June 2013 – Dave's Gone By

Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #72 (6/30/2013): Shalom Dammit in Greeley

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RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #72 (6/30/2013): Shalom Dammit in Greeley

Aired June 30, 2013 on Dave’s Gone By. Youtube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS3_41e-NUc

Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of June 30th, 2013.

Do you live in Colorado? That makes you a very lucky person. Unless you’re getting burnt up by the forest fires, but other than that, the mountains are gorgeous, the weather is stunning, the prices are fair, and all the men carry guns, but they don’t point them directly at you.

If you’re in or near Greeley, Colorado next week, you’re even luckier because you get to see me, Rabbi Sol Solomon, live and in the flesh. On July 6th at two in the afternoon and seven in the evening, I’m going to be doing my one-man, two-person show, Shalom Dammit! An Evening with Rabbi Sol Solomon, live onstage. The venue is the exciting new cultural center in town, Art Space Greeley. It’s this big building on the corner of 7th Avenue and 12th Street that used to be a garage. Which is appropriate because my first shul was in a gas station. My congregation would say a few prayers, then a car would come, we’d make a blessing, wash the windows, and siphon a gallon here and there to light our menorah. Ah, those were the days.

But now I’m a big off-Broadway star, because I did Shalom Dammit! last year in New York, and the critics raved! They also ranted, but mostly they raved. They called my show hilarious, outrageous, biting, wildly funny, courageous and even a little dangerous. Those are actual quotes – I didn’t even have to bribe anybody. Not that I could have on my budget. This is live theater; if it wasn’t for volunteers and sexual favors, nobody could afford to live.

Actually, there is a little money in this production, courtesy of The Community Foundation of Weld County. They actually gave us a grant to do Shalom Dammit! in Greeley, Colorado. They didn’t give us enough to do it right, but they gave us enough to do it. So I can go up there, shout at people for an hour and a half, sing some songs and then escape to the parking lot before the goyim come after me with torches. And because we have government funding for this production, tickets are cheap! Only five dollars for adults, seniors and the indigent. Students with valid ID pay only $3 to get in. That’s less than a latte! Three dollars – that’s six ten-thousandths of a cent per second – a bargain! Broadway shows, it’s worse than a taxi ride; it’s a dollar a minute! And forget about phone-sex lines. Especially on my budget.

But seriously: cheap tickets to see a hit show with me, Rabbi Sol, and my brilliant musical accompanist, Richard Shore on the piano. He’s a Harvard-educated musical director at the University of Northern Colorado, and ladies, he’s single! By the way, ladies, I am not. So stop with the candy and the letters and the threats already, my wife checks my mail.

Anyhoo, what is Shalom Dammit! about? It’s about 90 minutes, with no intermission. That’s right – we’ve streamlined it. We’ve cut and shaped and trimmed, added and deleted, polished and buffed. If you saw Shalom Dammit! when it was workshopped at the university two years ago, you’re in for a completely different experience. Well, 25-to-30 percent different, but with new songs, new jokes, and a laser-etched focus to my dyspepsia. In other words, it’s more of the same with less of the same, but more, more or less. I talk about politics, religion, the Jewish holidays, Arab terrorists, assimilation, Christianity and my prostate. All the things that Jews are scared of.

So please, if you’re in Greeley during Stampede Week – be careful, you could get trampled. But on Saturday July 6th, come to my show, matinee or evening, of: Shalom Dammit! An Evening with Rabbi Sol Solomon, at Art Space Greeley, 705 12th Street. For more information and reservations, visit my website: Shalomdammit.com. That’s dammit with two M’s, d-a-m-m-i-t. M and M. M & M? That reminds me, I’m hungry – for the spotlight! See you at the theater on July 6th.

This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York.

–> https://davesgoneby.net/?p=28943

Dave’s Gone By Interview (6/29/2013): JAY ROGERS & Rabbi Sol Solomon

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Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews comic actor Jay Rogers

Topics include: theater, cabaret, Howard Crabtree, When Pigs Fly.

Segment originally aired June 29, 2013, as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

Sad Note: Our friend of the Daverhood, Jay Rogers, passed Oct. 28, 2022.

