Leonard Bernstein - 1918-1990

This year marks the centenary celebration of Leonard Bernstein's birth.  He was born Louis Bernstein in Lawrence, Massachusetts on August 25, 2918 and died October 14, 1990 in New York City, New York at the age of 72.  He was a composer, conductor author, lecturer, and pianist.  According to music critic Donal Henahan, he was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history."


Bernstein was influenced by the composer Marc Blitzstein, conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos, composer Aaron Copland and conductor Fritz Reiner at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, who is said to have given Bernstein the only "A" grade he ever awarded.


In 1958, he began his tenure as conductor with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, after stepping in at the last moment for conductor Guido Cantelli, who died in an airplane crash.  At this time, he also began his series of fifty-three televised Young People's concerts for CBS.


Bernstein has been awarded Grammy Awards for Best Album for children, Best Orchestral Performance, Best Choral Performance, Best Opera Recording, Best Classical Vocal Performance, Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance, Best Classical Contemporary Composition, Best Classical Album, and Lifetime Achievement.  He also won a Tony Award for Best Musical.  He is a Gramophone Hall of Fame entrant, and a member of both the American Theater Hall of Fame, and the Television Hall of Fame.  In 2015 he was inducted into the Legacy Walk.  In 1990 he won the Japan Arts Association award for lifetime achievement.


His works include ballets, operas, musicals, incidental music and other theatre, film scores, orchestral, choral, chamber music, vocal music, and pianos music. Among his noteworthy are
On the Town (1944), Trouble in Tahiti (1952),
On the Waterfront (1954) Candide (1956), West Side Story (1957), MASS (1971) and A Quiet Place (1983). 

Tony Awards – 2017

The 71st Annual Tony Awards were held on June 11, 2017, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2016–17 season. The ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and was broadcast live by CBS. 

Dear Evan Hansen was written by Pasek & Paul, with a book by Steven Levenson.  It opened on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre in December 2016.

The title character, Evan Hansen, is a high school senior with a social anxiety disorder who finds himself amid the turmoil that follows a classmate’s death.

Won: Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Music – Ben Platt as Evan Hansen, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical – Rachel Bay Jones as Heidi Hansen, Best Book of a Musical – Steven Levenson, Best Original Score – Pasek & Paul, and Best Orchestrations – Alex Lacamoire.

Hello, Dolly! (Revival) is a 1964 musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder’s 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers.  The musical follows the story of Dolly Levi (a matchmaker), as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly Horace Vandergelder.

Won: Best Performance by a Leading Lady in a Musical – Bette Midler as Dolly Gallagher Levi, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical – Gavin Creel as Cornelius Hackl, and Best Costume Design – Santo Loquasto.

Come From Away is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein.  It is set in the week following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and tells the true story of what transpired when 38 planes were ordered to land unexpectedly in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland.

Won: Best direction of a Musical – Christopher Ashley.

KB

Reese Witherspoon Reading List

Guess who people are following for great reads recommendations? That's right Reese Witherspoon!

When your favorite celebs aren’t hard at work filming an upcoming movie or TV show, many love to dive into a good book. Academy Award–winning actress Reese Witherspoon is a self-professed bookworm, and her Instagram account has become a social media book club named #rwbookclub where she highlights the books she’s reading with artful photographs. Hundreds of fans chime in with their thoughts on her selections, and offer their recommendations as well.
Check out the Time Magazine article on Reese Witherspoon and building a powerful book club.
Reese is optioning books that have strong protagonist characters and making them into film. She has purchased the rights to Wild and Gone Girl which made for a remarkable first two movies racking up a collective three Oscar nominations and five Golden Globe nods. They both happened to stem from bestselling books. Reese and her partners started the company, Pacific Standard with one goal in mind: to develop and produce film and television with complex and interesting female characters.

Reese Witherspoon is adding to her literary bonafides by writing her own “lifestyle” book, which will celebrate her Southern roots. The so-far-untitled book by the actress, producer and book lover “will celebrate the American South’s signature style, grace, and charm and illustrate how 21st century women can incorporate these elements into everyday life”. The book will be published in 2018 by Touchstone and Simon & Schuster U.K. and will include color photographs and “personal essays about the people and places that influenced” Witherspoon.

Check out some of Witherspoon’s book recommendations from #rwbookclub.

