Edwin Lester

Edwin Lester(30 March 1895, inNew York City– 13 December 1990, inBeverly Hills, California) was an Americantheatre director,impresario,andproducer.He was the longtime general director of theLos Angeles Civic Light Opera,which he founded in 1938. He also co-founded the LACLO's affiliate organization, theSan Francisco Civic Light Opera,withHomer Curranin 1939. Under his leadership, the LACLO produced or co-produced several of their own shows, a number of which went on to wider success, includingSong of Norway(1944),Magdalena(1948),Kismet(1953),Peter Pan(1954) andGigi(1973). Lester also brought in shows from Broadway to California, often with their original casts.

Biography

Born inNew York City,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 forSid Graumanat theChinese TheaterinHollywoodwhere 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 withFranz Schubert's operettaBlossom Time,presented in English with starsJohn Charles ThomasandFrancia White.The production was both a critical and financial success, and the company went on to have three more sold out productions that season withSigmund Romberg'sThe Student Prince,Romberg'sThe New Moon,andJerome Kern'sRoberta.

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 operettaSong of Norwaywhich Lester commissionedMilton Lazarus,Robert Wright,andGeorge Forrestto create using the music ofEdvard 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 musicalKismet,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 ofPeter Panwhich Lester orchestrated as a star vehicle forMary Martin.After opening in Los Angeles, the production moved to Broadway, winning Martin aTony Award.The LACLO also exported a number of revivals to Broadway during its history, including a 1945 revival ofVictor Herbert'sThe Red Millwhich 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.