OFF BROADWAY THEATER FAVORITES"LATE CHRISTOPHER BEANE"

This season provided us with many terrific Off Broadway shows.  The Late Christopher Beane ranked up there amongst my top five, and could be considered the best screwball comedy of the season.  The many twists in the story keeps surprising you.  It was written in 1932 by Sidney Howard who won the Pulitzer Prize, two Academy Awards, wrote the screenplay for "Gone With The Wind" and the original work that preceeded the musical, "The Most Happy Fella".  He died fairly young and his works should be revisited since he writes beautifully.  This play is about greed, certainly topical today.  This comedy was originally adapted from a French play and is about a family discovering that a painter who formally lived with them, left works of art that are now worth a considerable sum.  The family thought the painter had no talent and didn't hold his paintings in high esteem and were not totally sure where they were even located.  The true nature of the family members and other art professionals is revealed with a lot of humor and insight.  Nine cast members are all excellent actors and each one stands out in their own right.  The direction and staging are first rate and this includes the lighting and sound.  I recommend that you try and see this play as it's a limited engagement and it's as good as Moliere.

ENTERTAINMENT & TRAVEL NEWS-ISRAEL

Reuben	Asher	Benjamin	Dan
Gad	Judah	Joseph	Zebulon
Simeon	Levi	Naphtali	Issachar

Chagall Windows- Jerusalem

My favorite destinations in Israel are Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Eilat, Safed and the Galilee area. I haven't been back to Israel in a while, but I fondly remember a trip there with my son. The locales were all beautiful, historic and had very interesting touring opportunities. In Jerusalem, I recall overlooking the old city, visiting the Tower of David, touring the King David Hotel which is the most historic hotel in Israel and seeing the Hadassah Medical Center with its brilliant Chagall Windows. We viewed the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Shrine of the Book, walked through the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden at the Israel Museum, saw Mount Herzl and Yad Vashem. The Western Wall visit was very moving. Tel Aviv has almost fifty hotels, many from the top hotel chains, along with beautiful beaches, cafes and restaurants. We visited the home of David Ben Gurion, the old port city of Jaffa with its Artists Quarter, and the Weizmann Institute. We went to Caesarea to visit the Roman ruins and amphitheater, traveling further to Nazareth to see the town of Jesus's youth and its attractions. We arrived in Haifa and stopped at Mount Carmel, the Bahai Shrine and Persian Gardens. The visit to Safed included the Artists Quarter and the ancient synagogues. We purchased many artworks by one of the most important artists who lived there, Shalom of Safed. A lovely boat ride on the Galilee was a highlight of the trip, after which we visited the Golan Heights and realized how important this strategic location was. Eilat is now compared to Miami Beach with more water sports. Our reason for visiting was the live coral reefs where my son was able to do many dives. The entire country was amazing and I can't wait to visit again.

FINIAN'S RAINBOW-on Broadway

Finian's Rainbow has finally been revived on Broadway, having last been performed there in 1947. Many off-Broadway revivals of the musical took place over the years, most recently the acclaimed performances at the Encores series at New York's City Center. That run, happily gave the producers the impetus to mount it on Broadway. The glorious score by Burton Lane and Yip Harburg is more fabulous than ever. Hit song after hit song is heard and this score ranks up there with the amount of standards in any other important musical. There is excellent vocal delivery in their individual numbers by both Kate Baldwin and Terri White. They are the standout singers. Everyone else is perfectly adequate and on occasion more than adequate. The book by Yip Harburg and Fred Saidy still holds up and was very pertinent for contemporary times. Warren Carlyle's choreography and direction were perfect in portraying the story. Leprechauns and pots o'gold are integrated with Irish whimsy and Southern social mores of the period. If you're not moved by "How Are Things in Glocca Morra", you're not alive. A must see for all musical theater lovers.

MEMPHIS-on Broadway

Memphis is an original musical and in my opinion, the best new musical of the season. The Book and Lyrics are by Joe DiPietro and the Music and Lyrics are by David Bryan. It was based on a concept by George W. George and it stars the very talented actor-singers Chad Kimball and Montego Glover.  Both have very powerful voices.  The cast is very large with Derrick Baskin, J. Bernard Calloway, James Iglehart, Michael McGrath and Cass Morgan all standing out.  Both the singing and dancing are performed by a cast of accomplished performers.  Sergio Trujillo did an exceptional job choreographing and was aided by the able direction of Christopher Ashley. The story crosses racial lines, taking place before Memphis was integrated. A white man, Huey, played by Chad Kimball visits the black side of town and hears the gifted singer Felicia, played by Montego Glover. Huey becomes a top disc jockey and the story and romance proceeds from there. The music is very infectious, encompassing rock and roll, Motown and Memphis sounds. I heard harmonies of groups like the Temptations and many female groups of the sixties and seventies along with sounds of James Brown and Chuck Berry. The songs written for the show are very powerful and can stand on their own and the story holds your interest throughout.  A most enjoyable evening of musical theater that would work for the entire family, from the older through younger members.