1. Second Life by S.J. Watson

2. Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knolls

3. Ashley's War by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

5. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

6. The Girl On the Train By Paula Hawkins

7. Little Big Lies by Liane Moriarty
8. You'll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein
9. The Dry by Jane Harper
10. The Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person

11. Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
12. All Is Not forgotten by Wendy Walker

13. Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

14. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

15. Opening Belle by Maureen Sherry

16. In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Were

17. The Girls by Emma Cline
18. First Comes Love by Emily Griffin

19. The Outliers by Kimberly McCeight

21. Wild by Cherly Strayed

22. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
23. The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

These are books that Reese Witherspoon has loved and her company Pacific Standard Films is set to create into movies.

Tony Awards - 2016

 Hamilton is about the life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.  The show was inspired by the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.


Won: Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Leslie Odom, Jr. as Aaron Burr); Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson; Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Renee Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler Church); Best Book of a Musical - Lin-Manuel Miranda; Best Original Score - Lin-Manuel Miranda; Best Costume Design of a Musical - Paul Tazewell; Best Direction of a Musical - Thomas Kail; Best Orchestrations - Alex Lacamoire; Best Choreography - Andy Blankenbuehler; Best Lighting Design - Howell Binkley.

The Color Purple is based on the novel The Color Purple by AliceWalker, which focuses on the life of African-American women in the southern United States in the 1930s. Music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray; Book by Marsha Norman.

Won: Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Cynthia Erivo as Celie Harris Johnson); Best Revival of a Musical.

She Loves Me is the third adaptation of the play Miklos Laszio about two Budapest shop employees, who are at odds with each other at work, but are unaware that they are each other's secret pen pal. Music - Jerry Bock; Lyrics - Sheldon Harnick; Book - Joe Masteroff.

Won: Best Scenic Design of a Musical - David Rockwell.



PRINCE - Music Producer, Songwriter, Singer - Gone from Our Midst - (06/07/1958 - 04/21/2016)

Prince Roger Nelson was a legendary musician who achieved wide fame in he 1980s with the album 1999 and Purple Rain, the latter album sharing a title with a film starring the musician. These albums cemented his superstar status. He was named after the Prince Roger Trio, a jazz band his father performed with as a pianist.

He was signed to Warner Brothers Records as a teenager. Prince was a perfectionist who was highly protective of his music. He wrote, composed and produced the majority of his music and played most of the instruments on his albums.

Prince's artistry included his singing abilities - a wide range from falsetto to baritone and quick flamboyant shifts of register. He was also a prominent multi-instrumentalist who played all 27 instruments on his debut album. As a performer he played on various guitars, piano, lead vocals and occasional bass, drums and harmonica. On recordings he played assorted keyboards and synthesizers, bass guitar, drums, percussion and saxophone.

You can honor Prince's legendary music in memoriam by checking out his recordings in the GPL collection:

1999 published in 1982
Purple Rain published in 1984
Graffiti Bridge published in 1990
Very Best of Prince published in 2001
Lullaby Renditions of Prince published in 2012
HITnRUN Phase One published in 2015 (his latest, last, except for HITnRUN Phase Two (streaming)

This a limited listing and there are many recordings in between. Search under Prince as well as Revolution (Musical Group) as authors, then reminisce.

Don't forget his motion picture, Purple Rain, the DVD: 20th Anniversary published in 2004 nor his book entitled 21 Nights published in 2008, a pictorial work of his performance in London, England.

His amazing talents will be missed.

Happy National Library Week!

1959 National Library Week Poster

Did you know that it is National Library Week?  First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries - school, public, academic and special - participate.

In the mid-1950s, research showed that Americans were spending less on books and more on radios, televisions and musical instruments. Concerned that Americans were reading less, the ALA and the American Book Publishers formed a nonprofit citizens organization called the National Book Committee in 1954. The committee's goals were ambitious.   They ranged from "encouraging people to read in their increasing leisure time" to "improving incomes and health" and "developing strong and happy family life."

In 1957, the committee developed a plan for National Library Week based on the idea that once people were motivated to read, they would support and use libraries. With the cooperation of ALA and with help from the Advertising Council, the first National Library Week was observed in 1958 with the theme "Wake Up and Read!"

This year National Library Week will be observed April 10-16, 2016 with the theme, "Libraries Transform." And the Glenview Public Library is hosting many events to celebrate. 

