Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Announces HERSHEY FELDER AS GEORGE GERSHWIN ALONE

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts has announced Hershey Felder AS George Gershwin ALONE, a one-time-only, live streamed broadcast musical event presented live from Florence, Italy, to benefit The Wallis, on Sunday, September 13, 2020, at 5 pm (PDT). Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone has had over 3,000 performances worldwide, including Broadway, London's West End, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and more.

Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone tells the story of America's great composer, who with the groundbreaking Rhapsody in Blue made a "Lady out of Jazz." The show incorporates the composer's best-known songs from "The Man I Love" and "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. Hershey Felder brings George Gershwin to life, with over three-thousand performances from California to Broadway to London's West End. 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 de Carli 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.

Following up this year's successful live streams of Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin and Hershey Felder: Beethoven from Felder's residence in Florence, Italy, which raised significant funds for 13 US theatres and arts organizations, Felder has created a new arts broadcasting company, Hershey Felder Presents - Live from Florence. The collaboration unites Felder with Florentine cinema group Montagni Audiovisivi, the internationally recognized English language magazine The Florentine, and American broadcaster Rich Flier, to produce high quality streaming arts programming for international audiences, both for the period while theatres remain closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, and beyond.

Hershey Felder, an actor, pianist, writer, director, composer, conductor and producer, and named to Time Magazine's 2016 Top 10 Plays and Musicals, 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. 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.

Tickets are $55.00 per household for viewing on Smart TV, computer, smartphone or tablet. Patrons will receive a link and password which will enable them to view the live stream. Purchase includes the live stream AND a week of extended "on-demand" viewing access to the recording of the live broadcast (available one-hour after the live broadcast ends). Viewing access ends on Sunday, September 20th at 11:59pm PDT. Tickets cannot be transferred or shared. Tickets may be purchased by visiting TheWallis.org/Gershwin or by calling 310.746.4000 (Tuesday - Friday, 9:30 am - 2:30 pm).

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Hershey Felder Presents: LIVE FROM FLORENCE, ITALY

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