'Frasier' star returning to NY hometown for event

[October 10, 2009]  SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) -- Emmy and Tony-winning Actor David Hyde Pierce is returning to his upstate New York hometown to play a rebuilt organ in the church he attended while growing up.

Pierce and his three siblings donated the funds to rebuild the 1920 Skinner organ at the Bethesda Episcopal Church in Saratoga Springs, 25 miles north of Albany.

Pierce will perform during a service dedicating the instrument on Sunday. He was an assistant to the church organist as a teen.

The rebuilt organ will be named the George and Laura Pierce Gallery Organ in memory of Pierce's parents.

Pierce was a four-time Emmy winner during his 11-year role as Dr. Niles Crane on TV's "Frasier," and he won a Tony in 2007 for his role as a musical-theater-loving detective in the Broadway musical, "Curtains."

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Information from: The Saratogian, http://www.saratogian.com/

[Associated Press]

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