HERSHEY FELDER AS GEORGE GERSHWIN ALONE is Coming to Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts in March

Virtuoso pianist/actor/playwright/ producer Hershey Felder will return to the Bay Area for a strictly limited engagement of his acclaimed work, Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone, part of a limited farewell tour of a character performed live more than 3000 times throughout the world. The legendary composer of "A Rhapsody in Blue," An American in Paris, and hundreds of other iconic American standards comes to life onstage in a musical masterpiece. Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone will be presented for six performances only, March 2 through 5, 2023 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View. Tickets ($45 - $65), which are expected to sell out quickly, make excellent holiday gifts and can be purchased now at tickets.mvcpa.com/GGA or by calling (650) 903-6000.

Bay Area audiences have embraced Felder's range of characters and musical performances as Beethoven, Chopin, Leonard Bernstein, Irving Berlin, Tchaikovsky, Debussy and more, in sold-out, held-over runs at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. This time, Felder returns to the role he has performed in more than 40 productions worldwide for over 3,000 performances, as well as in a live world-wide broadcast from Italy's famed Teatro della Pergola in Florence. This exploration of Gershwin's short but extraordinary life illuminates the master tunesmith whose work shaped a distinctly American style of music. George Gershwin Alone shares the composer's life, including his brilliant and prolific partnership with his brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin, incorporating beloved songs ranging 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, and a complete performance of "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 has performed George Gershwin Alone to captivated audiences around the world, including Broadway, London's West End, Florence, Italy; 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 George Gershwin Alone "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 stage production is directed by Joel Zwick. The Associate Director is Trevor Hay. Scenic design is by Hershey Felder. Lighting by Michael Gilliam, sound by Erik Carstensen.

ABOUT Hershey Felder

Following 28 years of continuous stage work and thousands of live performances throughout the U.S. and abroad, Hershey Felder created Live from Florence, An Arts Broadcasting Company, which has produced eighteen theatrical films to date. They include the recently-released The Assembly; Musical Tales in The Venetian Jewish Ghetto; Chopin and Liszt in Paris; Violetta, the story of Verdi's Traviata; Dante and Beatrice in Florence; Mozart and Figaro in Vienna; 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; Great American Songs and the Stories Behind Them, Leonard Bernstein and the Israel Philharmonic, a documentary. Two seasons of programming are currently available at www.hersheyfelder.net. Felder has given performances of his 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 and Chopin in Paris. 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.

Photo credit: Mark Garvin