Hershey Felder - Inspired by Boy Who Whistled 'Rhapsody in Blue' to Save Himself at Auschwitz - Brings Gershwin Show to SB

The celebrated pianist/actor/playwright talks to Newsmakers about the heart-breaking origin of his work, on the eve of five performances at the New Vic

By Hillary Hauser

In 1995, before Hershey Felder achieved global stardom as a musician, playwright and performer, he traveled to Poland on behalf of the Stephen Spielberg Shoah Foundation.

His assignment: record the experiences of Auschwitz survivors, on the 50^th anniversary of the liberation of the infamous concentration camp.

One of those survivors was a man named Helmutt Spryzcer, who told Felder and other listeners a remarkable story of how he survived: German guards forced him to whistle the theme from Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” – and this kept him alive.

“Shock and tears and awe,” is how Felder reacted, he recalled a few days ago. “Helmuth painted an unbelievable picture. The interview was eight hours long and no one in the room moved in the room…except to change video recording tapes.”

For Felder the momentous experience provided a portal into Gershwin’s music, which eventually led to his creation of an extraordinary, one-man musical theatrical production called “George Gershwin Alone.”

This week in Santa Barbara, Felder will perform five showings of the production, from May 23-25, presented by the Ensemble Theater Company at the New Vic. There has been heavy demand for tickets. Check their website to try to catch one of a few scattered seats left.

A singular talent. Hershey Felder’s uncanny ability to inhabit the characters of composers, conductors, musicians and historical figures – Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, for starters -- has earned him an ever-growing trainload of fans since he took his piano and acting talents to the stage.

While conducting the show, he caresses out of the piano sublime and sumptuous sounds that illustrate his classical training – Juilliard, Jerome Lowenthal, Menahim Pressler – while speaking to the audience in performances that take on all the historical aspects – and talents – of these immortals, mixing together their works, thoughts and biographies.

He has fans all over the world, and now an enormous number of subscribers to his film and live-stream series, available through single ticket or season subscription through Hershey Felder Presents.

Felder appeared in Santa Barbara just last month, as part of the ETC’s end-of-season lineup, with his play, “Rachmaninoff and the Tsar.” This production sold out every night, and at the end of the run, the ETC altered its season program with pasted-on announcements of Felder’s Gershwin show.

This production, directed by Joel Zwick (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), arrives in Santa Barbara after a whirlwind tour from Los Angeles to South Korea to Broadway to London and, more recently, the South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa.

Interviewing the maestro. I reached out to Felder by email to learn more about the origins of the Gershwin show and was pleasantly surprised to receive a friendly answer.

Despite keeping the schedule of a tornado, Felder took time to communicate about the production, as well as other topics having to do with his life and career.

The Gershwin show. Felder, who lost his extended Polish family in the Holocaust, was eventually to make a two-part Holocaust documentary called “Assembly,” which focuses on identity, resilience and music. After regaining his composure from hearing Helmutt Spryzcer’s disturbing story, however, he first began to ruminate deeply on Gershwin’s music.

Getting his ideas together for a script on Gershwin’s life, he first contacted and met with Gershwin heirs to talk about his idea, and to get permission to proceed. Although the Gershwin family agreed, they asked that “Rhapsody in Blue” not be associated with the chilling incident related by Spryzcer.

Felder obliged, and working with the Gershwin family wishes, had a play together by 1999, when he first gave his portrayal of pianist Gershwin as a Los Angeles workshop. He explored the entire genius of George Gershwin, along with his brother, Ira, the lyricist for many Gershwin classics, and developed his script for “The Great American Songbook,” bringing to life the Gershwin brothers’ beloved “Summertime,”” I Got Rhythm,” and “Someone to Watch Over Me,” among other classics.

Felder and Gershwin. George Gershwin, being the pianist, was inevitably to become “George Gershwin Alone,” and in this play, the pianist is Felder as George Gershwin.

Felder is a dead-ringer for Gershwin; the cover of an old piano roll of his playing, placed next to Felder as Gershwin on stage, is arresting, as are the historic photos of Gershwin at the piano, in concert and composing.

