On Theater: Hershey Felder revives the genius that was Irving Berlin
There is, as Irving Berlin once famously observed, no business like show business. When Jerome Kern was asked what he deemed was Berlin’s place in American music, he replied, “Irving Berlin has no place in American music — he is American music.”
The stellar actor and piano wizard Hershey Felder has chosen the famed prolific composer for his latest one-man show at the Laguna Playhouse, “Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin.” It’s perhaps his finest yet in a string of tributes to such legends as George Gershwin, Beethoven and Chopin, all performed in Laguna.
Performance artist Felder has a panoramic canvas on which to work. Unlike, say, Gershwin, who never saw his 40th birthday, Berlin lived to be 101, leaving a treasury of hit songs that include “White Christmas,” “God Bless America” and, of course, “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”
Felder traces Berlin’s life and career meticulously, from his birth in Russia (as Israel Beilin), where his family struggled against poverty and the Cossacks, to the streets of New York, where he developed his talent and began his songwriting career. The performance, splendidly directed by Trevor Hay, touches the heart as effectively as it does the musical memory.
Playgoers most certainly will be turning to their companions and asking, “Did he write that?” And, yes, songs like “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” “What’ll I Do?,” “Blue Skies,” “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “Always,” “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” and dozens of others all came from Berlin’s vast creative genius.
With all of Berlin’s songs to highlight, Felder still finds time in this 110-minute program to delve into the composer’s touching personal life. Berlin’s first wife died after contracting typhoid on their honeymoon in Cuba, but his marriage to the second Mrs. Berlin ended only with her death at 85, a 62-year loving partnership.
Felder enjoys an admirable rapport with his audience. When leading into a song he hasn’t yet identified, he invites playgoers to sing along with just a nod or a hand gesture, and they respond in unison with the now-familiar lyrics.
He confides that Berlin’s “No Business Like Show Business” almost was left out of “Annie Get Your Gun.” But with Ethel Merman (whom Berlin referred to as a “foghorn”) belting it out, it became a Broadway anthem.
Berlin’s career was not without its disappointments. When he wrote the score for “Miss Liberty” — a show that heralded the ventures of immigrants like himself to the statue in the New York harbor — it proved scant competition against other musicals opening at that time, like “Kiss Me, Kate” and “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”
And “God Bless America,” written around World War I, was tucked away in a drawer after a fellow musician’s negative comments. When Berlin revived it 20 years later and handed it to Kate Smith, things turned out much differently.
By now, Laguna audiences have recognized the consummate artistry that is Hershey Felder at the piano. Combined with his equally impressive skill as an actor, the show is a bountiful feast for nostalgic music lovers.
TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot.
IF YOU GO
What: “Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin”
Where: Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 5:30 p.m. Sundays through Feb. 8 (additional 2 p.m. shows Jan. 22 and Feb. 5; no 5:30 p.m. show Feb. 8)
Cost: $46 to $66
Information: (949) 497-2787 or https://www.lagunaplayhouse.com
