Laguna Playhouse and Hershey Felder Presents announced today the details of Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone – Live from Florence. Following up the successful live streams of Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin and Hershey Felder: Beethoven, acclaimed performer Hershey Felder will present his one-man show, Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone streamed live on Sunday, September 13 at 5 PM PDT. Tickets are $55 per household and are available for purchase at lagunaplayhouse.com or 949.497.2787.
George Gershwin Alone has had over 3000 performances worldwide, including Broadway, London’s West End, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and more. As with his previous live stream performances, this production will benefit national US theatres and arts organizations.
Comments Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham and Executive Director Ellen Richard, “The brilliance that is Hershey Felder transcends stage or screen. To have another opportunity to present this extraordinary artist, as he inhabits the artistry of the legendary George Gershwin is so thrilling for us and a not-to-be-missed highlight of the Fall!”
George Gershwin Alone tells the story of America’s great composer, who with the groundbreaking “A Rhapsody in Blue,” made a “Lady out of Jazz.” The show incorporates the composer’s best-known songs from The Man I Loveand Someone to Watch Over Me, through the hits of An American In Paris and Porgy and Bess, to a complete performance of “Rhapsody In Blue.” As the only actor-musician to create the role of George Gershwin on the stage, and with over three-thousand performances, from California to Broadway to London’s West End, for the first time, Hershey Felder will bring George Gershwin to life on the stage of one of Europe’s oldest and most famous theatres. Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone is produced by Hershey Felder Presents: LIVE FROM FLORENCE.
George Gershwin was born in 1898 to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn.
Together, he and his brother Ira wrote standards such as “The Man I Love,” “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “Embraceable You,” “Fascinating Rhythm,” “I Got Rhythm,” “’S Wonderful” and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.” His groundbreaking opera, Porgy and Bess, is now considered an American classic. All told, George Gershwin wrote more than 1,000 songs for the stage and screen as well as works for the opera house and the symphony orchestra. In 1937, Gershwin died of an undiagnosed brain tumor at the age of 38, never knowing how famous and beloved he and his work would become.
Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone features the music and lyrics of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, with a book by Hershey Felder. The production is directed by Stefano deCarli and Felder, adapted from the stage play directed by Joel Zwick. The Associate Director is Trevor Hay. Scenic design is by Hershey Felder. Film production and live editing is by the DeCarli Live film company. Live broadcast and Sound design production are by Erik Carstensen. Meghan Maiya is Director of Broadcasting & Special Projects.
For tickets and more information on how to view Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone – Live from Florence, visit lagunaplayhouse.com.
ABOUT HERSHEY FELDER
Named to Time Magazine’s 2016 Top 10 Plays and Musicals, Hershey Felder has played over 6,000 performances of his self-created solo productions at some of the world’s most prestigious theatres and has broken box office records consistently. American Theatre Magazine has said, “Hershey Felder is in a category all his own.” His shows include: George Gershwin Alone (Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theatre, West End’s Duchess Theatre); Monsieur Chopin; Beethoven; Maestro (Leonard Bernstein); Franz Liszt in Musik, Lincoln: An American Story, Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin, Our Great Tchaikovsky, and A Paris Love Story. His compositions and recordings include Aliyah, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra; Fairytale, a musical; Les Anges de Paris, Suite for Violin and Piano; Song Settings; Saltimbanques for Piano and Orchestra; Etudes Thematiques for Piano; and An American Story for Actor and Orchestra. Hershey is the adaptor, director and designer for the internationally performed play-with-music The Pianist of Willesden Lane with Steinway artist Mona Golabek; producer and designer for the musical Louis and Keely: ‘Live’ at the Sahara, directed by Taylor Hackford; and writer and director for Flying Solo, featuring opera legend Nathan Gunn. Upcoming projects include Anna and Sergei, a new play featuring the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, as well as a new musical based on the award-winning book Out on a Ledge by Eva Libitzky. Hershey has operated a full-service production company since 2001, and in 2020 created a new brand LIVE FROM FLORENCE, that operates a “theatre at home broadcast company,” based in Florence, Italy. He has been a scholar-in-residence at Harvard University’s Department of Music and is married to Kim Campbell, the first female Prime Minister of Canada.
Founded in 1920, the historic Laguna Playhouse is one of the oldest continuously-operating not-for-profit theatres on the West Coast and is proud to be an active participant in the celebrated Laguna Beach arts community. From classic plays and musical comedies to the current off-Broadway smash, cutting edge and traditional music exhibitions, dance festivals and stand-up comedy performances, Laguna Playhouse brings the magical experience of the performing arts direct to over 80,000 patrons each season.
Laguna Playhouse educational programming includes year-round classes, productions by and for children and teens (Youth Theatre) and is one of the few companies in the region that offer a curriculum-based professional theatre-touring program, TheatreReach, which aligns with the California State Standards for literature, history and performing arts curriculum.
Laguna Playhouse has been recognized in for the past five years as one of Orange County Register’s “Best of OC” in the category of Live Theatre. The Laguna Playhouse has featured many talented performers on stage, including Ed Asner, Leslie Caron, Hershey Felder, Harrison Ford, Melanie Griffith, Val Kilmer, Gregory Harrison, Dan Lauria, Hal Linden, Wendie Malick, Rita Rudner, Charles Shaughnessy, French Stewart, Loretta Swit, and Bette Davis.
Learn What’s Going On at www.lagunaplayhouse.com.
