American theatrical producer who played a major role in shaping American drama and musical theatre from the beginning of the 1960s through the early 2000s.
From 1960 to 1978, Gersten worked with Joseph Papp as associate producer at the New York Shakespeare Festival. After leaving the NYSF, he served as executive producer of Lincoln Center Theater from 1986 until he retired in 2013, where (with Gregory Mosher, then with Andre Bishop) he oversaw over 150 productions.
The eighteen year Papp/Gersten regime at the NYSF would usher in a bold new era of playwriting and musical theatre. Significant dramatists such as Liz Swados, David Rabe, Sam Shepard, Michael Bennett, Richard Foreman and John Guare as well as major stage stars including James Earl Jones, Meryl Streep, Sam Waterston Edward Herrmann and Al Pacino, George C. Scott and Colleen Dewhurst (not to mention the visual artist Paul Davis), got their first national attention at the NYSF.
In addition to receiving the Antoinette Perry Award (The “Tony Award”) for Lifetime Achievement in 2013, Gersten was the recipient of fifteen Tony Awards for his productions.
In 1968, Gersten married Cora Cahan, at the time touring as a dancer with various modern dance companies. The Gerstens have two children, Jenny Cahan Gersten and Jilian Cahan Gersten. He died from pancreatic cancer on 27 April 2020 at age 97.
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