The Great Jewish Entertainers: Hermione Gingold - "I Remember it Well"

Continuing our series on The Great Jewish Entertainers, we're heading "across the pond" to  reminisce about one of our favorite British character actresses, Hermione Gingold.

Watching the movie musical Gigi, we especially enjoyed I Remember it Well, the spoken/sung repartee between Gingold and Maurice Chevalier.

According to Wikipedia, Gingold was born in London to a prosperous Vienna-born Jewish stockbroker James Gingold and his wife, Kate, who came from a "well-to-do Jewish family". Although she was descended from the celebrated Solomon Sulzer, a famous synagogue cantor and Jewish liturgical composer in Vienna, Gingold grew up with no particular religious beliefs.
 
After a successful career in England as a child actress, Gingold later established herself on the stage as an adult, playing in comedy, drama, radio, and revue.  From the early 1950s Gingold lived and made her career mostly in the U.S. where she played formidable elderly characters in such films and stage musicals as Gigi (1958), Bell, Book and Candle (1958), The Music Man (1962) and A Little Night Music (1973).

Here is the memorable I Remember it Well number with Chevalier. Enjoy!

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From Ramah to Broadway: Where Best Musical Tony Award Winner Ben Platt Got His Start

Ben Platt, the 23-year-old actor who last week won the coveted Tony award for Best Actor in a Musical for his starring role in Dear Evan Hansen, has been singing the praises of Camp Ramah in California. That's where Platt got his start in writing and acting in Broadway musicals that were translated into Hebrew.


As Shiryn Ghermezian wrote in The Algemeiner,

Platt, who plays the titular role in the upcoming show “Dear Evan Hansen,” sang a Hebrew version of “Luck be a Lady” — from the musical “Guys and Dolls” — on NBC‘s “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”

The 23-year-old actor, who previously starred in the film “Pitch Perfect,” told Meyers that he learned the song when he was at a Jewish summer camp, where all productions were performed in Hebrew, and noted that campers would sometimes run into trouble translating lyrics.

The following videos show Platt accepting his Tony Award and discussing the Jewish influences on his career with Seth Meyers .

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: National Taiwan University Chorus Performs "Fiddler on the Roof"

This has been quite a year for Fiddler on the Roof. After celebrating its 50th anniversary in June 2014, a major revival was launched last week at the Broadway Theatre in New York City.

The new production, highly acclaimed in reviews in The New York Times and other publications, is stimulating new interest around the world in what has become a classic and universal story.

Another 50th anniversary was celebrated just a year earlier in Taiwan, where the National Taiwan University Chorus marked 50 years on campus. The chorus consists of around 100 avid choral singers, none of whom are music majors. 

Bright and youthful, with promising potential and remarkably adaptable talent, singers of NTU Chorus delight in performing works from a wide range of choral repertoire, including canonic Western choral works, spirituals and gospel music, Chinese art songs, Taiwanese folksongs, operatic choral numbers, musical medleys, and commissioned works by Taiwan's own emerging talented composers. 

Last week they performed a 25 minute long concert version of Fiddler on the Roof that we hope you will enjoy.

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Meet the Cast of the New "Fiddler on the Roof" Returning to Broadway November 20

Fiddler is back! The fifth revival of the classic award-winning musical will be opening in New York at the Broadway Theatre on November 20.

Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher and the team behind South Pacific and The King and I are bringing a fresh and authentic vision to this beloved theatrical masterpiece from Tony winner Joseph Stein and Pulitzer Prize winners Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.

Fiddler on the Roof is the timeless story of Tevye, who dreams of being a rich man far from the troubles of his village. As his cherished daughters fall in love one by one, he must decide between letting them grow and holding his family near.

Featuring the Broadway classics “To Life (L’Chaim!),” “If I Were A Rich Man,”Sunrise Sunset,”"Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” and “Tradition,” Fiddler On the Roof will introduce a new generation to this uplifting celebration that raises its cup to joy! To love! To life!
The original production won 10 Tony Awards including a special Tony for becoming the longest-running Broadway musical of all time. The new production stars Tony nominees Danny Burstein and Jessica Hecht with stunning movement and dance from acclaimed Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter based on the original staging by Jerome Robbins. 

A wonderful cast and a lavish orchestra tell this heart-warming story of fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and the timeless traditions that define faith and family. 

Today's video clips introduce you to the principal actors in this new production and give you a flavor of their interaction in a rehearsal. 

Enjoy!

