Podcast: The Late Bernard Gersten Gives His Final Interview on THE FABULOUS INVALID

The latest episode of the Broadway podcast "The Fabulous Invalid" is a tribute to legendary theatre producer and non-profit administrator Bernard Gersten, who passed away on April 27th at age 97.

Co-hosts Jamie DuMont and Rob Russo sat down with Gersten last August for what would turn out to be his final interview.

"At the time, we talked to Bernard about his work with Joe Papp at The Public Theater, thinking we'd do an episode about that chapter of his life", said DuMont. He continued, "but after we learned the news of his passing, we knew we had to pay tribute to his entire life."

The episode follows Gersten's remarkable career from his time in the Army to his 18-year partnership with Joe Papp at New York Shakespeare Festival and Public Theater, and his work founding Lincoln Center Theater (LCT) in 1985 and then producing over 150 productions over the following 28 years.

Featuring DuMont and Russo's interview with Gersten alongside archival audio, the episode also includes contributions from The Public Theater's current artistic director Oskar Eustis, LCT's founding artistic director Gregory Mosher, LCT's current producing artistic director André Bishop, and celebrated director Jerry Zaks, who helmed several of LCT's early productions.

"Bernard literally changed the course of the American theatre," said Russo. "He was the unsung hero responsible not only for the success of The Public Theater and Lincoln Center Theater, but also for creating the model through which non-profit theatre companies produce commercial runs of shows directly on Broadway. No one had done that before him."