New Hershey Felder Show With Seven Angels Theatre

Seven Angels Theatre and Hershey Felder Presents announced today the details of Hershey Felder as Sholem Aleichem in Before Fiddler - Live From Florence with Hershey Felder, featuring Klezmerata Fiorentina. Before Fiddler on the Roof, there was Sholem Aleichem and the music of the old world. This world premiere presentation will be streamed live on Sunday, February 7 at 8pm EST, and will also be available as a recording until 11:59PM PST on February 14. Tickets are $55 per household and are available for purchase at SevenAngelsTheatre.org.

Before the beloved musical Fiddler on the Roof, there was Sholem Aleichem and his beloved character of 'Tevye the Milkman.' Before the popularized songs, "Tradition," "If I Were a Rich Man," "Matchmaker," and more, there was music of the old world-- a music that imitated talking, laughing, weeping, and singing, where musicians didn't just make music, they spoke to you in song through Klezmer. In Florence, Italy, one of the oldest artistic centers in the world, a group of musicians have been virtuosos in Florence's world famous Maggio Musicale symphony by day, and then become the Klezmerata Fiorentina by night. With Hershey Felder as their storyteller, and their ancient European roots, Felder executes a performance by taking on the role of great writer Sholem Aleichem himself – giving us the true story of what happened before “Fiddler.” Filmed on location where events actually took place, this world premiere will feature stories and characters of Sholem Aleichem with a story and music that is sure to move your soul.

Tickets are available now at SevenAngelsTheatre.org for only $55 per household.

Sholem Aleichem was a Yiddish author and playwright whose stories became the basis of the wildly popular musical, Fiddler on the Roof. When he was only 24 years old, Aleichem published his first story, Tsvey Shteyner ("Two Stones"), and eventually became a central figure in Yiddish literature by 1890. Aleichem became known as the "Jewish Mark Twain" for his similar writing styles and pen name usage.

The world premiere of Before Fiddler – Live from Florence is directed by Hershey Felder & Stefano Decarli, with associate direction by Trevor Hay. Production Design is by Hershey Felder. Film production and live editing is by the DeCarli Live film company. Live broadcast and Sound Design Production are by Erik Carstensen. Line Producer is Annette Nixon. Production and Broadcast Development is by Meghan Maiya. Costumes and Hair are by Marzia Sarti & Isabelle Gerbe. Scenic Construction is directed by Pierre Gerbe. Featuring special guests KLEZMERATA FIORENTINA.

For tickets and more information on how to view Before Fiddler – Live from Florence, visit SevenAngelsTheatre.org

HERSHEY FELDER (Writer & Performer): Named to Time Magazine’s 2016 Top 10 Plays and Musicals, Hershey Felder has played over 6,000 performances of his self-created solo productions at some of the world’s most prestigious theatres and has broken box office records consistently. American Theatre Magazine has said, “Hershey Felder is in a category all his own.” His shows include: George Gershwin Alone (Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theatre, West End’s Duchess Theatre); Monsieur Chopin; Beethoven; Maestro (Leonard Bernstein); Franz Liszt in Musik, Lincoln: An American Story, Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin, Our Great Tchaikovsky, and A Paris Love Story. His compositions and recordings include Aliyah, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra; Fairytale, a musical; Les Anges de Paris, Suite for Violin and Piano; Song Settings; Saltimbanques for Piano and Orchestra; Etudes Thematiques for Piano; and An American Story for Actor and Orchestra. Hershey is the adaptor, director and designer for the internationally performed play-with-music The Pianist of Willesden Lane with Steinway artist Mona Golabek; producer and designer for the musical Louis and Keely: ‘Live’ at the Sahara, directed by Taylor Hackford; and writer and director for Flying Solo, featuring opera legend Nathan Gunn. Hershey has operated a full-service production company since 2001, and in 2020 created a new brand LIVE FROM FLORENCE, that operates a “theatre at home broadcast company,” based in Florence, Italy. Early broadcasts included; Hershey Felder as IRVING BERLIN; Hershey Felder, BEETHOVEN; Hershey Felder as GEORGE GERSHWIN ALONE; Hershey Felder, BACKSTORY – The Story Behind the Creation of Berlin, Gershwin & Bernstein; Cooking French in Florence with Jeff Thickman & Hershey Felder. The Hershey Felder Presents - Live from Florence 2020-21 Season of broadcasts include: Hershey Felder as Claude Debussy in A PARIS LOVE STORY; Hershey Felder, TCHAIKOVSKY; Hershey Felder as Sholem Aleichem in BEFORE FIDDLER; Hershey Felder, PUCCINI; and Hershey Felder as Sergei Rachmaninoff in ANNA & SERGEI. Hershey has been a scholar-in-residence at Harvard University’s Department of Music and is married to Kim Campbell, the first female Prime Minister of Canada.

KLEZMERATA FIORENTINA (Music) is a quartet comprised of principal players of one of the leading Italian operatic and symphonic orchestras, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. In 2005, the violinist and violist Igor Polesitsky, clarinetist Riccardo Crocilla, accordionist and bassoonist Francesco Furlanich, and double bass player Riccardo Donati formed the ensemble to explore new ways of creative, unwritten elaboration of authentic Yiddish folk material, the musical heritage of the group’s founder, Igor Polesitsky. Since the group’s debut in 2005 at the Progetto Martha Argerich Festival in Lugano, Switzerland, Klezmerata Fiorentina has appeared on some of the world’s most prestigious stages. Of special note are their performances at the Quirinale Palace in Rome, the official residence of the President of the Republic of Italy, at the Great Hall of Congresses in the Kremlin, Moscow’s Dom Musyki, the Rachmaninov Hall of Tchaikovsky Conservatory, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic society, Società di Quartetto in Milan, Amici della Musica in Florence, the Skirball Center in Los Angeles, the Italian Festival delle Nazioni, the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Natalia Gutman’s Kreuth Festival in Germany, the Ashkenaz Festival in Toronto, the Chutzpah! Festival in Vancouver, the Telavi Festival in the Republic of Georgia, the Summertime Festival in Jurmala (Latvia), etc.

Seven Angels Theatre is located on Plank Road in Waterbury Connecticut. Website: SevenAngelsTheatre.org. Phone: 203-757-4676.