Suzanne Vega’s LOVER, BELOVED Stage Show Coming to PBS

Lover, Beloved, the film adaptation of songwriter Suzanne Vega’s one-woman stage show about the life of 20th-century American writer Carson McCullers, is set to make its broadcast debut. The film will be available via Public Television Stations and the PBS App starting February 28.

Directed by Michael Tully (Ping Pong Summer, Septien, Don’t Leave Home), the film will airs on WNET’s All Arts TV in New York City beginning March 24 and via its presenting station Austin PBS on March 19; check local listings for dates and times in additional markets.

In this experimental blend of film, theater and music, Vega fictionalizes a talk McCullers gave at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, MAKING IT two separate talks at two different points in the author’s life. During the first, in 1941, she drinks her way through the lecture, revealing messy romances and illnesses. In the second, 25 years later, she confronts her mortality, reminiscing on her novel and play The Member of The Wedding, as well as on her twice-failed marriage and romances with members of both sexes—ending on the credo she forged with her husband. The film features songs by Vega and Duncan Sheik.

Vega emerged as a leading figure of the folk-music revival of the early 1980s. Since the release of her self-titled, critically acclaimed 1985 debut album, she has written and recorded numerous songs that have become part of the contemporary music vernacular, including “Luka,” “Marlene on the Wall” and “Tom’s Diner,” an a cappella piece that was remixed by U.K. electronic dance duo DNA and became a major club hit. It remains an oft-sampled and covered standard by artists across the musical spectrum. Her albums, including her self-titled debut, follow-up Solitude Standing and 99.9F have sold millions of copies worldwide. Vega’s most recent album, 2025’s Flying With Angels, is out now on Cooking Vinyl.