Sunday, November 06, 2005

All the shul's a stage

In theory, I quite like the idea that Dudu Fisher, of Les Mis fame, has agreed to take up the position of cantor of the New York synagogue. Here's a man who has genuinely managed to combine a successful show-biz career with Judaism and even orthodoxy and now -- as his career winds down -- he's returning to his first love, chazzanut.
The problem is that he might be combining the show-biz and the Judaism a little too much. By his own admission, his performance is going to be high on theatricals:
"I call it 'Prayers on Broadway,'" said Fisher, 53, who explained to the Forward his plans for Sabbath services. "I have 'Phantom of the Opera,' and I have 'Les Miz' and I have operatic pieces I bring in"...
While Fisher won't be in full costume at the New York Synagogue, he said that in the end, Broadway and the bimah are not all that different.
"When you're about cantor and actor, it's almost the same," Fisher said. "A good cantor has to be a good actor, too."
Yuck, yuck, yuck. Must say that not only do I hate chazzanut, I can't stand tacky shtick in shul. And it certainly sounds like there's going to be plenty of that.
Still, I hate to be a party-pooper, because it all does sound like fun. So if this kind of stuff is your style, sit back and enjoy the show, folks. It's not every Saturday* that a former Broadway/West End star gives a free concert, featuring (in a loose way) their greatest hits. But then I guess that even former Broadway stars need to make a living. As chazan Fisher knows so well from Les Mis:

At the end of the day you get nothing for nothing / Sitting flat on your butt doesn't buy any bread...

*Or wasn't until now...

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