David Hyde Pierce News

Cabaret veteran Michael Feinstein and Tony Award winner David Hyde Pierce join forces starting Dec.

Niles: [sees Roz with her date] Oh look, look that must be Roz's coffee companion.

Emmy- and Tony-winner David Hyde Pierce has fond memories of his humble beginnings in Saratoga Springs.

Neighbors might borrow a cup of sugar. Good neighbors might spend a week's vacation together.

Television viewers may be abuzz about the "Seinfeld" reunion Sunday on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," but don't look for a similar get-together of the "Frasier" cast.

On Tuesday, November 11, 2009, Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley opened their home to a group of prominent New York philanthropists for a cocktail party in support of The Actors Fund Special Campaign Responding to Essential and Evolving Needs.

Published November 12, 2009, issue of November 20, 2009 . Honorees, award presenters and guests at the October 27 "So Near & Yet So Far" Alzheimer's Association Rita Hayworth Gala had a vested reason for the urgency to find a cure for a disease that currently afflicts 5.3 million Americans.

Grammy nominated Michael Feinstein is arguably the world's foremost, and certainly the most passionate and indefatigable, anthropologist and archivist of the Great American Songbook.

On November 21, at 8 pm, "The Woods" will be screening the Portland premiere of award-winning director Cory McAbee's film "Stingray Sam". Described as "a science fiction/western/musical", and filmed in black and white interspersed with color collage animation, "Stingray Sam" is the latest film by writer/director/actor McAbee, whose band also ...

The Active Theater Inaugural Gala will be presented Oct. 18 at Del Posto Restaurant in Manhattan.

Cabaret veteran Michael Feinstein and Tony Award winner David Hyde Pierce will join forces in December for a new holiday show.

By GERALDINE FREEDMAN Post-Star Correspondent Updated: Sunday, October 11, 2009 8:34 PM EDT

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- David Hyde Pierce, the comedic actor best known for his role on the sitcom "Frasier," presented one of his lesser known talents Sunday afternoon to a capacity congregation at the Bethesda Episcopal Church.

Pierce performed two works on the restored 1921 Skinner organ, which he and his three siblings donated the funds to rebuild. The organ has been renamed the Pierce Memorial Gallery Organ in honor of their parents, George and Laura Pierce.

"I hadn’t played organ in awhile," Pierce said before the ceremony while standing next to the instrument, which is located upstairs in the gallery of the church. "But I live in New York City, so I practiced in some churches there to bone up."

The Emmy and Tony-winning actor attended the Bethesda Episcopal Church while growing up in Saratoga Springs. He was an assistant to the church organist as a teen.

As a boy, Pierce learned to play on the Casavant organ located in the chancel, which is the instrument that replaced the Skinner organ in 1967 when it was deemed unplayable.

About three years ago, when the church decided to try to restore the Skinner organ, Pierce and his siblings, Tom, Nancy and Barbara, got heavily involved. David Lemieux was hired to rebuild the instrument to re-create some of the sounds that congregations 100 years ago heard.

"He did a fantastic job," Pierce said. "The sound is powerful. There’s a variety of colors. They even hand-picked pipes originally from the 1920s."

The church also refurbished the organ’s 1925 console, updated the electrical wiring that powers the organ, put in new flooring, painted, added new chairs and restored the chimes. A console that connects the two organs was also enhanced.

Actor David Hyde Pierce visited the Bethesda Episcopal Church in Saratoga Springs Sunday morning, to donate a new pipe organ to his family's parish.

Touching the keys of Bethesda Episcopal Church's newly restored pipe organ Sunday flooded David Hyde Pierce with a lifetime of memories.

Actor David Hyde Pierce attends the opening night of "Hamlet" on Broadway, in New York, on Tuesday, Oct.

By JUDITH WHITE
For The Saratogian

David Hyde Pierce will play a rebuilt organ Sunday at Bethesda Episcopal Church in Saratoga Springs, in a service of dedication for the instrument. Look for What's Happening every Thursday inside The Saratogian. (Cover design by JENN STALTER/The Saratogian)

Actor, comedian and musician David Hyde Pierce will play a rebuilt organ Sunday at Bethesda Episcopal Church in Saratoga Springs, in a service of dedication for the instrument.

As dusk settled over the pavilion, wildlife from a nearby forest began to symphonize.

The Bethesda Episcopal Church on Washington Street in downtown Saratoga Springs recently added a new member to its congregation: a state-of-the-art, computerized switching system organ.

Everyone should have a chance to work with one of their idols. David Hyde Pierce in the vocal booth.