Film & TV NewsTune-In Alert: Art Happens Here With John Lithgow Premieres on PBS April 26
The two-time Tony winner explores arts education at four Los Angeles organizations in the new special.
By
Talaura Harms
April 26, 2024
In a new one-hour special from PBS, two-time Tony winner John Lithgow goes into the classroom with four Los Angeles arts organizations to explore the benefits of arts education on young learners. Art Happens Here With John Lithgow premieres on PBS April 26 at 10 PM ET (check local listings).
Watch the trailer above as the actor and author delves into four arts disciplines—silk-screen printing, dance, ceramics, and vocal jazz ensemble—alongside students at Self Help Graphics & Art, a pioneering Chicano community organization at the intersection of arts and social justice; the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, a nonprofit school offering dance classes to people of all ages; the Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge, home of a nationally renowned ceramics studio; and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA), a specialized public school open to aspiring young artists throughout Los Angeles County.
Lithgow is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning and Oscar nominated screen actor. His roots are in theatre, having studied at Harvard University and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He made his Broadway debut in 1973 in David Storey's The Changing Room, for which he won the Best Featured Actor in a Play Tony Award. He also took home a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for 2002's Sweet Smell of Success. He last appeared on Broadway as Bill in Hillary and Clinton in 2019. Other credits include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Columnist, All My Sons, and M. Butterfly.
Art Happens Here With John Lithgow will also be available to stream on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS App.
The new trailer showcases the scale of the production design, as well as a first listen to the power ballad "Waiting on a Wish," one of the new original songs by Pasek and Paul.