A World of Mystery: Award-Winning Authors Event

Sunday, April 10, 1:30-3 PM
Community Room
From the skyscrapers of Chicago to the ten thousand lakes of Minnesota, award-winning crime fiction authors William Kent Krueger (Windigo Island, Ordinary Grace) and Libby Fischer Hellmann (Jump Cut) will take you away to a world of mystery, deception, and suspense. Join us as we welcome National Library Week with a special afternoon of interviews, conversation, and intrigue. Book sale and signing to follow.

Lady Almina & The Real Downton Abbey

Tuesday, April 12, 7-8 PM
Community Room
Missing your Downton Abbey fix? Learn about the lost legacy of Highclere Castle and hear about the real historical characters who lived there. Based on the book by Almina Herbert, current Countess of Carnarvon. Performed by book dramatist, Lynn Rymarz.

Quarterly Listening & Music Discussion Group
Rewind - Looking Back on the Year's Best Releases

Wednesday, April 13, 7-8:30 PM
Multipurpose Room
Join AV Librarian Michael White for the National Library Week 'edition' of The Music Room. Hear some of 2015's most critically acclaimed releases, both on and off the radar. As music fans and critics everywhere compiled annual 'Best Of' lists, there's still plenty of time to catch up on some good sounds from sources such as NPR's All Songs Considered, Sound Opinions, Pitchfork, The Chicago Reader, The AV Club, and more. Please join us as we listen to and discuss selected tracks from some of the year's most talked about music.

Pawn Sacrifice - film
(115min/PG-13/2015)

Friday, April 15, 2 & 6:30 PM
American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer and Soviet Grandmaster Boris Spassky enthrall the world with their intense battle of wills and strategy during the 1972 World Chess Championship.

For more information on events for adults, children and teens go here.  Or call us at 847-729-7500 to reserve a spot.  And happy National Library Week!

Back to the Beginning: Chicago Silent Film Festival

Want to go back to the movies' beginning? When the film stars were Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow, Harold Lloyd, Marion Davies, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks? Did you like the Academy Award winning movie The Artist?


The Silent Film Society of Chicago is holding their 2013 Silent Summer Film Festival at the historic Des Plaines Theatre. The festival starts July 19th and continues on Friday nights through July and August. Each film has a live theater organ accompaniment so you can step back in time and view the films as they were originally shown. Ticket information and the film selection is listed here.


For more about silent movies and their stars try these titles:

Silent Movies by Neil Sinyard

Speaking of the Silents: First Ladies of the Screen by Willam M. Drew

Or how about viewing some of the silent movies on DVD that the library carries?
Take a peek and see the history of the movies from a different perspective.

Dancing DVDs

After recommending movies with a dance theme to my friend for her daughter who loves to dance, I thought they might appeal to some of our patrons. Here is a list of dance theme DVDs in no particular order, but I did love Strictly Ballroom. If you like them, don't forget to check out the soundtracks.

Strictly Ballroom - An Australian championship ballroom dancer, who is breaking all the rules, and his ugly duckling dancing partner make their dreams come true together. Fun and quirky. Glenview has on VHS but you can order the DVD

Flashdance - Alex Owens is a Pittsburgh steel worker by day and an exotic dancer by night. Her dream is to get into a real dance company. With encouragement from her boyfriend boss, she may get her chance.

Billy Elliot - Eleven-year-old miner's son Billy Elliot from rural England is on his way to boxing lessons when he stumbles upon a ballet class. Billy secretly joins the class, knowing that his blue-collar family would never understand. You can't help but root for Billy and his family.

Save the Last Dance - Sara's dreams of being a ballerina are shattered when her mother suddenly dies and she is sent to live with her father in Chicago's gritty South Side. She takes her steps to a whole new level and meets a boy along the way. This one will appeal to young adults.

Footloose - City-boy Ren McCormick finds moves to an uptight Midwestern town where the local officials have banned dancing and rock 'n roll music. Ren revolts with his best friend Willard and the minister's daughter by kicking up their heels and dancing even more passionately.

Dirty Dancing - Summer romance between a dance instructor and a guest at a hotel in the Catskills. One of Patrick Swayze's most notable roles.

Shall We Dance - A Chicago lawyer's life and marriage take an unexpected turn when he follows a woman to a dance studio and begins to take lessons and finds he has a passion for dance. His wife thinks he is having an affair and hires a detective to follow him.