Hershey Felder Leads ROCKSTAR World Premiere at Laguna Playhouse, Now thru 9/29

The Laguna Playhouse Executive and Artistic Directors, Karen Wood and Ann E. Wareham will present their second special bonus offering of their 2013 season, the world premiere production of a new musical play, ROCKSTAR, featuring the music of Franz Liszt and others, written and performed by Hershey Felder and directed by Trevor Hay.

"We are overjoyed to present the world premiere of ROCKSTAR, a new work from the incomparable Hershey Felder," comments Wood. "It is beyond thrilling to launch such an exciting project as this, and we are honored to have Hershey back on our stage," adds Wareham. ROCKSTAR will begin performances tonight, September 17 and run through Sunday, September 29, 2013 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

In 2011, the world celebrated the 200th Birthday of the Franz Liszt, the greatest pianist-composer to have ever lived. Arguably the world's first Rock Star, there were celebrations worldwide to honor him, including in Bayreuth, Germany, in the room where he died, which is now a museum.

As a commentary of Liszt's life, a writer of the New York Times composed an honorary tribute with the headline "Still Wondering If Liszt Was Any Good?" When a museum visitor arrives to the room in which Liszt died with his copy of the newspaper and the article, very strange things begin to occur.

Hershey Felder (Book/Franz Liszt) Broadway, London's West End: George Gershwin Alone (Helen Hayes Theatre, Duchess Theatre). Regional and international appearances of "Composers Sonata" (1999-2013) - George Gershwin Alone, Monsieur Chopin, Beethoven, As I Knew Him, andMaestro: Leonard Bernstein - include Old Globe Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Geffen Playhouse, Laguna Playhouse, Ford's Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, American Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage, Ravinia Festival, Chicago's Royal George Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Prince Music Theatre, The Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, Uijeongbu Theatre Festival (South Korea) and many others, as well as a command performance of Monsieur Chopin for the Polish Ambassador to the United States, Polish Embassy, Washington. 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, poetry by Vachel Lindsay; Saltimbanques for Piano and Orchestra; Etudes Thematiques for Piano; LINCOLN: An American Story, for actor and orchestra. Recordings include Love Songs of the Yiddish Theatre, Back from Broadway, George Gershwin Alone and Monsieur Chopin for the WFMT Radio Network Recordings label, Beethoven As I Knew Him and LINCOLN: An American Story for the Eighty Eight Entertainment label. Worldwide live broadcasts, George Gershwin Alone, July 2005 and May 2011, An American Story, July and September 2013. As well, Mr. Felder adapted and directed THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE starring Mona Golabek, and he is currently preparing projects as Director and writer for numerous artists. 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.

Trevor Hay (Director) directed the world premiere of Hershey Felder's AN AMERICAN STORY for Actor and Orchestra (Birch Theatre, San Diego; Royal George Theatre Chicago; National Broadcast WFMT Network, Chicago) and will also direct the world premiere of ABE LINCOLN'S PIANO at the Geffen Playhouse, 2014. He is the Associate Director for Mona Golabek's THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE (Geffen Playhouse, LA; Paramount Theatre, Boston; Laguna Playhouse; Royal George Theatre, Chicago). Former member of the historic Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, where his first position was in 1979 at the age of nine years old selling Old Globe memorabilia. Over a period of the next 32 years, Mr. Hay went on to various aspects of production on more than 80 presentations, including the Broadway productions of Jack O'Brien's Damn Yankees, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Twyla Tharpe's The Times They Are A' Changin'. Included in his 23 seasons at The Old Globe are eleven seasons of the Summer Shakespeare Festival Repertory, as well work on Tracy Letts' August: Osage County directed by Sam Gold, and Hershey Felder'sGeorge Gershwin Alone, Monsieur Chopin and Maestro.

ROCKSTAR features an award-winning design team. The Scenic Decoration is by Emma Hay, Jordan Hay and Meghan Maiya. The Lighting Design is by Christopher Rynne. The Costume Design is by Theatr' Hall, Paris. The Sound Design is by Erik Cartensen. The Projection Design is by Andrew Wilder. ROCKSTAR is presented by Eighty-Eight Entertainment, Samantha F. Voxakis and Erik Cartensen.

ROCKSTAR will begin performances on Tuesday, September 17 and run through Sunday, September 29, 2013 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach. Performances will be Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays at 7:30pm; Saturdays at 2pm & 7:30pm; Sundays at 2pm. There will be additional performances on Sunday, September 22 at 7pm and Thursday, September 26 at 2pm.

Tickets range from $41 - $61 and can be purchased online at www.lagunaplayhouse.com or by calling (949) 497-ARTS (2787). Group discounts are available by calling 949-497-2787 ext. 229. The box office is open Tuesdays - Sundays: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (open until 8 pm on performance days). For more information on all shows and programming visit www.lagunaplayhouse.com. Laguna Playhouse is located at 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

Founded in 1920, The Laguna Playhouse is one of the oldest continuously-operating theatres on the West Coast. In 2011, The Laguna Playhouse was honored at the Laguna Spirit Awards and received The Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce Premiere Business of the Year award. More than 100,000 theatergoers annually attend performances at the Laguna Playhouse. Its continued artistic excellence, audience popularity and critical acclaim have helped make The Playhouse one of Southern California's most important nonprofit theatre companies. The Playhouse has produced national tours of The Belle of Amherst (with Julie Harris) and Copenhagen, and has presented many world, national and regional premieres.

Over the years, the Laguna Playhouse has garnered numerous awards from LA Drama Critics Circle, NAACP, Backstage, OC Weekly, and many more, and was named Best Arts Organization by ArtsOC. Notable performers that have performed at The Laguna Playhouse include Bette Davis, Harrison Ford, Charles Durning, Marlo Thomas, Roddy McDowell, Rita Rudner, Cloris Leachman, and Sally Struthers.

The Laguna Playhouse is noted for its Youth Theater Education and Outreach programs. In 1989, its Youth Theater was recognized as "Outstanding Children's Theatre" by the American Alliance for Theatre and Education. The theater's touring production, TheatreReach, brings books to life on stage for elementary school children throughout southern California.

Pictured: Felder in BEETHOVEN: AS I KNEW HIM at ATC in 2009. Photo Credit: Craig Schwartz.

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