In the garden of a country house in 1890’s Russia, are gathered a strange yet somehow familiar set of people. An old lady (Maman) who constantly has her head buried in a literary essay or pamphlet; her son (Uncle Vanya), middle aged, restless, sensitive – also an intellectual; a doctor (Astrov) who is bored with his work, like Vanya feels in a rut, but has developed a romantic passion for forestry; a quiet girl (Sonya) withering on the vine with...

A Joan Melton, an internationally recognized actor trainer and author, interviews Master Teacher Michael Lugering in a theoretical discussion of recent discoveries in philosophy, somatic psychology, neuroscience and aesthetics that underpin the integrated voice, movement and acting method presented in this series..

First staged in 1904 by Konstantin Stanislavsky in the very theater and on the very stage of this production, director Adolf Shapiro's interpretation asks the question, where would the characters of this play live today years after their cherry orchard has been cut down? The answer, which lies in the material world created by set designer David Borovsky, is, of course, on the stage. Russian star, Renata Litvinova, in her debut theatrical performance,...

Don Florestan has been falsely imprisoned for threatening to expose the evil Don Pizarro. While he starves to death with other political prisoners his wife, Leonore tries to find him. She disguises herself as the young man, Fidelio, and wins the confidence of the gaoler, Rocco and his daughter Marzelline. Sir Peter Hall’s outstanding 1979 Glyndebourne Festival Opera production of Fidelio remains remarkably faithful to the way Beethoven intended...

The award winning PBS series VISIONES: LATINO ART & CULTURE, is a journey through the music, words, dance, painting and performance of rich Latino cultures made more complex and fascinating by their history in our country. The series explores how contemporary Latino artists continue to build on rich traditions that reflect a unique multi-ethnic experience, taking established art forms and reinventing them, constantly challenging themselves and the...

The film shows a recording of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the famous Balanchine choreography, which made the ballet such a popular staple with companies all over the world. Danced by three star-dancers in the main roles and a company that ranks among the best in the world, it guarantees first class entertainment. George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the summery counterpart to his Christmassy Nutcracker: Ist youthful charm and light...

Zubin Mehta conducts Aida, Verdi’s most spectacular and over-the-top opera, in a new production from the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Starring Marco Berti, Luciana D’Intino and Hui He. Verdi’s Aida is one of the most popular operas of all time. It premiered at the Cairo Opera House on Christmas Eve, 1871, and was an immediate commercial success. The plot of Aida is filled with political intrigue, love, betrayal, passion, and vengeance,...

At The Lillian Booth Actors Home just outside NYC, a group of long-retiredBroadway entertainers dive into a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and find that nothing is what it seems to be. With a play that is usually about young love and sex farce, this ensemble finds that for them, the themes of perception, reality and dreaming deeply resonate at this stage of life. As they deal with the shifting mental and physical challenges...

Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni's incomparable partnership as Rodolfo and Mimi, the tragic lovers in Puccini's much-loved bittersweet opera, is captured for posterity in this live recording from the San Francisco opera. Francesca Zambello's production boasts a superlative cast with Gino Quilico as Marcello, Nicolai Ghiaurov as Colline, Stephen Dickson as Schaunard and Sandra Pacetti as Musetta. The Italian conductor Tiziano Severini drew critical...

The “Dance Theatre of Harlem’s” birthplace was in a disused garage in Harlem, a black district of New York. Arthur Mitchell, the founder who still acts as its artistic director, set up the ballet school with the aim of giving black dancers the opportunity of sound training, as their skin color meant that they often encountered difficulties finding employment with existing companies which consisted mainly of white dancers. Since its humble beginnings...