From Nov. 7 to 15, Victoria’s Bema Productions will present four performances of A Jewish Sing-A-Long Christmas, featuring famous Christmas classics written by Jewish composers. The play, which Bema mounted in 2024, is back by popular demand. It showcases the 20th-century North American immigrant experience and some of the music produced by the children of those immigrants.
That generation of songwriters, according to the play’s organizers, wanted to feel like they belonged and ended up showing the world how to make Christmas a holiday for everyone by highlighting its universal concepts of love, peace, family and togetherness in their lyrics. By encouraging integration through their music, they became irreplaceable parts of the mainstream culture while writing themselves into history.
“The five actors tell a brief story before every song,” said Bema’s founder and managing artistic director, Zelda Dean. “So, the audience gets the history of the song, who wrote it and how some of the stories came about. They each have a solo, and they’re all wonderful singers.”
The show includes duets and group numbers – and, this time, the audience gets to sing along more, said Dean. Lyrics for the 22 songs performed will be projected. A professional jazz band will accompany the actors and the audience.
“We had a complaint that they didn’t get to sing enough two years ago, so this time they get to sing a great deal, along with this professional jazz band and five instruments in the band and a wonderful conductor,” she said. “We even have a comic character in the show, the Grinch. The Grinch is very entertaining, played by Evan Roberts, complete with green skin. We enlarged his role for this year’s show because he was so well received. So, there is humour in the show, and some moving moments.”
Popular Christmas tunes written by Jews include “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “White Christmas,” “Silver Bells,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” and “Winter Wonderland.”
All those will be sung in the Bema production, as well as “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “Home for the Holidays,” “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” Happy Holiday,” “Silver and Gold,” “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” and “Let It Snow.”
Among the Jewish musicians who penned holiday hits were Irving Berlin, Mel Tormé, Jay Livingston, Ray Evans, Gloria Shayne Baker and Johnny Marks.
“It was really hard for some of the composers to get their foot in the door,” explained Dean. “They realized that Christmas music up until that point was all religious, and they decided, not collectively, but I think a few did, and many followed, to write secular holiday music for the Christmas season.”
Canadian director Larry Weinstein explored the subject of Jewish Christmas song composers in his 2017 documentary I’m Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas.
“The important thing to me, and why I suggested developing this script and music, was because what better way to fight antisemitism than to bring it into the sanctuary of a synagogue and let them sing holiday songs? I mean, what’s better than that?” Dean said. “And that’s exactly the response we got last time. People went out just raving.”
Performances take place in the sanctuary of Congregation Emanu-El.
Dean has spent decades promoting Jewish theatre and has dedicated herself to fighting racism, antisemitism and hate.
A Jewish Sing-A-Long Christmas features recognizable Victoria actors such as Roberts, Alf Small and Misty Cozac.
Roberts has appeared in Bema’s Perseverance (2026), Stranger in this Land (2023) and Men Overboard (2022). He was also in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change and Shakespeare in Love (2026) at Victoria’s Langham Court Theatre.
Bema audiences will be familiar with Small from previous performances with the theatre company, in Rite of Passage, Visiting Mr. Green and Lessons.
Cozac is a director, actor and educator. She has appeared in Murder on the Orient Express, Steel Magnolias and her own play, Genki Bear: Memoirs of a Granddaughter.
Cam Culham and Rosemary Jeffery also star in A Jewish Sing-A-Long Christmas, which was written by Kevin Alexander.
When asked by the Independent to describe himself, Alexander said he is “a lifelong career generalist, perpetually curious and drawn to creative opportunities.” He added that his career “has wandered through music, technology, business and education, usually following the most interesting path available.”
Scott Gordon is the musical director of the show.
Performances are Nov. 7 and 14, at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 8 and 15, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25. For more information, visit bemaproductions.com.
Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.