Please Note: Segments extracted from “Dave’s Gone By” may have music and other elements removed for timing and media re-posting considerations. For the full interview with all elements, please visit the audio of the complete original broadcast.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com

Dave’s Gone By #429 (6/29/2013): JAYTALKING

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Here is the 429th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, June 29, 2013. Info: davesgoneby.com.

Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon’s chat with comic actor Jay Rogers (When Pigs Fly). Plus: Inside Broadway, Saturday Segues (mom’s birthday), Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later (momma), Rabbi Sol on taking his stage show to Greeley, CO.

Host: Dave Lefkowitz

Guest: comic actor Jay Rogers

00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN
00:46:00 INSIDE BROADWAY
01:11:00 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Jay Rogers
01:50:00 Sponsors & Weather
01:57:00 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later – Momma
02:24:00 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #72 – Shalom Dammit! in Greeley, CO
02:30:30 SATURDAY SEGUE – Mom’s Birthday
02:56:30 Thanks & Friends
03:06:30 DAVE GOES OFF – Devil Dogs
03:11:30 DAVE GOES OUT

June 29, 2013 Playlist: “Mama” (00:11:00; Electric Light Orchestra). “Mama” (00:18:00; The Sugarcubes). “Momma, Momma, Momma” (00:21:00; I Can Get it for You Wholesale (1962 Broadway cast w/ Elliott Gould). “Now I’m Your Mom” (00:24:00; David Byrne). “I Love My Mom” (00:28:30; The Roches). “Mother’s Day” (00:32:30; Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010 Broadway cast w/ Sherie Renee Scott). “Mother Dear” (00:37:30; The Divine Comedy). “Rush” (01:09:00), “Cupid’s Arrow” (01:28:00) & “Laughing Matters” (01:37:00; When Pigs Fly off-Broadway cast w/ Jay Rogers). “Eat, Drink and Be Mary” (01:46:00; Jay Rogers). “Tell Me, Momma” (01:58:00), “Pretty Peggy-O” (02:02:30), “Ain’t Talkin’ ({alternate version} 02:06:00), “Call Letter Blues” (02:12:00) & “Highway 61 Revisited” (02:16:00; Bob Dylan). “Party Doll” (02:28:30; Buddy Knox). “Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes” (02:35:00; Perry Como). “Earth Angel” (02:38:00; The Penguins). Chopin’s “Prelude in E Minor” (02:40:30; Carmen Dragon Hollywood Symphony Orchestra). “Borchi Nafshi” (02:45:00; Shlomo Carlebach). “Come On a My House” (02:47:30; Mickey Katz).

Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #71 (6/23/2013): Michael Karkoc

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RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #71 (6/23/2013): Michael Karkoc

Aired June 22, 2013 on Dave’s Gone By. Youtube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY5RnQxvRcc

Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of June 23rd, 2013.

The Holocaust. We couldn’t live with it, and 70 years later, we can’t live without it. When it comes to Germany, I believe we can do business with them, we can visit, we can share their arts and culture, and we can even appreciate that the grandchildren of Nazis and the third Reich are blameless for the events of World War II. Nevertheless, it is premature to forgive and forget and make like the Holocaust was ancient history.

We don’t have to wallow, but we also don’t just shake hands and say, “ehhh, the gas chambers were before color TV, so no hard feelings. Your grampa’s a good egg, no matter what paraphernalia he keeps in a trunk in the attic.” We are still reminded of the legacy of that era, most recently by the former Pope, who was a Hitler youth. Yes, every kid was forced to be Hitler youth back then, so it didn’t make the Pope evil, but it sure didn’t make the sonofabitch holy.

And now, in Minnesota, we learn that a Nazi has been living in plain sight for nearly 60 years. Michael Karkoc, 94 years old, lied to American authorities in 1949 when he told them he never did military service for the krauts. Turns out, he was commander of a legion that massacred civilians in the Ukraine and helped stamp out the revolt in the Warsaw Ghetto. Proving that he, directly, killed or tortured anybody will be virtually impossible, but they’ve got strong evidence that Michael Karkoc was yet another pimple on the ass of inhumanity.

