Passover and Easter
Passover and Easter: Holiday programming on TV12
Passover and Easter will be observed in hundreds of thousands of homes across the Delaware Valley in April, with Jewish families preparing the annual Seder meal and Christians attending Easter Sunday services. In recognition of spring's two major religious holidays, WHYY TV12 is pleased to present an extensive lineup of related children's programming, special concerts and locally-produced documentaries.
Tune in Sunday, April 4 beginning at 4 p.m. for an early evening of Passover programming, including WHYY's original production It's a Mitzvah! Jewish Life in the Delaware Valley. The following weekend, watch chefs Jacques Pépin and Dede Wilson create gourmet Easter delicacies, and listen to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and tenor Andrea Bocelli perform spiritual instrumental compositions and sacred arias.
Saturday, April 3
2:30 p.m.
Seasonings with Dede Wilson: Cooking and Entertaining for Special Occasions "Passover Dinner"
Faye Levy, author of Feast from the Mideast, shares her favorite Passover Seder recipes with chef Dede Wilson. On the traditional dinner menu: haroset (a blend of fruit, wine and spices symbolizing the mortar Jewish forefathers used to build Egyptian pyramids); Middle Eastern beef with green beans and potatoes; and mushroom and matzoh kugel. For dessert, Dede helps Faye prepare her Queen of Sheba Chocolate Almond Cake.
Applause Online Extra: Learn how to make Faye Levy's signature Queen of Sheba Chocolate Almond Cake to add to this year's Seder table. Recipe courtesy of Faye Levy.
 Sunday, April 4
9:30 a.m.
Seder on Planet Matzah Ball
When an "Intergalactic Guide to Passover" floating in space happens to land on the distant, bright-yellow Planet Matzah Ball -- a place where all traditions have been lost -- a family of funny, fury Jewish aliens decide to learn about their religion and its ancient, sacred holiday. The family sends their nine-year-old son Oogy to Earth in search of someone to lead Planet Matzah Ball's Passover Seder, but Oogy soon discovers that, with faith and confidence, he can bring the Passover story to his planet. The result is a charming musical tale from the creators of Sesame Street that uses animation and puppetry to teach people of all faiths about Passover and the traditional Seder meal.
4 p.m.
It's a Mitzvah! Jewish Life in the Delaware Valley
As Jewish families across the Delaware Valley prepare to celebrate Passover, this stirring original WHYY production examines the history of Jewish life here during the last 75 years -- from the first immigrants who overcame poverty and institutionalized discrimination to build vibrant communities, to today's business and philanthropic leaders. Using personal stories and archival footage, the program highlights the many contributions those in the Jewish community continue to make to the region's cultural landscape.
Applause Online Extra: Watch additional interviews with the intellectuals profiled during "Itıs a Mitzvah," including Gratz College President Dr. Jonathan Rosenbaum; Bala Cynwyd resident Marina Furman; and Dr. Murry Friedman, executive director of the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History at Temple University, and a longtime proponent of Jewish civil rights.
 5:30 p.m.
Our Mother's Recipe
As three Jewish-American women prepare the annual Passover Seder together, they reconcile their roles as mothers, daughters and career women with their ties to family, religion and generations of women before them. While Ada, Bernice and Brenda welcome their guests, read the Haggadah and eat the festive meal they have carefully prepared, they openly discuss he restrictions they have encountered during their lives as Jews, and as women. Our Mother's Recipe is a touching story about tradition, celebration and the importance of family; by sharing their experiences with one another, the three sisters are able to "escape" their burdens and sit down to a meal that represents faith, family, and freedom.
 6 p.m.
A Passover Celebration
Jeffrey Tambor (The Larry Sanders Show) hosts this entertaining family special that uses music, puppetry and dramatic recreations to illuminate the traditions that set the Jewish holiday of Passover apart from all other nights. Program highlights include a dramatic retelling of the Passover story by Rabbi Irwin Kula; a delicious Passover dessert from Chef Jeff Nathan (New Jewish Cuisine); a unique Seder creation from home design expert Teresa Strasser (TLC's While You Were Out); and a trip back in time to ancient Egypt with the award-winning children's series Alef...Bet...Blast Off! (featuring Dom DeLuise, pictured with his puppet co-stars). Three leading American cantors, the New York Concert Singers, and St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble also perform traditional Passover music from around the world during the celebration.
Applause Online Extra: Watch a clip of chef Jeff Nathan preparing his fabulous Matzah Napoleon, and then make the Passover dessert yourself with his easy-to-follow recipe.
 Wednesday, April 7
8 p.m.
Secrets of the Dead "Shroud of Christ?"
