Dave’s Gone By Interview (4/30/2022): SETH BISEN-HERSH & Rabbi Sol Solomon

click above to watch the interview
click above to listen (audio only)

Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with theatrical composer SETH BISEN-HERSH 

Topics include: cabaret, Love Quirks

Segment aired April 30, 2022 as part of the 847th episode of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio/video podcast program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

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.

All content (c)2022 TotalTheater Productions.                                                   

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

More about Rabbi Sol Solomon: http://www.shalomdammit.com. 

Dave’s Gone By #838 (2/19/2022): JU-ISH

click above to watch the episode
click above to listen (audio only)

Here is the 838th episode of the long-running radio show/video podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on Facebook, Saturday morning, Feb. 19, 2022. Info: davesgoneby.com

Guests: musician Judy Collins; actress Vicki Quade; theater critics David Sheward and Leslie (Hoban) Blake

Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews singer-songwriter Judy Collins; Rabbi Sol’s Rabbinical Reflection on Poems for Valentine’s Day; Today/Yesterday Trivia Quiz (Feb. 19 w/ David Sheward, Leslie (Hoban) Blake, Vicki Quade); Colorado Limerick of the Damned (Model, CO).

00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce (space heater, Gerri Curls, masking rules)
01:00:00 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Judy Collins
01:35:30 TODAY/YESTERDAY Trivia Quiz (Feb. 19 w/ Vicki Quade, Leslie (Hoban) Blake, David Sheward)
03:25:00 GREELEY CRIMES & OLD TIMES
03:49:30 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #174 (Poems for Valentine’s Day)
03:59:00 Friends of the Daverhood
04:13:00 COLORADO LIMERICK OF THE DAMNED (Model, CO)
04:17:00 DAVE GOES OUT

Judy Collins
Leslie (Hoban) Blake
David Sheward
Vicki Quade
Rabbi Sol Solomon
Model, CO

Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #174 (2/14/2022): Poems for Valentine’s Day

click above to watch

RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #174 – Poems for Valentine’s Day

Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a special poetical Rabbinical Reflection for Gingold Theatrical Group’s Virtual Open Mic Night on this Valentine’s Day, 2022. 

You know, poetry is central to the Jewish people, from biblical psalms to Leonard Nimoy’s “Warmed by Love.” Since poetry expresses love, I wish to share with you some classic Jewish poems of romance and arousal. For example, Rabbi Tseitlin of Detroit gave us this most appetizing sonnet: 

Shall I compare thee to a hot knish?
Thou art more tasty and much cuter
With boobs as plump as gefilte fish
And scrumptious nipples on each hooter.

A knish is square, but thou do curve
With far more spice than hot pastrami
Thy sexiness makes me a perv
When thou dost swallow my salami

Thou art chicken soup for my soul
and matzoh farfel for my heart
Your kugel makes me lose control
In a good way — not like when I shart

So long as Jews can shlep and kvetch and daven
I eat you up and give you all my lovin’.

Is it any wonder Rabbi Tseitlin has restraining orders in twelve different Michigan counties? 

Let us consider this poem from the great Rabbi Vogel of Omsk: 

Roses are red, violets are thrilling me
I love you so much,
but my prostate is killing me.

Inspired by Rabbi Vogel, I, too, have written short verse, many in the haiku form. For example, this Chanukah-ku: 

Dreidels made of clay.
When they’re dry, it’s time to play.
Women? The reverse.

Of course, not all poems about love are so refined. For an earthier exploration of desire, we turn to Rebbetzin Meyrowitz, widow of the great Estonian Rabbi, Leroy. Here’s a gem from her shocking blue period, shocking because it was her first period since her thirties. 

There was a young girl from Tiberias
whose horniness made her delirious 
They found her in Gaza
Undressed in a plaza
Her pregnancy ain’t that mysterious

In her latter years, Rebbetzin Meyrowitz became more audacious, disgusting even, as when she wrote: 

In order to brighten his sukkas
Reb Mendelsson hired three hookas
They pulled on his payess
and sat on his fayess
and jammed an etrog in his tukas.

My friends, somewhere in the Torah — I’m not sure where — it says “Love Thy Neighbor.” — not possible. But we can still aspire to love, if only as a poetic ideal. 

My hope for all of you during these times is that you receive love. And when you do, may you have enough money to pay the girl and her pimp.

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

(c)2022 TotalTheater

—> https://wp.me/pzvIo-2go

–> https://davesgoneby.net/?p=29579

Dave’s Gone By #829 (12/18/2021): RAND TOTAL

click above to watch the episode

Here is the 829th episode of the long-running radio show/video podcast Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on Facebook, Saturday morning, Dec. 18, 2021. Info: davesgoneby.com.

Guests: actor Ronald Rand, actress Vicki Quade, theater critics David Sheward, Leslie (Hoban) Blake

Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with actor Ronald Rand; Greeley Crimes & Old Times; Colorado Limerick of the Damned (Paonia, CO); Today/Yesterday Trivia Quiz (Dec. 18 w/ Ronald Rand, Leslie (Hoban) Blake, Vicki Quade, David Sheward).

