Leonard Bernstein Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jamie Bernstein, the eldest daughter of famed composer Leonard Bernstein, is defending Bradley Cooper’s portrayal of the music icon in the upcoming Netflix movie “Maestro,” which world premieres Sept. 2 at the Venice Film Festival. Cooper, who directed the film and stars as Bernstein, has come under fire in recent weeks due to his decision to wear a prosthetic nose.

Gordon Cox Theater Editor Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, the musical “If/Then”: These aren’t the usual conversational touchpoints in a discussion about a video game. But all three of those musical theater references, and many more, were brought up by the creators of the new video game Stray Gods on the latest episode of “Stagecraft,” Variety’s theater podcast.

As Bradley Cooper‘s “Maestro” approaches its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, some have criticized the actor-director’s use of prosthetics to adapt more of a likeness to Leonard Bernstein. Certain critics have gone as far as to call the prosthetic nose Cooper wears for the film as anti-semitic.

Bradley Cooper’s decision to use a prosthetic nose to portray Leonard Bernstein in his upcoming biopic Maestro.The Jewish organisation, which fights against antisemitism, released a statement on Monday (August 21) addressing the film after the actor was accused of performing in “Jewface”.In the statement (via Variety), the ADL said the use of prosthetics is not inherently tied to antisemitism. “Throughout history, Jews were often portrayed in antisemitic films and propaganda as evil caricatures with large hooked noses,” the organisation said.“This film, which is a biopic on the legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein, is not that.”Cooper, who also co-writes and directs the film, stars opposite Carey Mulligan in Maestro, which charts the relationship between Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre.Bernstein, the son of Jewish-Ukrainian immigrants to the US, was a renowned composer and conductor perhaps best known for writing the music to West Side Story.Earlier this month, Bernstein’s family similarly defended Cooper’s decision to use prosthetics for the role.“It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of his efforts,” Bernstein’s children, Jamie, Alexander and Nina, said.

Ethan Shanfeld Bradley Cooper caught backlash for wearing a large prosthetic nose to portray Leonard Bernstein in “Maestro,” his upcoming biographical romance film about the late conductor. The controversy sparked the latest discourse about “Jewface,” Hollywood’s stereotypical or inauthentic portrayal of Jewish people. But the Anti-Defamation League, the notable Jewish organization fighting against bias and bigotry, has come to Cooper’s defense, stating that his depiction of Bernstein is not antisemitic.

Some of the biggest Jewish organizations have no issues with Bradley Cooper’s portrayal of Leonard Bernstein in “Maestro”, despite some recent criticism.

Bradley Cooper was hit pretty much immediately with controversy as he unveiled a first look at his forthcoming Netflix pic Maestro, when the internet encountered the prosthetic nose he’d adopted to portray legendary composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. But Bernstein’s children have now come to his defense.

Bradley Cooper for using facial prosthetics to portray the late composer in biopic Maestro.Cooper stars opposite Carey Mulligan in the upcoming film, which charts the relationship between Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein.After the trailer for Maestro was released on Tuesday (August 15), Cooper – who also co-writes and directs the project – faced some criticism for using a fake nose in his portrayal of Leonard, who was the son of Jewish-Ukraininan immigrants to the US.In a post on Instagram, actor Tracy Ann-Oberman wrote: “If [Cooper] needs to wear a prosthetic nose then that is, to me and many others, the equivalent of Black-Face or Yellow-Face.”She added: “If Bradley Cooper can’t do it through the power of acting alone then don’t cast him – get a Jewish actor. Bradley Cooper managed to play the Elephant Man without a single prosthetic then he should be able to manage to play a Jewish man without one.”In response to the criticism on Wednesday (August 16), Bernstein’s children Jamie, Alexander and Nina released a statement to defend Cooper.(1/6) From Jamie, Alexander, and Nina Bernstein:Bradley Cooper included the three of us along every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our father.

Leonard Bernstein’s three kids are coming to Bradley Cooper’s defence following criticism that the actor portrayed himself with “Jewface” in his upcoming biopic of the classical composer.

teaser on Tuesday, the Bradley Cooper-led film about the life and loves of legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein received some criticism about Cooper's appearance in the film.Most of the backlash centered on Cooper, a non-Jewish man, donning a large prosthetic nose to play Bernstein, who was the son of Jewish immigrants.On Wednesday, Bernstein's three children, Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein, released a statement on social media in defense of the film, which Cooper also co-wrote and directed.«Bradley Cooper included the three of us along every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our father,» the statement began. «We were touched to the core to witness the depth of his commitment, his loving embrace of our father's music, and the sheer open-hearted joy he brought to his exploration.

Leonard Bernstein‘s children are speaking out.

Ethan Shanfeld After Netflix released the first trailer for Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” a biographical romance about Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre, many viewers took issue with Cooper’s large prosthetic nose, deeming it the latest example of Hollywood’s stereotypical or inauthentic portrayal of Jewish people, known as “Jewface.” But in a statement posted to Bernstein’s Twitter account, the late conductor’s children defended Cooper’s decision to “use makeup to amplify his resemblance” to their father. Cooper directed “Maestro” and stars as Bernstein opposite Carey Mulligan as Montealegre.

