By Carol J. Oja
Rising to prominence at lightning speed during World War II, Leonard Bernstein quickly became one of the most famous musicians of all time, gaining notice as a conductor and composer of both classical works and musical theater. One day he was a recent Harvard graduate, struggling to earn a living in the music world. The next, he was on the front page of the New York Times for his stunning debut with the New York Philharmonic in November 1943. At twenty-five, Bernstein was the newly appointed assistant conductor of the orchestra, and he stepped in at the last minute to replace the eminent maestro Bruno Walter in a concert that was broadcast over the radio.
At the same time – and with the same blistering pace — Bernstein had two high-profile premieres in the theater: the ballet Fancy Free in April 1944, and the Broadway musical On the Town in December that same year. For both, he collaborated with the young choreographer Jerome Robbins, and the two men later became mega-famous for West Side Story in 1957. Added to that, the writers of the book and lyrics for On the Town were Bernstein’s close friends Betty Comden and Adolph Green, whose major celebrity came with the screenplay for Singin’ in the Rain in 1952.
So 1944 was a key year for Bernstein in the theater. Yet he already had considerable experience with theatrical productions, albeit with neighborhood kids in the Jewish community of Sharon, Massachusetts, south of Boston, where his parents had a summer home, and as a counselor at a Jewish summer camp in the Berkshires.
Some of these productions were charmingly outrageous, including a staging of Carmen in Sharon during the summer of 1934, when Bernstein was fifteen. Together with his male friend Dana Schnittken, Bernstein organized local teens in presenting an adaptation of Carmen in Yiddish, with the performers in drag. “Together we wrote a highly localized joke version of a highly abbreviated Carmen in drag, using just the hit tunes,” Bernstein later recalled in an interview with the BBC. “Dana played Micaela in a wig supplied by my father’s Hair Company—I’ll never forget his blonde tresses—and I sang Carmen in a red wig and a black mantilla and in a series of chiffon dresses borrowed from various neighbors on Lake Avenue, through which my underwear was showing. Don José was played by the love of my life, Beatrice Gordon. The bullfighter was played by a lady called Rose Schwartz.” Bernstein’s father, who was an immigrant to the United States, owned the Samuel J. Bernstein Hair Company in Boston, which not only prospered mightily during the Great Depression but also provided wigs for his son’s theatrical exploits.
The young Leonard’s summer performances also involved rollicking productions of operettas by Gilbert and Sullivan. In the summer of 1935, he directed The Mikado in Sharon. Bernstein sang the role of Nanki-Poo, and his eleven-year-old sister Shirley was Yum-Yum. Decades later, friends of Bernstein who were involved in that production—by then quite elderly—recalled going with the cast to a nearby Howard Johnson’s Restaurant to celebrate. After eating a hearty meal, they stole the silverware! Being upright young citizens, they quickly returned it.
In the summer of 1936, Bernstein and his buddies produced H.M.S. Pinafore. “I think the bane of my family’s existence was Gilbert and Sullivan, whose scores my sister Shirley and I would howl through from cover to cover,” Bernstein later reminisced to The Book of Knowledge.
As a culmination of this youthful activity, Bernstein produced The Pirates of Penzance during the summer of 1937, while he worked as the music counselor at Camp Onota in the Berkshires. His future collaborator Adolph Green was a visitor at the camp, and Green took the role of the Pirate King.
A photograph in the voluminous Bernstein Collection at the Library of Congress vividly evokes Bernstein’s experience at Camp Onota. There, the youthful Lenny stands next to a bandstand, conducting a rhythm band of even younger campers. This is clearly not a stage production. But there he is – an aspiring conductor, honing his craft in the balmy days of summer.
As it turned out, Bernstein’s transition from teenage artistic adventures to mature commercial success—from camp T-shirts to tux and tails—took place in a blink.
Carol J. Oja is William Powell Mason Professor of Music and American Studies at Harvard University. She is author of Bernstein Meets Broadway: Collaborative Art in a Time of War and Making Music Modern: New York in the 1920s (2000), winner of the Irving Lowens Book Award from the Society for American Music.
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Too many people expect the job of "writer" to mean one thing--sitting around quietly working on your novel. Those people will get very hungry.