00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce (understudies, Omicron)
00:42:00 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Ronald Rand
01:23:00 TODAY/YESTERDAY Trivia Quiz (Dec. 18 w/ Vicki Quade, Ronald Rand, Leslie (Hoban) Blake, David Sheward)
03:05:00 GREELEY CRIMES & OLD TIMES
03:20:00 Friends of the Daverhood
03:29:00 COLORADO LIMERICK OF THE DAMNED (Paonia)
03:34:00 DAVE GOES FURTHER IN (the saturated iPad)
03:44:30 DAVE GOES OUT

Ronald Rand
Vicki Quade
David Sheward
Leslie (Hoban) Blake
Rabbi Sol Solomon
Paonia, CO (photo by Cobun Keegan)

Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON ATTENDS A BAT MITZVAH

click above to listen (audio only)

Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews attendees at the Bat Mitzvah of Dave Lefkowitz’s cousin, Logan Sheflin.

Among the interviewees: Adam Sheflin, Stefanie Sheflin, Brenda Lefkowitz, Bonnie Pinkow, Adam Pinkow, Debra O’Brien, Bobby O’Brien, Joey O’Brien.

This audio segment first aired on the Nov. 13, 2021 episode of Dave’s Gone By.

Info: davesgoneby.com.

Logan Sheflin

Dave’s Gone By #824 (11/13/2021): GREENE DAY

click above to watch the episode
click above to listen (audio only)

Here is the 824th episode of the long-running radio show/video podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on Facebook, Saturday morning, Nov. 13, 2021. Info: davesgoneby.com.

Guests: author Alexis Greene; Rabbi Sol Solomon.

Featuring: Dave chats with theater critic Alexis Greene; Rabbi Sol Solomon attends a Bat Mitzvah; Greeley Crimes & Old Times; My Sick Mind (Travis Scott); Colorado Limerick of the Damned (Sterling).

00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce (Bat Mitzvah)
00:15:30 GUEST: Alexis Greene
00:53:00 Friends of the Daverhood
01:07:00 MY SICK MIND (Travis Scott)
01:20:00 GREELEY CRIMES & OLD TIMES
01:32:30 COLORADO LIMERICK OF THE DAMNED (Sterling)
01:39:30 RABBI SOL SOLOMON ATTENDS A BAT MITZVAH (Adam & Stefanie Sheflin)
02:02:00 DAVE GOES OUT

Alexis Greene
Rabbi Sol Solomon
Sterling, CO
Astroworld

Dave’s Gone By Interview (10/30/2021): KEN LUDWIG & Rabbi Sol Solomon

Click above to watch Rabbi Sol Solomon’s interview with Ken Ludwig
click above to listen (audio only)

Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with playwright KEN LUDWIG 

Topics include: Lend Me a Tenor; Dear Jack, Dear Louise; Harvard; Leonard Bernstein, Judaism.

Segment aired Oct. 30, 2021 as part of the 822nd episode of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio/video podcast program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

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.

All content (c)2021 TotalTheater Productions.                                                   

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

More about Rabbi Sol Solomon: http://www.shalomdammit.com

Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #172 (10/22/2021): Brown Sugar

click above to watch.

RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #172 (10/22/2021): Brown Sugar

(first aired on Dave’s Gone By Oct. 23, 2021. on youtube: https://youtu.be/p72oWhq-X68)

Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for mid-October 2021. 

It has been a sad and surreal year for fans of a little music group called The Rolling Stones. You may have heard of them. They began as a blues-rock band in the mid-60s and then, for several years, made the most compelling rock and roll in the history of ever. Then Mick Taylor quit and they vacillated between still kinda-great and name one decent album in the last 40 years. 

But through it all, they were the Stones — the swagger, the sound, the mix of energy and grit — and not the kind you get from a Larabar. When Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and — oh, okay, we’ll include Ronnie Wood — when they locked in together, you knew they were still the greatest band in the world who weren’t the Beatles. 

And then this August, cancer took Charlie. We all felt like we’d been kick-drummed in the stomach. But Ronnie, Mick, and Keef had already decided the show must go on. They survived Brian Jones doing the backstroke, they endured when Bill Wyman quit to concentrate on divorcing his 10-year-old wife. Jagger’s open-heart surgery? Richards’ urban-legend bloodstream? Bumps in the road; the Stones roll on, touring as we speak.

So why am I complaining? Well, because I’m Jewish. But also because Mick and Keith recently made a decision about one of their classic songs: “Brown Sugar.” What is “Brown Sugar” about? Nobody knows. Mick Jagger doesn’t know, and he wrote it. He just threw some ideas on paper about white men shtupping the hell out of black women — not an uncommon theme for the guy who wrote “Sweet Black Angel” and “Some Girls.” But because of these woke times, and because the lyrics reference slavery in a jaw-droppingly tasteless way, “Brown Sugar” is now officially retired from the Stones catalogue. 

