Cooper Does Bernstein

There have been several attempts to bring the story of Liberace to the stage.  While none of those projects have made it very far, a new one based on HBO’s Behind the Candelabra is being produced by David Permut.  He says his ideal Liberace would be Bradley Cooper.  ‘Cause when I think of Liberace, I naturally think of Bradley Cooper.

For the time being, Cooper is unavailable to play the piano prodigy because he’s slated to play another formidable musical giant – Leonard Bernstein.  Bradley Cooper will play the composer of West Side Story (among other things) and also direct the film for Paramount Pictures.  He’s also snagged Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese as co-producers.  You may recall there was a rival biopic about Bernstein in the works which would have starred Jake Gyllenhaal.  Alas, that project stalled when Cooper snagged the exclusive rights to Bernstein’s music from the composer’s family – a decision which was made after he volunteered to co-host a performance of Candide alongside Carey Mulligan, who happens to be the front runner to play Bernstein’s wife.  Clever boy.

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