Maestro, the Leonard Bernstein biopic starring and directed by Bradley Cooper, will have the Spotlight Gala slot at this fall’s 61st New York Film Festival.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro” has been announced as the spotlight gala film at the 61st New York Film Festival. “Maestro is a bravura achievement for its director and star, a work of conviction and imagination that does justice to the brilliance and complexity of its subject,” said Dennis Lim, artistic director of New York Film Festival. “We are honored to have Bradley Cooper’s enthralling film as a gala presentation at this year’s festival, and doubly so to be showing it in a venue that is synonymous with Leonard Bernstein.” “Maestro” is a biographical romance in which Cooper plays the famed conductor Leonard Bernstein.

The newly-released trailer for the Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, featuring Bradley Cooper in the lead role, has ignited a conversation online about the use of a prosthetic nose and casting choices that some believe perpetuate harmful stereotypes. In the film, Bradley portrays the legendary musical conductor Leonard Bernstein, with the story focusing on his relationship with his wife Felicia Montealegre, played by Carey Mulligan.

Netflix has released the first trailer for Maestro starring Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan – check out the clip below.Directed and co-written by Cooper, the film charts the lifelong relationship between composer Leonard Bernstein (played by Cooper) and his wife Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Mulligan).A synopsis reads: “Maestro is a towering and fearless love story chronicling the lifelong relationship between Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. A love letter to life and art, Maestro at its core is an emotionally epic portrayal of family and love.”Along with starring, directing and co-writing the film with Josh Singer (Spotlight), Cooper has also produced the film alongside Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger.Other cast members include Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke, Sarah Silverman, Josh Hamilton, Scott Ellis, Gideon Glick, Sam Nivola, Alexa Swinton and Miriam Shor.As shown in the trailer, Cooper and Mulligan both sport makeup to depict older versions of the couple, as it flips from black-and-white to colour.Bernstein is a renowned conductor and composer, who is perhaps best known for his work on the Broadway musical West Side Story.Maestro is released in select UK cinemas on November 24, before it arrives on Netflix from December 20, 2023.This is the second film Cooper has directed following 2018’s A Star Is Born, where he starred opposite Lady Gaga.

, Bradley Cooper embodies Leonard Bernstein, the first American conductor to receive international acclaim and the composer of operas, symphonies, and the beloved Broadway musical The film, co-written and directed by Cooper, and produced by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, centers on Bernstein's marriage to actress Felicia Montealegre, played by Carey Mulligan. The pair, who married in 1951, had a «strong connection,» which is evident in the teaser — though flashes to moments throughout their relationship reveal the emotional roller coaster it truly was.

Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan star in the newly-released trailer for “Maestro”.

The first teaser trailer for Maestro is here!

Can a relationship be art? “Maestro” offers a bold look at the complicated and compelling story of Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein; the new film delves into the legendary conductor’s life, focusing on his unique connection to Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. Through it all, they found a way to support one another in a world judgemental of anything that didn’t fit the period’s societal norms.

Bradley Cooper‘s film Maestro is making a grand premiere at the 2023 Venice Film Festival next month…however, he won’t be in attendance.

The Venice Film Festival on Tuesday released a star-studded and A-list heavy lineup of films that will debut at the 2023 Biennale, including the films vying for this year’s Golden Lion. This was done despite the ongoing SAG-AFTRA actors and WGA writers strike.

André Watts, one of the first Black superstars in classical music, died on Wednesday at his home in Bloomington, Ind. He was 77 and died of prostrate cancer, according to his wife.

Bradley Cooper‘s sophomore directorial effort, “Maestro,” a biopic about legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein, hits Netflix later this year. But even with that film still in the post-production process, Cooper already has his next directing gig lined up.

EXCLUSIVE: After years of friendship that goes way beyond the two A-listers making it big in Hollywood, Bradley Cooper and Will Arnett are coming on to develop the Searchlight pic Is This Thing On?, with both set to co-star in the film with Cooper also directing. Arnett penned the script with Mark Chappell. The film is still in early development and while Arnett turned in a draft before the Writers strike commenced, Cooper will likely take a crack at script with Arnett and Chappell and won’t be able to till after Strike ends.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Yes, the Cannes Film Festival has only just started. But Hollywood is already quietly planning for the Venice Film Festival lineup, as the unofficial launch of awards season in late August is starting to shape up with several high-profile titles, Variety has learned. Among the films in contention to bow on the Lido: Luca Guadagnino’s sexy tennis comedy “Challengers,” starring Zendaya and Josh O’Connor, and Yorgos Lanthimos’ surrealist science-fiction romance “Poor Things,” with Emma Stone and Marc Ruffalo, among entries believed to be locked-in for a Venice launch. Zendaya was last in Venice in 2021 with “Dune,” but Denis Villeneuve’s sequel, which has an early November launch date, is not expected to follow suit to the fest.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor “Younger” star Miriam Shor has been cast in Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic, “Maestro.” Shor exclusively tells Variety that she is playing actor and model Cynthia O’Neal, a friend of the legendary musician and his wife Felicia Montealegre. Cooper directed the Netflix film, co-wrote it with Josh Singer and stars as Bernstein. Carey Mulligan portrays Montealegre. “I play Cynthia O’Neal, who was a very good friend of the Bernsteins, particularly his wife, Felicia,” Shor said Thursday night at the Los Angeles premiere of her and Cooper’s latest film, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” “I mean, that was unbelievable. Because an actor who also directs, to get to work with Bradley… he’s a savant. It’s miraculous. So that was really special, I was really grateful.”

