Great Performances

Great Performances

RETURNING51 Seasons642 Episodes5.8
NetworkPBS
First AiredJan 28, 1971
Last AiredJan 1, 2026
Runtime120 min

The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.

NEXT EPISODE
S53 E9Great Performances at the Met: La BohèmeMar 20, 20264d
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Cast

Bray Poor
Bray Poor
Narrator (voice)

Seasons & Episodes49 seasons · 642 episodes

0% complete
Great Performances at the Met: Der Rosenkavalier
E1Great Performances at the Met: Der Rosenkavalier
Sep 10, 2023
Strauss’s grand Viennese comedy includes soprano Lise Davidsen as the aging Marschallin, opposite mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard as her lover Octavian and soprano Erin Morley as Sophie, the beautiful younger woman who steals his heart. Bass Günther Groissböck returns as the churlish Baron Ochs, and Markus Brück is Sophie’s wealthy father, Faninal. Maestro Simone Young takes the Met podium to oversee Robert Carsen’s staging. Deborah Voigt hosts.
Great Performances at the Met: Don Giovanni
E2Great Performances at the Met: Don Giovanni
Oct 1, 2023
Tony Award–winning director Ivo van Hove makes his Met debut with a new take on Mozart’s tragicomedy, re-setting the familiar tale of deceit and damnation in an abstract architectural landscape. Maestro Nathalie Stutzmann also makes her Met debut, conducting the cast led by baritone Peter Mattei in the title role alongside bass-baritone Adam Plachetka as Leporello. Sopranos Federica Lombardi, Ana María Martínez and Ying Fang portray Giovanni’s conquests—Donna Anna, Donna Elvira and Zerlina—and tenor Ben Bliss is Don Ottavio. Erin Morley hosts.
New York City Ballet in Madrid
E3New York City Ballet in Madrid
Oct 27, 202385m
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.
Message In A Bottle
E4Message In A Bottle
Nov 3, 202386m
Experience five-time Olivier Award nominee Kate Prince’s dance and theater show set to the songs of 17-time Grammy winner Sting. Telling the story of a migrant family, the show from London’s Sadler's Wells Theatre features a mix of dance styles.
Great Performances at the Met: Champion
E5Great Performances at the Met: Champion
Nov 5, 2023
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.
Making Shakespeare: The First Folio
E6Making Shakespeare: The First Folio
Nov 17, 2023114m
Celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, which saved 18 plays from being lost. Tracing the First Folio’s story, the film also spotlights how New York City’s Public Theater presents Shakespeare’s work for today’s audiences.
Great Performances at the Met: Die Zauberflöte
E7Great Performances at the Met: Die Zauberflöte
Dec 10, 2023
Experience director Simon McBurney’s Met debut with a new production of this Mozart favorite. Nathalie Stutzmann conducts with Lawrence Brownlee as Tamino, Erin Morley as Pamina, Thomas Oliemans as Papageno and Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night.
From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2024
E8From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2024
Jan 1, 2024
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.
Great Performances at the Met: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
E9Great Performances at the Met: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
Feb 4, 2024
Experience Anthony Davis’s groundbreaking opera directed by Tony nominee Robert O’Hara. The new staging portrays Malcolm as an Everyman whose story transcends time and space. Supported by a cast of young Met stars, Will Liverman sings Malcolm X.
The LA Phil Celebrates Frank Gehry
E10The LA Phil Celebrates Frank Gehry
Feb 16, 202485m
Celebrate 20 years at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the LA Phil in a tribute to its architect. Led by Gustavo Dudamel, the concert includes a piece composed and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, performances by Herbie Hancock and H.E.R., and more.
George Jones: Still Playin’ Possum
E11George Jones: Still Playin’ Possum
Feb 23, 202485m
Honoring one of the most influential, storied and beloved country music icons in history, Great Performances – George Jones: Still Playin’ Possum is an all-star celebration. Jones’ hits including “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair,” “The Race Is On,” “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and many more are performed by Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, Brad Paisley, Jelly Roll, Dierks Bentley, Sam Moore, Wynonna, Jamey Johnson, Uncle Kracker, Trace Adkins, Lorrie Morgan, Joe Nichols and other country stars accompanied by a band of Nashville’s top players. Recorded April 25, 2023, at from the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the tribute marked the 10th anniversary of Jones’ passing.
E12
E12Great Performances at the Met: Dead Man Walking
Mar 15, 2024
E13
E13Great Performances at the Met: Florencia en el Amazonas
Apr 7, 2024
E14
E14Now Hear This
Apr 12, 2024
E15
E15Now Hear This
Apr 19, 2024
E16
E16Now Hear This
Apr 26, 2024
E17
E17Now Hear This
May 3, 2024
E18
E18Great Performances at the Met: Nabucco
May 5, 2024
E19
E19Hamlet
May 10, 2024154m
E20
E20Audra McDonald at the London Palladium
May 17, 202483m
E21
E21Purlie Victorious
May 24, 2024106m
A three-act comedic stage play tells the fictional story of Reverend Purlie Victorious Judson, a dynamic traveling preacher returning to his hometown in rural Georgia, to save his small hometown church. The Performance was filmed at the Music Box Theatre on January 23rd, 2024 with the original 2023 Broadway cast.
E22
E22Rodgers & Hammerstein's 80th Anniversary
May 31, 2024116m

About Great Performances

Great Performances is a comedy, documentary, drama series on PBS. The show first aired on Jan 28, 1971 and currently has 51 seasons and 642 episodes. Great Performances has been renewed and is returning for more episodes. The next episode airs on Mar 20, 2026. It has a rating of 5.8/10 based on 22 votes. The cast includes Bray Poor.

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