Bernstein In Chichester (1946‑2016)
It is a big year in Chichester as we mark the strong ties with Leonard Bernstein, the composer of ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Chichester Psalms’, on his centenary. The Bernstein in Chichester festival unites the city with London, New York, Paris, Vienna, Tokyo and other major centres in a worldwide remembrance of one of the great musical forces of the 20th century. In addition to the 3 Bernstein movies shown in full, the Film Festival also includes two illustrated talks on the movies and his lectures, the documentary on the making of Leonard Bernstein’s studio recording of ‘West side Story’, and the ROH Bernstein three ballets repeated by permission of the Royal Opera House especially for Chichester. Booking Ref
Thu 16 Aug 13:30
On the Town
New York, New York – it’s a helluva town; the Bronx is up and the Battery’s down; the people ride in a hole in the ground ... Well, you get the idea. Those lyrics (by Betty Comden and Adolph Green), set to Leonard Bernstein’s music, have made ‘On the Town’ a permanent part of the psychological landscape of New York City. The story (inspired by Jerome Robbins’s ballet ‘Fancy Free’) is pretty slight: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin play sailors with 24 hours’ leave to take their bite out of the Big Apple. When they meet, and then lose, this month’s Miss Turnstiles (Vera-Ellen), they scour the town in search of her, bumping into a lady anthropologist (Ann Miller) along the way. Some of the Bernstein tunes in the stage-show were dropped in the film replaced by others composed by Roger Edens, Conrad Salinger and Lennie Hayton. But the rousing opening number, ‘New York, New York, It’s a wonderful town’ was retained as were some of the ballet sequences. Shot mostly in the studio but with location exteriors all over town, from Coney Island to the Statue of Liberty to Central Park, this 1949 gem was the first of three great musicals co-directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. USA 1949 Donen & Kelly 93m
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