Interview: Hershey Felder On His Final Farewell Performances of GEORGE GERSHWIN ALONE At The Wallis

In his inimitable artistic style, actor and concert pianist, Hershey Felder (pictured) continues to bring the lives and music of famous composers, including Debussy, Beethoven, Berlin, Bernstein, Gershwin, Chopin, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff, to stages around the world. When I heard he was bringing his final performances of George Gershwin Alone to The Wallis in Beverly Hills this April, I decided to speak with him about the decision to retire his popular production and what his vision for the future holds.

First of all, welcome back to Los Angeles! And thanks for taking time to speak with me today.

Thank you! Los Angeles is always a wonderful place to be, and to perform.

I am curious, what is it about Gershwin's music and/or his life that inspired you to create George Gershwin Alone?

It began with a performance of "A Rhapsody in Blue" at Southbank in London when I was nineteen. I was hired to play the piece with the orchestra as part of a program, I had not known the work or much about George Gershwin. I grew up surrounded by Chopin and Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and Debussy et al. So, I got ahold of the score and a recording including one of Gershwin himself and thought, "what a fascinating unusual piece." Then I played it for the public and they went mad. It was for the piece, not for me. The piece does that to people. I thought, "I have to learn more about this guy."

To what do you attribute Gershwin's ability to create such American classics in his brief lifetime? Was it a combination of his upbringing by Russian-Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn as well as working so closely with his brother Ira?

I think you captured the essence of the answer in your question. It was all those things, and of course, the one thing that is impossible to really explain, the genius for melody and harmonic invention that were all Gershwin's own.

How do you decide which songs to present at each performance, or is it always the same? Do you ever take requests from the audience?

The pieces included in the performance proper are always the same. They emerged, as they always must, from the storytelling. If the piece advances the story, the piece can be included. Finding the right piece was always a challenge, but it worked, and I am glad for that. As far as the encores, yes, there are audience requests, and there are always audience favorites, including The Man I Love, Someone to Watch Over Me, and Summertime.

What do you think audiences familiar with Gershwin's music will find most surprising about his life?

A number of things, not the least of which was the antisemitism he encountered, which was surprising. Perhaps the critical response to works that we consider eternal nowadays, and of course, the way his life ended. There are still gasps in the audience all these years later.

How do you decide on the scenic design for your performances, this one in particular? And how are those elements included in this performance?

I design the plays according to what needs to be told in the story. This one takes place in an abandoned theater where we meet Gershwin's ghost. For me the setting must reflect the story being told.

Are there any songs from Gershwin's repertoire that seem to resonate the most with audiences? Why do you think that is?

Summertime, for sure. Why? The lyric and the music fit perfectly to create a sense of time, place and meaning. The evocation is complete, even out of context of the full opera.

The Wallis is an appropriate place to end George Gershwin Alone, since he died tragically of an undiagnosed brain tumor only blocks from The Wallis in 1937 at the age of 38. Was that intentional, and is this the last stop on this tour?

No, not the last stop on the tour, but I have played this piece in various theaters in and around L.A. It started at the Tiffany on Sunset in 1998. Then multiple runs at the Geffen throughout the years beginning in 2006, and then there were a couple of runs at Pasadena Playhouse. And my current relationship with the city is at the Wallis, so that's where the performance is taking place. It is moving to know that Gershwin died in the neighborhood.

How has it been working with Joel Zwick, your director?

Joel directed the first four plays, Gershwin, Chopin, Beethoven and Bernstein, while the others were directed together with Trevor Hay. Joel is just the best. He allows the actor to do the work and responds to the work being done. It's a very clever method in that it forces the actor to be creative, and if the scene is not working, the actor must work to find the solution. This makes everything organic from the get go. Having someone that one can trust who will respond to what is actually happening, and guide rather than direct (ie; go here, go there, pick up the pencil) Is a godsend. Nothing is ever then done by rote.

During the pandemic when you were unable to perform in person, you started broadcasting from your home in Italy, streaming productions around the world. Can you share how that led to you creating Live from Florence, an arts broadcasting company which has produced eighteen theatrical films to date? Are more in the works and are they all about composers?

Live from Florence was created during the pandemic and it turned out it was the seed of a full film studio which is now fully operational. We have and will continue to produce throughout Europe. It was always the plan to do something like this down the line, but the pandemic moved the start date forward.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your final tour performing George Gershwin Alone?

Just a thank you to you, and audiences throughout the world who have been so generous to me and these works all these years.

Hershey Felder's final farewell performances of George Gershwin Alone featuring the Music and Lyrics of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin with Book by Hershey Felder, Directed by Joel Zwick, take place Thursday, April 13 - Sunday, April 16, 2023 on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 7:30 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 2 pm in the Bram Goldsmith Theater at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills. Running approximately one hour and 45 minutes with no intermission, tickets are available by calling 310-746-4000 (Monday - Friday, 10 am to 6 pm) or visiting TheWallis.org.

Photo credit: Marco Badiani

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