Gershwin (1898-1937) died, tragically, at the age of 38 from undiagnosed brain cancer, so all Gershwin images are of a young, dapper star, black hair slicked back, at the piano sometimes with cigar in mouth.

“Gershwin Alone” is a kaleidoscopic view of many of the composer’s works, that include “An American in Paris,” “Concerto in F,” as well as three Preludes for solo piano.

Gershwin vs Jim Crow. The play also delves deeply into Gershwin’s beloved opera, “Porgy and Bess,” which was written during Jim Crow days, when African Americans were portrayed by white people in “blackface.”

Gershwin would have none of this. With a cast of classically trained African American singers, he took the opera to Boston in 1935, before moving it to Broadway’s Alvin theater in New York City.

Racism in America was enormous in those days. This was a bold move at that moment in time. I asked Felder if there was fallout, and how Gershwin handled the situation.

“Yes, there was fallout and Gershwin held his ground,” Felder replied. “It was meant to be performed at the National Theatre in (Washington) D.C., and the Gershwins were toldthat it would be a segregated audience. The brothers informed management, ‘If the audience is segregated, there will be no performance.’ For the first time in history the National Theatre desegregated the audience and the opera was performed.”

The American Songbook. Many of the songs from Porgy and Bess are now immortal classics, including “Summertime,” “A Woman is a Sometime Thing,” “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin,” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” These classics, as well as the entire opera, has been sung on prominent world stages by such luminaries as Leontyne Price, Denyce Graves, William Warfield, Paul Robeson, and others.

In Santa Barbara, Felder’s portrayal of Gershwin will include musical tributes to Gershwin as the father of the “Great American Songbook,” and the audiences will most likely hear a generous outpouring of Gershwin notables from this work.

Combined with commentary and acting of the Gershwin story, Felder will provide listeners with a profound understanding of the composer and his music. His work provides such deep and interesting education that the numerous films and videos of his “Hershey Felder Presents” productions are used by schools and universities all over the U.S. – “on a large scale,” Felder said.

The AHA moment. Given that Felder’s artistic life began as an intensely, classically trained pianist and evolved into an empire of music, art, education, acting, history – I had to ask what his “AHA!” moment was. What came to him, to evolve from a solo pianist and actor to doing what he’s doing today.

Felder’s quick-witted answer: the “AHA!” moment, he said, came from, “the need to pay rent.”

“Which meant needing to be different,” Felder said. “I was an actor, very young, appearing on stage, appearing on television. I was a serious pianist separately. And stopped acting to devote time to serious music study from 12-18 years old.

“Then went back to acting as well and thought of combining the two. Many said it couldn't be done. I suppose that might been the "aha" moment of sorts. Set a challenge for me and I work to succeed.

It was always a given to me to mix both media... obvious actually. And when I finally did it for audiences and they actually bought tickets, I said "aha! Rent!"

A final word. Given the gloomy and chaotic atmosphere in the world today, and Felder’s experience with material deriving from the Holocaust and Jim Crow America, I asked him to reflect on current conditions.

“One has to hope, especially today, that amid anger, cruelty, somewhere, somehow there are remnants of humanity,” Felder said, adding that during times of change, “the changes can be shocking, but crafty and incremental and only just enough that people think, ‘This, too, shall pass.’”

But no matter what, Felder said, artistic expression always finds a way even in the darkest of times.

The Ensemble Theater Company showtimes of “George Gershwin Alone” at the New Vic are May 23, 8 p.m.; May 24, 3 p.m. (sold out) & 8 p.m.; May 25, 3 p.m. (sold out) and 7 p.m. Check their site here for remaining tickets.

“Heal the Ocean” Co-Founder Hillary Hauser has been a classical pianist all her life, and has written many concert reviews, as well as interviews with composers and conductors. Some of these works can be found on www.hillaryhauser.com

Images: (L) Hershey Felder as Gershwin, performing in Austin (The Wallis.com); R: Gershwin at the piano at Hotel Roosevelt, N.Y. 1926 (Gershwin.com).