On the Town - West End Creative Team

Leonard Bernstein was born on August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He took piano lessons as a boy and attended the Garrison and Boston Latin Schools. At Harvard University, he studied with Walter Piston, Edward Burlingame-Hill, and A. Tillman Merritt, among others. Before graduating in 1939, he made an unofficial conducting debut with his own incidental music to "The Birds," and directed and performed in Marc Blitzstein's "The Cradle Will Rock." Then at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he studied piano with Isabella Vengerova, conducting with Fritz Reiner, and orchestration with Randall Thompson. In 1940, he studied at the ... read more Betty Comden, born in Brooklyn in 1917, was an American lyricist, screenwriter, and actress. She is best known for her work with Adolph Green, with whom she collaborated on numerous musicals and films. Comden and Green met in 1938 while both were studying at New York University, and began writing together shortly thereafter. Their first Broadway credit was for On the Town, a musical about three sailors on a 24-hour leave in New York City. The show premiered in 1944 and was a huge success, cementing Comden and Green's place in the world of musical theater. Comden and Green went on to ... read more Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who was born on December 2, 1914, in the Bronx, New York. He was the son of Hungarian Jewish immigrants. Green's father was a successful businessman, and his mother was a homemaker. Green attended New York University, where he studied English and drama. Green began his career in show business as a performer in the late 1930s. He appeared in several Broadway productions, including "The New Yorkers" and "Two for the Show." However, it was his work as a lyricist that would make him famous. Green's first major success as a lyricist came in ... read more Mark was the recipient of the 1992, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2010 and 2016 Laurence Olivier Awards for Lighting Design, was awarded a Tony award in 2006 for The History Boys. Has lit extensively for all the major theatre, opera and dance companies in the UK including over 60 productions for the National Theatre and over 70 in the West End together with over 20 Broadway productions. ... read more Simon Lee was born in Brockville, Ontario, Canada in May 1992. He studied theatre at Bishop's University in the eastern townships of Quebec, before moving to Toronto to pursue a career in theatre and film. ... read more