Great Performances

Noël Coward’s Present Laughter 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.

Experience Verdi’s heart-wrenching opera with Plácido Domingo as Miller, and Sonya Yoncheva in the title role opposite tenor Piotr Beczała as Rodolfo. Conducted by Bertrand de Billy. Anthony Roth Costanzo hosts.

The songs of legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell’s are among the most sublime musical landscapes of human emotion ever created. Mitchell’s unique musical and lyrical gifts are an unprecedented marriage of intimacy and universality, creating a sound that is incomparable, yet relatable to all.

Rejoice with the Tony Award-winning high-heeled hit musical with songs by pop icon Cyndi Lauper and a book by Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein about an unexpected duo that embraces their differences to create an extraordinary line of shoes.

Celebrate the centennial of this landmark orchestra with “La Valse” by Ravel, Stravinsky’s “Firebird” and more led by three renowned LA Phil conductors: Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and current music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel.

Celebrate the work of Franz Schubert with host Scott Yoo as he plays with young musicians establishing themselves in North Americas musical capitals by attempting to master the composer’s music.

In collaboration with the Recording Academy®, Great Performances presents GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends®, the fifth annual all-star concert offering a primetime spotlight for the Recording Academy’s 2020 Special Merit Awards recipients. The 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Chicago, Roberta Flack, Isaac Hayes, Iggy Pop, John Prine, Public Enemy, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Explore Shakespeare’s love life through the perspective of the “Dark Lady” in this work from Nashville Ballet based on poetry by Caroline Randall Williams and featuring an original score by GRAMMY winner Rhiannon Giddens. TV-14

Performed from Highland Park’s Ravinia Festival, Great Performances presents legendary composer Leonard Bernstein’s Kaddish symphony featuring the talent of Uniting Voices (formerly Chicago Children’s Choir), Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Led by famed conductor and Bernstein protégé Marin Alsop, the work includes music and spoken narrative segments voiced by narrator Jaye Ladymore (“Chicago Med”) and sung by soprano soloist Janai Brugger (Great Performances at the Met: Medea). Recorded July 2022, the symphony examines questions of humanity and faith, exploring the complicated nature of a higher power who governs mortality.

Captured in peak performance at Madrid’s Teatro Real, New York City Ballet performs two masterpieces choreographed by NYCB co-founder and original Artistic Director George Balanchine, “Serenade” and “Square Dance" as well as a piece by current resident choreographer Justin Peck.

Six-time Grammy Award–winning composer Terence Blanchard returns to the Met with an opera based on the true story of boxer Emile Griffith, who rose from obscurity to become a world champion despite being a closeted bisexual. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green stars as the young boxer, with bass-baritone Eric Owens as Griffith’s older self, haunted by the ghosts of his past. Soprano Latonia Moore also stars as Emelda Griffith, the boxer’s estranged mother, and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe plays the gay bar owner, Kathy Hagen. The production reunites the creative team from last season’s Great Performances at the Met: Fire Shut Up in My Bones, including conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, director James Robinson, and choreographer Camille A. Brown. Lawrence Brownlee hosts.

Celebrate the New Year with waltzes by Strauss and more performed from Vienna’s Musikverein by the famed orchestra led by guest conductor Christian Thielemann. PBS favorite Hugh Bonneville returns to host.