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Adaptation of "The Rothschilds" Coming to Off-Broadway in October

 

Hal Linden as Mayer Rothschild in the Original Cast

If there was a Tony Award for Best Musical on a Jewish Theme, we would have given it to The Rothschilds, a 1970 Broadway show that ran for 505 performances. 

The words and music were written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, who wrote the words and music for Fiddler on the Roof. Hal Linden had the leading role as Mayer Rothschild. The musical was revived in an off-Broadway version featuring Mike Burstyn in 1980. But it hasn't been heard from since.

Now, 35 years later, it's returning in an adaptation called Rothschild and Sons. It will be performed at The York Theatre from October 6 through November 1 and tickets are already on sale for all performances.

As Andrew R. Chow wrote in The New York Times,

The new adaptation is being directed by Jeffrey Moss and was created with the involvement of Mr. Harnick, who wrote the lyrics, Sherman Yellen, who wrote the book, and the estate of Mr. Bock, who wrote the songs. The reconstructed story centers on the relationship between the Jewish banker Mayer Rothschild, played by Robert Cuccioli (“Jekyll and Hyde”), and his family. Mr. Cuccioli appeared in the 1990 revival of “The Rothschilds” as Mayer’s son, Nathan.

According to Mr. Moss, the idea to restructure the story stemmed from a comment made by Mr. Bock’s 12-year-old son after seeing the original for the first time. “I think there’s a story buried in this show that hasn’t been told yet,” Mr. Moss said. “This is a love story between a father and his sons.”

Songs from the original cast are hard to find today, but here is Sons, one of the best songs in the original show.

Enjoy!

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(A tip of the kippah to Eita Latkin for bringing this news to our attention.)

Jackie Mason Musical Comes to Off-Broadway Stage in July and August

Here's something for Jackie Mason fans. We've posted many of Jackie's routines and shtick over the six years that Jewish Humor Central has been around.

We thought that we knew everything about the comedian, but were surprised to find out that there's a musical based on his life. 

It's coming to the Broadway Comedy Club in Manhattan in July, with performances on Wednesdays July 8, 15, and 22 at 2 pm.

Billed as "Both sides of a famous love affair with a hilarious twist," it was inspired by real events and portrayed by the real woman at the eye of the comedic storm, The Jackie Mason Musical takes you behind the scenes and introduces you a side of the comedian you’ve never seen before.

It begins at the bustling Rascal House delicatessen in Miami Beach, 1977. Jackie Mason (played by Ian Wehrle), spots Ginger sitting with her mother, Mrs. Olivier, among the pastrami platters and pickles, and sends his lackey over to her table. 

The overbearing mother is overjoyed to introduce her beautiful daughter to the much older comedian and the rest is the hilarious tale of the affair between Mason and bellydancing/playwright Ginger – featuring their real-life daughter - Comic Sheba Mason and a Cast of 8.

The back story: In real life, comedian Jackie Mason had a love affair with a belly dancer in Miami in the late 70s, resulting in the birth of a love child, a woman named Sheba Mason, who has grown up to be a comedienne in her own right.
 
The story on stage: Sheba’s mother, Ginger Reiter, has now composed, written and directed a new musical that stars her real-life daughter, Sheba. Playing both herself and her mom, Sheba is joined by a cast of actors, with Ian Wehrle as Jackie Mason.

The show includes such original songs as “Just An Ordinary Man,” “I Never Met This Yenta” and “Big Blue Eyes.” Hilarious, inspired and a thoroughly original take on a personality you thought you knew through and through, The Jackie Mason Musical is a must for fans of the comedian and anyone who loves a great, if complicated, love story.

Enjoy!

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"It Shoulda Been You" Comes to Broadway With Singing and Kvetching

Broadway has a new musical hit show based on an old familiar theme, a Jewish-gentile marriage. Reviews of It Shoulda Been You have been mixed, and Ben Brantley of The New York Times didn't like it, summing up his critique as ""Oy." 

We haven't seen the show yet, but when it comes to Jewish themed productions, we tend not to see eye-to-eye with The New York Times, and look to other voices instead.

As Frank Scheck wrote in The Hollywood Reporter,

That old popular-comedy chestnut Abie's Irish Rose is given a modern twist in the new musical It Shoulda Been You, which plays like vintage dinner theater infused with a Borscht Belt sensibility. That it nonetheless manages to be truly amusing is a testament to the talent both on and offstage .

