"A Broadway Celebration: In Performance at the White House" Airs on PBS Oct. 20

By Adam Hetrick
October 20, 2010

"A Broadway Celebration: In Performance at the White House," featuring Tony Award winners Elaine Stritch, Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel and Nathan Lane, airs Oct. 20 on PBS.

Tony Award-winning director George C. Wolfe staged the concert, which was performed July 19 in the presence of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michele Obama. The television special airs at 9 PM ET on PBS stations nationwide.

In addition to Stritch (A Little Night Music, Company, At Liberty), McDonald (Ragtime, Master Class), Menzel (Wicked, Rent) and Lane (Guys & Dolls, The Addams Family), the PBS concert features appearances by Tonya Pinkins (Caroline, or Change, Jelly's Last Jam), Marvin Hamlisch (A Chorus Line, Sweet Smell of Success), Brian d'Arcy James (Next to Normal), Chad Kimball (Memphis), Karen Olivo (West Side Story), Constantine Rousouli and Danielle Arci. Rob Berman served as musical director.

The lineup for "A Broadway Celebration: In Performance at the White House" follows:

Opening Remarks from President Barack Obama
"Broadway Baby" (Elaine Stritch)
"Gimme Gimme" (Assata Alston)
"Blue Skies" (Brian d'Arcy James)
"America" (Karen Olivo, Yanira Marin, Shina Ann Morris, Jennifer Sanchez)
"Can't Stop Talking About Him" (Audra McDonald)
"Memphis Lives in Me" (Chad Kimball)
"Gonna Pass Me A Law" (Tonya Pinkins)
"Defying Gravity" (Idina Menzel)
"Free" (Nathan Lane, Brian d'Arcy James)
"Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe" (Audra McDonald)
"What I Did for Love" (Idina Menzel, Marvin Hamlisch)
"I'm Still Here" (Elaine Stritch)
"You Can't Stop the Beat" (Constantine Rousouli, Danielle Arci and the Joy of Motion Dance Center/Duke Ellington School of the Arts student ensemble)

The 60-minute concert is produced by WETA Washington, DC, in association with Margo Lion, Ltd. and 101 Productions.