What was the smoking gun? His own memoir! This moron published his autobiography, in the Ukrainian language, back in 1995. It’s in the Library of Congress for chrissakes. Shelved right between the book of Job and Milan Kundera. Of course, in his American years, Michael Karkoc has been a model citizen, active in his church, a member of the carpenters’ union and cute like a teddy bear. If he was my next-door neighbor, I probably wouldn’t have suspected a thing – well, unless the lampshade in his window looked suspiciously like my father’s cousin.

But seriously, people are questioning how this demon was allowed into the United States. How did he avoid Nuremberg and get to Minnesota? Granted, living in Minneapolis is its own torture, but still. It is common knowledge that dozens of semi-innocent Germans were given a free pass by the American government for their scientific knowledge and skilled labor. Other war criminals forged documents, paid bribes or lied their way into the good old USA. Ancestry.com and Google did not exist in 1946. Back then, if you didn’t find the birth certificate or the Hollerith card that said, “This guy experimented on gypsies” or “that guy built a scaffold for carrot stealers,” how would you know? In Michael Karkoc’s case, they blew it.

And now you’ll have ignoramuses compounding the travesty by saying, “He’s 94 years old, he’s been a good American, he didn’t pull the trigger – why waste time and money prosecuting a harmless old fart? How many villages is he gonna burn down when he can’t even stir his own Metamucil?” By that logic, every senior citizen behind bars should get a free pass. Charles Manson, Son of Sam – hey, Mark David Chapman isn’t going to kill John Lennon again. Let’s give him fifty bucks, a shoeshine and a rent-controlled apartment in the Dakota.”

Insanity. Some crimes against the world mandate that whoever committed them be removed from society and punished. There is no statute of limitations on the Holocaust. When the last German, or Austrian, or complicit Frenchman or Italian collaborator – when the last person who was alive in 1945 drops dead, then we can truly talk about the Holocaust being history. Until then, I don’t care if you’re 94 or 114, you should be shot like a wild dog and your body dumped in a compost pile for pigs to feast on. Of course, I also feel that way about Kenny G, but this is different. Living a long time does not make you innocent. It makes you lucky to escape the retribution you should have endured way back when. And if Michael Karkoc was just following orders, well, so are the Polish prison doctors who’ll strap him to a table and jam that last needle in his arm. Cruel? It’s an easier way to go than his victims.

So congratulations to the justice department for finding this insect, better late than never. And even if Michael Karkoc joins the choir of eternal hell before standing trial, may he never sleep another peaceful night, may he watch his wife – yes, he has a wife – may he watch her die of heartbreak and shame. And cancer. And may Karkoc’s son – who, of course, denies that his father was a Nazi – like he would know – may his son become like a beacon unto the world. By pouring gasoline on himself and lighting a match.

In this case, the sins of the fathers do get visited onto the children because the father was allowed to live and procreate – a blessing denied the dozens of Jews shot to death or burned alive by his military unit. Yes, I may sound extraordinarily punitive, but nothing about the Holocaust was, or should ever be, ordinary. For the past seven decades, Michael Karkoc passed himself off as an ordinary man. And soon, he will be an ordinary corpse in an ordinary grave. In fact, the only thing out of the ordinary will be the stench of my urine on his weeds.

This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York.

–> https://davesgoneby.net/?p=28948

Dave’s Gone By Interview (6/22/2013): ALAN MENKEN & Rabbi Sol Solomon

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Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Broadway and film composer Alan Menken

Topics include: Little Shop of Horrors, Leap of Faith, Newsies, Howard Ashman.

Segment originally aired June 22, 2013, as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

All content (c)2013 TotalTheater Productions.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: http://www.shalomdammit.com

Dave’s Gone By #428 (6/22/2013): HONORABLE MENKEN

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Here is the 428th episode of the long-running radio show, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, June 22, 2013. Info: davesgoneby.com.

Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with award-winning composer Alan Menken. Plus: Rabbi Sol on Michael Karkoc, Inside Broadway, Saturday Segues (Folk Years, Slim Whitman), Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later (folk years).

