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Posted by: Neely Tucker
Johnathan Larson and Leonard Bernstein had huge successes on Broadway, from "West Side Story" to "Rent." Their vibrant careers are preserved in the Library's Music Division, showcasing their generational talents.
Posted in: Film, LCM, Music, Performing Arts
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Almost forgotten now, Kay Aldridge was the "The Serial Queen" in the 1940s, turning up in popular cliffhanger serials that were shown on Saturday afternoon matinees just before the main feature. She was also one of the “ten most photographed girls in the world," appearing on the cover of at least 44 major magazines, in hundreds of advertising ad campaigns and in 25 films -- all in just 9 years. She left Hollywood for a happy second life, mostly on the coast of Maine. After she died in 1995, her daughter put together a wonderful scrapbook, now preserved at the Library, that narrates a small-town girl’s ascent to fame. And a little bit of fortune.
Posted in: Film, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, Performing Arts, Womens History
Posted by: Neely Tucker
If that haunting music in the season finale of "Severance" on Apple TV+ sounded familiar, that's because "The Windmills of Your Mind" has been around for 57 years, won an Oscar and has been recorded by more than 300 artists the world over. Lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman, the husband-and-wife duo, wrote "Windmills" with composer Michel Legrand. In a legendary career, they won three Oscars and were finalists another 16 times, not to mention their four Emmys and two Grammys. In the Library's collections, we look at their lyrics sheets and interviews to see how they and Legrand combined to put together "Windmills."
Posted in: Concerts, Film, Music, National Recording Registry, Performing Arts, Songwriters
Posted by: Neely Tucker
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” went without a song for years, from the tail end of the Depression through World War II and nearly until the midcentury before a musician named Johnny Marks began to consider it. Marks studied music in college in the 1920s, penned a good song or two for Guy Lombardo’s orchestra in …
Posted in: Christmas, Film, Kids, LCM, National Recording Registry, Performing Arts
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Gregory Lukow, chief of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, led the Library's efforts to construct the Center, teaming with the Packard Humanities Institute to make it one of the world's best film preservation facilities. He recently brought his 24-year career to a close. Here, he reflects on some major highlights.
Posted in: Audiovisual, Film, Gazette, Library Work and Employees, My Job, Preservation, Preservation and Conservation
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The Oscar-winning songwriter and composer Richard Sherman, whose musical work with his brother was such an essential part of Walt Disney Studios that the company renamed their premier soundstage after them, passed away over the Memorial Day weekend. He was 95. Sherman was in good spirits in 2022 when "It's a Small World (After All)," their song for the Disney theme park ride of the same name, was inducted into the National Recording Registry. He spoke about their career of writing music and lyrics for hit Disney films such as "Mary Poppins," "The Jungle Book" and "Winnie the Pooh."
Posted in: Film, Music, National Recording Registry, Performing Arts
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Spike Lee's 2000 film "Bamboozled," a hard-edged satire of blackface in cinema and television, was part of the 2023 class of National Film Registry and his fifth film to join the list. In an interview with the Library, he explains how the film is an answer to D.W. Griffith's notorious "The Birth of a Nation" in 1915, which set into play more than a century of racist tropes in films.
Posted in: African American History, Film, National Film Preservation Board, National Film Registry, Performing Arts
Posted by: Neely Tucker
A sizzle reel introduces the 25 influential films from the past 102 years have been selected for the 2023 Library of Congress National Film Registry, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today, inluding blockbusters such as "Fame," "Home Alone" and "Apollo 13," the popular romance "Love & Basketball," and influential feature films and documentaries such as "12 Years a Slave," "Matewan," "Alambrista!" and "Maya Lin: A Strong, Clear Vision."
Posted in: Asian American, Film, Hispanic American History, Hispanic and Latino, LGBTQ, Library Work and Employees, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, National Film Preservation Board, National Film Registry, News, Performing Arts, Preservation, Preservation and Conservation, Technology, Video
Posted by: Neely Tucker
"Maestro," the high-profile film biography of legendary composer Leonard Bernstein, hits theaters this week, starring Bradley Cooper. The Library holds a vast trove of Bernstein's papers, some 400,000 items that document every stage of his life and career. In a brief video, Mark Horowitz, a senior music specialist at the Library and the archivist for the Bernstein Collection, gives a tour of the material and its cultural significance.
Posted in: Film, Library Work and Employees, Music, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, Performing Arts, Theater