Tickets On Sale Today For HERSHEY FELDER AS GEORGE GERSHWIN ALONE at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley

Tickets for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s highly-anticipated, limited engagement of the hit solo show Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone will go on sale to the public 1pm PST, Friday, December 15, 2023.

In time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Gershwin’s opus “A Rhapsody in Blue” (which premiered February 12, 1924), internationally acclaimed actor, pianist, and filmmaker Hershey Felder returns to TheatreWorks in this tour de force solo performance that has captivated audiences around the world, including on Broadway, in London’s West End, and more. Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone, to be presented February 7-11, 2024, illuminates the life and music of the legendary tunesmith who shaped a distinctly American style of music. Also going on sale are tickets to a one-night-only performance of Hershey Felder’s Great American Songbook Sing-Along, Monday, February 12, 2024.  In this special participatory event, Felder will share stories and lead the audience through 100 years of American music, featuring a selection of songs by beloved composers including George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and many more. Both events will be presented at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View.

For tickets (starting at $37) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (877)-662-8978.

“We’re beyond excited to welcome Hershey Felder back to TheatreWorks,” said TheatreWorks Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli. “He’s a favorite among our audiences, who are consistently enthralled by his virtuosic piano artistry and brilliant storytelling. And a reminder for those still looking for holiday presents: tickets make a fabulous gift for music and theatre lovers!” 

TheatreWorks will require face masks to be worn for the 2pm Sunday, February 11, 2024 performance of Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone. For up-to-date information about COVID-19 health and safety procedures the public may visit TheatreWorks.org/safety.

Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone shares the composer's story, including his prolific partnership with his brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin, incorporating beloved songs from the popular hits “Fascinating Rhythm,” “I Got Rhythm,” “’S Wonderful,” and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” to excerpts from his ground-breaking musicals Porgy and Bess and An American In Paris, as well as a complete performance of Gershwin’s opus “A Rhapsody In Blue.” George Gershwin was born in 1898 to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn and composed his first hit at age 21. 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. Gershwin died of an undiagnosed brain tumor in 1937, at the age of 38, leaving behind a legion of bereft fans and an astonishing legacy of enduring music that has never dimmed in popularity. 

Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone has enthralled audiences around the world, including Broadway, London’s West End, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and more, garnering praise from critics and audiences alike. “The quadruple-threat performer Hershey Felder—an actor, singer, pianist and writer, and all of the first order—has brought the quintessential American composer back to life,” said Chicago Sun-Times. The Mercury News called the performance “a heartfelt valentine to the American Songbook that goes down as smoothly as a bourbon Manhattan with a bright red cherry on top.” The San Francisco Chronicle lauded the show as “simply glorious,” noting Felder’s “performance of the music is a delight from beginning to end - and beyond.”  

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 Joel Zwick with associate direction by Trevor Hay.

Hershey Felder: American Theatre magazine has said, “Hershey Felder is in a category all his own.” Following 28 years of continuous stage work and over six thousand live performances throughout the U.S. and abroad, Hershey Felder created Live from Florence, an arts broadcasting company, which has produced more than a dozen theatrical films to date. They include the world premiere musicals Nicholas, Anna & Sergei, the story of Sergei Rachmaninoff; Puccini, the story of famed opera composer Giacomo Puccini; Before Fiddler, a musical story about writer Sholem Aleichem; and others, all benefiting theatres and arts organizations across the U.S. Programming is currently available at www.hersheyfelder.net. Felder has given performances of his self-created solo productions at some of the world’s most prestigious theatres and has consistently broken box office records. 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. Felder 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. Felder has operated a full-service production company since 2001. 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.

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 engagements of his wildly popular shows including Hershey Felder: Chopin in Paris, 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. Just as in demand have been Felder’s Great American Songbook Sing-Alongs, occasionally staged during his runs at TheatreWorks, all of which sold out immediately.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, led by Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli in partnership with Executive Director Debbie Chinn, presents a wide variety of contemporary plays and musicals, revitalizes great works of the past, and serves more than 100,000 patrons per year. Founded in 1970 by Robert Kelley, TheatreWorks has grown from a truly original Silicon Valley start-up to become one of the nation’s leading professional non-profit theatre companies. TheatreWorks was honored as the recipient of the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award. TheatreWorks also champions new work, offering artists support and a creative home as they develop new stories for the American theatre. Offstage, TheatreWorks’ arts education programs in local schools and arts engagement programs in Silicon Valley neighborhoods uplift its audiences and strengthen community bonds. Onstage and off, TheatreWorks welcomes the mosaic of people that embody the Bay Area and beyond, celebrating the transformative power of theatre to ignite imagination, inspire conversation, and enliven our souls.

 

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