Were you able to act like a tourist while in England?
Absolutely. I’m a former architect, so I’m always interested in cities. In Ely, I would go on long walks in the country because I’d have an hour here and an hour there. I really wanted to be there just to witness the music, but after three days I could wander off. I was staying at this perfect little inn [the Poets House Hotel] right in town with a perfect little restaurant. I was one of the lucky few department heads who got to stay across the square from the Cathedral.
What about the Bernstein family home in Connecticut?
The Bernstein’s Connecticut country house really hasn’t changed at all since they lived there, except that they remodeled the cottage in the back that had once been Lenny’s music studio. But the main house had not changed, and the pool had not changed, which was miraculous. A lot of the wallpaper was original. The kids have kept it like a shrine, almost.
The house is in Fairfield, close to the water but not on the water. It was a lot of property, which is lovely because you can’t see any other houses. Very bucolic and comfortable. It didn’t show off wealth, it wasn’t pretentious in any way. There was a compound of little cottages, with extensive vegetable and flower gardens. They were very in touch with nature, as their relationship really blossomed at Tanglewood [Music Center] in Massachusetts, which is a beautiful property in its own right. So when they moved back to New York City, it was important to them that they replicate that.
What was your approach to portraying New York across this long span of time?
You start with gobs and gobs of research—it was a well-documented life that they led. Bradley did the deepest dive of all, researching for five years, and I was in prep for a year and a half. The homework begins by looking at the periods you want to portray. Once you have a knowledge of each decade, you become free to do the sets and feel whether it’s right or wrong. We wanted to go from decade to decade lyrically, without putting a stamp on it, and have it be more about entering different periods of their lives.
