About MPT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Colleen Wright
September 26, 2001
Marketing Communications Account Executive
Telephone: (410) 581-4293
E-mail: colleenwright@mpt.org

MPT. This is bigger than television.

From Bernstein to barbers to DooWop, MPT has it all

Owings Mills, MD: In October, Maryland Public Television (MPT) brings you the best in drama, biographies, and music. Tune in for the seasonal debut of two long-running series in new time slots: Great Performances and American Masters; the television premiere of Stephen Sondheim's celebrated, dark and funny production, Sweeney Todd: The Barber of Fleet Street; and, moving from classic drama to musical classics, join host Frankie Valli and more than 200 early rock-and-roll legends as they reunite for a once-in-a-lifetime concert.

Great Performances: "Joshua Bell: West Side Story Suite from Central Park." Violinist Joshua Bell pays tribute to Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story in New York City's Central Park. Under the baton of conductor William Eddins, the New York Philharmonic accompanies Bell in a new suite based on some of the musical theater's most enduring melodies. Broadway's Kristin Chenoweth duets with Bell in Bernstein's "Lonely Town" from On the Town. Great Performances' "Joshua Bell" airs Wednesday, October 10, at 9:00 p.m.

American Masters: Now in its 16th season, American Masters pioneered the television biography genre with insightful profiles of important figures in America's artistic and cultural life. It becomes a weekly series on October 7 in its new time slot on Sundays at 9:00 p.m. Octobers highlight episode is "F. Scott Fitzgerald: Winter Dreams," which explores Fitzgerald's complicated life through exclusive interviews with people who knew the author and original re-creations of his novels "F. Scott Fitzgerald: 'Winter Dreams'" airs Sunday, October 14 at 9:00 p.m.

Sweeney Todd in Concert: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: Part Broadway musical, part operetta, the Tony Award-winning story of passion and revenge in Victorian London features Broadway stars Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett and George Hearn as Todd (in the role he played on Broadway), who join the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus. Years ago, the corrupt and lecherous Judge Turpin ousted Sweeney Todd, a celebrated barber, from London. The judge seduced Todd's wife, trumped up false charges against Todd and then took custody of his infant daughter. After returning to London to make Turpin pay for his deeds, Todd is befriended by Mrs. Lovett, a pie shop owner who is "creative" in finding ingredients for her culinary delights. Together, the duo of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett go on a rampage in the name of profit and revenge. Sweeney Todd in Concert airs Wednesday, October 31, at 9:00 p.m.

Rock, Rhythm & Doo Wop: Live performances from Little Anthony & the Imperials, Little Richard, Jay Black & the Americans, Fred Paris & the Five Satins, Jerry Butler, Lloyd Price, The Duprees and many others bring to life the spirit of early rock-and-roll and doo wop. Rock, Rhythm & Doo Wop airs Wednesday, October 24, at 9:00 p.m.

For more information on this and other MPT on- and off-air programs, please visit mpt.org
Maryland Public Television is a not-for-profit, state-licensed public television station which serves the citizens and communities of Maryland and beyond through a variety of broadcast and nonbroadcast activities.

###