As I said last week, when I didn’t know who Leonard Bernstein was, my boss about died. So begins a weekly series on people you should know in theatre. We start with Leonard Bernstein, who was born in 1918 and passed away in 1990.His most popular musical is back on for its fifth time since opening in 1957, and this latest production is another hit, recouping its 14 million dollar capitalization just yesterday. He also wrote On the Town, Candide, and Wonderful Town. His name can be found in playbills from 28 different productions spanning from 1944 to today.
He is actually probably more known in the music industry for his work with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and later the New York Philharmonic, where he was named the principal conductor in 1957. He started the Young People’s Concerts, which aired on CBS for several years.
I was also impressed by his work as a teacher, AIDS activist and anti-discrimination activist. You can tell how important his music was to West Side Story just by watching the Tony Awards this year. In case you missed it, there is a clip below.
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