San Diego Rep’s Hershey Felder ‘Songbook Singalong’ to push digital boundaries

Over the past 15 years, playwright-pianist-actor Hershey Felder has given hundreds of performances at theaters in San Diego.

While the content of these shows has constantly changed — he has written and produced more than a dozen biographical solo plays with music on famous composers — one constant has been the post-show audience Q&A sessions and the occasional audience sing-alongs.

When the pandemic hit, Felder began livestreaming new productions of his composer plays from his home in Florence, Italy. The “Live From Florence” shows started out in June 2020 with just him performing live at a piano, then they gradually evolved to feature films with location shoots, big casts and live orchestras. Now, as he prepares to launch a new season of filmed shows from Italy, Felder is planning a one-night show that will blend live performance with filmed segments and audience interactivity.

At 5 p.m. Sunday, San Diego Repertory Theatre will co-present Hershey Felder’s “Great American Songbook Singalong.” Broadcast live from the historic Teatro Verdi in Florence, Felder will present the music of American composers that include Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart and Paul Simon.

When viewers buy their tickets, they can submit requests for songs they’d like to hear during the show. One hundred of those submissions will be put in a hat and 20 will be picked at random during the livecast. In some cases, songs that have already received hundreds of requests from ticket-buyers will feature pre-recorded vocals by Felder’s musical friends that he will accompany live on piano. There will also be elements of the show where people can text into the show and Felder will respond live.

Felder said performing a show with so many elements, and no chance to rehearse the songs pulled from the hat, will be challenging — especially since he’ll be performing on Florence time, from 2 to 4 a.m. But he said he likes pushing the boundaries of what he can do in the live digital format.

In a few weeks, Felder will announce his second season of “Live from Florence.” Although he has booked several concerts in Italy and has contracts for several U.S. theater engagements in the coming year, Felder said he will continue doing to the online shows because he has developed a large and loyal home audience over the past 14 months.

One of these future projects will be “The Assembly,” an original play with music that Felder will film next spring in San Diego, featuring students from the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts. It’s inspired by the true story of a Polish survivor of the Holocaust who frequently gave presentations on the subject to high school assemblies in an effort to ensure younger generations never forget their history.

Felder will work with SDSCPA principal Timothy Farson and theater department chair Roxane Carrasco, not only for the filmed play but also to develop a student fellowship program, where up to 20 SDSCPA would travel to Florence each summer for a weeklong program of live performances, arts education and cultural exchange.

In a joint Zoom interview with Felder on Aug. 6, Farson and Carrasco said this program will be a rare opportunity for students to learn not only the artist’s process but also about how artists can impact the world.

“We are one of the few schools in the nation accredited in the arts and that demands partnerships on the world-class level,” Farson said. “Bringing Hershey Felder to the table is one partnership we’re thrilled about, because of what it means for our kids.”

Felder said the program will be underwritten by sponsors and himself, and the goal will be to target students from socio-economic backgrounds who would never otherwise have the opportunity to experience the arts or perform internationally.

Hershey Felder’s ‘Great American Songbook Singalong’

When: 5 p.m. Sunday

Tickets: $55

Online: sdrep.org