Hershey Felder channels Irving Berlin at Westport Country Playhouse
Actorplaywright Hershey Felder brings to life the genius of one of the most prolific songwriters of all time in “Hershey Felder as Irvin Berlin,” a show playing at the Westport Country Playhouse through Aug. 3. The song legacies of giants like Bob Dylan, Stephen Schwarz, the Beatles’ LennonMcCartney, and others will find it hard to match up with Berlin’s, who truly stands in a class by itself.
For starters, there’s the shear volume of Berlin’s catalog that consists of more than 1,500 songs, including “God Bless America” and “White Christmas.” The incredible depth, range, and success of his genius helped define 20thcentury American popular music.
Berlin wrote 17 complete scores for Broadway musicals and reviews and contributed material to six more, plus he wrote the music for 16 feature films. He amassed 232 top10 hits — compared to 34 from the Beatles, according to Billboard, and he had 10 No. 1 hits (granted, the Beatles had 20). But he also cofounded ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), coowned Broadway’s The Music Box Theater, and received countless awards and accolades. Some of his other classics include “There's No Business Like Show Business," “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “Always,” “What’ll I Do,” “Blue Skies,” and “Alexander's Ragtime Band," his first international hit.
“He had a natural ability to pick melodies out of the air and understand how they needed to be most effectively harmonized,” said Hershey Felder, an awardwinning actor and pianistplaywright, who portrays Berlin in “Hershey Felder as Irvin Berlin,” and is credited as the show’s scenic designer and author of its book. “His ability to take the simplest language and turn it into poetry is uncanny,” he continued. “But he worked very hard at it, and wrote and rewrote until it all seemed as natural as breathing. His country inspired him. His family inspired him. Being a craftsman inspired him. He was a real artist.”
The show covers virtually the entire life of Irving Berlin, from his days as a Jewish immigrant born Israel Beilin in Russia in 1888, to his death in 1989 at 101 years old. And, with so many facets of his life and career to bring to the stage, Felder had some difficult choices to make.
“The story must continue without falling flat, using the thrust of what drove him,” he said. “It is always difficult to choose exactly how to tell that story, but the good news is that Berlin infused so much of his life into his musical storytelling, that he himself left us the story to tell.”
The actorplaywright, whose resume includes several oneman shows reprising the lives of historical giants, first became interested in portraying Irving Berlin after meeting his family, particularly his three daughters, Mary Ellin, Linda and Elizabeth, who died in 2017. The other two are still alive.
“While I was familiar with all the very popular tunes, I never knew the circumstances of their composition,” he said. “When I met the Berlin daughters and several other family members and was told Berlin’s true story from their perspective, I realized it would be an important story to tell. His daughters told me that his patriotism was genuine, and that he believed in giving back to the country that gave him everything he could have ever dreamed of. That inspired me, as, of course, did the music.”
Berlin’s daughters play a prominent part in the inspirational aspect of the show, as do several other close family members. All three attended an early reading that Felder did at Steinway Hall in New York City, and many of Berlin’s family members have seen the show.
As to choosing what songs and story lines to include in the production, Felder, again, had some tough choices. “The songs chosen are driven by the story,” he said. “There are many of his famous songs, but there are lesserknown ones as well, ‘Marie from Sunny Italy,’ his first published one, ‘Suppertime,’ in the context of Ethel Waters singing it, and so on. And while I wanted to include his cofounding of ASCAP, it’s not something he would have told the gathering that is the audience for this show. As for the origins of the songs, in fact, pretty much every song is presented in context of its origins.”
Berlin received a special Tony Award in 1963, an Academy Award for Best Song for "White Christmas,” Army's Medal of Merit from President Harry Truman in 1945, a Congressional Gold Medal for "God Bless America" and other patriotic songs from President Dwight Eisenhower in 1954, and the Freedom Medal from President Gerald Ford in 1977.
The Berlin songs, his legacy, and his love of country will continue to live. When he was alive, Irving Berlin established The God Bless America Fund, which receives all income from his patriotic songs, including, of course, “God Bless American,” and distributes it to the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America.
The Westport Country Playhouse is located at 25 Powers Court in Westport. For more information, visit Westportplayhouse.org.