Sunday, December 19, 2004

'S Wonderful, By George (a musical review)

George Gershwin Alone - Royal George Theatre - Chicago
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Self-decribed as 'an "imagination" with music,' this one-man show created by and starring Hershey Felder as George Gershwin was a highly enjoyable exploration of the great American composer's life and musical genius. Though perhaps not as in-depth biographically or musically as I might have appreciated -- again spurring post-show research -- the show was engaging throughout, with Felder's piano and vocal prowess more than worthy of his subject. His take on Rhapsody in Blue was particularly exhiliarating and the show's "encore" was a refreshingly sentimental surprise -- much more acutely for all the old folks in audience, but it was nice for me to observe. This show has played Broadway, London and many other stops and is in the midst of an extended run in Chicago. Try to catch it. One other thing that I have no glib transition for: in the Playbill it revealed that Felder is married to Kim Campbell, a former Prime Minister of Canada, which is unique enough, even without knowing that she's at least 20 years his elder.

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