PBS’ winter-spring 2019 primetime schedule features many programs of interest to theatre fans, including the Live From Lincoln Center broadcast of Dominique Morisseau’s Pipeline, debuting February 8 at 9 PM ET.
The Lincoln Center Theater production, which opened in July 2017, follows Nya, an inner-city public high school teacher who is desperate to give her son opportunities her students will never have. When a controversial incident at his private school threatens to get him expelled, Nya must confront his rage and her own choices as a parent.
Live From Lincoln Center—Stars in Concert, which launched last season with televised solo evenings with Leslie Odom Jr., Andrew Rannells, Sutton Foster, and Stephanie J. Block, will continue in 2019 with previously announced Tony winners Cynthia Erivo and Annaleigh Ashford, as well as Tony nominee Megan Hilty. Air dates have yet to be announced.
Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me, presented by American Masters, will air February 19. The program explores the late stage and screen star's talent and journey for identity through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress during 20th century America. Directed by Sam Pollard, the documentary features interviews with Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg, as well as clips from Davis, Jr.'s TV, film, and concert performances.
Great Performances will broadcast the Donmar Warehouse's all-female production of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar March 29. Set in a women's prison, the critically acclaimed staging was directed by Phyllida Lloyd.
The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, an all-star tribute to Emilio and Gloria Estefan (whose lives were detailed in the Broadway musical On Your Feet!) will be presented May 3 at 9 PM ET. The 2019 recipients of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song are the first married couple or musicians-songwriters of Hispanic descent to receive the honor.
SEE WHAT IS COMING TO BROADWAY IN THE NEAR FUTURE
Great Performances will also offer broadcasts of Orphée et Eurydice from Lyric Opera of Chicago January 18; the opera adaptation of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt from Minnesota Opera January 25, and Michael Mayer's upcoming Metropolitan Opera production of La Traviata April 5.
