Jason Alexander comes in from the cold

Jason Alexander

Jason Alexander got a warm reception on a chilly night when he walked onto the State Theatre stage Monday decked out in a heavy coat, gloves and scarf. He then sat down at the piano and launched into a ditty about life in Minneapolis with references to Mary Tyler Moore, our Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture and the Minnesota Twins.

It was one of the highlights of a 90-minute fundraiser for the family of Carl Lee, the former director of marketing and theatrical programming at Hennepin Theatre Trust, who died of Hodgkin’s disease last November, leaving behind a large medical debt.

Much of the show consisted of Borscht-Belt humor, but Alexander did perform a couple other musical numbers including "Georgie," a parody of "Georgia on My Mind," while clips from "Seinfeld" played on the background.

Unfortunately, Alexander passed on playing one of his biggest hits. During a short Q&A session, an audience member requested that the Emmy-winning actor perfrom the answering-machine message George Costanza recorded to the tune of "The Greatest American Hero"'s theme.

"For that, I need big money," Alexander said. "'Seinfeld' money."