TheatreWorks presents ‘Hershey Felder: The Piano and Me’

 

Hershey Felder at the piano (David Lepori)

Piano virtuoso Hershey Felder has long been a TheatreWorks Silicon Valley favorite with his one-man shows featuring beloved composers like Rachmaninoff, Gershwin, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Berlin and Beethoven.

Now he’s back playing himself in the world premiere of his “Hershey Felder: The Piano and Me.”

It’s a fascinating, entertaining autobiographical work that starts in 1974, focuses mainly on his childhood and early adulthood, and offers more music by classical masters.

He talks a lot about his Jewish roots: his parents in Montreal and his Polish and Hungarian grandparents. His grandparents and others talked about the horrors of the Holocaust. Often he speaks in their voices and with their accents.

And of course, he talks about his relationship with the piano, beginning when he was fascinated by it when he was about 3 years old. He also talks about the teachers who helped him along the way.

Besides creating and performing in this work, Felder designed its scenic and visual elements. Books and luggage are arrayed across the stage in front of a grand piano.

Videos and projections by Stefano De Carli show composers, family members and various settings.

The lighting is by Erik S. Barry with sound design by the production manager, Erik Carstensen.

The show runs just under two hours with no intermission. Afterward, Felder graciously answers audience questions.

“Hershey Felder: The Piano and Me” will continue through Feb. 8 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View.

For tickets and information, call (877) 662-8978 or visit www.theatreworks.org.

Constitution inspires play at Hillbarn

 

Vincent Randazzo as Mike listens as Heidi, played by Kimberly Donovan, talks about the Constitution. (Hillbarn photo)

In view of today’s political turmoil in the U.S., Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory’s production of Heidi Schreck’s “What the Constitution Means to Me” would seem quite timely.

However, it mainly takes place when the playwright was still in high school. To earn money for college, she entered contests to talk about what the Constitution means to her.

The action takes place in an American Legion hall in Wenatchee, Wash., when her character, Heidi (Kimberly Donovan), was 15. The contest has time limits overseen by a Legion member, Mike (Vincent Randazzo).

Mostly she talks about Amendment 14, ratified in 1868. It provides for equal protection under the law, calls for due process and grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States. At the time it was intended to grant citizenship to former slaves.

Schreck says many of these rights seemed to apply only to men. Hence, she espouses feminist views.

She seems to switch between her teenage and adult selves, talking about her life and family.

A third character, Debater (Miriam Shev-Tov at the Jan. 23 opening), appears later to debate Heidi. She’s an actual 15-year-old who has more contemporary view of the Constitution and its role in current affairs. She makes points that seem to resonate with the audience.

(Another Debater, Avery Hartman, is listed in the program but didn’t appear at the opening. It’s likely that she and Shev-Tov alternate in the role, but the program doesn’t say so.)

As directed by Susannah Martin, Donovan is too hyper and shouts too much, diluting her effectiveness. The other two performers are more subdued.

The subtle sound design is by Jeff Mockus with the set by Jenna Forder, lighting by Cameron Pence and costumes by Madeline Berger.

Running about two hours with no intermission, “What the Constitution Means to Me” will continue through Feb. 8 at Hillbarn Theatre, 1285 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City.

For tickets and information, call (650) 349-6411 or visit www.hillbarntheatre.org.

 

 

Book, movie, now stage: 'Da Vinci Code' goes live in Palo Alto

 

Christian Vaugh-Munck as Robert Langdon and Alli Gamlen as Sophie Neveu try to figure out secrets that will help solve mysteries. (Scott Lasky)

People who enjoyed Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” best-selling novel and/or the movie might be disappointed at Palo Alto Players’ production of the stage adaptation by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel.

As directed by Jennifer Copaken, who also serves as movement director, it’s over-produced, and its story is hard to follow.

Part of the problem is that some of the accents are hard to understand. Hence it’s difficult to discern the role of some characters in the convoluted plot.

Basically it focuses on Robert Langdon (Christian Vaughn-Munck), a Harvard symbologist who’s summoned to the Louvre in Paris, where a curator has been murdered.

He teams up with a French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu (Alli Gamlen), to try to figure out exactly what happened and who’s responsible.

They eventually realize that they’re trying to decipher a code that will reveal the secret history of the origins of Christianity. The works of Da Vinci provide some clues.

Two dancers appear at the beginning of the play and between scenes. Sometimes they’re joined by black-robed monks who manipulate various geometric blocks. They seem extraneous.

This production features ominous music by Anton Sabirianov and abstract projections by Tasi Alabastro.

The simple set is by artistic director Patrick Klein with lighting by Edward Hunter, costumes by Andy Lechuga and sound by Gregorio Perez.

Running about two and a half hours with an intermission, “The Da Vinci Code” will continue through Feb. 1 at the Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.

For tickets and information, call (650) 329-0891 or visit www.paplayers.org.