Hershey Felder as MONSIEUR CHOPIN
Hershey Felder as MONSIEUR CHOPIN now playing at the San DiegoRepertory theatre through October 6th is an intimate and emotionalpiece, looking at the life, mind, and music of this Polish piano prodigy.
As the audience everyone becomes a piano student; there to have apiano lesson from Felder’s melancholy maestro, Fryderyk Chopin. This is fitting, since Chopin largely madehis living giving piano lessons and not from performing many concerts alikeother composers of his era. In this lesson the teacher Chopin will do theplaying, but he expects audience participation and questions to help guide thelesson along.
This leads to a story of his life and his music told chronologically,but the audience questions allow for unexpected detours and musings that notonly add to the feeling of a direct discussion with the master, but also displayFelder’s impressive depth of knowledge on his subject.
The lesson guides you though how to perform and express emotionthrough music, to how to dress for a performance, and why you should alwaysarrive late to an Embassy performance. Yet, it is the deeper dives into whom and what Chopin is bringing tolife as he composes and paints pictures in the music that proves trulyintriguing.
As he explains and plays, you hear the tinkling notes turn into theguests arriving to a party, the lower notes of the blustering and boastful mentrying to impress each other, and the whispered flirtation happening between apair of secret lovers.
While Felder’s acting performance as Chopin is persuasive, it ishis assured performances of Chopin’s pieces that really demonstrate theemotion, the drama, and are enchanting.
At one point Felder’s Chopin says of the music “It must come from your soul, it must be who you are.” This feels like an apt description of Felder himself who not only through this piece and his other pieces on composers, is able to bring both the music and the men behind it to life in a way that connects with modern audiences.
At almost two hours long without an intermission, this play couldbenefit from slightly less audience participation, which tends to be theslowest parts of the show.
While there is guarantee that when you leave Hershey Felder asMONSIEUR CHOPIN that you will be able to play the piano any better than whenyou walked in, but it is guaranteed that you will walk away having experienced Chopinand his music in a way that is truly impressive.
Hershey Felder as MONSIEUR CHOPIN is playing at the San Diegorepertory Theatre through October 6th. For ticket and show time information pleasego to www.sdrep.org