Host: Dave Lefkowitz

Guests: composer Alan Menken, Dave’s wife Joyce

00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce
00:31:00 SATURDAY SEGUE – The Folk Years
00:58:30 Sponsors
01:06:30 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Alan Menken
02:05:00 INSIDE BROADWAY
02:33:00 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later – folk years
03:00:00 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #71 – Michael Karkoc
03:20:30 Friends & Thanks
03:23:30 DAVE GOES OUT

June 22, 2013 Playlist: “Walk Right In (00:31:30; The Rooftop Singers). “Where Have All the Flowers Gone? (00:34:00; The Kingston Trio). “Green Green” (00:37:00; The New Christy Minstrels). “Sit Down, I Think I Love You” (00:39:00; Mojo Men). “My Old Man (live)” (00:41:30; The Smothers Brothers). “The Whistling Gypsy” (00:44:30; The Clancy Brothers). “Red Rubber Ball” (00:48:30; The Cyrkle). “For Lovin’ Me” (00:50:30; Gordon Lightfoot). “There’s a Meetin’ Here Tonight” (00:53:30; The Limeliters). “I Can Show You a Thing or Two” (Weird Romance 1992 off-Bway cast). “The Broadway Alien Song” (01:13:00; 2013 “Neighbors” TV show episode). “Dentist!” (01:17:00; Little Shop of Horrors 1982 off-Broadway cast w/Franc Luz). “Under the Sea” (01:26:00; The Little Mermaid 2007 Broadway cast w/Tituss Burgess). “The World Will Know” (01:42:30; Newsies 2012 Broadway cast w/ Jeremy Jordan). “Beauty and the Beast” (02:00:00; “Beauty and the Beast” 1991 film soundtrack w/ Angela Lansbury). “Little Girls” (02:29:30; Annie 1977 Broadway cast w/ Dorothy Loudon). “All I Really Want to Do” (02:35:00; Cher). “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” (02:38:30; Johnny Cash). “Love is Just a Four-Letter Word” (02:41:00; Joan Baez). “Boots of Spanish Leather” (02:45:00) & “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” (02:51:30; Bob Dylan). “Mr. Tambourine Man” (02:49:30; The Byrds). “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” (03:06:30), “Rose Marie” (03:15:00), “Rhinestone Cowboy” (03:17:00) & “It’s All in the Game” (03:25:00; Slim Whitman).

Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #70 (6/16/2013): Michael Douglas

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RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #70 (6/16/2013): Michael Douglas

Aired June 15, 2013 on Dave’s Gone By. Youtube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNNbhdtkQgw

Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of June 16th, 2013.

How much do we really need to know about the private lives of celebrities? Everything – these days, it seems. We know what Gwyneth Paltrow eats for breakfast, what Kirstie Alley eats for dinner, and now, what Michael Douglas eats in bed.

No one forced him. No one put a gun to his head – I don’t mean the eating part, I mean telling the world about it. Three weeks ago, Douglas told the Guardian magazine of London that his throat cancer probably did not come from his smoking or his drinking. He said, hint hint, you can also get the Big C from doing the little C: cunnilingus. Until last month, I had no idea what the hell that was. Cunnilingus. I thought it a was low-cost Irish airline.

But it is not. Cunnilingus is when a man, or a woman, or, on certain internet sites, a German shepherd, performs oral sex on a lady. Please don’t get me wrong; muff munching is a normal, enjoyable, intimate part of the sexual experience, providing the woman doesn’t smell like a trench, and the man has muscles in his jaw that don’t lock up after three minutes, or five minutes, or, well, honestly, after ten minutes, the woman should either fake it or lie back and think of Jerusalem.

Even though high-school health teachers, aka gym teachers, taught us that you can certainly contract VD from oral sex, I don’t think people take that as seriously as the other kinds of nookie. A girl on a date figures, “Ehhh, I don’t wanna go all the way with this guy, and Biff doesn’t like to deal with condoms. But if I give him a little mouth love, maybe he won’t dump me for Darlene with the bangs, the boobs and the booty.”

