The lineup includes Broadway’s “Suffs,” Nicole Scherzinger’s Royal Albert Hall Concert debut, the West End’s revival of Irving Berlin’s “Top Hat,” and documentary “Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy”
Photo by Joan Marcus.
Great Performances on PBS, America’s preeminent performing arts television series, returns to raise the curtain on its popular annual “Broadway’s Best” lineup which includes two full-length musicals, a concert, and a documentary. The lineup begins with Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical Suffs with book, music and lyrics by Shaina Taub telling the story of the American suffragist movement, followed by London’s revival of Irving Berlin’s Top Hat. The series continues with Tony-winner Nicole Scherzinger’s Royal Albert Hall concert debut featuring musical theater and pop selections in An Evening with Nicole Scherzinger and concludes with an encore of Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, a documentary highlighting the role of Jewish composers and lyricists in the creation of the modern American musical. “Broadway’s Best” from Great Performances on PBS premieres Fridays, May 8-29 at 9/8c on PBS, pbs.org/gperf and the PBS App. Running through May and June, this lineup is the centerpiece of The WNET Group’s Broadway and Beyond collection that celebrates theater productions and the people who bring them to life.
Great Performances: Suffs
Premieres Friday, May 8 at 9/8c on PBS, pbs.org/gperf and the PBS app
Featuring book, music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Shaina Taub, this musical recorded from Broadway in December 2024 tells the story of the American suffragist movement and the remarkable friendships, heartbreak, and action that brought women together – or, in some cases, tore them apart. The large ensemble cast includes Taub as Alice Paul, Tony winners Nikki M. James as Ida B. Wells and Emily Skinner as Alva Belmont/Phoebe Burn, Tony nominee Jenn Colella as Carrie Chapman Catt, Hannah Cruz as Inez Millholland, Grace McLean as President Woodrow Wilson and many others.
Great Performances: Irving Berlin’s Top Hat
Premieres Friday, May 15 at 9/8c on PBS, pbs.org/gperf and the PBS app
Inspired by the iconic 1935 movie musical starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, this acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre revival recorded from the West End in January 2026 is directed and choreographed by three-time Tony winner Kathleen Marshall. When Broadway star Jerry Travers (Phillip Attmore) arrives in London to open a new show, he crosses paths with a model, Dale Tremont (Amara Okereke), whose beauty sleep is interrupted by Jerry tap dancing in the hotel suite above hers. Instantly smitten, Jerry vows to abandon his bachelor life to win her, but the path of true love is never easy. With a timeless score by Irving Berlin, the musical features classics such as “Cheek to Cheek,” “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” and “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”
Great Performances: An Evening with Nicole Scherzinger
Premieres Friday, May 22 at 9/8c on PBS, pbs.org/gperf and the PBS app
Recorded in October 2025, Nicole Scherzinger performs at London’s Royal Albert Hall for the first time in her first major UK solo show in 13 years. Accompanied by a full orchestra, Scherzinger sings a mix of beloved Broadway standards and pop hits from her career as lead singer of The Pussycat Dolls. The stage, screen, and studio star recently triumphed in London’s West End and on Broadway in her Tony and Oliver-winning performance as Norma Desmond in Jamie Lloyd’s reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard,” with concert highlights including Scherzinger’s renditions of “With One Look” and “As if We Never Said Goodbye.”
Great Performances – Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy
Airs Friday, May 29 at 9/8c on PBS, pbs.org/gperf and the PBS app
Narrated by Broadway legend Joel Grey, this documentary explores the role of Jewish composers and lyricists in the creation of the modern American musical and showcases the work of some of the nation’s preeminent creators of musical theater including Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George and Ira Gershwin, Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Kurt Weill, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Bock, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Jule Styne and many others. Directed by Michael Kantor, creator of the Emmy-winning series, Broadway: The American Musical, the film features interviews and conversations with Broadway writers and composers including Sheldon Harnick, John Kander, Andrew Lippa, Stephen Schwartz, Charles Strouse, Harold Prince, Marc Shaiman, Stephen Sondheim, Mel Brooks, Stephen Schwartz and many others.
For more than 50 years 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, a Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre 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. Great Performances is available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on PBS.org and the PBS App.
Produced for the stage by Jill Furman and Rachel Sussman and directed by Leigh Silverman. Book, music and lyrics by Shaina Taub. Suffs is a production of The WNET Group, produced by Mitch Owgang and directed for television by David Horn.
Adapted for the stage by Matthew White & Howard Jacques and directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, Irving Berlin’s Top Hat is a production of Liberator Film Services in association with Concord Originals and RKO Pictures, produced by Kenny Wax, Jonathan Church and Austin Shaw and directed for the screen by Matt Titterton; Sophia Dilley, Mary Beth O’Connor, Bob Valentine and Wesley Adams are executive producers.
A production of Crashburn, An Evening with Nicole Scherzinger is directed for the screen by Ryan Mackfall.
An Albert M. Tapper production, Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy is produced, written and directed by Michael Kantor; Barbara Brilliant, Michelle Brilliant and Albert M. Tapper are executive producers.
Great Performances is produced by The WNET Group. For Great Performances, Bill O’Donnell is series producer and David Horn is executive producer.
Major corporate support for Great Performances is provided by Raymond James Financial, Inc. Series funding for “Broadway’s Best” on Great Performances is provided by The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, the Thea Petschek Iervolino Foundation, the S. Irving and Anne Nevard Sherr Foundation, Jody and John Arnhold, the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, the Abra Prentice Foundation, Inc., The Starr Foundation, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Leni and Peter May, Seton J. Melvin, the Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Trust, The Charles & Lucille King Family Foundation and Ellen and James S. Marcus. Additional funding is provided by The V&L Marx Foundation and Madeline and Stephen Anbinder. Major funding for Suffs is provided by MaryKaye Cashman, the Vinik Family Foundation, the Laurie M. Tisch Foundation, Inc., the Onward Together Foundation, Lismore Road, Inc., The Phileona Foundation, the RAMP Foundation, The Zofnass Family Fund, The Rubin Familly Foundation, and The Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust. Original funding for Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy was provided by The Patty and Jay Baker Foundation, Judith B. Resnick, The Blavatnik Family Foundation, The Barbara and Buddy Freitag Family Fund, The Laurents/Hatcher Foundation, The National Museum of American Jewish History, the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Philanthropic Fund, The Shubert Organization, the Leslie and Roslyn Goldstein Foundation, and The Raymond Tye and Famly
Charitable Trust, with original Great Performances funding provided by the Irene Diamond Fund, The National Endowment for the Arts, Vivian Milstein and The Agnes Varis Trust.