With the celebration of America's birthday just around the corner, BWW brings you a guide to this year's Fourth of July television specials, featuring Broadway's Sutton Foster, Christopher Jackson, Sara Bareilles, the cast of ON YOUR FEET! and much more! As always, we will be bringing you video of the appearances as soon as they become available.
NBC's MACY'S 4TH OF JULY FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR - Monday, July 4 (8-10 p.m. ET/PT): NBC celebrates America's birthday with its annual "Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular" with an hourlong encore presentation at 10 p.m. "TODAY" show co-hosts Willie Geist and Tamron Hall return to emcee the broadcast.
During the special, WAITRESS composer and Tony Award nominee Sara Bareilles will perform a solo version of Broadway for Orlando's "What the World Needs Now." The all-star performance line up also includes Kenny Chesney, 5 Seconds of Summer, Meghan Trainor, the Radio City Rockettes, DNCE and Pitbull. In addition, the 25 minute synchronized fireworks display will be choreographed to a soaring and patriotic score performed by the
United States Air Force Band and DREAMGIRLS star Jennifer Holliday.
The 40th annual Macy's 4th of July Fireworks will ignite the skyline over New York City's East River, featuring fireworks from four barges positioned between 23rd and 37th streets in midtown and one double-barge positioned below the Brooklyn Bridge. To commemorate the nation's 240th birthday, the presentation will include more than 56,000 pyrotechnic shells and effects during a 25-minute choreographed display.
PBS's A CAPITOL FOURTH - Monday, July 4 at 8/7c : America's favorite Independence Day celebration, A CAPITOL FOURTH puts viewers front and center for the greatest display of fireworks anywhere in the nation. A CAPITOL FOURTH is broadcast live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, before a concert audience of hundreds of thousands, millions more at home, and our troops watching around the world on the American Forces Network. This year's concert includes performances by HAMILTON's Christopher Jackson, Tony winner Sutton Foster, THE VOICE champion and Broadway alum Alisan Porter, the cast of Broadway's ON YOUR FEET, and GLEE and THE WIZ LIVE star Amber Riley.
CBS's BOSTON POPS FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR - Monday, July 4 (9:00-11:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT): Nancy O'Dell, co-host of the Emmy Award-winning "Entertainment Tonight," is set to host the BOSTON POPS FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR, a two-hour entertainment special to be broadcast live from the Charles River Esplanade in Boston on the CBS Television Network. Previously announced artists for the special include Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas and Little Big Town, who will perform some of their biggest hits, accompanied by the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra under the direction of conductor Keith Lockhart.
Wawa Welcome America July 4th Concert, Philadelphia, PA Monday, July 4th 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. - The Wawa Welcome America July 4th Concert takes over the Benjamin Franklin Parkway with one of the largest free outdoor concerts in the country. Headlining will be Leon Bridges, the American R&B and soul singer/songwriter best known for his song "Coming Home."
Other performers include two homegrown celebrities Leslie Odom, Jr., Tony Award-winning HAMILTON star, and Yazz (Bryshere Gray) from TV's smash hit EMPIRE. The O'Jays, Harold Melvin's Blue Notes and other hit makers will lead a tribute to the musical team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, creators of The Sound of Philadelphia.
And the Philly POPS will round out the evening with a flag-waving, red-white-and-blue performance of patriotic tunes.
There will be live streaming of the concert available this year via NBC10 and Telemundo62 via their mobile apps and also streaming on their websites - more details here: Concert streaming
You'll also be able to catch the highlights of the day's events on local channel WPVI-TV, whose local news broadcasts are streamed live online: WPVI-TV online stream
Photo by: Craig Blankenhorn/NBC
Photo credit: Joan Marcus
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