Since its 1971 debut on Sticky Fingers, “Brown Sugar” has been a radio staple and concert favorite. Fans, black and white, boogied to it, and, guess what? They did not spontaneously combust or weep indignantly at the lyrics. Granted, it’s impossible to understand the lyrics burbling out of Mick Jagger: “Old boy stagecoach hypocotyl beans” – what? But even if you have the lyric sheet, you don’t hear the song and think, “Ooh, this makes me want to take a riding crop to Harriet Tubman.” Not to mention, the narrator of “Brown Sugar” is complimenting black women on their pleasant vaginal flavor. Hey, I’ve eaten some Jewish women, and it’s like having an anchovy throw up on your teeth.

No question, “Brown Sugar” is all kinds of politically incorrect, but so are a million rap numbers that do a lot worse things to black women than tasting them. Still, what scares me about the decision by Jagger and Richards — who, as authors and performers, have every right to do as they please with their work — what scares me is precedent. If you self-censor one particularly egregious tune, how long before other Stones masterpieces fall under the same scrutiny and become cancel-culture casualties?

Feminists give “Under My Thumb” the middle finger, your local PTA is sure to ban “Little T&A,” and born-again Christians raise hell against “Sympathy for the Devil.” But sometimes the offense is more subtle. What if Al Sharpton comes out against “Paint it Black” for its negativity about that color? What if “19th Nervous Breakdown” starts giving mentally ill people their 20th? What if third-grade English teachers — already despairing over teaching this generation anything that isn’t a digital game — what if they hear “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and get pushed over the edge by the double negative? (So he can get satisfaction?) What if animal-rights activists protest “Beast of Burden” and transgender woman feel bad about “Rocks Off”? What if the makers of tampons and maxipads lobby to ban “Let it Bleed?” What if the makers of Imodium want to censor “Let it Loose?” What if deaf people say “no” to “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” blind people have a problem with “Far Away Eyes,” and hemophiliacs cringe at “Too Much Blood”? What if Catholics try to block “No Expectations” because that conflicts with their idea of the afterlife, or if Rabbis urge congregants to delete the song “Happy” because they know it’s something Jews will never be? 

Instead of cancel, cancel, cancel, we need context, context, context. Whether it’s Birth of a Nation, a Statue of Thomas Jefferson, Mickey Rooney in yellowface, or Wagner at the Israel Philharmonic — explain it, debate it, keep it. At some point, we have to tell all the woke whiners, “You can’t always get what you want. Go ahead and vent at what vexes you. Give a speech before the movie, put a sign near the statue, have the deejay say, `This next song is `Brown Sugar.’ It might be about slavery, or drugs, or dessert. Either way, don’t try this at home.” 

Asked about “Brown Sugar,” Jagger once said, “I would never write that now; I’d probably censor myself. I can’t just write raw like that.” That was in 1995. And Jagger had long stopped writing raw like that. You tell me if that’s a good thing.

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

(c)2021 TotalTheater

—> https://wp.me/pzvIo-20y

–> https://davesgoneby.net/?p=27410

Dave’s Gone By Interview (8/7/2021): ROBERT DUBAC & Rabbi Sol Solomon

click above to watch the interview
click above to listen (audio only)

Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with playwright and actor ROBERT DUBAC, who stays on and plays the Today/Yesterday trivia game with David Sheward and Leslie (Hoban) Blake

Topics include: theater, The Book of Moron, The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron, stand-up comedy. 

Segment aired Aug. 7, 2021 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio/podcast program #810 hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

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.

All content (c)2021 TotalTheater Productions.                                                   

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

More about Rabbi Sol Solomon: http://www.shalomdammit.com

Dave’s Gone By #810 (8/7/2021): BAC ATCHA

click above to watch the episode
click above to listen (audio only)

Here is the 810th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on Facebook, Saturday morning, Aug. 7, 2021. Info: davesgoneby.com.

Guests: actor & playwright Robert Dubac, director Leslie (Hoban) Blake; theater critic David Sheward
Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews actor Robert Dubac; Today/Yesterday trivia quiz (Aug. 7 w/ Robert Dubac, Leslie (Hoban) Blake, David Sheward); Greeley Crimes & Old Times; Dave Goes Away (New Jersey); Colorado Limerick of the Damned (Pritchett).

00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce (NJ vacation)
00:28:30 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Robert Dubac
01:16:00 TODAY/YESTERDAY Trivia Quiz (Aug. 7 w/ Robert Dubac, Leslie (Hoban) Blake, David Sheward)
02:56:00 Friends of the Daverhood
03:01:30 GREELEY CRIMES & OLD TIMES
03:24:00 DAVE GOES AWAY (New Jersey)
03:55:00 COLORADO LIMERICK OF THE DAMNED (Pritchett, CO)
03:57:00 DAVE GOES OUT

Robert Dubac
Leslie (Hoban) Blake
David Sheward
Pritchett, CO
New Hope, PA
Rabbi Sol Solomon