{"id":26027,"date":"2017-09-22T03:50:20","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T10:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=26027"},"modified":"2017-09-28T08:51:23","modified_gmt":"2017-09-28T15:51:23","slug":"bar-mitzvah-is-musicals-hook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2017\/09\/22\/bar-mitzvah-is-musicals-hook\/","title":{"rendered":"Bar mitzvah is musical\u2019s hook"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clockwise from the top: Jason Sakaki (Brett), Julia Mclean (Patrice), Graham Verchere (Evan), Julian Lokash (Archie), Emma Leblanc (ensemble) and Rachel Valentina (ensemble). (photo by Anita Alberto)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jason Robert Brown\u2019s 13: The Musical<\/em>, a show that centres around the bar mitzvah of its young hero, Evan Goldman, will premi\u00e8re in Vancouver on Sept. 28, presented by Bring On Tomorrow Co.<\/p>\n

Concerned both with authenticity and sensitivity with regards to the show\u2019s Jewish content, director Chris Adams invited Congregation Beth Israel Rabbi Adam Stein to meet with the cast and crew after a rehearsal Aug. 29. The Jewish Independent<\/em> was invited to attend.<\/p>\n

13<\/em> was the first-ever Broadway show to feature an all-teenage cast when it debuted in 2008. The cast of the local production is an accomplished team of professional young actors who have appeared on such networks as ABC, NBC, CBC, Disney and FX. They were dynamic, cheerful and attentive throughout Stein\u2019s visit, laughing at his jokes and making a few of their own as well. The rabbi, who himself has a background in theatre, seemed right at home.<\/p>\n

The musical follows 12-year-old Evan Goldman, a Jewish kid from New York who moves to a small town in Indiana after his parents\u2019 divorce. A fish out of water, the story details his struggle to adapt to his new community and make friends, with a key plot point centring around him trying to get the cool kids to come to his bar mitzvah, and the rite of passage that results as Evan\u2019s perspective matures.<\/p>\n

Stein explained the meaning of the bar mitzvah ritual to the cast, saying that the passage into adult moral responsibility is at its core. He also described some of the details of the synagogue ceremony. In 13<\/em>, Goldman is heard singing one line of his Haftarah and Stein explained its meaning and checked the trope in the script, which was correct.<\/p>\n

The rabbi also explained the meaning of the tallit and tefillin the bar mitzvah boy would begin wearing, and advised the cast about how the tallitot in the show should be handled \u2013 for starters, don\u2019t hold them by the tzitzit<\/em> (fringes). They also discussed how to stage and choreograph the synagogue scene, and debated how to costume the actors who appear in a dancing rabbis scene. Stein helped the cast imagine the layout of a synagogue, and suggested that having all the rabbis look like Chassidim would be stereotyping.<\/p>\n

13: The Musical<\/em> was penned by young adult novelist Dan Elish with TV producer and writer Robert Horn. Starring as Evan is Graham Verchere, 15, whose recent credits include Theatre in the Raw\u2019s The Raymur Mothers<\/em> and Arts Club Theatre\u2019s A Christmas Story<\/em>. Graham is a regular on the FX series Fargo<\/em> and will appear in ABC\u2019s The Good Doctor<\/em>, which premi\u00e8res Sept. 25.<\/p>\n

The Bring On Tomorrow cast also includes Jewish community member Julian Lokash, who just had his own bar mitzvah 15 months ago. \u201cI first heard about the play at my own bar mitzvah,\u201d Julian told the Jewish Independent<\/em>. \u201cFriends of mine who were there are now in the cast for this production.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he played an ambassadorial role as the only Jewish actor in the play, Julian said he wouldn\u2019t quite say that, but he did feel called to a certain degree of leadership. \u201cEveryone turned to me when they had a question,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

Julian\u2019s acting credits include Theatre Under the Stars\u2019 Shrek<\/em>, Oliver!<\/em> and Beauty and the Beast<\/em>; the lead role of James in Carousel Theatre for Young People\u2019s James and the Giant Peach<\/em>; and roles in Gateway Theatre\u2019s Music Man<\/em> and Famous Artists Ltd.\u2019s Mrs. Claus\u2019 Kitchen<\/em>.<\/p>\n

13<\/em> director Adams is joined by vocalist Monique Creber as musical director. The production company, Bring On Tomorrow Co., is a collective of artists founded in 2016. The group \u201caims to assemble the city\u2019s brightest professional theatre talent with award-winning musical artists to mount productions monumental in scale, energy and sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked why Bring On Tomorrow was inspired to produce this show, Adams told the JI<\/em> that it was all based \u201caround the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew we had the talent out there to present this show,\u201d he said. \u201cWe wanted to give these professionals an opportunity to be leads…. Often kids in this city play the \u2018kids\u2019 roles. Well, in 13<\/em>, every role is made for kids. They have to step it up because there isn\u2019t a cast of professional adults driving their own show. It really is a wonderful challenge and something that a lot of them don\u2019t get to experience every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

13<\/em> runs Sept. 28-Oct. 1 and Oct. 4-8 at the Waterfront Theatre. For tickets and more information, visit bringontomorrowco.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Matthew Gindin<\/strong> is a freelance journalist, writer and lecturer. He writes regularly for the <\/em>Forward and <\/em>All That Is Interesting, and has been published in <\/em>Religion Dispatches, <\/em>Situate Magazine, <\/em>Tikkun and elsewhere. He can be found on Medium and Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clockwise from the top: Jason Sakaki (Brett), Julia Mclean (Patrice), Graham Verchere (Evan), Julian Lokash (Archie), Emma Leblanc (ensemble) and Rachel Valentina (ensemble). (photo by Anita Alberto) Jason Robert Brown\u2019s 13: The Musical, a show that centres around the bar mitzvah of its young hero, Evan Goldman, will premi\u00e8re in Vancouver on Sept. 28, presented […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[7406,218,2585,6296],"class_list":["post-26027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-bar-mitzah","tag-judaism","tag-julian-lokash","tag-musical-theatre"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}