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Hello CSS Friends,
I was thinking about this today…… I realized that I have consistently directed/produced Purim Spiels on a pretty large scale between my old community, Temple Beth El, Spring Valley and at CSS for 21 consecutive years.
Hit shows, the likes of:
Megillah According to Stage & Screen
The Motown Megillah
The Rock & Roll Megillah
The Disco Megillah - Saturday Night Fever 2X
The Megillah Goes to Woodstock
The Beach Boys Megillah 2X
Oh What a Spiel - The Jersey Boys Megillah
The Glee Megillah
The Nashville Megillah “Noshville” 2X
Purim Sing-A-Long, An Inception Megillah
Megillah Mia - The Megillah According to ABBA 2X
Greatest Shushan Man
CSS Tenth Anniversary Purim Spiel Anthology
“Esther” - The Megillah According to Barbie
I can’t remember all of them at this moment, a few are missing, and I’ll kick myself later when they come to me, however, each one is truly near and dear to my heart. Four of them were performed twice, once in Rockland and then here in Erie County - because they were such great, colorful scripts. Many of them were written by the incomparable Norman Roth of Stephen Wise Synagogue in NYC, who used to put together splendid spiels yearly.
The first year that he would create a new script, he would release it solely to his shul, then the next year, he would offer it up to other eager temples. In the old days when people actually used their phones to make phone calls, he would talk to me about what was coming up and what I might have missed in years past. He knew his customers. He’s a great guy, an amazing talent and an enthusiastic salesman. He has now retired from script writing but he leaves behind a legacy of 30 scripts.
Everyone involved in supporting or performing in spiels catches the theater bug at Purim time each year. Each production grows from a good solid script that needs trimming and editing to fit our needs to a full blown knock ‘em dead production. Creative minds put their heads together with little artistic hunches about the music, the lines, the scenery and the staging and grow them to unrecognizable proportions. Having been bitten by the bug, each member of the troupe always outdoes themselves. The sophistication keeps expanding. It's splendid.
At this writing, one of the great songs from Barbie, the groundbreaking movie, I’m Just Ken, was just performed about an hour ago, ala tux and tails at the Academy Awards. Thanks to the Academy for all the hype! In just about two weeks, on Saturday Night, March 23, 7PM, we will perform our own CSS manly version of Ken’s epic song in our spiel, “Esther” - The Megillah According to Barbie. I don’t think that you want to miss it ;)
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