On & Off Broadway

'Maestro'

Review by Elyse Trevers

Posted

Hershey Felder has made a career out of portraying musical icons. He’s been Irving Berlin, Franz Liszt and George Gershwin. In Maestro, he traces the life and career of Leonard Bernstein, the American composer /conductor in a one -man show.

Felder performs several piano pieces that include some of Bernstein’s Broadway works, songs from On the Town, Wonderful Town and Candide. Despite “Bernstein’s” lament about being mostly remembered for West Side Story (which he labels “juvenilia”) rather than for any of his serious classic works, Felder manages to include the show music on three separate occasions. The show also features music by Wagner, Copland and other classical composers.

While the music is worth the price of the show itself, the book is sorely lacking. All the characters have accents that sound vaguely Eastern European and sometimes even comical, even though they are famous musical figures. The accents sound alike (did I hear Dracula?). Felder plays Bernstein’s father, a cold and aloof man, who doesn’t support his son’s aspirations fearing that he won’t be able to support himself.


In Maestro, Leonard Bernstein comes across as a dislikable figure. Despite the image of the sophisticated, intelligent, well-spoken teacher shown in a short film clip preceding the show, the Bernstein onstage is cocky and arrogant. At one point, he even pronounces himself to be God. Although we admire him, we don’t like him.

The play shows how Judaism influenced his music. When a mentor advises him to change his name to avoid anti-Semitism, he declines. He will not hide who he is, yet he was a closeted homosexual, a fact that Felder covers summarily in the play. Bernstein lived through WWII, but the play shows no impact of the war on him at all, as if it passed him by entirely. I found that puzzling.

The music in Maestro is marvelous and it's enjoyable. Bernstein made a major contribution to American music, both as a composer and a conductor. He deserves a better show.