At The Lillian Booth Actors Home just outside NYC, a group of long-retiredBroadway entertainers dive into a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and find that nothing is what it seems to be. With a play that is usually about young love and sex farce, this ensemble finds that for them, the themes of perception, reality and dreaming deeply resonate at this stage of life. As they deal with the shifting mental and physical challenges...

Episode five highlights the Taco Shop Poets of Southern California, early tent theater of the Southwest called Carpas, and performance art in San Francisco. Performance artists covered include Guillermo Gomez-PeA±a, performance troupe ASCO, and the performance art pioneers Royal Chicano Airforce. The Taco Shop Poets, a group of Chicano poets living in San Diego, blend the spoken word with lively beats. The poets strive to take their social and political...

The choreographer Alonzo King, acclaimed as “one of the few, true Ballet Masters of our times” by world-famous William Forsythe, works with his company The Alonzo King LINES Ballet in San Francisco. Before founding LINES Ballet in 1982 King has been working for companies around the world, including the Frankfurt Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, the Washington Ballet and the Hong Kong...

Trapeze, Spartacus, Sweet Smell of Success, The Boston Strangler, Some Like It Hot. Tony Curtis, the man who influenced Elvis Presley and James Dean, was one of the very first teen idols and one of the last real movie stars. From his difficult upbringing in the Bronx, where he was born Bernie Schwartz, to his unprecedented fame and infamous way with women, TONY CURTIS: DRIVEN TO STARDOM presents Mr. Curtis's life in all its rags to riches glory. Interviews...

A film industry phenomenon with an unparalleled cross-over appeal in both European and American cinema, Sophia Loren was equally at home playing gritty realism, in Two Women, as delivering frothy comedy opposite Cary Grant on a Houseboat. Loren’s remarkable talent has been recognised with two Oscars and been immortalised in classics including, The Pride And The Passion, El Cid, Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow and Nine. Her 50-year marriage to film...

A New Kind of Listening is the story of a visionary director, a one-of-a-kind theater group, and a young man who could not speak, yet found the voice he had been looking for all his life. The film takes us inside the creative work of the Community Inclusive Theater Group as director Richard Reho inspires cast members, some with disabilities and unable to speak, to be writers, actors and dancers in an original collaborative performance piece. In the...

Elizabeth Streb and the STREB Extreme Action Company form a motley troupe of flyers and crashers. Propelled by Streb's edict that anything too safe is not action, these daredevils challenge the assumptions of art, aging, injury, gender, and human possibility. Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity traces the evolution of Elizabeth Streb's movement philosophy as she pushes herself and her performers from the ground to the sky. Revealing the passions...

Marilyn Monroe - To be a Hollywood great is to fly too close to the sun, to embody the dreams of millions while placing your fate in their hearts. Discovering film celebrates the life of Marilyn Monroe from her early days to her now iconic films Some Like it Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Tragically she died at a young age but has now become a global icon Featuring actor Eli Wallach who worked with Marilyn on Marilyn’s final film the Misfits,...

Filmmaker Jack Bond, spends a beautiful Spring day in Paris getting to grips with the stunning and enigmatic actress, Charlotte Rampling. She reveals her passion for French cinema, her work with Francois Ozon in The Swimming Pool and Under the Sand, as well as her early experiences in Georgy Girl and The Damned. In one of her favourite restaurants, they discuss her approach to acting and “Italian period”, including the controversial The Night...

Argentina explores the heart of traditional Argentine folklore via a series of choreographed tableaux retracing a history rich in original culture. The unique mise en scene of the dance mixed with awe-inspiring traditional songs performed by the musicians make it unique. Poetic, riveting and moving, this live performance choreographed by Carlos Saura calls on the entire history of a country set to the tune of guitars and accordions. Argentina shows...