AT THE MET

LA BOHEME

SATURDAY, JUNE 27 @ 6:00PM

Franco Zeffirelli’s lavish production of La Bohème, the most-performed opera in Met history, starring Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo as the poet Rodolfo and Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais as the fragile seamstress Mimì, airs on Great Performances at the Met on Friday, June 27 at 9 p.m. Opolais made headlines and history when she agreed to make her company role debut as Mimì with just a few hours notice, having sung the demanding title role in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly for the first time at the Met the night before. With this performance, she became the first singer in Met history to debut two major roles in a 24-hour period.

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DEADLIEST EARTHQUAKES

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15 @ 10:00PM

In 2010, several epic earthquakes delivered one of the worst annual death tolls ever recorded. The deadliest strike, in Haiti, killed more than 200,000 people and reduced homes, hospitals, schools, and the presidential palace to rubble. In exclusive coverage, a NOVA camera crew follows a team of U.S. geologists as they enter Haiti in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. The team hunts for crucial evidence that will help them determine exactly what happened deep underground and what the risks are of a new killer quake. Barely a month after the Haiti quake, Chile was struck by a quake 100 times more powerful, unleashing a tsunami that put the entire Pacific coast on high alert.

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FABULOUS FROGS

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

Sir David Attenborough takes us on a journey through the weird and wonderful world of frogs, shedding new light on these charismatic, colorful and frequently bizarre little animals through first-hand stories, the latest science, and cutting-edge technology. Frogs from around the world are used to demonstrate the wide variety of frog anatomy, appearance and behavior. Their amazing adaptations and survival techniques have made them the most successful of all amphibians.

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FREEDOM SUMMER

SATURDAY, APRIL 8 @ 6:00PM

In 1964, less than 7% of Mississippi’s African Americans were registered to vote, compared to between 50 and 70% in other southern states. In many rural counties, African Americans made up the majority of the population and the segregationist white establishment was prepared to use any means necessary to keep them away from the polls and out of elected office. As Mississippian William Winter recalls, “A lot of white people thought that African Americans in the South would literally take over and white people would have to move, would have to get out of the state.”

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WHEN I WALK

MONDAY, AUGUST 10 @ 7:30PM

Jason DaSilva was 25 years old and a rising independent filmmaker when a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis changed everything — and inspired him to make another film. When I Walk is a candid and brave chronicle of one young man’s struggle to adapt to the harsh realities of M.S. while holding on to his personal and creative life. With his body growing weaker, DaSilva’s spirits, and his film, get a boost from his mother’s tough love and the support of Alice Cook, who becomes his wife and filmmaking partner. The result is a life-affirming documentary filled with unexpected moments of joy and humor. (90 Minutes)

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SECRETS OF THE UNDERGROUND LONDON

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4 @ 7:30PM

On the surface, London is a buzzing metropolis. But underneath lies secret, hidden worlds, all but forgotten by the millions of people above. These places make up the countless layers of London, and each tells a unique story of the city’s past – successes and failures; victories and tragedies.

When the Romans founded settlements along the River Thames during the 1^st century AD, they laid down the very first layer of one of the world’s greatest cities. Long buried pieces of the original Roman town still survive to this day – statues, walls, even an entire amphitheater, where fierce gladiators once fought…and died for glory.

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TANAQUIL LE CLERCQ: AFTERNOON OF A FAUN

SATURDAY, JUNE 21 @ 10:00PM

This film excerpt from American Masters — Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun opens with footage of Le Clercq performing in Concerto Barocco, a George Balanchine masterpiece, choreographed to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The two lead female roles represent the lead violins of Bach’s composition, Concerto in D minor for Two Violins.

Tanaquil, who went by the name Tanny, was a young student at the School of American Ballet when she caught the attention of Balanchine. Her body, tall and thin, was unusual at the time for a ballet dancer, but Tanny’s talent and personality led her to become Balanchine’s muse. Tanny’s body type became what people call “the ideal” Balanchine dancer, according to Barbara Horgan, Balanchine’s personal assistant at the New York City Ballet for 20 years.

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DESIGNING AMERICA

SATURDAY, JUNE 21 @ 6:00PM

Frederick Law Olmsted was among the first to regard landscape architecture as a profession and a fine art – in fact, with Calvert Vaux he virtually created that profession. Olmsted was also, far and away, the most eminent and successful person ever to practice it in this country. He was co-designer of Central Park, head of the first Yosemite commission, leader of the campaign to protect Niagara Falls, designer of the U.S. Capitol Grounds, site planner for the Great White City of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, planner of Boston’s “Emerald Necklace” of green space, and created park systems in many other cities. Olmsted’s park and parkway system in Buffalo, N.Y. is the oldest integrated system in America and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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WITH GWEN IFILL

FRIDAY, JUNE 20 @ 9:00PM

President Obama announced on Thursday that the U.S. is preparing to send up to 300 additional U.S. military advisors to Iraq to support Iraqi security forces combating the ISIS insurgency. The president said the U.S. will also provide additional equipment, surveillance and military assets but added, “American combat troops are not going to be fighting in Iraq again.” Peter Baker of The New York Times and Michael Crowley of TIME Magazine will examine all the military and diplomatic options the U.S. is considering and why the White House is putting pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to put together a more inclusive government to stave off the sectarian violence.

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THE ROOSEVELTS

TUESDAY, JUNE 17 @ 9:00PM

Join Patricia Clarkson for a exclusive behind-the-scenes PBS Preview of Ken Burns’ new seven-part series – THE ROOSEVELTS: AN INTIMATE HISTORY. Follow the camera crews into the grand estates and intimate cottages of the Roosevelts and visit the studio as Burns records the voices of the stars who read the diaries, letters and contemporary accounts of this noteworthy family.

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