because getting through that the last time i just said, no, i am grateful to be here. >> brown: now, renee flemingto use her celebrity to impart lessons she's learned, including the value of the arts for all americans. as we looked at portraits of some of the met's greatest stars, including fleming herself, she showed me a photo a fan had given her, of the would- be diva in a 7th grade theater production. >> this was my first musical, i was eliza doolittle in "my fair lady." >> brown: do you remember that girl? >> yeah, yes, and partly because she looks so much like one of my daughters. that's sort of a shock. but it's interesting, because i see the shyness is there, and that need to sort of somehow get out of myself, and i think performance was a way of doing that. ♪ ♪ >> brown: one last performance in this role, with many more to come. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the metropolitan opera. >> woodruff: coming soon for renee fleming-- she'll be the singing voice of actress julianne moore in a film version of the novel "bel canto." and that's the newshour for tonight. on thursday, we c

erican opera singer rene fleming will be here. we saw vanessa williams. folks said they would rather watch today in the rain than to brave the crowds tomorrow. >> you can see the whole thing without all the people, why not? >> people are sitting out they are waiting for the full dress rehearsal which starts at :00. kimberly: you can keep an eye on the radar with our app available on the app store. the president and first lady boarded air force one after visiting with u.s. troops stationed in sicily. his speech was one of the few times we've heard from the president publicly during the nine-day trip. president trump: we have great bonds with other countries and with some of our closest allies we concluded a truly historic week for our country. >> during the final meeting of the g-7 summit the president joined other leaders in pledging to endorse protectionism. but he said he would make a decision whether to withdraw the u.s. from the l next week. the president returned home to a week's worth of development involving russia. kushner reportedly tried to set

and this weekend you can see stars like laurence fishburne, gary sinise, vanessa williams and renee flemingy'll be at the national memorial, it's little known fact i did this one year. you can catch a glimpse of the show on saturday because they're outside rehearsing all day. the actual concert is sunday night. it airs live on pbs, then monday more star powe catch one of today's great day guest, country music singer tom dixon. he's performing at d. c.'s memorial day parade. you don't have to wait until monday. you can catch him here later in the show. >> tom dixon is here? >> he brought a cd and t- shirts, and he sounds great guys. amazing. >> good guy, good beard, great beard. >> good beard? >> yeah. [ laughter ] >> beard guys, we got that going. >> i see it. i got a question for you. are you going to the beach this weekend? are you going to one of the top 10 beaches of 2017. we looked at what dr. beach had to say on his website, and it seems like the closest one to us here in the dmv is okracoke in the outer banks of north carolina. >> okay. representatives from massachusetts, coopers bea

renee fleming is retiring. i look like i'm retiring.ee act opera, it's four and a half hours. this was friday night. >> you'd been going since 3:00 that morning. >> i fell asleep during the first act, the second act, the second intermission and the third act. >> that wasn't the plan. >> no, i was going to nap during the second intermission because renee fleming wasn't second act but it just -- you know, the music. it just takes you. >> did a friend take the picture. ? >> deborah took the picture. but she admitted she dozed off a couple times, too. >> i doze off during the "nutcracker" which is beautiful and lovely but it's hard going to these at night when you've been up -- >> and it went until 11:30 at night. . why don't they have an express opera? >> i felt like your sleep would be a pretty sleep, dylan. >> that's an ugly sleep. >> you were out! >> you may as well just close the casket and call it a day. >> i used to think if you can close one eye the other eye would stay open. >> not so much. >> but some people you're like are they j

. >> i went to the metropolitan opera, renee fleming is -- i look like i'm retired.era. it's 4 1/2 hours. this is friday night, okay? >> you had been going since 3:00 that morning. >> all week. i fell asleep during the first act, the second act, the third intermission and the third act. i was going to nap in the second intermission because renee fleming wasn't in the second act. the music just takes you. >> did a friend take your picture? >> deborah took the picture. thanks, honey. she admitted she dozed off a couple of times. >> i doze off in "the nutcracker." it's hard going to these things since you've been up since 3:00 in the morning. 11:30 at night. why not have express opera. >> express opera. >> i look at you, i feel like your sleep would be a pretty sleep. >> that's an ugly sleep. >> you are out. >> you may as well just close the casket and call it a day. >> i used to think if you could close one eye, the other will stay open. >> are they resting their eyes? >> i got such a good night's sleep. i went for a bike ride along the hudson river, which was lovely.

year's list and concludes singer vanessa williams american idol winners scotty mccreery and singer renee' flemingr ali will also be performing the national anthem. and actors joe mantegna and lawrence fishburne will be serving as co hosts. this morning joe and ali join us live to talk more about this annual tradition. good morning to both of you. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. >> thank you good morning. >> so joe this has become a tradition in and of itself for you. 15 years or so in running? >> yeah, this is my 15th year at the concert, and it's really never gets old for me to tell you the truth. i still say it's the most important thing oy do of year. >> why do you say that? because, you know, i was reading interview with you and originally you said, probably for like many people day wasn't really all that much to you. it was a long weekend a chance to barbecue, indy 500. >> that's right. well i have a lot of military in my family but everybody came back okay so i think memorial day was one of those things that got push back and almost like that was that holiday other people