Bernard Gersten was an American theatrical producer.
18 Facts About Bernard Gersten
2.
From 1960 to 1978, Bernard Gersten worked with Joseph Papp as associate producer at the New York Shakespeare Festival.
3.
Bernard Gersten died from pancreatic cancer on April 27,2020, at the age of 97.
4.
Bernard Gersten grew up in Newark, New Jersey, in a traditional Jewish immigrant household, crowded with relatives, his father Jacob holding the position of secretary at the local synagogue.
5.
Bernard Gersten was attending Rutgers University as the United States entered World War II following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
6.
Bernard Gersten enlisted in the quartermaster corps and was stationed in Hawaii.
7.
Bernard Gersten transitioned into special services after attending a performance on a base of Macbeth featuring the theater stars Maurice Evans and Dame Judith Anderson.
8.
Bernard Gersten was active as a Broadway production stage manager at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut.
9.
Bernard Gersten attended meetings of the Communist Party and worked on union organizing.
10.
Bernard Gersten was active on behalf of the plight of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
11.
In time, Bernard Gersten was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee and was required to appear before the committee in 1958.
12.
In 1968, Bernard Gersten married Cora Cahan, at the time touring as a dancer with various modern dance companies.
13.
In 1979, Bernard Gersten was invited by Francis Ford Coppola to come work for his new Zoetrope Studios as Executive Vice President of Creative Affairs.
14.
Bernard Gersten acted as Co-Producer of the live-orchestra presentations throughout the world of Abel Gance's film Napoleon.
15.
Bernard Gersten proposed a way to organize the Beaumont and was hired as Executive Producer alongside Gregory Mosher who was hired as Artistic Director to lead the new entity "Lincoln Center Theater".
16.
In 1991, Bernard Gersten invited Andre Bishop to take over as Artistic Director.
17.
Bernard Gersten produced over 150 productions at LCT, including a revival of John Guare's House of Blue Leaves and premiere of Six Degrees of Separation, Wendy Wasserstein's Sisters Rosenzweig, Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance, Ngema's Sarafina, David Mamet's Speed the Plow, Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia and a revival of South Pacific.
18.
Bernard Gersten implemented a new custom license plate for New York State featuring the slogan 'State of the Arts.