{"id":12129,"date":"2014-06-10T08:59:08","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T15:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=12129"},"modified":"2014-06-10T08:59:08","modified_gmt":"2014-06-10T15:59:08","slug":"hershey-felder-as-leonard-bernstein-in-maestro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/hershey-felder-as-leonard-bernstein-in-maestro\/","title":{"rendered":"HERSHEY FELDER AS LEONARD BERNSTEIN IN MAESTRO"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/em>HERSHEY FELDER AS LEONARD BERNSTEIN IN MAESTRO: Music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein and others. Book by Hershey Felder. With Hershey Felder as Leonard Bernstein. Directed by Joel Zwick. Berkeley Repertory Theatre: Thrust, 2025 Addison Street @ Shattuck, Berkeley, CA 94704 \u00a0\u00a0June 6 – June 22, 2014 (EXTENDED! June 5\u2013July 3, 2014) [rating:3] <\/strong><\/p>\n

The multitalented (pianist, actor, playwright, composer, producer, and director) Hershey Felder triumphantly returns to Berkeley Rep\u2019s trust stage becoming the multitalented Leonard Bernstein. In the past Felder has limited his portrayals to composers including his smash hit last year as George Gershwin in George Gershwin Alone<\/em>. In that performance he tacked on a 30 minute sing-a-long curtain call when the uproarious applause kept him on the stage. This time there was no curtain call but it was not from lack of appreciation from a rapt audience.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the past he has taken on the personae of \u00a0Fryderyk Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Liszt. All were great composers while Bernstein was an unsuccessful classical composer and is known for his orchestral directing skills. He considered himself a failure. If one might conjecture about Felder\u2019s motivations to create this show it may be he wished to display his own directorial skills. He certainly does that when he, through Bernstein, gives us a thorough lesson in the art of directing an orchestra that he learned studying under such great conductors including Dimitri Mitropoulos, Fritz Reiner, Serge Koussevitzky, Artur Rodzinski and composer Aaron Copland. Bernstein became the youngest conductor to have led and become the first American-born music director of the \u00a0New York Philharmonic.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Much of the evening is devoted to Bernstein\u2019s relationship with his Jewish immigrant father who was materialistic and adamant that one cannot make a living as a musician. This allows Felder to adopt a Yiddish accent that adds humor. The accent is used throughout the evening as Felder chronologically grows from young Bernstein to a disappointed adulthood. There is only brief mention of his faithful wife and children with a \u201cthrow-away-line\u201d \u00a0late the show about his fling with a young boy that lasted only 1 \u00bd years saying as he departed the stage his greatest regret was the hurt he caused those near and dear to him. \u00a0With a curtain line such as that there could be no encore.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The evening starts and ends with Felder using the words from West Side Story<\/em> in the song \u201cSomewhere\u201d with a time and place for everything. Felder frames the evening with the lyrics from that song. As with his other productions there is a single set with props that are pertinent to the character he is creating. For this show there is an ancient TV camera reflecting the fact that Bernstein\u2019s fame was made even more grand through the \u201cOmibus\u201d TV series. Many of the projected clips are taken from that program.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The black and white projections become an integral part of the 90 minute show as he effortlessly moves from his piano playing to dialog. The music selections include the \u201cSomewhere\u201d\u00a0 mentioned above, \u201cCarried Away\u201d from On the Town; <\/em>\u00a0his \u201cPiano Sonata\u201d; Aaron Copeland\u2019s \u201cPiano Sonata\u201d Variation 1 and 9; \u201cA Little Bit of Love\u201d from Wonderful Town<\/em>; \u201cI Hate Music\u201d; \u201cLamentations\u201d from Jeremiah; <\/em>\u201cGreetings\u201d from Arias and Barcafolles;<\/em> Glitter and be Gay from Candide <\/em>and\u201cMaria\u201d <\/em>from West Side Story.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Felder\u2019s first-person narrative as Bernstein and his smooth transitions to those individuals that have shaped his life creates a provocative but not compelling theatre piece. As mentioned in the PR data it certainly is \u201can illuminating look at the amazing life of American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kedar K. Adour, MD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HERSHEY FELDER AS LEONARD BERNSTEIN IN MAESTRO: Music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein and others. Book by Hershey Felder. With Hershey Felder as Leonard Bernstein. Directed by Joel Zwick. Berkeley…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12129","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-kedar-k-adour"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"