World Premiere of Hershey Felder as Sergei Rachmaninoff in ANNA & SERGEI to be Offered by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will offer viewers the World Premiere livestream of Hershey Felder as Sergei Rachmaninoff in ANNA & SERGEI, a new work by and starring virtuoso pianist/performer Hershey Felder. Presented by Hershey Felder Presents Live from Florence, Hershey Felder as Sergei Rachmaninoff in ANNA & SERGEI explores the little known story of a strange meeting of Russian piano virtuoso Rachmaninoff and Anna Anderson, a woman who claimed to be Princess Anastasia, the sole surviving member of the Romanov Dynasty. Set in the Beverly Hills house in which Rachmaninoff died in 1943, ANNA & SERGEI presents a mesmerizing memory play imbued with the composer's most beloved music.

Hershey Felder as Sergei Rachmaninoff in ANNA & SERGEI will be streamed live 5pm PDT, Sunday, May 16, 2021 (with streaming on-demand access through May 23). To buy tickets ($55 per household) or find more information, the public can visit TheatreWorks.org. Ticket sales directly benefit TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.

The production will also include guest stars including world-famed soprano and actor Ekaterina Siurina as Natalia Alexandrovna Rachmaninoff, recently seen in Hershey Felder, PUCCINI. Klezmerata Fiorentina violinist Igor Polesitsky, recently featured in Hershey Felder as Sholem Aleichem in BEFORE FIDDLER, appears as Dr. Golitzin. Additional casting for the show will be announced.

Hershey Felder as Sergei Rachmaninoff in ANNA & SERGEI features a book by Hershey Felder and direction by Felder and Stefano DeCarli, Production 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. Historical & Biographical research by Meghan Maiya. Costumes and Hair are by Camilla Saccardi.

Hershey Felder (Writer & Performer). 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, consistently breaking box office records. 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. 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. Previous broadcasts have included Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin; Hershey Felder, Beethoven; Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone; Hershey Felder, Backstory - The Story Behind the Creation of Berlin, Gershwin & Bernstein; and Cooking French in Florence with Jeff Thickman & Hershey Felder. The Hershey Felder Presents - Live from Florence 2020-21 Season of broadcasts include: Hershey Felder as Claude Debussy in A PARIS LOVE STORY; Hershey Felder, TCHAIKOVSKY; Hershey Felder as Sholem Aleichem in BEFORE FIDDLER; Hershey Felder as PUCCINI; and Hershey Felder as Sergei Rachmaninoff in ANNA & SERGEI. Hershey 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.

Felder has become an enormous favorite among South Bay Area audiences through his appearances at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, where his stage productions have smashed box office records, including the regional premieres of Our Great Tchaikovsky and Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin, and the World Premieres of Hershey Felder as Claude Debussy in A PARIS LOVE STORY and Hershey Felder: Beethoven. The Tony award-winning theatre has partnered with Hershey Felder Presents Live from Florence to offer its 2020-21 Season of broadcasts to its audiences. Felder is scheduled to perform Hershey Felder as Monsieur Chopin at TheatreWorks as part of the company's 51st season.

For information or to order tickets visit TheatreWorks.org.

Photo Credit: Eighty Eight Entertainment

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