Hershey Felder: The Piano & Me

Returning to TheatreWorks for another stunning World Premiere of his newest show, Hershey Felder once again brings audiences a story full of history, heart and, of course, music. Hershey Felder: The Piano & Me is a deeply personal story, one chronicling Felder’s early life from birth to the first show in his famous composer series which has brought him so much acclaim. But the play is much more than that as well. 

“Put me in a pool of light, give me a crowd, and I will tell you the truth,” Felder tells the audience at the beginning of the show, “and I have to tell you, the truth really scares me.” Despite this, Felder’s touching narration, punctuated by the musical pieces that defined his childhood consistently rings with the same truth and clarity which he has brought to so many composers over the years. 

Felder creates an arresting one-man play with music at its core as in his many shows before. As a world-famous pianist, it would be amazing enough to simply watch Felder play for an hour and 45 minutes. But Felder uses the music as plot points in the story—his own story—using famous compositions to punctuate pivotal moments in his life. The music is an integral part of the story he tells. It is used to convey emotion and his internal life with careful poignancy that never tips too far into the maudlin or sappy before it’s brought back with a wry observation that grounds the show firmly in reality. 

Starting with his early childhood in Montreal 1974, Felder relates his first introduction to the music of Franz Liszt on the radio. This leads to his grandfather gifting his family a piano, and the love of music that would ultimately lead to Felder’s career. He describes being spellbound by the sheet music right away, “like the notes were dancing.” The audience learns about the hopes and fears of Felder’s family through the lens of young Hershey and follows him through his early life through a chronicle of his greatest teachers at, and away from, the piano. 

If I have a critique of the show, it’s the same one that I usually find with Felder’s shows. I think that there is an over use of background projections. Simply put, Felder’s performance and the beauty of the music he plays are strong enough to stand on their own. It simply does not need the addition of the background projections, particularly those augmented by AI. While the visuals on the screen behind Felder are nice at times, overall, I think that the weight of his performance is perfectly capable of carrying the story on its own, and more often than not, the additional graphics serve as a distraction from the story rather than an enhancement. 

Felder’s usual mix of music, storytelling and well-timed humor shine once again on TheatreWorks’ stage. Hershey Felder: The Piano & Me is a deeply intimate look at an amazing artist told in the medium he created to show the life of other composers. It only seems fitting that the spotlight has finally been turned toward his own life in this way. 

Hershey Felder: The Piano & Me

Book by Hershey Felder with music by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Bartok, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Gershwin and Williams

Through: February 8, 2026

Run time: 1 hour 45 minutes, no intermission

Where: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View

Tickets: theatreworks.org, (877) 662-8976

Photos courtesy of David Lepori.