I’m spending most of this week rehearsing for a concert reading of Shlemiel The First, a musical by Robert Brustein presented by Theatre J. The shows are this Sunday at 8 PM, October 9-12 at 7:30 PM, and Friday the 13th at 12 noon. Click on the preceding Theatre J link for more information.

Yesterday was our first rehearsal and we spent five solid hours on the music, which is in klezmer style. It’s my first experience with that musical genre and I must say I’m enjoying it, although I feel like a terrible shiksa when I have to have words like “farblondjet” and “gevalt” pronounced and defined for me. However, I’m not alone, since the goyim are well represented in this concert by the likes of Dan Manning, Amy McWilliams and Rob McQuay. The rest of the cast includes Dwayne Nitz, Peter Gil, Tom Howley, Howard Stregack, the amazing Max Talisman and Isabel Thompson. Nick Olcott directs; Zalmen Mlotek is music director, and my old buddy David Elias is stage manager.

Hope you can make it.