A baroque shine in the center of Turin Cathedral houses ones of the Catholic Church's most precious and controversial artifacts: the 15-foot long Shroud of Turin which some believe bears the image of Jesus Christ, burnt onto the cloth upon his resurrection from the dead. The debate over the cloth's origin has raged since its first documented appearance in the 1350s, but Secrets of the Dead "Shroud of Christ" reveals new forensic evidence indicating that the relic is indeed 2,000 years old. During this fascinating program, fabric experts discover a style of Roman stitching circa 60 A.D. on a side of the shroud that had been untouched since the 1500s, and bacteriologists attempt to definitively prove how the relic came to exist.
 Saturday, April 10
1:30 p.m.
Jacques Pépin Celebrates! "Jacques Pépin's Easter Celebration"
Chef extraordinaire Jacques Pépin "celebrates!" spring with this sumptuous Easter dinner. The multi-course menu starts with the perfect adult-alternative alternative to the pastel Easter egg: caviar served with buckwheat blinis and frozen vodka. Salmon steaks with a tangy sorrel sauce comprise the first course, which is followed by lamb loins coated with ground lamb and vegetable mousse over fava beans. Also at Jacques' dinner table: leek and mushroom pie; eggplant cushions garnished with stewed tomatoes; and artichoke bottoms stuffed with brown-butter spinach (for recipe, see Applause Online Extra below). For dessert, guests are treated to caramel snow eggs in custard cream and old-fashioned oatmeal cookies. Mmmm!
Applause Online Extra: Impress your guests with one course from Jacques' Easter dinner -- Artichoke Bottoms Stuffed with Brown-Butter Spinach. The site includes a list of required ingredients, detailed preparation instructions, and a slide show of Jacques perfecting this elegant dish.
2:30 p.m.
Seasonings with Dede Wilson: Cooking and Entertaining for Special Occasions "Easter Chocolates"
Dede Wilson and guest Carole Bloom, author of The Chocolate Lover's Cookbook for Dummies, prepare delicious chocolate treats during this Easter special. Treat your holiday guests to one (or all!) of these fabulously decedent desserts: marbled two-chocolate tart, solid molded chocolates, and fruit and nut chocolates.
Applause Online Extra: Whip up the mouth-watering Marbled Two-Chocolate Tart featured in the episode. Recipe courtesy of Carole Bloom.
7 p.m.
Lawrence Welk "Easter Show"
The Lawrence Welk singers perform "Easter Parade" as they stroll along a stage teaming with floral arrangements during this special from 1980. Ralna English (pictured) is the host during the hour-long program, singing a duet of "Do Lord" and one of her favorite hymns, "Mary Did You Know." Other highlights include "Tiptoe Through the Tulips," Ava Barber's rendition of "A Tisket, A Tasket," and Norma Zimmer performing "The Old Rugged Cross."
 Easter Sunday, April 11
1:30 p.m.
The Papal Concert of Reconciliation
Gilbert Levine, "the Pope's Maestro," conducts the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere performance of John Harbison's sacred motet "Abraham" and the first, fourth and fifth movements from Mahler's Symphony No. 2, "The Resurrection," during this 90-minute interfaith concert. The purpose of the performance, which occurred on January 17,2004, and marks the first time a United States symphony orchestra has performed at the Vatican for the pope, is to bring together Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths during these times of war and religious strife.
Applause Online Extra: Watch Pope John Paul IIıs speech before the concert and hear commentary from maestro Gilbert Levine and composer John Harbison. You can also listen to a stream of the entire Papal Concert of Reconciliation from this site.
3 p.m.
Great Performances "Andrea Bocelli: Sacred Arias -- Easter"
Tuscan-born tenor Andrea Bocelli lifts his voice to inspirational heights when he performs anthems and sacred arias in a gilded Roman basilica on the Piazza della Minera in Rome. Highlights from Bocelli's repertoire include three versions of "Ave Maria," "Panis Angelicus," "Domine Deus," and "Ingemisco" and "Sanctus" from Verdi's Requiem.
 4 p.m.
The Canonization of Katherine Drexel
Born into one of Philadelphia's wealthiest families, Katharine Drexel gave up a life of luxury and privilege to become a Roman Catholic nun. Through interviews, letters, personal diaries and family photos, the original WHYY program follows this remarkable woman's crusade to educate Native-Americans and African-Americans across the country and explores the miraculous events that led to her canonization as a saint in October 2000.
5:15 p.m.
Great Performances Jesus Christ Superstar
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's groundbreaking "rock opera" Jesus Christ Superstar changed the face of musical theater when it debuted on Broadway in 1971. Telling the story of the last seven days in the life of Jesus, Superstar dramatizes Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, the unrest caused by his preaching and popularity, his betrayal by Judas, the trial before Pontius Pilate, and his ultimate crucifixion. Glenn Carter, Jerome Pradon and Renee Castle star in this exciting Great Performances adaptation of the Broadway production.
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