Michael Feinstein's American Songbook returns to PBS April 5

Stephen Sondheim, Liza Minnelli, Angela Lansbury, Christine Ebersole and other great stars of American music and musical theatre share the spotlight with the country’s most passionate music preservationist as MICHAEL FEINSTEIN’S AMERICAN SONGBOOK returns to PBS for a new star-studded, three-part season Friday, April 5, 2013, 9:00 p.m. ET. 

Season Three finds Feinstein exploring the enduring popularity of show tunes, the pas de deux between music and choreography on stage and the big screen, and the indelible impact that radio – in its star-making heyday – had on the American musical canon. 

While crisscrossing the country on a seemingly endless stream of concert dates, Feinstein conducts candid interviews with revered composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim (Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, Follies) and the multiple Award-winning Broadway and television legend Angela Lansbury.  He sings with Tony Award-winning actress Christine Ebersole, reminisces with Liza Minnelli about the great dance stars Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, hosts superstar violinist Joshua Bell on his public radio show, and visits with some of the country’s most well-versed and colorful collectors of musical recordings and music ephemera.

The acclaimed MICHAEL FEINSTEIN’S AMERICAN SONGBOOK airs as part of PBS ARTS, one of broadcast television’s only programming blocks dedicated to the best in performing arts, on Fridays, April 5, 2013, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET and April 12, 2013, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET on PBS.