Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim famously collaborated on the classic musical West Side Story. The two will find themselves virtually together again as the 92Y in New York offers two separate online classes on each gentleman on June 18th.
The Bernstein class is up first at 11:30 AM EDT/8:30 AM PDT. The class is lead by Harvey Granat who is a cabaret performer and producer who teaches about the Great American Songbook.
Granat will be joined by author and filmmaker Jamie Bernstein who is also the composer’s daughter. Together they will explore all aspects of Bernstein’s composing life from his musicals (including On the Town and Wonderful Town) through his film scores (On the Waterfront) and other works.
Joining them will be husband-and-wife cabaret performers Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano. The cost of this class is $42 and registration is required in advance.
The Sondheim class takes place from 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM EDT/10:30 AM – 12:30 PM PDT. This class is lead by Louis Rosen who is composer and lyricist who has been teaching Music Appreciation and other classes at the 92Y for over thirty years.
The focus of this class will be Sondheim’s 1964 musical Anyone Can Whistle. The show ran for only 12 previews and 9 performances at the Majestic Theatre in New York. Arthur Laurents (Gypsy, West Side Story) wrote the book and directed the musical. Herbert Ross, who would later be best known as a film director (The Turning Point), was the choreographer and the sole recipient of a Tony Award nomination for Anyone Can Whistle.
Amongst the songs to come from this show are “Everybody Says Don’t,” “There Won’t Be Trumpets,” “With So Little To Be Sure Of” and the title song.
This is Rosen’s final class of his two-year series exploring Sondheim’s work. The cost of this class is $50 and registration is required in advance.
Photo: Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein in rehearsal for West Side Story. (Photo by Friedman-Abeles courtesy of the New York Public Library Archives)