A New Musical — Midwest Premiere • Part of Our World Premiere Season!
"One of his best!" — San Diego Union Tribune
The life and music of the great Russian composer are brought to vivid life by the virtuoso talent behind last year’s Monsieur Chopin.
Cast
Creative
Know Before You Go
About the Play
- Hershey Felder previously performed at Writers Theatre in the spring of 2024 with his production of Monsieur Chopin – A Play with Music.
- Since the 1998 premiere of his internationally lauded play with music George Gershwin Alone, Hershey Felder has appeared on world renowned stages throughout the United States and abroad giving more than six thousand performances on stages in original works that include Beethoven, Maestro Bernstein, Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin, as well as the appearances of Our Great Tchaikovsky, A Paris Love Story - Debussy, and more.
- This exploration of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s itinerant but extraordinary life illuminates the master’s sense of home and family and how those elements influenced his art. Featuring his world famous Prelude in C-sharp minor to his Piano Concert No. 2, his symphonies and his Paganini Variations, Rachmaninoff did leave Russia but Russia stayed with him until the very end influencing every aspect of his life.
- Hershey Felder’s Rachmaninoff and the Tsar had its world premiere at the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica followed by the Balboa Theatre in San Diego where the San Diego Union Tribune said that “Felder gives a heartbreaking performance in his masterful drama about Rachmaninoff in what is his best work.” The Writers Theatre engagement is part of the production’s World Premiere season.
Musical Selections Performed
All compositions by Sergei V. Rachmaninoff unless otherwise noted:
- Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2
- The Star-Spangled Banner – John Stafford Smith, arranged Rachmaninoff
- Bózhe, Tsaryá khraní! [God Save the Tsar!] – Alexei Lvov, arranged Felder
- Nocturne in F-sharp minor
- Marche Slave in B-flat minor, Op. 31 [selection] – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- Prelude in G-sharp minor, Op. 32, No. 12
- Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 1
- Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op.18, Adagio [selection]
- Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op.18, Maestoso, Alla Marcia
- Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5
- Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op.18, Adagio [selection]
- Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36 [selection, 1913 version]
- Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op.18, Finale
- Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 43, Variation 18
- Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14
Special Events
Bonus Content
A Look On Stage
Audience Guide