Photo Flash: Hershey Felder in AN AMERICAN STORY FOR ACTOR AND ORCHESTRA - World Premiere at Birch North Park Theatre Tonight

Following a successful tryout production in Los Angeles, Hershey Felder's AN AMERICAN STORY for ACTOR AND ORCHESTRA, which tells the story of Abraham Lincoln's last day, will have its world premiere at San Diego's beautiful Birch North Park Theatre beginning tonight, January 4, 2013. For this new production, Felder will create the role of Dr. Charles Augustus Leale, the 23-year-old unknown Union Army medic who was the first individual to reach the presidential box at Ford's Theatre on the night President Lincoln was shot. Mrs. Lincoln then put Dr. Leale in charge to see the President through his last hours. Check out the first photo we have below!

Set in New York City in 1932, 90-year old Dr. Charles Leale tells his true story as he travels back in time and recounts the events that, 67 years before, changed his life forever. AN AMERICAN STORY is based on Dr. Leale's account, LINCOLN'S LAST HOURS, as well as Dr. Leale's original report of 1865 discovered only recently amongst Lincoln's papers in Washington, DC, in June of 2012 creating an International sensation.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/report-first-doctor-reach-shot-lincoln-found-0

AN AMERICAN STORY features an original book as well as score by Felder, and will be performed with live orchestra. Drawing upon the songs of great American composer Stephen Foster (Beautiful Dreamer, My Old Kentucky Home, Oh Susanna etc. ) as well as President Lincoln's own words, AN AMERICAN STORY is based on true events as seen through the eyes of a simple young man who suddenly found himself at the center of world history.

Significantly, Felder has chosen San Diego to present this world premiere because all the contributing artists he handpicked for AN AMERICAN STORY's original Los Angeles tryout are residents of San Diego, a leader in the theatrical arts world.

Joe Altbaum, Executive Director of the Birch North Park Theatre, says: "The Birch North Park Theatre, renovated and restored in 2005 to its original gilded American 1928 glory, is the perfect venue to recreate the environment of Ford's Theatre in 1865. We are so pleased that Hershey Felder accepted our invitation to give the world premiere of his newest work in our theatre, a North Park centerpiece and San Diego cultural icon."

Hershey Felder is known to San Diego audiences for his productions of George Gershwin ALONE, MONSIEUR CHOPIN, BEETHOVEN AS I KNEW HIM, MAESTRO: Leonard Bernstein and THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK SING-ALONG as presented on the stage of the San Diego's magnificent Old Globe Theatre, a theatre

that Felder will always consider home. Setting AN AMERICAN STORY at San Diego's historically decorated Birch North Park Theatre will allow Felder to recreate elements of Ford's Theatre in the auditorium itself. Felder is well acquainted with the historic Ford's Theatre, the site of President Lincoln's assassination, due to extended appearances there in George Gershwin Alone in 2003 and 2004.

All tickets for Hershey Felder's AN AMERICAN STORY are $58. Tickets are now on sale at Birch North Park Theatre. The box office phone number is 619.239.8836. Box office hours are 12 pm - 5 pm Tuesday through Saturday. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.birchnorthparktheatre.net

Hershey Felder(Dr. Charles Augustus Leale/Playwright) Broadway, London's West End: George Gershwin Alone (Helen Hayes Theatre, Duchess Theatre). Composers Sonata 1999 -2012 - George Gershwin Alone, Monsieur Chopin, Beethoven, As I Knew Him, and Maestro: The Art of Leonard Bernstein - at dozens of theatres across the U.S. and around the world. Command Performance of Monsieur Chopin for the Polish Ambassador to the United States. Winner of 2007 Los Angeles Ovation Awards, Best Musical and Best Actor for George Gershwin Alone. Compositions 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; An American Story, for actor and orchestra. Worldwide live broadcasts, George Gershwin Alone. As director, Mr. Felder premiered Mona Golabek in The Pianist of Willesden Lane at the Geffen Playhouse in April 2012. Mr. Felder has been a Scholar in Residence at Harvard University's Department of Music and is married to Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada.

Hershey Felder