Author Allen Rucker's writing career reads like a vocational manual for writers: he's written a comical television book (The Sopranos Family Cookbook), co-written non-fiction books for celebrities (Hollywood Causes Cancer), and most recently, a personal memoir about paralysis (The Best Seat in the House (in hardcover now, look for the trade paperback in January 2008)).
Today, this television and film writer explains the books and writers who influence him, giving us a big long reading list for the weekend.
Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson's mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing.
Jason Boog:
You have a deep love for crime fiction. Do you have a reading list for aspiring crime writers? Who are the writers, generally, who inspire you? Which websites, magazines do you read for material?
Allen Rucker:
I’m not a crime-fiction writer, just a crime-fiction reader. I read the literary stuff, too, and a lot of the current entries – like Ian McEwan’s Saturday, for instance – has its share of criminal activity. Continue reading...
Yowza! I can’t believe we did it! I’m amazed that 1) our car actually made it, and that 2) I'm sitting at home writing up the last blog entry. It's hard to find myself at the end of LEMONADE MOUTH ACROSS AMERICA!, my family's audacious, summer-long road-trip adventure across America and back in our little minivan. But here's proof that we really made it all the way back:
And here's the final tally:
Miles traveled: 12,592
Days on the road: 57
States visited: 38
Bookstores visited: Somewhere between 50 and 60*
Trips to the Honda Dealer: 3 (two oil changes, one $600 exhaust job)
*It’s hard to be sure of the exact bookstore count since, in addition to scheduled events, we also did a bunch of unscheduled drive-bys.
We’ve been home for a couple days now, and to be honest I’m feeling a little sad to be writing this last dispatch. But we all know what they say about all good things… Below are the following:
· “Oh my God! Did We Really Just Drive 13,000 Miles in a Bright Yellow Lemonade Mouth Minivan?”
· “Holy Crap, Was It All Worth It?”
· Closing comments from each of us
· What’s next?
· Stuff people have told me I ought to have done a while ago
But first: Let’s catch up:
MASSACHUSETTS
So, on Monday we drove south from Manchester, VT and after 56 glorious days away we finally found ourselves crossing the line into our very own home state (it’s a commonwealth, actually), Massachusetts! It was a strange feeling. We’d been gone so long and had visited so many beautiful places, and yet I think it made us appreciate our own corner of the country all the more. Before going to our own house, though, we thought we’d stretch out the fun one extra unplanned night to visit my family in Otis, MA in the Berkshires. Here we are with my parents, my sister Jennifer, and my niece and nephews – Sophie, Myles (our godson!), and Leo. :-)
KAREN'S SIDE-TRIP TO THE GARDEN STATE
On Tuesday, the kids and I hung out while Karen took a side-trip to visit her mother and to pick up our much-missed doggie, Wendel.
Here’s Karen:
Karen: While the others stayed in Otis I took at 7-hour side-trip (3.5 hour each way) to New Jersey to visit pickup my Mom, and to pick up Wendel, our dog (MARK: For those wondering, he’s a wild mountain cockapoo) and to celebrate my mother’s birthday before coming home to Massachusetts. Wendel spent the summer with my mother. Here are my mother and Wendel. Happy Birthday Mom!
HOME AGAIN! HOME AGAIN! JIGGIDY-JIG
And then, late Tuesday night after eight weeks, a zillion miles and a crazy number of states, we finally pulled up at our very own little white cape house! To our amazement, our friends had decorated it with a huge "Welcome Home" banner for the occasion…and even had a cake for us! Thanks Sylvia, Jay, Megan, Tia, and Grace! :-) What a wonderful surprise!
(By the way, all summer long while we were away Sylvia took care of things for us, checking in on the house, collecting our mail, sending us care packages, and doing countless nice things—including surprising me by cleaning out my little green Toyota. She's a wonderful friend. A very special THANK YOU to Sylvia!)
Okay, so that was our trip. After such a long and amazing adventure, I now feel the need to add a few end-of-trip comments, musings, and other stuff; and of course—“what’s next?” So here they are:
END OF TRIP COMMENTS, MUSINGS, AND OTHER STUFF—AND “WHAT’S NEXT?”
