Harry Connick, Jr. in Concert on Broadway on PBS March 2-3

Photo be Nicole Rivelli

“Harry Connick, Jr. in Concert on Broadway,” the Grammy Award-winner’s Return to Broadway Last Summer, to Air on THIRTEEN’s Great Performances Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 9:30 p.m. ET on PBS.
Twenty years after dazzling audiences in his first solo Broadway concert early in his career, three-time Grammy Award-winner Harry Connick, Jr. returned to the Main Stem in a roster of favorites, performed in his trademark New Orleans style. Taped in July of 2010 at New York’s Neil Simon Theater, Harry Connick, Jr. in Concert on Broadway features Connick’s big band and a 12-piece string section, with the star on both a Steinway grand and upright honky-tonk piano.

Variety raved, “Connick, in concert, packs such dynamite that those ‘Jersey Boys’ across the street seem positively sedate.” The program will air Wednesday, March 2 at 9:30 p.m. ET on Great Performances, which is a production of THIRTEEN for WNET, one of America’s most prolific and respected public media partners.

Connick is no stranger to Great Performances. In 1990, the series produced and presented Connick’s first primetime solo special Harry Connick Jr. and His Orchestra: Swinging Out With Harry, followed by 2004’s Only You which garnered an Emmy. Backed by a cadre of top-flight musicians, including trombonist Lucien Barbarin, Connick performs an infectious mix of evergreen standards, original compositions, and New Orleans street music, all arranged and orchestrated by Connick.

Stephen Holden in The New York Times enthused about the “joyful noise that had the audience stomping and cheering. It was the next best thing to Mardi Gras…” Song List Act 1 We Are in Love The Way You Look Tonight Bésame Mucho The Other Hours (from “Thou Shalt Not”) Nowhere in Love How Insensitive Come by Me Medley: My Time of Day / I’ve Never Been in Love Before All the Way Act 2 Bayou Maharajah Hear Me in the Harmony Light the Way (from “Thou Shalt Not”) St. James Infirmary Blues Take Her to the Mardi Gras (from “Thou Shalt Not”) Bourbon Street Parade Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

Harry Connick Jr.’s career has been studded with awards and recognition, including several multi-platinum and gold albums, an Emmy Award, and a starring role in a Tony-winning Broadway musical. His albums, which have sold more than 25 million, giving him vast success on the jazz charts and great crossover success on the pop charts, include the soundtrack to “When Harry Met Sally…” “We Are in Love,” “Come by Me,” “Harry for the Holidays,” “Only You,” and “Your Songs.” As an actor, his movie and TV roles include acclaimed performances in “Memphis Belle” (his debut), “Little Man Tate,” “Copycat,” “Independence Day,” “My Dog Skip” (voiceover), “South Pacific,” “P.S. I Love You,” and “New in Town.”

He also had a recurring role on “Will & Grace.” In 2001, he made his debut as composer/arranger and lyricist for the Broadway musical, “Thou Shalt Not” (Tony nomination) and in 2006 starred in the acclaimed revival of “The Pajama Game” for which he received Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama League nominations. A production of Cinemusica and Fogolabs for Conn-X Productions, the telecast was produced and directed for television by Pierre & Francois Lamoureux, with Ann Marie Wilkins, James L. Nederlander, Beth Williams, Thomas B. McGrath, and John Gore as executive producers. Bill O’Donnell is series producer; David Horn is executive producer.