Edwin Lester
Encyclopedia
Edwin Lester was an American
theatre director, impresario
, and producer
. He was the longtime general director of the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
, which he founded in 1938. He also co-founded the LACLO's affiliate organization, the San Francisco Civic Light Opera, with Homer Curran
in 1939. Under his leadership, the LACLO produced or co-produced several of their own shows, a number of which went on to wider success, including Song of Norway
(1944), Magdalena
(1948), Kismet
(1953), Peter Pan
(1954) and Gigi
(1973). Lester also brought in shows from Broadway to California, often with their original casts.
, Lester worked professionally as a singer during his childhood and then had a brief career as a concert pianist. He moved to California to work for Sid Grauman
at the Chinese Theater
in Hollywood where he staged spectacle prologues in the late 1920s. In the early 1930s he worked as a talent manager for performers.
In 1938 Lester founded the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera under the motto "Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner". The company opened its first season in 1938 with Franz Schubert
's operetta Blossom Time
, presented in English with stars John Charles Thomas
and Francia White
. The production was both a critical and financial success, and the company went on to have three more sold out productions that season with Sigmund Romberg
's The Student Prince
, Romberg's The New Moon
, and Jerome Kern
's Roberta
.
While including touring productions from NYC in their annual season, the LACLO still continued to mount their own locally produced productions under the artistic leadership of Lester. One major triumph for the company was the 1944 operetta Song of Norway
which Lester commissioned Milton Lazarus
, Robert Wright
, and George Forrest
to create using the music of Edvard Grieg
. The production later went on to have a successful Broadway run. Wright and Forrest created several more original works for the LACLO, most notably the 1953 musical Kismet
, which had an even greater success in New York. Perhaps the most successful original work to be produced at the LACLO was the 1954 musical version of Peter Pan
which Lester orchestrated as a star vehicle for Mary Martin
. After opening in Los Angeles, the production moved to Broadway, winning Martin a Tony Award
. The LACLO also exported a number of revivals to Broadway during its history, including a 1945 revival of Victor Herbert
's The Red Mill
which ran for more than a year in New York.
Lester retired as general director and producer of the LACLO in 1976. He continued on as a member of the LACLO and SFLOC boards until closing of the companies. The SFLOC closed in 1980 and the LACLO closed in 1987. He died at the age of 95 at his home in Beverly Hills.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatre director, impresario
Impresario
An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...
, and producer
Theatrical producer
A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...
. He was the longtime general director of the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera was an American theatre/opera company in Los Angeles, California. Founded under the motto "Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner" in 1938 by impresario Edwin Lester, the organization presented fifty seasons of theatre before closing due to financial reasons in...
, which he founded in 1938. He also co-founded the LACLO's affiliate organization, the San Francisco Civic Light Opera, with Homer Curran
Homer Curran
Homer F. Curran was an American theatrical producer who had a profound impact on the development of professional theatre on the West Coast of the United States during the first half of the 20th century. Born in Springfield, Missouri, he was educated at Stanford University. After graduating, he...
in 1939. Under his leadership, the LACLO produced or co-produced several of their own shows, a number of which went on to wider success, including Song of Norway
Song of Norway
Song of Norway is an operetta written in 1944 by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Edvard Grieg and the book by Milton Lazarus and Homer Curran...
(1944), Magdalena
Magdalena (musical)
Magdalena: a Musical Adventure is a musical with music by Heitor Villa-Lobos, original book by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan and Homer Curran, with subsequent lyrics and musical adaptations by Robert Wright and George Forrest...
(1948), Kismet
Kismet
Kismet may refer to:* Fate or Destiny in Turkish and Hindi-Urdu, a predetermined course of events, from Persian qesmat, from Arabic qisma, lot, from qasama, to divide, allot...
(1953), Peter Pan
Peter Pan (1954 musical)
Peter Pan is a musical adaptation of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan and Barrie's own novelization of it, Peter and Wendy. The music is mostly by Mark "Moose" Charlap, with additional music by Jule Styne, and most of the lyrics were written by Carolyn Leigh, with additional lyrics by Betty...
(1954) and Gigi
Gigi (musical)
Gigi is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. It is based on the novella Gigi by Colette and 1958 hit musical film of the same name. The story concerns Gigi, a free-spirited teenaged girl living in Paris at the turn of the 20th century. She is being...
(1973). Lester also brought in shows from Broadway to California, often with their original casts.
