Streetwise entertainment agent and producer who worked with stars such as Shirley Bassey, Judy Garland and Joan Collins
April 2024
On the Waterfront review – Marlon Brando’s wounded masculinity rains punches down
Rereleased for its 70th anniversary, Elia Kazan’s classic exploration of corruption and whether or not to squeal is made all the more viscerally powerful by his own Huac testimony
March 2024
Eric Carmen obituary
Lead singer with the Raspberries who went on to have a successful solo career, enjoying a huge 1975 hit with All By Myself
February 2024
Seiji Ozawa obituary
First Japanese conductor to gain recognition in the west who achieved superstar status
November 2023
Wendy Ide's film of the week
Maestro review – Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan make sweet music in dynamic Bernstein double act
Bradley Cooper’s Maestro nose is a red herring: the real story is the wrinkles
Stuart Heritage
Bradley Cooper weighs in on Maestro prosthetic nose controversy
Wigs, kisses and the pope’s jumpsuit: can Maestro reveal the real Bernstein?
September 2023
Maestro review – Bradley Cooper’s head-flingingly heartfelt Leonard Bernstein biopic
Cooper’s impersonation of the great composer is eerily exact, and gets to the heart of the sacrifices great artists feel they need to make
August 2023
The week in classical: Proms 38 & 39; Prom 40; Trouble in Tahiti – review
Bradley Cooper in ‘Jewface’ storm after Leonard Bernstein trailer reveals prosthetic nose
June 2023
Candide review – WNO go for broke with picaresque, Pythonesque craziness
Ed Lyon stands out in the titular role and there’s some witty animation, but Bernstein’s operetta feels too frenetic, with extra fizz forcefully injected
November 2022
Ned Rorem obituary
American composer with a genius for dramatic characterisation who won the Pulitzer prize in 1976
August 2022
Candide review – Voltaire and Bernstein enter the social media era
A brilliantly reimagined and boldly immersive promenade performance, complete with flashmob choir, plays to the strengths of Leonard Bernstein’s witty operetta
December 2021
Peter Bradshaw's film of the week
West Side Story review – Spielberg’s triumphantly hyperreal remake
Stunning recreations of the original film’s New York retain the songs and the dancing in a re-telling that will leave you gasping
October 2021
West Side Story at 60: the dazzlingly modern musical that’ll be hard to beat
With Steven Spielberg’s remake almost out, the 1961 original still feels thrillingly contemporary, a tough act to follow
August 2021
Peter Ind obituary
Jazz bassist who worked with the best in 1950s New York and in later years was the proprietor of the Bass Clef club in London
March 2020
Somewhere: the aching sound of West Side Story's plea for utopia
Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein’s ballad, which yearns for a safe place where love abounds, reflects 50s America and endures today
February 2020
Bradley Cooper lined up to play Barry Gibb in Bee Gees biopic
Actor’s repertoire of musical roles may expand to story of Saturday Night Fever disco superstars – after he’s played composer Leonard Bernstein
November 2019
Brief letters
Acting like a moth in the flame of carnality
Brief letters: Insect apocalypse | Boris Johnson | Tory manifesto | Election antidote | Leonard Bernstein | Aretha Franklin