QUESTION: “Oh my God! Did We Really Just Drive 13,000 Miles in a Bright Yellow Lemonade Mouth Minivan?”
Answer: Yep. (Well, 12,592 miles, actually.)
QUESTION: “Holy Crap, Was It All Worth It?”
Two Answers:
Was it all worth it financially?:
Well, I don’t know. I don’t think I’ll ever really know. But to be honest, we didn’t really spend that much on this trip, considering. After all, we mostly stayed with friends, plus we did some camping. In fact, out of 57 nights we stayed at hotels only 10 times (11 if you count the youth hostel in Taos, NM). That’s not so much, really. And we kept the eating-out to a minimum by going to grocery stores, which we would have had to do at home anyway. And as far as visiting bookstores as a promotion for Lemonade Mouth, well, it can’t have hurt, right? And meeting book people sure is a lot of fun!
But, was it all worth it in general?:
Oh god, YES! We truly just had the family adventure of a lifetime. The kids will remember this for their entire lives—and so will Karen and I. The five of us saw the country, visited friends and family, met lots of new people, and had a country full of new experiences. It sounds shmulzy, but we really did have a great time every day. So, no question about it, it was so, so worth it! :-)
COMMENTS FROM EACH OF US
EVAN: My favorite parts of the trip were the roller coasters in Disneyland, especially the California Screaming, which is a super-fast, super fun roller coaster. I liked riding in the car because I got to read, I got to watch TV, and listen to music. I liked Texas a lot. There was a fun swimming pool in Fort Worth and it was a lot of fun walking around the cowboy stores and stuff too. I liked the twin cities. I liked the aquarium in Atlanta. I liked seeing the buffalos in Yellowstone Park. It was just a scary fun experience. I liked the rodeo in Wyoming, too. The trip was a lot of fun. I would probably do it again.
LUCY: I remember the Grand Canyon, Count Mushroom (that’s how Zoe says Mount Rushmore), Lake Huron. I’m sad it’s over but I’m happy to be back home.
ZOE: I liked swimming where Gigi took me (MARK: a lake in Ft. Worth, TX), I also saw Buffalos. We were going to see wolves but we couldn’t because they were hidden (MARK: She’s talking about Yellowstone Park). Also the beach Dylan took us, too (MARK: She’s talking about Lake Huron). That water was so, so cold. We have a dog, he is crazy and hairy.
KAREN: First thought, I had no idea the US was so big, so vast and so different. Corny yes, but it made me proud to be an American. New Mexico and Wyoming were my favorite places. Second, I had a chance to spend time with wonderful people (long time friends, family, new friends, and people we met on the way)….that was the best part of the trip. Third, I have never been to a rodeo, ridden in a Sturgis bike rally (driving “Penelope” – our car- does count!), worn a cheese hat, ate southern food, and slept with bears and rattlesnakes! It doesn’t get better than that. I wish I could keep traveling!!!!
MARK: I don’t want to sound too gushy, but I loved everywhere we went for different reasons. Here are a few random highlights off the top of my head: the sunset in Cedar City, UT; the rodeo in Cody, WY; the longhorn parade in Ft. Worth, TX; reading on the porch next to Lake Huron in Ontario; screaming like a little girl on a scary high-speed roller coaster loop-de-loop with Evan and Lucy in Disney’s California Adventure (years ago I swore I’d never go on a ride like that, but the kids convinced me), Zoe grinning on a mechanical pony in Taos, smooching with Karen at the Grand Canyon…I could go on and on, but I’ll stop there.
THANK YOU: Thanks to all the family and friends, old and new, who we saw along the way. Thanks to the many wonderful bookstores that hosted us. A thousand thanks to Susan Green and Sylvia Rodgers for all your help. Special thanks to Karen, Evan, Lucy, and Zoe for being such terrific adventure partners. I’m so glad we had a chance to do this together. Big love to you all. And finally, thanks to you for coming along with us on this journey—I’m thrilled by the great response and the many, many kind emails I’ve received. What a great feeling to know that so many were interested in my crazy family’s audacious trip! And the response to this blog truly added to our adventure. Thank you!