The plot concerns the impending nuptials of the Jewish Rebecca (Sierra Boggess) to the Catholic Brian (David Burtka), with family tensions inevitably rising to the fore. Rebecca's zaftig older sister Jenny (a charming Lisa Howard), while happy for her sis, wonders if she'll ever find similar happiness. Meanwhile, matriarchs Judy (Daly) and Georgette (Harris) are consistently at odds, with their hapless husbands (Chip Zien, Michael X. Martin) helplessly watching from the sidelines.

In USA Today, Elysa Gardner wrote:

This new musical, this Broadway season's freshest and funniest to date, defies skepticism, both in its wacky humor and its big, buoyant heart. Book writer and lyricist Brian Hargrove and composer Barbara Anselmi have taken a familiar premise — that of lovers from different backgrounds uniting — and crafted something that is both endearingly old-fashioned in spirit and decidedly cIontemporary in execution.

Under the whip-smart direction of David Hyde Piece (Hargrove's husband), the 100-minute Shoulda Been can feel like a revival of some lost screwball classic. But Hargrove's hilarious lines, in song and dialogue, take liberties that wouldn't have flown back in the day. The bride's parents express their frustration in Yiddish, while the groom's mom confesses to vaguely inappropriate feelings for her son.

The message underlying this madness has to do with the importance of viewing others — as individuals, in families and relationships — with eyes wide open. And Pierce and his superb cast serve it with a delicacy befitting a fine soufflé.

A couple of weeks ago the cast of It Shoulda Been You made an appearance on the Today show. Here's a video of that appearance that should give you a good idea of what it's all about.

Enjoy!

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"I Could Be Jewish For You" - From "Songs by Ridiculously Talented Composers"

Not all songs composed for Broadway and off-Broadway find their way into actual shows. Sometimes writers and lyricists write songs that stand on their own without being integrated into full-scale productions.

For the last eight years, the works of Ridiculously Talented Composers and Lyricists You Probably Don't Know but Should have been performed in concerts at 54 Below in New York City.

Originating at Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the Ridiculously Talented concert series has become a hallmark of BSC's Musical Theatre Lab.

Last year's performance included a song titled I Could be Jewish for You with music and lyrics by Nikko Benson and performed by Alysha Umphress. It's easy to visualize a setting for the song, with a non-Jewish girl trying to win the affection of a Jewish boy by promising to adopt just about every Jewish stereotype in the book.

We think it's a bit corny, but cute.

Enjoy!

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Rhode Island Temple Has An All-Broadway Musical Shabbat Service

When you attend a Shabbat service, whether it's Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform, it's likely that the structure, flow, liturgy, and melodies will have a lot in common. 

Sure, some will use more English in the service, some will have instrumental music and use a microphone, and others will chant the traditional melodies a cappella. But the basics will be recognizable to any Jew who attends.

If you happened to walk into the Temple Sinai Friday night service in Cranston, Rhode Island on May 30, you might have thought that you were not in a synagogue but in the middle of a Broadway musical.  Not only one musical, but twelve of them. On that night, which marked the retirement of Cantor Remmie Brown and the debut of Cantor Wendy Siegel, most of the elements of the Friday night service were fitted to the tunes of Broadway shows.

We have a video of the entire hour-long service to share with you, but recognizing that a whole hour is a bit much to watch in one sitting, we've prepared a guide to the service to let you fast forward to a favorite song and see how Shalom Aleichem, Lecha Dodi, and Adon Olam sound under the influence of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and the Sherman brothers.

Enjoy and Shabbat shalom!

0:00          The Music of the Night (Shabbat) from Phantom of the Opera
6:30           Candle Lighting (Sabbath Prayer from Fiddler on the Roof)
12:00         Lecha Dodi (Edelweiss from The Sound of Music)
15:04         Shalom Aleichem (Close Every Door from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat)   
19:03         Borchu (Try to Remember from The Fantasticks)
21:20         Ahavat Olam (Send in the Clowns from A Little Night Music)
24:00         Sh'ma (Any Dream Will Do from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) 
27:50         Mi Komocho (Summertime from Porgy and Bess)
31:00         Hashkiveinu (Do You Hear the People Sing? from Les Miserables)
34:05         Veshamru (Climb Every Mountain from The Sound of Music)
40:30         Retzeh (Ol' Man River from Showboat)
43:12          Shalom Rav (Shalom from Milk and Honey)
45:44          Yehi Ratzon (Bali Ha'i from South Pacific)
59:17          Adon Olam (Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins)    

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: A Hindi Version of Fiddler on the Roof in New Delhi

Parampara! What, you don't speak Hindi? Parampara is Tradition in the Hindi language. As we continue to collect videos of international productions of Fiddler on the Roof in its 50th year, we came across an Indian version of the now classsic production that made its debut in New York City in 1964.

