Dear Lenny: Bernstein’s Life in Songs & Letters

Please note: this is a rescheduled performance originally set for January 31, 2022.  

“Dear Lenny has the fizz, elegance and smoothness of a champagne cocktail.” – Pioneer Press

Chronofon returns to the Dakota with Dear Lenny: Bernstein’s Life in Songs & Letters, a loving tribute to the composer of West Side Story. Songs
include “Something’s Coming”, “Tonight”, “A Boy Like That”, “Some Other Time” and many more.

Featuring Dan Chouinard, Prudence Johnson & Bradley Greenwald with soprano Liz Hawkinson, Bruce Thornton on clarinet and Gary Raynor on bass. Dear Lenny: Bernstein’s Life in Songs & Letters is a tribute to Leonard Bernstein’s commitment to music, love and the artist as a progressive social activist. Bernstein’s masterpieces from Broadway (On the Town, Candide, West Side Story), the concert hall (“Mass”) and silver screen (On the Waterfront)–together with his fascinating and candid correspondence with Aaron Copland, Steven Sondheim, Jacqueline Kennedy, Jerome Robbins, Bette Davis, and more–will be presented in a theatrical concert that, as Bernstein would put it, “appeals to both the intellect and the heart.”

Dear Lenny co-creator Bradley Greenwald:
“We concocted this piece as a meditation on Leonard Bernstein and decided the best way to do that would be to use only his music and selections from his public and personal letters that had recently been published. We wouldn’t write any commentary ourselves–his music and the voices in the letters would be more revelatory, and direct, and pure.  That’s what we’ve always aimed for when creating these Chronofon shows: to reveal the artist, or a particular era, without creating the atmosphere of a lecture, or sound like a Wikipedia page. The gentle theatrical devices we’ve
used–intricate lighting to heighten specific moments or to make them more intimate, projected text and photos and backdrops, minimal scenery and props–are all used to guide the audience into the material. That visual setting frees us from the need to explain the context of the music. We show it to them.”

COVID-19 Policy
Effective immediately, all performances at the Dakota will require either proof of a full course of COVID-19 vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken in the prior 72 hours. Patrons must have a completed COVID-19 vaccination card or a photo of their card, with their final dose at least fourteen days prior to the event, or a negative COVID-19 test result from 72 hours or less prior to the event. Thank you for helping to keep everyone safe. More COVID Policy details here >>

Learn More: https://danchouinard.com/