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HOUSTON, TX –The irresistible music of America’s favorite
composer comes alive, along with insights into his brief and
brilliant life, in this remarkable play-with-music by
internationally acclaimed actor, playwright, and Steinway
concert artist Hershey Felder.
George Gershwin Alone is a
delightful, touching and captivating evening of sheer joy.
Brimming with irresistible music, the award-winning show
includes songs by the creator of
An
American in Paris including “Someone to Watch Over
Me,” “I Got Rhythm” and, of course, “Rhapsody in Blue.” It
is a tribute to the American Songbook and provides an intimate
portrait of Gershwin’s early years, his personal life and his
artistic genius. Rave reviews include: “Furiously dramatic” (The
New York Times), “dazzling…sheer genius”
(NY Daily
News) and “glorious and fascinating” (USA
Today).
Suitable
for general audiences.
“Even though he died
when just a young man of 37, now, 78 years after he is gone, we
still connect to his music as if it were just composed today and
composed especially for us,” said Hershey Felder. “What George
Gershwin created was more than just the foundation of a musical
and cultural country. He left us with the musical reflection of
who we are.”
George
Gershwin Alone, Music by George Gershwin and Ira
Gershwin with Book by Hershey Felder and directed by Joel Zwick,
begins performances
Friday, May 29, opens officially
Wednesday, June 3, and runs through
Sunday,
June 21 at the University of Houston’s Wortham
Theatre.
ABOUT HERSHEY FELDER
Hershey
Felder created and performed
George
Gershwin Alone, which played on Broadway at the
Helen Hayes Theatre, in the West End at the Duchess Theatre, and
in theatres around the country. His Composers Sonata –
George
Gershwin Alone; Monsieur Chopin; Beethoven, As I Knew Him;
Maestro Bernstein; Hershey Felder as Franz Liszt in Musik,
Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin – has been presented
at dozens of theatres across the U.S. and around the world. 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. As director,
he premiered Mona Golabek in
The
Pianist of Willesden Lane at the Geffen Playhouse in
2012 and, earlier this year, produced and created scenic design
for Taylor Hackford’s
Louis and
Keely ‘Live’ at the Sahara. Mr. Felder has been a
scholar-in-residence at Harvard University’s Department of Music
and is married to Kim Campbell, the first female Prime Minister
of Canada.
SPONSORS
George
Gershwin Alone is generously sponsored by Lead
Sponsor Chevron and Supporting Sponsors KPMG and Rand Group. The
Alley Theatre is supported by the 2014-2015 season sponsor
United Airlines, the official airline of the Alley Theatre.
ABOUT THE ALLEY THEATRE
The Alley Theatre produces 400 performances annually, more than
all other performing arts organizations in the Theater District
combined. The Alley has attracted over 8 million people to
Houston’s Theater District since 1968 and has a $34.5 million
annual economic impact on the City of Houston (“Arts & Economic
Prosperity III: The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts & Culture
Organizations and their Audiences in the City of Houston,”
Americans
for the Arts, 2005.)
The Alley Theatre, one
of America’s leading not-for-profit theatres, is a nationally
recognized performing arts company focused on collaborating with
resident actors, visiting artists, directors, designers,
dramaturgs, and authors to cultivate the new voices, new work,
and new artists of the American theatre. A staff of 177 is
under the direction of Artistic Director Gregory Boyd and
Managing Director Dean R. Gladden. The Alley has also brought
its productions to 40 American cities, and to Berlin, Paris, St.
Petersburg and New York’s Lincoln Center, as well as to major
European festivals (including two in one season at the Venice
Biennale) and Broadway. A recipient of the Special Tony Award
for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the Alley creates a
wide-ranging repertoire and innovative productions of classics,
neglected modern plays, and premieres, as well as new works
developed through the Alley’s new play initiative. During the
2014 - 2015 season the Alley Theatre will be performing at the
University of Houston’s Wortham Theatre as the Alley’s downtown
home is being renovated. For more information go to
www.alleytheatre.org/uh.
TICKET
INFORMATION
Tickets to
George
Gershwin Alone
start at $26. All tickets are available for purchase at
alleytheatre.org, at the Alley Theatre Box Office or by calling
713.220.5700. Groups of 10 or more can receive special concierge
services and select discounts by calling 713.220.5700 and asking
for the group sales department.
ALLEY THEATRE @
UH
The Wortham Theatre is located just off Cullen
Boulevard on UH’s main campus inside the Cynthia Woods Mitchell
Center for the Arts building (also called building 507 on a UH
campus map), which also houses the UH School of Theatre & Dance.
Free designated parking for Alley patrons will be actively
monitored and patrolled by campus security for all performances
and is located at campus entrance 16 off Cullen Boulevard, just
across the street from the theatre building. The best address to
use for online maps and directions to the UH theatre is 4116
Elgin, Houston TX 77004.
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