As Ben Frumin reported ont the New Delhi production in an article in the Forward in 2008,

“The character is so universal, he could be an Indian for all that it matters,” said Rakesh Gupta, the 48-year-old civil servant who plays Tevye in the production. The issues facing the play’s protagonist are of enormous importance in India, a nation where most marriages are still arranged, where families commonly save for their entire lives to afford dowries, and where many communities still place taboos on interfaith and intercaste marriages.

“It’s a very Indian thing,” Gupta said. “The problems being faced by Tevye, the problems being faced by the family about traditions, these challenges are faced by all people, all families. It sounded very familiar.”

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Fiddler on the Roof's "To Life" in Japanese

They had us at Sharom! The Japanized greeting expressed with a handshake between Tevye and Lazar Wolf in this video signaled that this would be no ordinary production of Fiddler on the Roof.

That's the only word we recognized in the Japanese version of L'Chayim! To Life! from Fiddler on the Roof. We knew that the show had been produced in Hebrew, Yiddish, French, and Spanish, but Japanese? It turns out that cultural similarities made the show resonate with audiences in Japan.

As Miri Ben-Shalom wrote in All About Jewish Theatre News,

Fiddler on the Roof is a timeless hit because it appeals to everyone, everywhere – not only to Jewish audiences. It is reflected in Stewart Lane’s anecdote: “When the first Japanese production of Fiddler was produced, the composers Harnick, Bock and Stein went to Japan. They were all very nervous.

‘How’s a New York interpretive Jewish musical is going to work in Japan? During production they are all anxiously biting their nails. At the end the Japanese producer comes over to them and says: I don’t understand, I don’t know how this piece can work so well in New York. It’s so Japanese!”

Enjoy!

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Fiddler on the Roof Turns 50 With Town Hall Celebration

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof, Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning lyricist Sheldon Harnick was honored last night at New York's Town Hall with the largest-ever reunion of original, revival and film cast members as part of an all-star benefit concert for The National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene.

The musical opened on Broadway in 1964. The original cast included Zero Mostel as Tevye the milkman, Maria Karnilova as his wife Golde (each of whom won a Tony for their performances), Beatrice Arthur as Yente the matchmaker, Austin Pendleton as Motel, Bert Convy as Perchik the student revolutionary, Gino Conforti as the fiddler, and Julia Migenes as Hodel. 

Joanna Merlin originated the role of Tzeitel, which was later assumed by Bette Midler during the original run. Carol Sawyer was Fruma Sarah, Adrienne Barbeau took a turn as Hodel, and Pia Zadora played the youngest daughter, Bielke. Both Peg Murray and Dolores Wilson made extended appearances as Golde, while other stage actors who have played Tevye include Herschel Bernardi, Theodore Bikel and Harry Goz (in the original Broadway run), and Leonard Nimoy. 

Mostel's understudy in the original production, Paul Lipson, went on to appear as Tevye in more performances than any other actor, clocking over 2,000 performances in the role in the original run and several revivals. Florence Stanley took over the role of Yente later in the run. The production earned $1,574 for every dollar invested in it.

Last week, Harnick and cast members from the various productions got together to reminisce about their experiences with the show. The following video shows them recalling their favorite lines and lyrics. For a taste of nostalgia, we're also including a video of the opening sequence of the 1971 film starring Chaim Topol as Tevye.

Enjoy!

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Opening sequence of the 1971 film version - "Tradition"

"Gefilte Fish Chronicles" Documentary Becomes a Musical in New York This Week

Three years ago we reported on a documentary called "The Gefilte Fish Chronicles," a film showing how the Dubroff sisters went about preparing a Passover seder for their very large family. 

The film focuses on  shopping for the perfect fish and meat through the cooking of enormous quantities of gefilte fish, cholent, and matzo brei, and celebrating the seder. It has been shown on PBS in the Pesach season for the last few years and has gotten rave reviews whenever it's shown on TV.

Whether or not you've seen this funny piece of nostalgia, you have another opportunity to see it in a new form, a musical, that was performed last year at the White House in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month. It's coming to New York this week, and will be performed at the JCC in Manhattan on Wednesday evening, June 11, at 8 pm.

