Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (72)
See it if You want to hear great songs that you are not familiar with, sung by a charming singer, and played with ease and flair. An unforgettable bio
Don't see it if You don’t like the music of Berlin and are not at all curious about his life.
See it if A man with had great talent, so many songs, you know some. If you love music and want to know more.
Don't see it if If you do not like this music, and think it old. Read more
See it if WONDERFUL in every respect: great music, a heartfelt story of success in show business, and a love story. Although Berlin was exceptional
Don't see it if you do not like Irving Berlin's music Read more
See it if you want to be rigorously entertained while learning about a show-biz icon.
Don't see it if you have no appreciation for a class act. Read more
See it if You are interested in a fantastic production about the life of Irving Berlin and the many songs he wrote
Don't see it if Really, I believe there is no reason not to see it, only if you do not like one man shows or do not like Irving Berlin's music. Read more
See it if if you love Irving Berlin's songs with patter between songs; if you enjoy singing along at various times; if you enjoy being entertained
Don't see it if you don't like one person shows; if you expect Hershey Felder to look like Irving Berlin
See it if you want to know about the man behind so many of the songs all of us know by heart. This is a masterful piece done with thought and style.
Don't see it if you simply don't care about Irving Berlin and the treasury of excellent music that he gave us. If that's so, go anyway and learn! Read more
See it if Tells the life of Irving Berlin with great acting thru his songs
Don't see it if If you dont like great entertainment or one man show
Critic Reviews (30)
"Felder plays no version of Berlin the world might recognize or wish to...Felder’s acting is as broad as a silent-movie villain’s, except that he’s talking. And talking. Or, too often, singing...Felder delivers them all in a weird, unpleasant vocal style that manages the difficult trick of making the songs seem both unvaried and unmelodic...So much is wrong with ‘Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin’ that I eventually started to wonder whether it was actively passive-aggressive.”
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“This lovely one-man show, written and performed by Felder and directed by Trevor Hay, is set on Christmas Eve, 1988, as the centenarian invites carollers into his Beekman Place house, tells the story of his life, and reveals the sources of his songs. Felder is a good monologuist, but, more important, he’s an exquisite singer and a virtuosic pianist, and his love for Berlin’s music fills the theatre.”
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"Felder portrays Berlin with a restless intensity, suggesting Berlin’s determination to succeed, fervent patriotism, love for his family and anger at becoming a casualty of the rock and roll revolution. Even though the show is constructed in a by-the-number fashion, and the writing can be heavy-handed and overloaded with exposition, it is truly engrossing and heartfelt. Oddly enough, it also represents the modern jukebox musical at its most simple, persuasive and dramatically effective levels."
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“An occasionally hokey but ultimately loving biographical tribute...While the show has about as much depth as a Wikipedia entry, Felder takes great care in his presentation, his affection for his subject shining in every single moment...The show has no right to work this well, but because of Felder's warm and sensitive portrayal, it does...There are a few points when Felder is a little too much of a showman...Felder proves Berlin is more than just a legend. Thanks to his music, he's immortal."
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“Felder not only creates the character of Berlin but also those of his musical assistants, his...wives...and a number of others...Felder is so adept at this stagecraft that the audience feels as though these other people are actually onstage. Through his riveting acting and superb musicianship, Felder's portrayal of Berlin makes this American musical icon come alive again...Hay delightfully serves Felder's book as Director of this magnificently conceived production.”
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"It's a canny strategy, presenting a double vision of the man in his heyday, while nevertheless warning us where his story is headed: Berlin led a life that, for all its triumphs, was marked by bizarre and often random ill fortune...Felder has the big picture and it is a lively, crowded canvas, filled with laughter and real feeling...Of the performances by Felder that I've seen, this is surely the strongest; he seems to have bonded more fully with Berlin than his other subjects."
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“Felder is at his best when he moves away from his baby grand piano and his virtuoso arrangements of the Berlin repertoire, and stands quietly to sing an unaccompanied medley. It is then that you can best appreciate the blend of music and lyrics...Unfortunately, we don't get to know nearly as much about Berlin the man...Beyond the songs and the stories of their creation...snippets of biography and the anecdotes, we are largely left to our own devices to discern what drove him.”
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"Although Felder is scarcely an actor, he’s okay as a genial storyteller, and even better as a rather flashy pianist...The production is modest yet capable. Trevor Hay, the director, neatly paces the easygoing flow of the show...Not a high-concept entertainment that aims to garner new admirers of the songwriter’s works or to provide fresh insights...It is instead a sincere and agreeably performed musical celebration of a great American artist and the enduring songs that he wrote."
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