People to Know - Leonard Bernstein

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.

A New Segment In the Blog Begins

The other evening I was out with my boss and a co-worker, and we were talking about musicals. Go figure. I had taught them some of the tricks of Twitter, but then they were talking about Leonard Bernstein. I had that look on my face of “Who is that?” and my boss asked me if I knew who it was. I knew the name but couldn’t tell you if he was an actor or singer. Yes, I know less about musicals before the 80’s, I admit it.

In a quest to know more about theatre and become a producer, I now have a mission. On Thursdays I will write a short report about a person in theatre. I will compile a list from several people more vers than I and share what I learn with you. I will do this for one year and see how it goes. I will start with Leonard next week and hopefully have a list.

If there is someone you think I should know, please list them below. We are always students, and I love to learn. Let the learning continue . . .