WVPT Auction Preview Show
Premieres Thursday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m.
It’s auction time again! Tune in to the WVPT AUCTION PREVIEW SHOW to see some of the great items we have up for auction.. As always, when you see an item you like on the WVPT AUCTION PREVIEW SHOW, you can go to our web site at auction.wvpt.net and place your bid.

Paul Taylor Dance Company in Paris
Friday, May 3 at 9:00 p.m.
At an age when most artists’ best work is behind them, modern dance pioneer Paul Taylor continues to win acclaim for the vibrancy, relevance and power of his recent dances, as well as his classics. Recorded during the Taylor Company’s 2012 performances at the Theatre National de Chaillot in Paris, GREAT PERFORMANCES presents two of Taylor’s enduring masterworks: Brandenburgs, first performed in 1988 to music from Bach’s Brandenburg concertos #3 and #6; and his 2008 ballet Beloved Renegade, set to Francis Poulenc’s “Gloria” and inspired by the life and work of poet Walt Whitman.

Ted Talks Education
Tuesday, May 7 at 10:00 p.m.
Hear inspiring and forward-looking leaders and thinkers on the topic of learning, including Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth, Bill Gates, Rita F. Pierson, Sir Ken Robinson and Geoffrey Canada, among others. Hosted by John Legend, this special focused solely on education marks the first TED project produced specifically for television.

Jake Shimabukuro: Life On Four Strings
Friday, May 10 at 9:00 p.m.
Follow ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro over the course of a musical season. Enjoy dynamic performances before sold-out crowds, intimate moments of life on the road and visits to Shimabukuro’s native Hawai’i, where he has risen from local hero to international star.

PACIFIC HEARTBEAT
Waimea ‘ukulele & Slack Key
Friday, May 10 at 10:00 p.m.
An insider’s peek into the unparalleled talent and camaraderie of the Waimea ‘Ukulele and Slack Key Guitar Institute, held annually in the quaint cowboy town of Waimea on Hawai‘i Island. During the five-day event, some of the world’s finest ‘ukulele and slack key guitar artists gather to share their passion for music with aspiring musicians, fans, and one another through one-of-a-kind workshops and rousing concert performances. Featured musicians include Muriel Anderson, Danny Carvalho, Benny Chong, Kalai Ho‘opi‘i, Richard Ho‘opi‘i, Bobby Ingano, Ledward Kaapana, Mike Kaawa, David Kamakahi, Dennis Kamakahi, Ozzie Kotani, Sonny Lim, Aaron Mahi, Chino Montero, Cyril Pahinui, and Jeff Peterson. Music lovers of all ages and genres will delight in this one-hour documentary/performance.

INDEPENDENT LENS
The Invisible War
Monday, May 13 at 10:00 p.m.
The most shameful and best-kept secret in the U.S. military is the epidemic of rape and sexual assault within the ranks. An American female soldier in a combat zone is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. A culture of privilege and impunity has resulted in few prosecutions and the systematic isolation of women who dare to report the crimes.

Wilson Day 1912
Thursday, May 16 at 8:00 p.m.
On Nov. 5th, 1912, N.J. Governor Woodrow Wilson has just won the highly contested Presidential election and is traveling, by train to Staunton, VA. At the request of a supportive group, called the Wilson Club, he has accepted the invite especially from his fellow Virginians in spending the night, at his birthplace on Coulter St. on his 56th birthday and to show appreciation to his friends on winning the election. As we follow Wilson into the Virginia countryside, by looking back in time through his letters, newspaper accounts and historical facts which leads him up to this monumental victory and the biggest celebration Staunton has ever seen.

GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET
Rigoletto
Friday, May 17 at 9:00 p.m.
Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening) makes his Met debut with a new production of Verdi’s Rigoletto. The new staging moves the opera’s tragic events from a decadent 16th-century Italian court to the glitzy, depraved setting of the Las Vegas strip circa 1960. Polish tenor Piotr Beczala sings the Duke, an amoral lounge singer whose entourage includes the world-weary comedian Rigoletto, sung by Serbian baritone Željko Lučić. German soprano Diana Damrau sings the role of the innocent Gilda, Rigoletto’s daughter and the victim of the predatory Duke. Michele Mariotti conducts his first company performances of the Verdi masterwork, which features one of the most famous arias in all of opera, “La donna è mobile.”

Into Harm’s Way
Sunday, May 19 at 10:30 p.m.
The West Point Class of 1967 arrived at the United States Military Academy during the heady days of the early 1960s when it appeared that America was destined for a century of unrivaled success. Four years later, when the members of that class were graduated and commissioned as officers in the United States Army, the country was embroiled in a strange and unpopular war in Southeast Asia. The Class of 1967 paid a high price in that war, yet most stayed strong, bonding as brothers and as soldiers in a way that has endured through to the present. This first person chronicle, is an honest and often painful look at the shadow war casts long after the guns have fallen silent, and at how the Vietnam War in particular continues to occupy an unsettled place in the American psyche.

Eisenhower’s Secret War
Sunday, May 19 & 26 at 2:00 p.m.
EISENHOWER’S SECRET WAR examines Dwight D. Eisenhower’s unwavering commitment – both public and covert – to peaceful co-existence with the USSR in the tumultuous and uneasy Cold War years. Based on recent research by established scholars and writers, the two-part documentary series provides a fresh understanding of how Eisenhower’s national security policies and tactics kept a divided world at peace during the 1950s and in the ensuing decades. The first part, “The Lure of the Presidency,” chronicles the movement to draft Eisenhower – then NATO commander in Europe – as the Republican candidate for president in 1952. The second hour, “Building Weapons, Talking Peace,” recounts President Eisenhower’s battles against the Soviet Union in the escalating arms race. Hosted by Evan Thomas, journalist and author of the critically acclaimed book Ike’s Bluff: President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World, EISENHOWER’S SECRET WAR features the accounts of more than 20 witnesses, both American and Soviet, to the major events of the era.

Searchlight Serenade:
Big Bands in the WWII Japanese American Incarceration Camp
Sunday, May 19 at 3:00 p.m.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were removed from their homes and forced to live in incarceration camps during World War II. As families and individuals endeavored to create a sense of normalcy during their incarceration, many detainees engaged in artistic and athletic activities and some nurtured their love of music, especially the popular music of the day - swing. SEARCHLIGHT SERENADE focuses on the proliferation of big bands in assembly centers and internment camps throughout the West during World War II. Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans) quickly organized dance bands when they were evacuated to the fairgrounds and racetracks that were converted into temporary assembly centers and re-organized them once they were moved to the relocation centers in desolate areas of the country. In all, twenty bands were created and thrived in 13 assembly centers and internment camps from 1942 to 1945. Swing music played a vital role as escape, as therapy, and as a connection to the outside American world. Playing and appreciating such a totally American art form was an aspect of their American identity that could not be denied within the confines of the camps or the denial of their civil rights.

AMERICAN MASTERS
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
Monday, May 20 at 9:00 p.m.
“Mel Brooks: Make a Noise” profiles the larger-than-life, yet very private comedy giant. He has never authorized a biography and has requested that his friends not talk about him, making his participation in this AMERICAN MASTERS film a genuine first. Features new interviews with Brooks, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Cloris Leachman, Carl Reiner and Joan Rivers.

Pacific Heartbeat: Under a Jarvis Moon
Monday, May 20 at 10:30 p.m.
The story of 130 young men from Hawaii who, from the late 1930s through the early years of World War II, were part of a clandestine mission by the U.S. federal government to occupy desert islands in the middle of the Pacific. The first wave of these colonists were Hawaiian high school students, chosen because government officials assumed Pacific Islanders could best survive the harsh conditions present on the tiny, isolated islands. For the young men, who were unaware of the true purpose of their role as colonists, what ensued is a tale of intrigue, courage, and ultimately, tragedy. Amazingly, these men (four of whom are still alive) are only now being recognized for their sacrifice, and efforts are underway for the United States to officially acknowledge them for serving their country.

