Did I fall in love with a performance? Oh, yes I did. Infatuation. Hershey was more than marvelous, ’twas wonderful. An hour and fifty minutes of dabbing my moist eyes with finger tips, nostalgia killing me softly with this metamorphosis of the two Irving Berlin’s on stage till they became one. The 101 year old whose alter ego will tell Irving’s story.
Aged Irving is tired and he is annoyed that there’s a chorus outside in the snow singing White Christmas. But energetic ebullient enthusiastic Irving acts and sings and ages bringing us a delightfully scant joyous amount of the thousands of songs Maestro Berlin created.Humble means, immigrant gifted, yes, couldn’t read music knew how to play piano in F sharp, though. Irving references how he does it. Stan here, got the impression he plucked melodies out of the ether because they were just there and Presto!
Hershey acts the characters in Berlin’s life with different voices from male to female. As an audience member it was a magical experience, and the way Hershey sings and plays the piano with such heart and soul – Hey, I coulda danced all night and begged for more.The playwright kudos, the set, the lighting, the direction, the songs — and Hershey Felder, for giving us the heart and soul of a great American Patriot! Yup. Blue Skies, Always! God Bless America!