Purlie Victorious Leslie Odom Jr and cast

Great Performances

Arts and Music Series / 6 Seasons

Great Performances brings the best in the performing arts from across America and around the world to a US television audience. It presents a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.

Watch Latest: S52 E2

1h 13m

X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X Preview

30s

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.

From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2024 Preview

30s

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: Die Zauberflöte Preview

30s

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.

Making Shakespeare: The First Folio Preview

30s

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: Champion Preview

30s

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.

"Seventeen Blows" from The Met Opera's "Champion"

2m 8s

Ryan Speedo Green as Young Emile Griffith, Eric Owens as Emile Griffith, Latonia Moore as Emelda Griffith, and Eric Greene as Benny “Kid” Paret perform "Seventeen Blows" from Terence Blanchard's "Champion."

Message In A Bottle Preview

30s

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.

ZooNation Dance Performance to Sting's "Message In A Bottle"

2m 48s

Stuck in a detention center, siblings Leto, Mati and Tana protest their situation, calling on other refugees to join them in this dance-theater show set to the iconic music of Sting and choreographed by Kate Prince.

New York City Ballet in Madrid Preview

30s

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.

Great Performances at the Met: Don Giovanni Preview

30s

Tony Award–winning director Ivo van Hove makes his Met debut with a new take on Mozart’s tragicomedy. 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.

Supported by