Lary Bloom
Writer, Editor, Teacher
The Bloom Blog
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Friday, March 17, 2006
Showtime
I dropped by the historic Goodspeed Opera House the other night to check on rehearsals. John Sebastian DeNicola was in the orchestra pit, leading his musicians through his own score while, on stage, actors tried to get the timing and movements right. John was his ebullient self, and you'd never know he was suffering from a head cold and the usual pre-opening night panic.John once was an unlikely prospect to write a musical based on the Book of Esther. An unlikely candidate, too, to become a cantor in a synagogue for High Holiday services. When a boy grows up Roman Catholic, what are the odds against this?
Anyway, while he attended Berklee School of Music he wrote a short version of a musical called Megillah. Nine years ago, our synagogue staged it at Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theatre for two performances. The audience loved the tunes -- didn't expect a Biblical story to have a kind of Andrew Lloyd Webber score. At the tackback after the last performance, our oldest congegation member, Hi Fink (then only in his late '80s), raised his hand and announced his instant and memorable review: "I wasn't bored for a single minute."
That show ran only 70 unboring minutes. Now, John has expanded it to 90 unboring minutes. I sat through the rehearsal waiting for Esther's Prayer, the seminal moment in the show when the queen who has kept her heritage secret from her king/husband must decide whether to tell him about her past -- to save her people. I remembered how when Beth Albrecht sang this gorgeous song many years ago, I could hear sobs in the audience. As my late friend Leonora Hays, said, "There wasn't a dry seat in the house." And now a different actress was singing it, Amy Forbes. The result was the same, however. When she came the song's bridge, and put her shawl over her head as a sign of faith, I wept.
No doubt I am a softy. I cry at KMart openings. But I think you'd become emotinal too during Esther's Prayer. If you're around Saturday night or Sunday (two performances) come see this. (See www.cbsrz.org for details.) I'll see you there, and we'll have a good cry (and many laughs) together.
Posted by:Lary Bloom at 4:05 AM
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