JEFF HAMLIN Production Manager for Lincoln Center Theater oversaw more than 150 productions from 1985-2014. For Michael Bennett he served as production stage manager on A CHORUS LINE, BALLROOM, and DREAMGIRLS. Today Jeff joins us to discuss the life and career of Bernard Gersten and Lincoln Center Theater.

BERNARD GERSTEN affectionately known as “Bernie” Gersten was born on January 30, 1923.

From 1960 to 1978 he worked with Joseph Papp as Associate Producer for the New York Shakespeare Festival.

He oversaw productions of Hair, That Championship Season, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf, Streamers, and A Chorus Line.

After leaving NYSF he served as Executive Producer at Lincoln Center Theater from 1985 until he retired in 2013. He over saw over 150 productions for which he received 15 Tony Awards including: House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, Sarafina, and The Coast of Utopia. In 2013 he received the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Mr. Gersten died on April 27, 2020.