” Monsieur Chopin” a play with music

The Nichols Theatre, with its tiered seating allows us to view his hands at the piano and watching him at the keyboard is a treat. While his Gershwin and Bernstein productions are ones that bring us familiar music ( with lyrics), his “Monsieur Chopin” is more of a classroom storytelling experience. Chopin was a Polish ( and French) composer who published his first work at age 7 and began performing at age 8. He moved to Paris where he became part of high society and was also a well respected teacher.

Hershey Felder, as he does in all of his one-man shows, takes on the persona of Chopin, starting the show as if we, the audience were his students, who after his lesson, will be asked to place their payment in a box on the table. During this 105 minutes ( no intermission), we learn about his family, his loves, his dislikes, his fears and how he composed some of his works. Directed by  Joel Zwick, on a stage designed by Felder so that the entire audience has a clear view of him at the piano, this is both a history lesson and a music lesson. To be honest, for a theater person, this is also an acting lesson, as one can see how Felder becomes Chopin and even when he works the audience ( with the Q and A segment), he is Frederyk Chopin.

The venue allows us to witness his every move at the keyboard and with the amazing video projections (Erik Carstensen) and solid lighting ( Erik S. Barry) and perfect sound, this is a show not to be missed.  Now that Writers has brought him to Glencoe for this masterpiece, perhaps they should look at another few productions so that the next generation gets an opportunity to see Felder do Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, and George Gershwin ( with more to follow). “Wouldn’t that be loverly?”

If you are into classical music, you don’t want to miss this amazing production as you watch Hershey Felder become “Monsieur Chopin”.