Paper Mill Playhouse to Offer Live Virtual Benefit Performance of HERSHEY FELDER AS GEORGE GERSHWIN ALONE

Paper Mill Playhouse has announced a virtual beginning of the 2020-2021 season. Produced in partnership with Hershey Felder Presents, Paper Mill is proud to present Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone - Live from Florence, streamed live on Sunday, September 13 at 8:00pm.

"After the success of our first live stream presentation, Christopher Jackson: Live from the West Side, Paper Mill Playhouse will continue to explore virtual offerings during the upcoming season" says Mark Hoebee, Paper Mill Playhouse's Producing Artistic Director. "We look forward to the time we can raise our curtain up in person, but until that time, we will begin the new season in the way that is currently possible."

"I had the pleasure of presenting Hershey Felder on numerous occasions while at Hartford Stage. I am delighted to bring his work to Paper Mill audiences, who I know will be beguiled by his immensely popular George Gershwin Alone" stated Michael Stotts, Paper Mill's Managing Director. "Audiences of all ages will enjoy this story, and Hershey's performance as Gershwin."

Tickets are $55 per household and are available for purchase at PaperMill.org. Purchase includes the live broadcast 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.

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.

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 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. 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, Florence's Teatro Della Pergola.

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.

For tickets and more information on how to view Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone - Live from Florence, visit PaperMill.org.

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.

Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter-Keddy

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