As Ted Merwin writes in the current edition of The Jewish Week,

With music and lyrics by Matty Selman, the buoyant show begins in the present and then flashes back to family seders in the 1940s and ’50s. One of the non-Jewish actors, Iris recalled, “never expected the show to pack such an emotional wallop.” Then again, she reflected, “People feel comforted by Jewish tradition; it makes them feel safe. They want to know the recipes, the music, and the stories from the past.”

Here's a preview of the show, with commentary by executive producer Iris Burnett and lyricist Matty Selman.

Enjoy!

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"Megile of Itzik Manger" Brings Klezmer, Dance, Acrobatics and Comedy to Off-Broadway

Last night we attended an off-Broadway show that we're not hesitating to recommend to any of our readers who can find their way to the Baruch Performing Arts Center on East 25th Street in New York City.

The musical comedy, The Megile of Itzik Manger, is a mesmerizing Yiddish musical with English and Russian supertitles flashed on the screen in the background, so you don't have to know Yiddish to enjoy the Klezmer music, choreography, acrobatics, humor, and just plain energy and comedy that goes on for 90 minutes without intermission on a stage set up as a circus ring.

The show, timed for the Purim season, has only a few more performances left. It was a hit last year and was brought back for another short run this year. At last night's performance, it was announced that on this Saturday night, March 15, the theatre will be the scene of a Purim celebration. The Megillah of Esther will be read in Yiddish, with English translations, 30 minutes prior to the 9:00 pm curtain. 

A reception will follow the Saturday night performance accompanied by a costume contest, so be sure to dress for the occasion. Four other performances remain, two today and two on Sunday.

If you can't see the show this time around, take a look at this video that includes some scenes and an introduction to Itzik Manger and his works.

Enjoy!

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Allan Sherman's Lost Song Parodies Surface After 50 Years

Last year, when Mark Cohen published a biography of folksinger-parodist Allan Sherman, we wrote about his book, Overweight Sensation: The Life and Comedy of Allan Sherman, and shared three of Sherman's lost songs that Cohen discovered while doing research for the book.

Cohen located the rare parodies with the cooperation of the Sherman estate and friends of Sherman.

Now, more than 50 years after they were recorded in concert and in the living rooms of friends, thirteen of these lost gems are being released in CD and MP3 formats on February 18. They are available now for pre-order on Amazon.com.

There Is Nothing Like A Lox: The Lost Song Parodies of Allan Sherman features the Jewish parodies of hits from Broadway musicals that Allan Sherman sang for Harpo Marx, Jack Benny and others at Harpo's home in Los Angeles in 1961 and that in 1962 landed him a contract with Warner Brothers Records. The album includes liner notes by Cohen.

The Amazon page for the album has 30 second snippets of all the songs. They're only a little taste, but you can get the general idea of most of the songs from the page.

Virtually all of the songs on the new CD comprise what Sherman called "The Goldeneh Moments From Broadway." Sherman explained, "It occurred to me, what if all of the great hit songs from all of the great Broadway shows had actually been written by Jewish people---which they were."

Sherman's insight led him to comically reclaim the American musical as a Jewish creation through parodies that judaized the material. "There Is Nothing Like A Dame" became "There Is Nothing Like A Lox," "Camelot" became "Ollawood" and "When You Walk Through A Storm" became "When You Walk Through the Bronx."

Here is a video (actually an audio with pictures) of Sherman's version of Cole Porter's You're the Top, from the 1934 Broadway musical Anything Goes, followed by a video-audio of the original sung by Porter himself.

Enjoy!

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A Rare Video: Josh Groban as Tevye in High School Production of "Fiddler on the Roof"

Fiddler on the Roof  made its Broadway debut 50 years ago, on September 22, 1964 at the Imperial Theatre. To mark this anniversary year, we will be posting videos from around the world during 2014 depicting different interpretations of this classic show, and later, film.

The lead role of Tevye the milkman has been played by many actors starting with Zero Mostel, the original Tevye. Although the role cries out for a Yiddishe interpretation, many of the actors portraying Tevye on the stage have not been "members of the Tribe."

In May 1999 Josh Groban was an 18-year-old student at the Los Angeles High School of the Arts. As a member of the Musical Theatre Ensemble he was given the leading role of Tevye. Within a few years of this performance he was producing multi-platinum albums and in 2007 he was charted as the number-one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in the nation. To date, he has sold over 25 million records worldwide, including his hit songs You Raise Me Up, The Prayer, and For Always.

Here's Groban's debut as Tevye in the opening number, Tradition. Enjoy!


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