Patti LuPone, 73, has nine huge shows remaining on her ongoing ‘Don’t Monkey With Broadway Tour’ all over the U.S.That includes two stops in the Garden State followed by a pair in New York.First, the three-time Tony winner will belt standards by Richard Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and more at Englewood, NJ’s Bergen Performing Arts Center on Thursday, March 23.Then, on March 25, she’ll perform at New Brunswick’s State Theatre.Come summer time, the tour will drop into Poughkeepsie’s Bardavon Opera House on June 17.For those willing to wait over a year, you can see the show in Manhattan — ‘Don’t Monkey With Broadway’ is scheduled for a night at Carnegie Hall on April 8, 2024. And the best news of all is you won’t have to pay Broadway-like prices to see LuPone live on the road.At the time of publication, we found some seats going for as low as $58 before fees on Vivid Seats.So, if you want to see LuPone deliver what Front Row Reviewers called “autobiographical snippets (and) powerful song(s)” live, here’s everything you need to know.A complete calendar including all tour dates, venues and links to the cheapest tickets available for all remaining concerts can be found below.(Note: The New York Post confirmed all above prices at the publication time.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor What better way to officially close the door on an exhausting awards season than to look ahead –blindly — to what studios and production companies could bring to the screen in 2023. As Variety‘s awards coverage transitions into the Emmy season, this annual tradition (albeit highly inaccurate due to release shifts and other varying factors) creates some fun and wonder as Cannes looms two months away. One first impression is that the streamers are back with a vengeance with an arsenal of big names and titles aiming to take the trophy from reigning best-picture champ A24 with “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Apple Original Films has a duo of master auteurs on deck.

Emiliano De Pablos Athens-based company Stefi Productions is developing mini-series project “Letters to Leonard,” a real life inspired drama that explores events in the personal relationship between legendary conductors Leonard Bernstein and Greece’s Dimitris Mitropoulos. Described as a story about friendship, love, betrayal and the passion for music, the series has been co-created by Pierros Andrakakos, whose credits take in directing Antenna Studios’ series “Save Me,” plus servng as an assistant director on Universal Pictures’ “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” and Paramount Pictures’ “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.”  Also co-creator and the series’ producer, Giorgos Linardakis is known for his work as line producer on Greek TV series such as “Agapi Paranomi” and “Voices in Deep.” 

Netflix has unveiled its 2023 feature film slate, consisting of 49 titles. 

Before Stephen Spielberg’s much-lauded interpretation of West Side Story, there was another high-powered effort to bring the musical conceived by Jerome Robins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Arthur Laurents to the screen. It would have been the first remake since the 1961 screen classic directed by Robbins and Robert Wise. This version was a little different.

Bohemian Rhapsody” about a celebrated maestro we would all be more familiar with if we had the time and money to regularly attend the Berliner Philharmoniker and skim Der Spiegel. Nein! She’s fake.Running time: 158 minutes.

post-post-MeToo character study that premiered on Thursday at the Venice Film Festival – should be heralded for offering a neat corollary to Chekhov’s Gun, a theatrical theory that states that if you introduce a gun in Act 1, you’d better fire it by Act 3. Call this version Gopnik’s Speech.

Bradley Cooper looks unrecognizable on the set of his new movie ‘Maestro,’ as he is portraying a much older character, with gray hair, wrinkles and a very formal outfit.The 47-year-old Hollywood actor, who is among the list of stars threatening to run for president of the United States, was spotted in Central Park while shooting some scenes for the movie in New York City, acting alongside Carey Mulligan.Bradley is currently facing backlash as he is now playing American conductor and West Side Story composer Leonard Bernstein, while Mulligan is playing his wife Felicia Montealegre. The Netflix movie is set to premiere in 2023 and it will explore the 25-year relationship between the couple, after they met in 1946.And while the actor seems to be adjusting to the role, many online users have accused the production of the film of being “anti-Semitic,” as they believe a Jewish man should have been chosen for the role.Bradley was photographed wearing a tan suit, a pink dress shirt, and a red tie while Carey walked by his side wearing a white jacket and matching skirt with an orange top.The actor has yet to share any details about his preparation to portray Bernstein following the criticism, however during an interview with Variety he revealed that he “wanted to be a conductor since I was a kid,” adding, ”I was obsessed with it, asked Santa Claus for a baton when I was eight.”“Listening to music, falling in love with it and being able to really know every single moment of a piece, like Tchaikovsky’s Opus 35 in D major, this violin concerto.

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