Rachmaninoff and the Tsar: A New Musical Play

Hershey Felder (Sergei V. Rachmaninoff/Book) has recently been named Artistic Director of Florence’s historic Teatro della Signoria as well as Florence’s Teatro Niccolini. Creator and President of FirenzeOnStage, an international theatrical and presentation house in Florence Italy, American Theatre Magazine has said, “Hershey Felder, actor, Steinway Concert Artist and theatrical creator is in a category all his own.” Following 28 years of continuous stage productions and more than 6,000 live performances throughout the U.S. and abroad, Hershey Felder created Live from Florence, An Arts Broadcasting Company, based in Florence, Italy, which has produced more than eighteen theatrical films to date. They include the recently-released Noble Genius—Chopin & Liszt; The Assembly; Violetta, the story of Verdi’s Traviata; Dante and Beatrice; Mozart and Figaro in Vienna; the world premiere musicals Nicholas, Anna & Sergei; the story of Sergei Rachmaninoff; Puccini, the story of famed opera composer Giacomo Puccini; Before Fiddler, a musical story about writer Sholem Aleichem; Great American Songs and the Stories Behind Them, Leonard Bernstein and the Israel Philharmonic, a documentary, and the popular Musical Tales in the Venetian Jewish Ghetto. Three seasons of programming, are currently available at www.hersheyfelder.net with season four being launched in fall of 2025. Felder has given performances of his solo productions at some of the world’s most prestigious theatres and has consistently broken box office records. His shows include George Gershwin Alone (Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theater, 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 and Monsieur Chopin. 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, and the opera IL QUARTO UOMO that premiered in Fiesole, Italy in the summer of 2023 with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Felder 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. Felder has operated a full-service production company since 2001. He has been a scholar-in-residence at Harvard University’s Department of Music and is married to Rt. Hn. Kim Campbell.

Jonathan Silvestri (Tsar Nicholas II) began his career at BAC Youth Theatre in London’s Clapham District, later studying with Simon Furness. He is known for his roles in the international television HBO hit series “Borgia” as Cardinal Fonsalida; his recent film with Tim Rozon as a U.S. Marine in “DAKOTA”, the television series “The Young Pope,” “Dangerous Lies,” “Devils,” “Fangs,” and more. He is a regular on Italian TV, in particular RAI’s ‘Impazienti’ in a starring role with Max Tortora and Enrico Bertolino. Silvestri recently appeared as Eugene Delacroix in Hershey Felder’s feature film Noble Genius—Chopin & Liszt and the feature film “Hey Joe,” with James Franco. A regular on Roman stages, his notable theatre credits include Closer by Patrick Marber, Julius Caesar, Our Country’s Good and Chinatown at the Teatro Manhattan as well as many other productions. He is both an actor specializing in International character accents and he is of British-Roman origin.