WHAT’S NEXT?
It’s Saturday morning as I type this, so we’ve been home for three full days now. For years, Karen and I have been planning to switch roles eventually, where I’d quit my full-time day-job working for other people and instead stay at home with the kids while she goes back to work. And so that’s what we’re doing. As you know, I quit my job this past March. Two days ago Karen started working full-time again after more than ten years at home with the kids—she’s a Spanish teacher at Shrewsbury High School. (Yes, I’m a lucky man. Big love to you, Karen!)
Here’s Karen home from her first day of work.
The students aren’t back at school yet until next Tuesday, and so it’s been teacher-prep stuff so far. Yesterday (Friday), the kids and I went in to help her decorate her newly-assigned classroom.
And here I am two days ago (Thursday), my first-ever stay-at-home-dad day, walking back from Starbucks with the kids and Wendel. (The kids got hot chocolates, I got a tall Verona, and the dog got a nice walk).
STUFF PEOPLE HAVE TOLD ME I OUGHT TO HAVE DONE A WHILE AGO
A few people have emailed saying that I haven’t talked specifically about Lemonade Mouth, the novel, much in this blog, and that unless I do, I’m wasting a good opportunity. So, if you’re interested, below is a link where you can read the first few pages. The book is about five high-school outsiders who get in trouble, meet each other, and form a very strange rock band that changes the world.
Click on the image to read the first few pages
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
Another thing people have often asked me is "How can I help you? Is there anything I can do?" Well, it's a generous thought, and yeah, since I'm not J.K. Rowling or Philip Pullman I sure could use a little help getting the word out about my books. So, if you're willing, click here for some ideas of how to help.
ONWARD TO THE NEXT ADVENTURE!
But hang on…we’re nowhere near the end of our adventures!
Next up: Being a stay-at-home dad, taking care of three kids and the house, and trying to write my next novel whenever I can find a moment. So…fasten your seatbelts! Off we go!
Best,
--Mark
LEMONADE MOUTH (Delacorte Press, 2007)
I AM THE WALLPAPER (Delacorte Press, 2005)
These are gloomy days, between the war, the struggling economy, and our country's attempts to reckon with its place (and responsibilities) in this troubled world. Times like these call for hardboiled prose and hardboiled narrators.
Last night I had a long talk with a guy who liked private detective novels as much as me. I think these dark, crazy-metaphor-laden, and kinetic writers had the single biggest influence on my style, and I think they can help you write about our gloomy world.
Here are my Top Five Hardboiled Links at The Publishing Spot to help you explore this crazy genre and figure out how it can help you write:
1- The great hardboiled private detective radio and YouTube list.
2- My interview with pulp fiction loving novelist Paul Malmont
3- My interview with Vikram Chandra about his Indian detective in a hardboiled world.
4- My interview with Charlie Huston about his vampire private detective books.
5- My interview with Christa Faust about her hardboiled wrestling novels.
Whenever I'm suffering from writer's block, I always pick up a battered private detective novel for inspiration. Now, I can do it on a video browser.
Over at the web video blog Reel Pop, Steve Bryant has brought pulp fiction into the YouTube era. He lists, complete with trailers, clips, and links, his five favorite television private detectives. Take a trip down memory lane with him.
Last year while researching my Paul Malmont interview, I put together a list of the best hardboiled radio shows with the help of the Rara-Avis mailing list. Check it out for your audio pleasure.
1- The outrageous, jumbled metaphors and pulpy soundtrack of Pat Novak, For Hire.
2- The impeccable cool of Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator.
3- The cynical insurance P.I. who always gets mixed up in murder, Jeff Regan, Investigator.
4- The violent, dark adventures on Gunsmoke.
Finally, list member Dick Lochte mailed in a much longer list, full of great shows to check out: "Richard Diamond, Private Detective was pretty hardboiled. The Third Man: The Lives of Harry Lime, with Orson Welles in adventures that took place before the character was bumped off by his pal, is arguably hardboiled. As are shows with Alan Ladd (Box 13), Bogart and Bacall (Bold Venture), Edward G. Robinson (Big Town), Jeff Chandler (Michael Shayne)."
