Just back from a performance of George Gershwin Alone at the American Repertory Theatre in Harvard Square. This is a one-man show by Hershey Felder, who sings, plays the piano, and talks. It is tough to believe that Gershwin, born in 1898, might have been one of our contemporaries if not for his death from a brain tumor in 1937. Although many of his Broadway songs and Rhapsody in Blue were very popular, Gershwin endured quite a few setbacks during his short life: (1) rejection by the critics, (2) rejection by the woman he wanted to marry, (3) massive financial losses from the failure of Porgy and Bess (disliked by the critics), (4) severe headaches, (5) condemnation by one of the world’s most powerful men (Henry Ford didn’t like Jazz and blamed it all on the Jews, specifically Gershwin, and published his theories in the Dearborn Independent), and (6) butchery of his compositions by Hollywood.
Apparently Gershwin had a habit of locking the theater doors in New York to prevent the audience from leaving, then making them stay after a performance to sing along while he played at the piano. Hershey Felder revived this tradition and made a bunch of the amateur singers in the audience stand up and perform in front of 1000 neighbors. It was amazing to see the courage of these folks, who’d arrived totally unprepared.
Final note: Gershwin wrote a song about Boston called “The Back Bay Polka”. The lyrics include some choice lines:
Strangers are all dismissed —
(Not that we’re prejudiced)
You simply don’t exist —
If you haven’t been born in Boston.
Think as your neighbors think,
Make lemonade your drink;
Keep up the cultured pose
By looking down your nose;
Keep up the status quos —
Or they’ll keep you out of Boston.
Phil: I hope Felder didn’t lock the doors to the ART. Sounds a little dangerous.