THE CELEBRATED ACTOR, DIRECTOR, AND COMPOSER SPEAKS ON LIFE, THEATER, AND THE NATURE OF GREATNESS
B y D r. J o s h u a S h e r m a n
The GREAT
MARIA BARANOVA
John
Rubinstein
THE CELEBRATED ACTOR, DIRECTOR, AND COMPOSER SPEAKS ON LIFE, THEATER, AND THE NATURE OF GREATNESS
Tony Award ®-winning actor John Rubinstein, renowned for his roles in the original Broadway productions of Pippin( 1972) and Children of a Lesser God( 1979), is bringing his rich theatrical talents to Barrington Stage Company’ s Boyd-Quinson Stage, June 3 – 8, portraying President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the compelling new play Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground. Written by Richard Hellesen and directed by Peter Ellenstein, the production offers a unique glimpse into Eisenhower’ s life and presidency. In anticipation of his performance at Barrington Stage, Dr. Joshua Sherman, publisher of Berkshire Magazine, sat down for a candid conversation with Rubinstein. Below are excerpts from that talk.
Sherman: The first time I saw you perform was on TV. It was the 1986 Tony Awards ®. I distinctly remember you sitting at the piano, playing four-handed piano with a slew of celebrities. You started off singing " It ' s Love " from Wonderful Town, with Helen Hayes and José Ferrer surrounding you. Then, Bea Arthur led the group in " Heart " from Damn Yankees. I bring this up because, at the time, I didn’ t know your father was the legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein. But my first impression of you was sitting at the piano. In preparing for this interview, I noticed that you attended Juilliard for composition. Do you still play piano and make music?
Rubinstein: I was made to take piano lessons from age four. By the time I was a young teenager, I could play pretty well— not well enough to be known as a pianist, but I loved Broadway. I went to all the Broadway shows, and I knew all the songs. I could play countless Broadway songs and standards by ear. In high school, I started writing music for revues and skits. Then, at UCLA, where I was in the theater department, I provided incidental music for some of the plays.
A woman I ' d gone to school with asked if I would score her movie. I ' d never done it before, but I ' d written a couple of musicals at school. I said
60 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Holiday May / June 2023 2025