The Ghost Army
Tuesday, May 21 at 8:00 p.m.
War, deception and art come together in this astonishing true story of American G.I.s who tricked the enemy with rubber tanks, sound effects and carefully crafted illusions during WWII. This remarkable tale of a top-secret mission that was at once absurd, deadly and amazingly effective is told through the stories of the veterans, many of whom – like Bill Blass and Ellsworth Kelly – would go on to have illustrious careers in art, design and fashion.

Shakespeare’s American Home
Thursday, May 23 at 8:00 p.m.
The story of The American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia, and how it has become America’s Mecca for all things Shakespeare.

LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER
Audra McDonald: Go Back Home
Friday, May 24 at 9:00 p.m.
Join five-time Tony Award-winner and series host Audra McDonald as she takes a turn as the featured performer, singing songs from her new album and other favorites in a special spring concert at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall.

National Memorial Day Concert (2013)
Sunday, May 26 at 8:00 p.m.
On the eve of Memorial Day, join co-hosts Joe Mantegna (“Criminal Minds”) and Gary Sinise (“CSI: New York”) for a night of remembrance featuring an all-star line-up performing with the National Symphony Orchestra. The 24th annual broadcast of the NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT airs live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol before a concert audience of hundreds of thousands, millions more at home, and to our troops around the world on the American Forces Network.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Salutes Our Armed Forces
Sunday, May 26 at 11:00 p.m.
A special tribute to the men and women who have served the United States in times of war. Taped at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR SALUTES OUR ARMED FORCES intercuts selected performances by the world-renowned, 360-voice choir with inspirational video vignettes featuring veterans of World War II, Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, accomplished Broadway performers Brian Stokes Mitchell and Linda Eder join in on several arrangements, including a stirring rendition of “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Other songs include: “America: The Dream Lives On,” “Shenandoah,” “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” “When the Saints Go Marching In” and “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”

The Appalachians
Thursday, May 30 at 8:00 p.m.
The vast Appalachia region stretches across 13 states and is home to more than 23 million people, yet it may be the least understood culture in America. Appalachia has existed for generations as a region apart, isolated physically and culturally by its rugged mountains. The ethnically diverse Appalachian people – including many of the country’s first immigrants – played a profound, and often overlooked, part in the nation’s history and cultural and economic development. THE APPALACHIANS is a comprehensive historical and cultural overview of this distinctive region. This three-part series documents the unique legacy, courage, character, arts and culture of the central and southern Appalachian people. The film includes the work of outstanding Appalachian historians and scholars, writers and musicians, including Ricky Skaggs, Loretta Lynn and traditional folk artists from the region.

Rick Steves’ Europe Travel Skills
Friday, May 31 at 8:30 p.m.
Rick dispenses practical advice on enjoying a fun, affordable and culturally broadening trip to Europe. Shot on his favorite 3,000-mile “Best of Europe” loop – Amsterdam, Germany’s Rhineland, Venice, Siena, the Italian Riviera, the Swiss Alps, Paris and London – Rick shares the essential skills of smart travel. He covers planning an itinerary, hurdling the language barrier, driving rental cars and catching trains, avoiding scams, eating well, sleeping smart, staying safe and revealing everything viewers need to know to turn their travel dreams into reality.

Dr. Fuhrman’s Immunity Solution!
Friday, May 31 at 10:30 p.m.
Nutritional science has made phenomenal discoveries in recent years. In this program, best-selling author and researcher Dr. Joel Fuhrman shows how we can supercharge our immune system to protect our bodies against disease – everything from the common cold to cancer.