By Amanda Moses
The melodic hum of a clarinet slowly followed by the resounding blare of a trumpet, the clash of symbols and full orchestra booming with each note perfectly synchronized—this was the rhapsody of Maestro Leonard Bernstein.
On October 3rd, members of the press were enveloped by the musical genius of Bernstein during the New York Film Festival’s (NYFF) North American Premier of Maestro, directed and starred by Bradley Cooper.
The film emphasized the sheer brilliance of Cooper’s ability to showcase the public and private life and career of Bernstein, along with his complicated relationship with his wife and children. With the aid of detailed makeup design, Cooper portrayed Bernstein through multiple stages of his life.
Maestro oozes with heartache, passion, and simply love. Whether that be the love of music, a significant other, or even the ability to love oneself and accept their own talent. Viewers will be swept away by the romantic, albeit turbulent relationship between Bernstein and his wife actress Felicia Montealege (played by Carey Mulligan). While Cooper has captured all of Bernstein mannerisms, it is the makeup design, which included a prosthetic nose, ears and even a nasal insert to change the sound of his voice, that made him truly embody the character.
Rather than solely focusing on Bernstein’s musical career, Cooper showcased the constant desire for the maestro to make a name for himself and the toll it took on his family.
After the showcase at NYFF, there was a Q&A session with Producer Kristie Macosko Krieger, Jamie Bernstein (daughter of Leonard Bernstein), makeup designer Kazu Hiro, costume designer Mark Bridges, production designer Kevin Thompson, production sound mixer Steve Morrow, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conducting consultant). Cooper and the cast were unable to attend the session to promote the film due to the Screen Actors Guild- American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-Aftra) strike.
Once the story and script were prepared, it was up to makeup designer Kazu Hiro to perform the arduous task of sculpting prosthetics that would transform Cooper into Bernstein. Hiro shared that it wasn’t just Cooper’s face that was changed, but the wig on his head, the liver spots and arm hair, a bodysuit displaying a big belly, and so much more detail that went into recreating Bernstein’s appearance over the decades.
Since Cooper wanted to appear as Bernstein on set, he would arrive six hours early to have his makeup design team transform him so he could direct the film in character.
“I was really inspired by him, and I loved his look,” Hiro said describing his love for Bernstein.
“The older [makeup] part was hard because when people get older what happened is not adding on the surface but its more shrink from inside. The only thing you can do [for makeup] is to add on the surface so we had to figure out what would be the best way to convincingly make Bradley look like Lenny and at the same making him older,” Hiro said.
For Jamie Bernstein, watching the film was a surreal experience but she knew even before seeing it that she trusts Cooper to tell her father’s story.
“When Bradley suggested that his approach would be different, that he preferred to make it an exploration of Lenny and Felicia, like more of a portrait of a marriage. My brother and sister and I were so impressed and pleased with that idea, that angle, that lens through which to tell the story. From the very beginning of Bradley’s arrival on the project, we felt like we were in really good and unusually good hands,” Jaime Bernstein said.
On October 2nd, Jaime Bernstein saw the film at David Geffen Hall, which is where the New York Philharmonic is located (Leonard Bernstein was the conductor from 1958-1969). She shared that this was the place she saw her father conduct music numerous times growing up, and it felt like a full circle moment watching the film based on his life.
“It was so gratifying and almost mystical circularity for our lives that we shared with the three of us together and with our parents. Seeing that final version on the giant screen with the incredible Dolby Atmos Sound was just overwhelmingly thrilling and very surreal. It’s been surreal to see these two people becoming more and more along like our own parents, but at different ages,” Jaime Bernstein said.
Photos by Amanda Moses
