Epistle from Bernstein's Mass - Great Song, Relevant Always

[hereRusty]

It finally occurred to me to google Alan Titus and YIPPEEDOODLES! hahaha... I was blessed by being the kid of a parent that worked in the Kennedy Center and was often allowed to see many marvelous artists, performances and play in the back wings... Only once in my life did I have something resembling a full blown "crush" and I, who cannot remember names, never forgot Alan Titus (the Celebrant in Mass).... omg, I was 12 if I remember correctly and I was oh so taken and he was oh so beautiful!...

[FredericaE]

Thank you for this!!!! Lenny is my musical "hero" !! I LOVE this "Mass". And---I LOVE the way YOU used the photos, etc. Bravo !!!!

[alexandrevlad37]

Alan Titus,you are fantastic! 

[Clinton52732]

Absolutely love the graphics to accompany this wonderful piece!

[JaredPaul54]

Indeed, Alan Titus is a Baritone. And I might add, one hell of a nice man. He was really kind to me when I was in High School. I'll always thank him for it.

[TheTristan1954]

Alan Titus was very good as a light baritone when he was young, nowadays he's singing heavy parts like Wotan in Bayreuth (evolutiontheory)

[Snowydog123]

There is no video of the first Kennedy center production, unfortunately. I know this, because I was in that production. There is a video of a production about 2 years later at Yale, and another of the 10th anniversary production at Kennedy Center.

Lenny would have loved your video, he was always a champion of the downtrodden.

[jevalles]

If you know how to get hold of a copy of that Yale production, please share it! That production was staged in Germany with Yale's personnel and later aired on PBS. (Robert Picardo of Star Trek fame was the celebrant!) The Yale performance was FANTASTIC!

[umpinchief]

@Snowydog123 Hi Snowydog.

I was in the Boys Choir at the Kennedy Center as a member of the Berkshire Boys Choir. That was a period of my life that I will always cherish. What abaout you?

[Snowydog123]

I was in the street chorus, singing parts of God Said and also "I believe in God, but does God believe in me. Something I said to Bernstein a few years before was the inspiration for I believe in God. Lenny was a great friend an mentor to me. Not a day goes by that I don't think of him and miss him, truly a man sent from God.

[king7wood]

I was visiting Washington DC in 1971 (I think) and missed the production at Kennedy Center by a few weeks! But I bought the LP...

[Doromir]

Allan Titus was never a tenor. That is a beautiful fresh young baritone voice

[yipster7rocks]

Mass is very interesting... I was in a production in Pittsburgh as part of the boy's chorus.

[MrsNathanLane]

Stephen Schwartz AND Leonard. Stephen Schwarts isn't that clever.

But..I'm in a production of it now. In Buffalo, NY. It's, frankly, awesome. I've got a clip of a rehearsal posted here. I had a performance tonight and the last one is tomorrow. :)

M

[xXCandiiLoveXx]

I was in a production of this a few years ago... it was jokes..:P

[jlmnrlm]

Hmm- relevant, yes. It certainly is different from what I would expect..

[Bataviapam]

This sure brings back memories. I saw a production of Mass over 30 years ago, then bought the LP. Thanks for posting.

[freakylittlegnome]

This is Alan Titus when he was young, boy can he sing!

Does anyone have any video of the Original production of Mass by Leonard Bernstein?

[Spartakos9]

The song is from Leonard Bernstein's Mass. Words by Stephen Schwartz.

[beadbop]

@Spartakos9 Small correction: Alan Titus is actually a baritone, not a tenor.

Bernstein's MASS is what made Titus a star in the opera world. More recently, John Cashmore played The Celebrant in a European production in 2009.

A complex, beautiful, but sadly neglected work of Bernstein's. Thanks for sharing!