**** Recommended Hersey Felder has returned to Writers Theater in another tour de force performance as Sergei Rachmaninoff in Rachmaninoff and the Tsar. As we’ve come to expect from the longtime Chicago favorite, Felder combines acting with a concert-level piano performance. I loved the performance although I thought the premise – a dying composer resurrecting a long-dead tsar to get an apology – was a bit of a stretch. 4 Spotlights
Although the musical elements certainly make parts of the show feel like a concert, Rachmaninoff and the Tsar is not a concert, it’s a play with music. Unlike previous shows, this is not a one-man show. Tsar Nicholas II, played with quiet authority by British actor, Jonathan Silvestri, is a vital part of this story.
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar is set in the garden of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s home in Beverly Hills. Sergei is critically ill, but his spirit is in the garden reliving his life in Russia. Although he escaped Russia during the revolution, and performed all over the world, he missed Russia so much he couldn’t compose after he left. In some convoluted way he’s decided that his inability to compose is the fault of the Tsar and he just won’t let go until he has an apology.
There’s a lot of really interesting historical gossip in his conversation with the Tsar, anecdotes about his family – and their final days – as well as the story about a woman who claimed to be Anastasia. Rachmaninoff paid for her to come to American as well as footing all of her expenses while she was here – even though she alienated everyone she met with her attitude.
As the story began, a beautiful house was projected behind the garden – a garden furnished with a grand piano! When the Tsar talked of his family, what looked like news reel footage of them was projected. After the show, during the customary Q & A, Silvestri shared that his wife and daughter had posed for the film.
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar was written by Hersey Felder, directed by Trevor Hay. The show premiered earlier this year in Santa Monica. The Writers production is part of the World Premiere season. This is Hersey Felder’s second appearance in the intimate Nichols Theatre at Writers, appearing as Monsieur Chopin in 2023.
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar runs through September 21st in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre at Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. Free parking is available in the Metra lot across Green Bay Road. Running time is 95 minutes, no intermission.
Performances: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3:00 & 7:30 pm; Sundays at 2:00. Tickets range from $35-$95. FYI (847) 242-6000 or www.writerstheatre.org.