Tovah Feldshuh Performs at The Suffolk and LTV

LTV Studios and The Suffolk present Tovah Feldshuh, “Aging Is Optional (Cause G-d I Hope It Is),” performed on Thursday, July 11, at 8 p.m. at The Suffolk in Riverhead, followed by a second show on Saturday, July 13, at 7 p.m. at LTV Studios in Wainscott.

“Some people call them decades… I call them my collected works,” Feldshuh said in explaining the show. “Now that I’m in my ‘years of wisdom,’ I decided to age backwards and sing about it. ‘Aging Is Optional (Cause G-d I Hope It Is)’ is a piece that fully embraces this vision. I deem myself perpetually 39. May this age-defying romp with characters eight to 80 be Restylane for your soul. May its laughter and music be probiotic for your spirits and may its joy help you hit your target heart rate today and for years to come.”

The dual venues where this show will be performed pays tribute to two longtime theater producers, directors and collaborators on the East End — Gary Hygom, executive director of The Suffolk, and Josh Gladstone, creative director of LTV Studios.

Hygom and Gladstone share some history, having first collaborated over 20 years ago when Hygom was producing his Oak Hill Theater Company’s productions at The John Drew Theater in East Hampton, where Gladstone was the artistic director.

Hygom was moonlighting from his gig as Bay Street Theater’s master scenic designer and producer, and over the decades he and Gladstone stayed close, comparing notes and sharing resources on venue management in the small but competitive market of East End performing arts venues. Their fraternity has remained solid, leading to a production in 2022 of “Love Letters” starring Harris Yulin and Mercedes Ruehl produced by Gladstone and presented by Hygom at The Suffolk.

The show went well, so it was a no-brainer that Gladstone would seek to book six-time Emmy and Tony-nominee Tovah Feldshuh’s hilarious and heartfelt one-woman show for LTV’s new Hamptons Summer Songbook by the Sea series. To which Tovah responded, “Can you get some more dates? Can I tour?” It was Hygom who leaped into the center stage spotlight with open arms and cried, “Welcome to The Suffolk.”

It’s a happy story of co-booking and collegiality in an industry and an area where all too often the knives are out — a friendship with benefits for the wider community, as audiences in Riverhead can now catch this rare and wonderful Broadway-caliber program one evening, after which she’ll head east of the canal for a second night encore. It’s a distance that audiences would perhaps be unlikely to traverse in the busy traffic season — but combining resources, Hygom and Gladstone are better serving both east and west, establishing a healthy model of cooperation while building a cultural bridge between excitingly emergent Riverhead and the edgy, industrial neighborhood of East Hampton’s Wainscott.

For Feldshuh, a part-time resident of East Quogue, it makes solid geographic sense, too.

“Who doesn’t love the Hamptons, especially in the summer?” she said. “This summer I have the great pleasure of returning to perform for my dear friend Josh Gladstone and beginning my artistic relationship with Gary Hygom in Riverhead. By offering performers the possibility of ‘a double header,’ it doubles the pleasure of life. May the cooperation between both venues lead to two sold out houses!”

Feldshuh has appeared on Broadway for 50 years, most notably in “Yentl,” “Golda’s Balcony,” “Irena’s Vow,” “Lend Me a Tenor,” “Pippin” and “Funny Girl” and has received four Tony Nominations for Best Actress. Most remembered on television for “Holocaust,” “ Law & Order,” “The Walking Dead,” her films include “Kissing Jessica Stein,” “A Walk on the Moon, Armageddon Time” opposite Anthony Hopkins, “The Idolmaker” and more. She is recipient of three honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters and founder of the Feldshuh Fund for Women’s Health of the Entertainment Community Fund, which provides services for early detection of ovarian and other reproductive cancers for women in the performing arts and entertainment community.

Tickets to Tovah Feldshuh’s performance at The Suffolk are $49 to $89 at thesuffolk.org. The Suffolk is at 118 East Main Street, Riverhead. Tickets to the LTV performance are $65 to $100 for VIP cafe table seating at ltveh.org. LTV Studios is at 75 Industrial Road in Wainscott.