PBS Story Archives - Page 3 of 5 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

RSVP for a Preview of 'Last Days in Vietnam'

Join a live online screening event featuring the Academy Award-nominated documentary Last Days in Vietnam. A special guest appearance by filmmaker Rory Kennedy kicks off a 50-minute preview of the PBS film.

Chat with a live panel of veterans and Vietnamese Americans from the film that escaped hours before the fall of Saigon 40 years ago this April.

Panelists include senior director Ron Pierce, South Vietnamese native and American immigrant Binh Pho and U.S.S. Kirk Commander Hugh Doyle (retired).

Follow this link to RSVP for the screening and a live chat with the panel.

Last Days in Vietnam, directed and produced by Rory Kennedy, recounts the chaotic final days of the Vietnam War and follows the unlikely heroes as they attempt to save as many South Vietnamese as possible.The program premieres on Tuesday, April 28 at 9 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

James Naughton, Patina Miller Bring Broadway to the Small Screen

This Live From Lincoln Center back-to-back presentation begins at 9 p.m. on Friday, April 4 on West Virginia PBS.

Tune in to West Virginia PBS for James Naughton: The Songs of Randy Newman, and Patina Miller as Live From Lincoln Center continues its American Songbook series.

James Naughton, the director and two-time Tony Award-winning actor and singer, who has appeared in numerous film and television programs including CBS’s Hostages and on stage in City of Angels and Kander & Ebb’s Chicago, takes the stage to honor the great American songwriter Randy Newman. Though Naughton has sung Newman’s charming songs before in cabaret shows, he has never offered a full evening devoted to this music until now. Naughton’s “bass baritone voice is a phenomenon, both in its caressing resonance and in the ease with which he slides from traditional crooning to jazz-inflected swing” (The New York Times). Newman’s work as a Hollywood soundtrack composer of the past thirty years was preceded by years as a prolific, highly successful songwriter of such hits as “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today,” “Sail Away,” and “I Love L.A.”

At 10 p.m., a second Live From Lincoln Center premiere features singer Patina Miller.

Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Pippin and soon to be featured in the upcoming Hunger Games: Mockingjay films, Patina Miller is both a fresh new face and a performer at the very top of her game. Her first Broadway show, Sister Act, earned her nominations for both Tony and Olivier awards, and Variety called her “a nonstop dynamo discovery.” Her voice is a powerhouse of sound, equal parts dazzle and warmth, and her first televised concert will feature a wide range of music from classic R&B to Broadway’s best.

Celebrate Music and Dance With An Irish Twist on West Virginia PBS

Fans of Irish music and dance won’t want to miss the special programs Wednesday, March 12 on West Virginia PBS!

Beginning at 8 p.m., the all-new Heartbeat of Home is a high-octane dance extravaganza that lovingly encompasses an array of multicultural influences, blending the thunder and drama of Irish dance with the sultriness and attitude of Latin American salsa and the glorious rhythms of Africa.

This musical tour de force was created by the producers and director of Riverdance, with original music by Golden Globe-nominated composer Brian Byrne and lyrics by award-winning writer Joseph O’Connor. With a world-class cast of 29 dancers and 10 musicians, the high-energy production creates a dream world of joyous, heart-stopping music and dance.

http://video.wvpublic.org/video/2365190995/

At 10 p.m., Celtic Thunder: Heritage takes the popular Celtic vocal group back to their roots with traditional standards such as “Whiskey in the Jar,” “Black is the Color,” “Skye Boat Song” and “Red, Red Rose” as well as a few beautiful love songs such as, “The Dutchman”, “Noreen” and “Just a Song at Twilight.” Celtic Thunder Fan Favorites “Ireland’s Call” and the new “A Voice in the Choir” are present also. The performances range from solo numbers, to enchanting duets and powerful ensembles. The show is a celebration of Celtic Music and the Celts Heritage, a joy for all the family, performed as ever with Celtic Thunder magic.

http://video.wvpublic.org/video/1826769285/

March 11 is A Cappella Night on West Virginia PBS

An all-new a cappella group comes to West Virginia PBS at 8 p.m. on March 11 with the premiere of Gentleman's Rule in Concert, followed by the cast of…

An all-new a cappella group comes to West Virginia PBS at 8 p.m. on March 11 with the premiere of Gentleman’s Rule in Concert, followed by the cast of “Jersey Boys” in Under the Streetlamp: Let the Good Times Roll beginning at 9:30 p.m.

Gentleman’s Rule blends their youthful style and outstanding vocals with timeless classics and contemporary hits. Their diverse music selections include songs by the legendary Manhattans, Bill Withers, the Rolling Stones, Rascal Flatts and the Spencer Davis Band — just to name a few. The eight versatile and individually talented vocalists in Gentleman’s Rule are Will Lockhart, Brent Mann, Luke Mechlin, Holland Nightenhelser, Jasper Smith, Jesse Townes, Andrew Morstein and TJ Breen.

http://video.wvpublic.org/video/2365190975/

Fall in love again with classic hits from the 50s, 60s and 70s in this electrifying concert.

With their unique style and modern “Rat Pack” persona, Under the Streetlamp brings the American Radio Songbook to a whole new level in this electrifying concert. The show includes classic hits of the 50s, 60s and 70s with the perfect balance of tender ballads and up-tempo classics, all performed with the same signature harmonies and slick dance moves that have made this group irresistible.

http://video.wvpublic.org/video/2365191016/

Ireland's Wild River on Display

The Shannon is Ireland’s greatest geographical landmark and longest river. It is both a barrier and highway – a silver ribbon holding back the rugged…

The Shannon is Ireland’s greatest geographical landmark and longest river. It is both a barrier and highway – a silver ribbon holding back the rugged landscapes of the west from the gentler plains to the east.

It’s on display on West Virginia PBS during Nature:Ireland’s Wild River on Thursday, March 5 at 8 p.m.

On its journey south, the Shannon passes through a huge palette of rural landscapes, where on little-known backwaters, Ireland’s wild animals and plants still thrive as almost nowhere else.

http://video.wvpublic.org/video/2365149038/

For a year, wildlife cameraman Colin Stafford-Johnson lives on the river — camping on its banks, exploring its countless tributaries in a traditional canoe, following the river from dawn to dusk through the four seasons, on a quest to film the natural history of the Shannon as it has never been seen or heard or experienced before

Explore the Life of the Mysterious J.D. Salinger

Filmmaker Shane Salerno’s 10-year investigation culminates in the first work to get beyond The Catcher in the Rye author’s impenetrable wall of privacy and seclusion. American Masters: Salinger airs Tuesday, January 21 at 9 p.m. on West Virginia PBS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LQ3DEXcIfY

American Masters presents the exclusive, never-before-seen director’s cut of Salinger, featuring 15 minutes of new material. Salinger is an intricately structured mystery that reveals the author’s private world: how World War II influenced his life and work, his painstaking writing methods, his many relationships with young women, and the literary secrets he left behind after his death in 2010.

The documentary features interviews with some 150 subjects including Salinger’s friends, colleagues and members of his inner circle who speak on the record for the first time, as well as previously unseen film footage, photographs and other materials. Participants including E.L. Doctorow, Tom Wolfe, Gore Vidal, Pulitzer Prize-winners A. Scott Berg and Elizabeth Frank, actors Martin Sheen, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, John Cusack, Danny DeVito, playwright John Guare and Oscar-winning screenwriter Robert Towne all share Salinger’s influence on their lives, their work and the broader culture.