When we think of venereal disease in this country, we think of . . . the Kardashians. But we also think of regular penetrative sex or, perhaps, tushie sex. The more intolerant among us would point to the gays during the AIDS crisis and say, “If you can’t stop doing that, at least wear a condom. And stop writing bad Broadway musicals.” As a culture, we all modified our behavior as a way to stem the plague of HIV, as well as gonorrhea, herpes, and Sunday afternoon phone conversations that started with, “Yes, we did have fun last night. But I noticed this rash…”

In his own paradoxically embarrassing and self-aggrandizing way, Michael Douglas has reminded us that HPV isn’t just a high-definition sister channel of HBO. It’s a disease you can get from licking someone in the place that they pee. Such as the Penn Station men’s room.

Much the way Angelina Jolie made breast-cancer prevention a national conversation when she bid tah tah to her tah-tahs, Michael Douglas may be doing us the same service by telling us where he put his tongue, and where his tongue has put him. How does Catherine Zeta Jones fit into all this? That’s a private conversation for the Douglas home. I certainly don’t see her putting her name on a line of douches anytime soon. Unless they start making them with penicillin. Or industrial-strength Raid.

But I do wish Mrs. Douglas good mental health; we know she’s been struggling with mood disorders. Well, who hasn’t? And I hope Mr. Douglas has licked his cancer. God knows, he’s licked everything else. And I advise all my listeners to be sensible and careful in all your carnal endeavors. If you meet a girl who smells like a petri dish, find another way to stuff her knish. Carry condoms, use dental dams – or, as I like to call them, dental goddamns. In other words, if you can’t eat `em, groin `em.

This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York.

–> https://davesgoneby.net/?p=28952

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Dave’s Gone By Interview (6/15/2013): JAMES SHAPIRO

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Dave Lefkowitz interviews Shakespearean scholar James Shapiro

Topics include: Columbia University, William Shakespeare, King James I.

Segment originally aired June 15, 2013, as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com

Dave’s Gone By #427 (6/15/2013): SHAKESPIRO

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Here is the 427th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, June 15, 2013. Info: davesgoneby.com.

Featuring Dave’s chat with Shakespearean scholar James Shapiro. Plus: Inside Broadway, Saturday Segues (Joyce, McCartney/Wilson), Rabbi Sol Solomon on Michael Douglas, and Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later (Shakespeare – he’s in the alley)

Guests: Shakespearean scholar James Shapiro, Dave’s wife, Joyce

00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce
00:14:00 SATURDAY SEGUE: Joyce’s Birthday
01:03:00 Sponsors
01:13:30 GUEST: James Shapiro
02:04:00 INSIDE BROADWAY
00:26:30 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later (Shakespeare – he’s in the alley)
03:06:00 Sponsors
03:11:30 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #70: Michael Douglas
03:16:00 SATURDAY SEGUE – McCartney/Wilson
03:52:30 DAVE GOES OUT

June 15, 2013 Playlist: Jai Sita Ram (00:14:00) & “Shedding Skin (Beloved Friend)” (00:20:30; MC Yogi). “When I was Your Man” (00:17:00; Bruno Mars). “Teachers” (00:23:00; Leonard Cohen). “Academia” (00:26:00; Sia). “The Message” (00:29:00; Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five). “Hallelujah” (00:36:00; Rufus Wainwright). “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” (00:41:30), “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again” ({“Hard Rain” live version}; 02:37:00), “Po’ Boy” (02:43:00), “Highway 61 Revisited” ({alternate take} 02:46:00), “Floater” (02:49:30), “Desolation Row” ({“MTV Unplugged” live version; 02:54:30; Bob Dylan). “Heroes” ({“Stage” live version} 01:06:30; David Bowie). “Talk to Me” (01:12:30; Joni Mitchell). “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” (Kiss Me Kate 1948 Broadway cast; 02:02:00). “They Were You” (The Fantasticks, 1960 off-Broadway cast w/ Kenneth Nelson & Rita Gardner; 02:26:30). “Cuckoo Cuckoo” (03:21:30), “You Still Believe in Me” (03:25:30), “In My Room” (03:31:00), “Heroes and Villains” (03:35:00) & “I’m Waiting for the Day” (03:41:00; The Beach Boys). “I’ll Follow the Sun” (03:23:30), “For No One” (03:33:00) & “Things We Said Today” (03:38:30; The Beatles). “Man We was Lonely” (03:28:00) & “Monkberry Moon Delight” (03:44:00; Paul McCartney). “Never You Change” (03:56:00; Toots & the Maytals).

