Displaying items by tag: Trevor Hay

Hershey Felder has made a significant part of his life’s work playing the roles of piano prodigies, and at Writers Theatre he takes on the role of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), considered the last of the romantic Russian composers, and a virtuosic pianist. Felder, a very good actor (he received a Jefferson award in his role of Chopin last spring) and remarkable pianist, is perfect in the role, for which he has developed an extensively researched script. The Writers Theatre production, directed by Trevor Hay, is the Midwest premiere of the rolling national debut of “Rachmaninoff and the Tsar.”

Felder has mined this territory for decades, developing shows centered on musical luminaries including historic figures—Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Mozart , Beethoven—as well as modern figures like Bernstein, Irving Berlin and Gershwin. (He has also produced film versions of some of these stagings.)

Ordinarily performing solo, for “Rachmaninoff and the Tsar,” Felder has for the first time incorporated into the script a second character—Tsar Nicholas II (Jonathan Silvestri), the last Romanoff to rule Russia, until the Bolshevik revolution forced him to abdicate in 1917. Rachmaninoff fled Russia for New York City. This allows for a more robust script, with two characters playing against each other, and sharing the burden of exposition, which can be a downside for story-telling plays. Many other characters are incorporated in silent films shown periodically as a backdrop to what’s on stage.

Jonathan Silvestri as Tsar Nicholas II and Hershey Felder (right) as Sergei Rachmaninoff

The disruption that the Russian Revolution brought to Rachmaninoff’s career meant there were lengthy gaps in his work as a composer. Rachmaninoff was a favorite of the royal family and celebrated across Russia for capturing timeless slavic themes. Felder livens up the story with a creative conceit, set in 1943 as Rachmaninoff lays dying in his Beverley Hills home. On a morphine drip, Rachmaninoff conjures up visions of conversing with Tsar Nicholas II, and the play covers wide terrain as the two converse, and recall their intersecting history.

Throughout, Rachmaninoff takes to the gleaming ebony Steinway concert grand piano, playing 15 works, mostly the musicians own works with one piece by Tchaikovsky, and one by Lvov. At times Felder’s Rachmaninoff plays live against recorded orchestral arrangements, most times he solos. One particularly notable piece was an arrangement Rachmaninoff did of “The Star Spangled Banner.” In open question and answer period at the show, Felder explained the arrangement had been taken from a paper piano scroll recorded by Rachmaninoff himself. It was quite lovely.

Felder also took the time to expound on the reason he added a second character for “Rachmaninoff and the Tsar.” It alleviated the burden of telling the back story and history all by himself. “It gets lonely on the stage,” Felder said. The addition of Tsar Nicholas II also allowed for a divergence into the story of Anastasia, the Tsar’s youngest daughter who for decades was theorized to have survived. Ultimately DNA science dispelled this as myth.

Silvestri as Tsar Nicholas II adopted a growling Russian accented delivery. We learn during the question and answer period that his daughter in real life plays Anastasia in those film reels shown during the performance.

The performances are great overall, and the show is entertaining and engaging, though there is little dramatic tension, and I found my interest lagging in the storyline. Still, “Hershey Felder’s Rachmaninoff and the Tsar” comes recommended, and runs through September 21 at Writers Theatre in Glencoe, IL.

*This review is also featured on https://www.theatreinchicago.com/!