the 1970s with the album “Silk Degrees,” which earned him a Grammy for R&B Song of the Year, “Lowdown.” He records in various genres, including blues, R&B, pop and jazz. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.

During the early 1990s, the three front men worked together in the Libby Titus-produced New York Rock and Soul Revue which, during its short life, included Phoebe Snow, Chuck Jackson, Eddie and David Brigati of the Rascals, Charles Brown, Walter Becker, Cornelius Bumpus and Mindy Jostyn.

In 2010 it was announced that Fagen, McDonald and Scaggs would do a fall tour together as the Dukes of September Rhythm Revue, the name harking back to 1950s doo-wop bands with aristocratic names. The current lineup is rounded out by Jon Herington (guitar), Freddie Washington (bass), Shannon Forrest (drums), Jim Beard (organ), Jay Collins (horns), Michael Leonhart (horns), Walt Weiskopf (horns), Carolyn Leonhart (vocals) and Monet Owens (vocals).

This ensemble has been thrilling audiences and wowing critics across the country. The three principals, taking turns on lead vocals, are always on stage as part of the band. In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Fagen says that the idea behind the group “…was to play music that we all liked when we were kids — music that made us want to become musicians in the first place.”

Steve Martin Jams with Edie Brickell

Comedy legend Steve Martin is now in the fifth decade of a varied and accomplished career as a comic, actor, author and playwright. He is also a Grammy-winning, boundary-pushing bluegrass banjoist and songwriter.

This special program airs Saturday, March 1 at 10 pm in WV PBS in HD.

GREAT PERFORMANCES turns the spotlight on Martin’s musical side with a concert performance of his new collaboration with Edie Brickell, who initially burst onto the national scene in the late 80s fronting the New Bohemians. Although these new musical partners have already built respected individual bodies of work, their inaugural effort is a charming departure, as well as a creative milestone.

http://video.wvpublic.org/video/2365185217/

Backed by the virtuoso playing of the Steep Canyon Rangers, the duo partner on a series of new songs that combine Martin’s inventive five-string banjo playing with Brickell’s heart-tugging vocals to create a playful and accessible collection of songs.