Biography
Born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Lester worked professionally as a singer during his childhood and then had a brief career as a concert pianist. He moved to California to work for Sid Grauman
Sid Grauman
Sidney Patrick Grauman was an American showman who created one of Southern California's most recognizable and visited landmarks, Grauman's Chinese Theater. He was the son of David Grauman who died in 1921 in Los Angeles, California and Rosa Goldsmith...
at the Chinese Theater
Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Grauman's Chinese Theatre is a movie theater at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. It is on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame.The Chinese Theatre was commissioned following the success of the nearby Grauman's Egyptian Theatre which opened in 1922...
in Hollywood where he staged spectacle prologues in the late 1920s. In the early 1930s he worked as a talent manager for performers.
In 1938 Lester founded the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera under the motto "Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner". The company opened its first season in 1938 with Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
's operetta Blossom Time
Das Dreimäderlhaus
Das Dreimäderlhaus , adapted into English language versions as Blossom Time and Lilac Time, is a Viennese pastiche 'operetta' with music by Franz Schubert, rearranged by Hungarian Heinrich Berté , and a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Heinz Reichert...
, presented in English with stars John Charles Thomas
John Charles Thomas
John Charles Thomas was a popular American opera, operetta and concert baritone.-Birth, schooling and stage debut:...
and Francia White
Francia White
Francia White was an American soprano who had an active career in concerts, operas, operettas, radio, television, and film during the late 1920s through the 1940s. She began her career as a vaudeville performer in her late teens and then began singing in more serious classical music repertoire...
. The production was both a critical and financial success, and the company went on to have three more sold out productions that season with Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg was a Hungarian-born American composer, best known for his operettas.-Biography:Romberg was born as Siegmund Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Gross-Kanizsa during the Austro-Hungarian kaiserlich und königlich monarchy period...
's The Student Prince
The Student Prince
The Student Prince is an operetta in four acts with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Dorothy Donnelly. It is based on Wilhelm Meyer-Förster's play Alt Heidelberg. The piece has elements of melodrama but lacks the swashbuckling style common to Romberg's other works...
, Romberg's The New Moon
The New Moon
The New Moon is the name of an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab. The show was the third and last in a string of Broadway hits for Romberg written in the style of Viennese operetta...
, and Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
's Roberta
Roberta
Roberta is a musical from 1933 with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics and book by Otto Harbach. The musical is based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller...
.
While including touring productions from NYC in their annual season, the LACLO still continued to mount their own locally produced productions under the artistic leadership of Lester. One major triumph for the company was the 1944 operetta Song of Norway
Song of Norway
Song of Norway is an operetta written in 1944 by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Edvard Grieg and the book by Milton Lazarus and Homer Curran...
which Lester commissioned Milton Lazarus
Milton Lazarus
Milton Lazarus was an American playwright and screenwriter. He began his career as a Press Agent before pursuing a career as a writer. He wrote the book for the Broadway musicals Shoot the Works , New Faces of 1936 , and Song of Norway...
, Robert Wright
Robert Wright (writer)
Robert [Craig] Wright was an American composer-lyricist for Hollywood and the musical theatre best known for the Broadway musical and musical film Kismet, for which he and his professional partner George Forrest adapted themes by Alexander Borodin and added lyrics...
, and George Forrest
George Forrest (author)
George Forrest was a writer of music and lyrics for musical theatre best known for the show Kismet, adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin.-Biography:...
to create using the music of Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
. The production later went on to have a successful Broadway run. Wright and Forrest created several more original works for the LACLO, most notably the 1953 musical Kismet
Kismet (musical)
Kismet is a musical with lyrics and musical adaptation by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, based on Kismet, the 1911 play by Edward Knoblock...
, which had an even greater success in New York. Perhaps the most successful original work to be produced at the LACLO was the 1954 musical version of Peter Pan
Peter Pan (1954 musical)
Peter Pan is a musical adaptation of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan and Barrie's own novelization of it, Peter and Wendy. The music is mostly by Mark "Moose" Charlap, with additional music by Jule Styne, and most of the lyrics were written by Carolyn Leigh, with additional lyrics by Betty...
which Lester orchestrated as a star vehicle for Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
. After opening in Los Angeles, the production moved to Broadway, winning Martin a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
. The LACLO also exported a number of revivals to Broadway during its history, including a 1945 revival of Victor Herbert
Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert was an Irish-born, German-raised American composer, cellist and conductor. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I...
's The Red Mill
The Red Mill
The Red Mill is an operetta written by Victor Herbert, with a libretto by Henry Blossom. It premiered on Broadway on September 24, 1906 at the Knickerbocker Theatre and ran for 274 performances, starring comedians Fred Stone and David Montgomery. It was revived on October 16, 1945, opening at the...
which ran for more than a year in New York.
Lester retired as general director and producer of the LACLO in 1976. He continued on as a member of the LACLO and SFLOC boards until closing of the companies. The SFLOC closed in 1980 and the LACLO closed in 1987. He died at the age of 95 at his home in Beverly Hills.