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Bernard Gersten | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Bernard Gersten at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, circa 1967 | |
| Born | (1923-01-30)January 30, 1923 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | April 27, 2020(2020-04-27) (aged 97) New York, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Producer |
| Partner | Cora Cahan |
Bernard Gersten (January 30, 1923 – April 27, 2020) was an Americantheatrical producer. Beginning in the 1960s through the early 2000s, Gersten played a major role in shaping American drama andmusical theatre.
From 1960 to 1978, Gersten worked withJoseph Papp as associate producer at theNew York Shakespeare Festival. After leaving the NYSF, he served as executive producer ofLincoln Center Theater from 1985 until he retired in 2013, where (withGregory Mosher, then withAndre Bishop) he oversaw over 150 productions.
In addition to receiving theAntoinette Perry Award (The "Tony Award") for Lifetime Achievement in 2013, Gersten was the recipient of fifteenTony Awards for his productions.
He died from pancreatic cancer on April 27, 2020, at the age of 97.[1]
Gersten was the son of Henrietta (Henig) Gersten and Jacob Israel Gersten, a garment worker and chauffeur. Gersten grew up inNewark, New Jersey, in a traditional Jewish immigrant household, crowded with relatives, his father Jacob holding the position of secretary at the local synagogue. Like his cohort,Joseph Papp, Gersten came to the theater from an unsophisticated middle-class background.[2]
As a teenager, Gersten became interested in theater and acting during his time atWest Side High School.[3]Gersten was attendingRutgers University as theUnited States enteredWorld War II following the Japanese attack onPearl Harbor. He enlisted in the quartermaster corps and was stationed in Hawaii. He transitioned into special services after attending a performance on a base ofMacbeth featuring the theater starsMaurice Evans (a Captain) andDame Judith Anderson. Working on productions in the military, he developed his skills as a stage manager and producer.[2][3]
After World War II, Gersten got hisEquity card and began his professional career whenMaurice Evans asked him to become the Assistant Stage Manager of the US tour of "GI Hamlet" – starring Evans. Following his first professional gig, Gersten joined the Actor's Lab inLos Angeles, where he met his future colleague and co-producer,Joseph Papp.[2][4] In the late 1950s, Gersten was hired byJohn Houseman to work as a stage manager at theAmerican Shakespeare Festival inStratford, Connecticut. He was active as aBroadway production stage manager at theAmerican Shakespeare Festival inStratford, Connecticut. His last job was as a Production Stage Manager (PSM) to the first performances ofFunny Girl starringBarbra Streisand.[2][3]
During the late 1940s and the 1950s, Gersten was politically active. He attended meetings of theCommunist Party and worked on union organizing. Both he and Joseph Papp worked on behalf of Vice PresidentHenry A. Wallace’s unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 1948 (as the candidate of the Progressive Party). He was also active on behalf of the plight ofJulius and Ethel Rosenberg. In time, Gersten was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee and was required to appear before the committee in 1958. Gerstenpled the 5th. (Papp was also brought before the committee.) Though he was threatened with dismissal, Gersten did not lose his job because bothJohn Houseman andKatharine Hepburn spoke on his behalf.[2][5]
In 1960, Joseph Papp invited Gersten to work with him at theNew York Shakespeare Festival. The job as associate producer became a full-time job in 1964. This began a long partnership during which Papp and Gersten established the New York Shakespeare Festival (NYSF) at the oldAstor Library downtown while presenting a series of significant productions. During his tenure at the NYSF, it would become the pre-eminent non-profit theater in the United States. (Gersten would also produce atLincoln Center’sVivian Beaumont and Mitzi E. Newhouse (prior to 1973 the Forum) theaters duringNYSF’s tenure there between 1974 and 1977.)[2][4][5]
The eighteen year Papp/Gersten regime at the NYSF would usher in a bold new era ofplaywriting andmusical theater. Significant dramatists such asLiz Swados,David Rabe,Sam Shepard,Michael Bennett,Richard Foreman andJohn Guare as well as major stage stars includingJames Earl Jones,Meryl Streep,Sam WaterstonEdward Herrmann andAl Pacino,George C. Scott andColleen Dewhurst (not to mention the visual artistPaul Davis), got their first national attention at the NYSF.[4] Productions during this period alo included dozens of plays byWilliam Shakespeare and free theater inCentral Park. Notable productions during the Papp/Gersten era include an adaptation ofShakespeare’sTwo Gentlemen of Verona,Hair,That Championship Season,For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf,Streamers,Buried Child and the crowning achievement of the NYSF during this period: the musical:A Chorus Line.[2][4][5]
In 1968, Gersten married Cora Cahan, at the time touring as a dancer with various modern dance companies. (WithEliot Feld, Cora Cahan would establish and serve as executive director of Eliot Feld's dance company,Feld Ballet. In 1982, Cora and Eliot conceived and created theJoyce Theater. Since 1990, Cora has been President of The New 42nd Street, anon-profit organization generated by the city and the state as part of the 42nd Street Redevelopment Project.) The Gerstens have two children, Jenny Cahan Gersten and Jilian Cahan Gersten.
