When I was in high school, my brother was into classical music, Broadway shows, jazz, et al. I was into pop, rock, & gospel. My folks were into country, and never gave much thought to what was a PBS tradition on Sunday nights. Evening at Pops.
PBS launched the series in 1970, coupled with what was then known as Masterpiece Theatre (now simply, Masterpiece), with Arthur Fiedler directing the Boston Pops. Only two others succeeded Fiedler as the full-time conductor, Oscar winner John Williams, who was returning to television after scoring series such as Kraft Suspense Theater, Lost in Space, and The Time Tunnel in the 60's, and Keith Lockhart. The series ended in 2004 when it became too expensive to keep on the air. Unfortunately, as well, PBS keeps the show in the vaults when it could be available for streaming.
Pops brought in plenty of guests from different musical genres during its run, Broadway included. John McGlinn fills in for Williams in this 1993 entry, with guest host Kitty Carlisle Hart (ex-To Tell The Truth), for whom a theatre at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center is named.
2 comments:
I was a little kid during much of time Evening at Pops was on PBS, so I didn't watch it much, although I was aware of it. This series reminds me of when A&E stood for the Arts & Entertainment network and was all about the performing arts and productions from around the world, which I watched quite a bit when the channel was in it's heyday. Good times.
Well before A & E became just another cable channel. Yeah, those were great times. There will be more Evening at Pops clips as the need arises.
Post a Comment