Hershey Felder channels the great composer and conductor
Leonard Bernstein in Maestro, at 59E59 Theaters Aug. 31 – Oct. 16.
A new play with music written and performed by award-winning actor and musician Hershey Felder, and directed by Joel Zwick, Maestro spans the entire 20th Century combining Bernstein’s personal story, his original music and the music that inspired him. Leonard Bernstein, arguably America’s greatest musician, broke through every artistic ceiling possible to become the world’s musical ambassador. Conductor, composer, pianist, author, teacher, librettist, television star…for Leonard Bernstein, boundaries simply did not exist. Maestro has previously played Los Angeles’ The Geffen Playhouse, San Diego’s The Old Globe Theatre, Boston’s Paramount Theatre, Chicago’s Royal George Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Cleveland’s Allen Theatre, New York’s The Town Hall and more. The Boston Globe praised Felder’s “finely wrought portrait…Felder captures Bernstein’s restless energy, his combination of self-confidence and vulnerability, and his flair for drama.” The Chicago Sun-Times raved “you will walk out of the theater realizing you’ve barely breathed for the duration of this astonishing musical and theatrical transmigration of souls.” The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote that Felder “…hits all the right notes. Hershey Felder’s Maestro is a pleasure to watch, involving and rich…He is a masterful pianist with a showman’s sense of drama and dynamics” … “one of Felder’s best.”
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