About

Filmed over two years, this new documentary takes an exclusive inside look at Tony-winning director Marianne Elliott’s creative process of bringing a reimagined gender-swapped production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical “Company” to Broadway during the COVID-19 pandemic. Featuring rehearsal and performance footage, plus new interviews with Elliott, Sondheim, Katrina Lenk, Patti LuPone and members of the original 1970 cast, the broadcast tells the story of the show’s Broadway debut in a city on the verge of bankruptcy to its reimagination 50 years later as both Broadway and New York City emerge from one of the greatest crises in contemporary history.

Great Performances: Keeping Company with Sondheim is part of the series’ fifth annual “Broadway’s Best” lineup, premiering Fridays, May 13-27 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/broadwayonpbs and the PBS Video app as part of #PBSForTheArts. The spring lineup also includes the West End revival of Cole Porter’s classic musical Anything Goes, featuring Tony Award winners Sutton Foster and Robert Lindsay; and Merry Wives, recorded live from The Delacorte Theater marking the return of The Public Theater’s beloved Free Shakespeare in the Park following the COVID-19 shutdown.

Throughout its nearly 50-year history on PBS, Great Performances has provided an unparalleled showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America’s most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming. Showcasing a diverse range of artists from around the world, the series has earned 67 Emmy Awards and six Peabody Awards. The Great Performances website hosts exclusive videos, interviews, photos, full episodes and more. The series is produced by The WNET Group.

#PBSForTheArts is a multiplatform campaign that celebrates the arts in America. For more than 50 years, PBS has been the media destination for the arts, presenting dance, theater, opera, visual arts and concerts to Americans in every corner of the country. Previous Great Performances programs include Romeo & Juliet from the National Theatre, The Arts Interrupted and Reopening: The Broadway Revival, as well as The Conductor, premiering Friday, March 25 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings). The collection of #PBSForTheArts programs is available at pbs.org/arts and the PBS Video app, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. Curated conversation and digital shorts are also available on PBS social media platforms using #PBSForTheArts.

For Great Performances: Keeping Company with Sondheim: A co-production of Sabel Productions, Lone Star Productions and The WNET Group, Great Performances: Keeping Company with Sondheim is directed by Andrew Douglas and produced by David Sabel. Associate producer is Brook Crowley, with Martin Rosenbaum and Adam Low as executive producers.

For Great Performances, Bill O’Donnell is series producer and David Horn is executive producer.

Series funding for Great Performances was provided by The Joseph & Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Jody and John Arnhold, the Abra Prentice Foundation LLC, The Starr Foundation, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, the Thea Petschek Iervolino Foundation, the Seton Melvin Charitable Trust, the Estate of Worthington Mayo-Smith, the Jack Lawrence Charitable Trust and Ellen and James S. Marcus.

Websites: http://pbs.org/gperf, http://facebook.com/GreatPerformances, @GPerfPBS, http://youtube.com/greatperformancespbs, giphy.com/great-performances #BroadwayOnPBS #PBSForTheArts