Dave’s Gone By Skit: Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection #69 (6/9/2013): THE TONYS 2013

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RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #69 (6/9/2013): The Tonys 2013

Aired June 8, 2013 on Dave’s Gone By. Youtube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kY7pP-rSoQ

Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a special theatrical Rabbinical Reflection for the week of June 9th, 2013.

It is that merry time again when the Broadway community – those special people who sing and dance and check their voicemails twenty times a day – Broadway pats itself on the tuchas and gives out the Tony Awards.

For folks like me who love the theater, it is a time to celebrate the artistry of show business. Even in this age of Netflix and X-Box and downloaded apps and uploaded crap, something about Broadway still causes relatively sane individuals to reach into their depleted bank accounts and pony up the bills for an hour or two of live stage magic.

This season’s Tony Awards feature an array of stars, genres and talents. But as I always ask this time of year: Where are the Jews? Where do my people fit in – as they always do – in the fabric of 42nd Street. Look no further than the Best Play category, where nice Jewish boychik Richard Greenberg has a show called, The Assembled Parties, all about a New York family on the Upper West Side. It’s an annoying play, frustrating and not worth the effort. Why? For one thing, the Jewish family in The Assembled Parties is so assimilated, they celebrate Christmas! No explanation is given for that, so I’ll simply ascribe it to the playwright having a few too many at Joe Allen’s before tackling rewrites.

I much preferred Lucky Guy, a lively look at the newspaper business from the pen of that late Jewess, Nora Ephron. Played by Tom Hanks, the lead character is a hard-bitten, hard-drinking, morally suspect loudmouth – but he’s Irish, so that’s fine. Lucky Guy is up against The Testament of Mary, a one-woman show about Jesus Christ’s mother – ughhhhh – and Christopher Durang’s wonderful comedy, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and Irving and Leopold and Morris the Cat. The play doesn’t have any Jews in it, but it feels like good Neil Simon, so we’ll give it our blessing.

Broadway musicals up for the Tony are a distinctly goyische bunch, so we’ll skip those, although Harvey Fierstein did write the book for Kinky Boots, and Benj Pasek co-wrote the songs for A Christmas Story. I know, I know. The things Jews will do for money.
Not surprisingly, the category – Best Revival of a Musical is hopping with Hebrews. Annie has a score by Martin Charnin and Charles Strouse. It also has a Christmastime finale. Again with Jews and that farshtunkeneh holiday! Honestly, how many Mormons are writing about Kwanzaa?

Also in Musical Revivals you’ve got Pippin by Stephen Schwartz, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood written by Rupert Holmes. You know what his real name was before he changed it? David Goldstein. God forbid Rupert Holmes should keep his original handle. I guess he wanted to pass and not get beaten up by the other English boys, because, you know, “David” is such a funny, exotic name. Much better to go with Rupert. I hope he got his tuchas kicked. Oh, and filling out the Best Revival category: Cinderella, by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Oscar was brought up Episcopalian – but he had a Jewish grandfather, which explains why so many characters in R&H musicals are wracked with guilt.

Returning to our Jew-spotting: special Tony Awards this season are going to producers Bernard Gersten and Paul Libin and set designer Ming Cho Lee – well, two out of three ain’t bad. And considering how much Jews love Chinese food, Ming’s borderline anyway.

A special Tony will also be awarded to Larry Kramer, who wrote The Normal Heart and founded the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. He’s not only a Jew, and not only a gay Jew, but he’s an angry, kvetching, sentimental, in-your-face Jew – that’s like five Jews in one!

But no matter what your religion, the Tony Awards are about healthy competition and the elevation of entertainment into an art form. If that doesn’t sound like a big deal, remember: other organizations give out awards for things like advertising and, God help us, country music. So hooray for the theater and blessings to Broadway. Just like the Jews, it’s a tiny little subculture, but how poor the world would be without it.

This has been a Rabbinical Reflection with a standing ovation from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York.

—> https://davesgoneby.net/?p=28961