Perhaps Gersten's most significant contribution to theAmerican theater was his realization that a non-profit theater could produce commercially. In what he has described as a ‘eureka moment’[2] he found a way to free the New York Shakespeare Festival and later theLincoln Center Theater from dependency on commercial producers when moving a show toBroadway. Through this innovative approach to underwriting production, beginning with movingTwo Gentlemen of Verona to Broadway in 1971, (and particularly with the success ofA Chorus Line), the fortunes of the New York Shakespeare Festival grew enormously. Gersten's approach would change the course of non-profit institutions nationally and especially inNew York City.
In 1978, Gersten and Papp went their separate ways when Gersten insisted that the NYSF produceMichael Bennett’sBallroom. Papp fired Gersten, whereupon Gersten went on to independently produceBallroom (as well asJohn Guare’sBosoms and Neglect) on Broadway later that year.[4][5]
In 1979, Gersten was invited byFrancis Ford Coppola to come work for his newZoetrope Studios as Executive Vice President of Creative Affairs. During his tenure at Zoetrope, Gersten would serve as Executive Producer ofFrancis Ford Coppola’sOne From the Heart, as well as three other films. He also acted as Co-Producer of the live-orchestra presentations throughout the world ofAbel Gance’s filmNapoléon.[2]After leaving Zoetrope, Gersten was recruited byRadio City Music Hall to serve as their Vice President to produce live original content. A highlight of his two and a quarter year tenure, was a massive production ofPorgy and Bess, (featuring a 90-strong company).
In 1985, theVivian Beaumont Theater, a component of the larger Lincoln Center performing arts complex, had been dark for four years. A board of directors headed by former New York MayorJohn V. Lindsay decided to try one more time to activate the theater which had been built and established in the mid-sixties, but failed to establish itself as a viable theatrical venue.[3] (This period includes the four years in which theNYSF produced at Lincoln Center.)
Gersten, at the time working for Alexander Cohen on Broadway and teaching as an adjunct professor of theater administration atColumbia University, was invited to act as a consultant on the board. He proposed a way to organize the Beaumont and was hired as Executive Producer alongsideGregory Mosher who was hired as Artistic Director to lead the new entity "Lincoln Center Theater". Under Mosher and Gersten, theVivian Beaumont and the Mitzi E. Newhouse theaters, moribund for nearly a decade, flourished. More than twenty productions followed in quick succession over the next five years, including several major successes (see Lincoln Center Theater). In 1991, Mr. Mosher announced that he would leave LCT to pursue other projects.
In 1991, Gersten invited Andre Bishop to take over as Artistic Director. (Bishop's tenure would begin in 1992). (After Gersten's retirement, Bishop would have the title of Producing Artistic Director). The long list of successes atLincoln Center Theater would grow under their partnership. For almost twenty years, Mr. Gersten and Mr. Bishop produced an award-winning series of top shelf theatrical productions, sparing no expense to achieve the most exacting artistic results. A number of plays produced atLincoln Center Theater, would move to Broadway (or be produced directly for Broadway). Muscular, precise, and visually striking theater became the hallmark ofLincoln Center Theater.[6][7]
Bernard Gersten produced over 150 productions at LCT, including a revival ofJohn Guare’sHouse of Blue Leaves and premiere ofSix Degrees of Separation,Wendy Wasserstein’sSisters Rosenzweig,Edward Albee’sA Delicate Balance, Ngema'sSarafina,David Mamet’sSpeed the Plow,Tom Stoppard’sThe Coast of Utopia and a revival ofSouth Pacific. Under Gersten, the Lincoln Center Theater championed the work ofSpalding Gray, John Guare, Edward Albee, Tom Stoppard andWendy Wasserstein among the dozens of playwrights, composers, and directors who worked there, includingGerald Gutierrez,Jerry Zaks,Susan Stroman, Daniel Sullivan,Bartlett Sher and Graciele Daniele.[3][6][7]
Prior to retirement from LCT, Gersten helped implement the fundraising, design, and construction of the newClaire Tow Theater atop theVivian Beaumont.
Gersten implemented a new custom license plate forNew York State featuring the slogan ‘State of the Arts.’ Income from this custom license plate supports theNew York State Council on the Arts.
Following is a selection of the awards won by Gersten.
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