Hershey Felder Presents GEORGE GERSHWIN ALONE 12/23 At The Drury Lane Theatre

Award-winning Hershey Felder and his long-running Chicago event (70 weeks 2004-2006) George Gershwin ALONE, directed by Joel Zwick, will play the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut) December 23 - December 30 for a special holiday engagement. Felder will close his time at the Drury Lane with a special New Year's Eve performance of THE GREAT AMERICAN SONG BOOK SING-A-LONG, an evening of stories and songs from Broadway's greatest composers including Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein. THE GREAT AMERICAN SONG BOOK SING-A-LONG will play two performances only on December 31 at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. The 10 p.m. performance will be followed by a champagne dessert reception.

George Gershwin ALONE is a celebrated work about the legendary American composer, George Gershwin ALONE is a world renowned "play with music" by actor, playwright and Steinway concert artist Hershey Felder. The show incorporates the Gershwins' best-known songs, from The Man I Love and Someone to Watch Over Me, through passages and songs from An American in Paris and Porgy and Bess, to a complete performance of Rhapsody in Blue. The first popular composer to use jazz as the foremost musical element in the serious concert hall, Gershwin absorbed the musical styles, rhythms and sophistication of the American spirit and created a musical language that made its mark on both classical and popular music throughout the world. Hershey Felder brings to life the spirit and talent of the legendary composer and pianist, leading audiences through the fascinating rhythms of Gershwin's legendary songbook, while telling the tale of his tragically short life.

Critics across the country have raved about George Gershwin ALONE: "In an act of uncanny evocation that more often than not appears to verge on full-fledged channeling, the quadruple-threat performer Hershey Felder - a Canadian-bred actor, singer, pianist and writer, and all of the first order - has brought the quintessential American composer back to life," wrote the Chicago Sun-Times. USA Today enthused, "Felder effectively conveys the emotional roots and resonance of Gershwin's music. Performing gems such as An American in Paris and Bess, You Is

My Woman Now, he explains how the journeys taken by characters relevant to those works are reflected in the progression of notes, the chord changes, even the orchestrations." And according to The New York Times, "George Gershwin ALONE makes a great case for his subject as the American Mozart."

George Gershwin was born in 1898 to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York. 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 one thousand songs for the stage and screen as well as works for the opera house and the symphony orchestra, including his renowned Rhapsody in Blue. In 1937, at the age of 38, Gershwin died of an undiagnosed brain tumor, never knowing how famous and beloved he and his work would become.

Tickets for George Gershwin Alone are currently on sale and range in price from $55 to $60. Tickets for the New Year's Eve presentation of The Great American Song Book Sing-A-Long are $100 for the 7 p.m. performance and $150 for the 10 p.m. performance. For show times and dates, visit www.eightyeightentertainment.com.

Tickets are available at Drury Lane Water Tower Place Box Office; Box Office charge-by-phone at (312) 642-2000; at all Ticketmaster ticket centers (including Hot Tix and select Carson Pirie Scott, Coconuts and fye stores); Ticketmaster charge by phone at (312) 559-1212; and online at www.Ticketmaster.com. Special offers are available for groups of 10 or more. For groups of ten or more, visit GroupTix online at www.GroupTix.net or call (877) 4-GRP-TIX or (877) 447-7849.

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