Skip to content

Where different views on Israel and Judaism are welcome.

  • Home
  • Subscribe / donate
  • Events calendar
  • News
    • Local
    • National
    • Israel
    • World
    • עניין בחדשות
      A roundup of news in Canada and further afield, in Hebrew.
  • Opinion
    • From the JI
    • Op-Ed
  • Arts & Culture
    • Performing Arts
    • Music
    • Books
    • Visual Arts
    • TV & Film
  • Life
    • Celebrating the Holidays
    • Travel
    • The Daily Snooze
      Cartoons by Jacob Samuel
    • Mystery Photo
      Help the JI and JMABC fill in the gaps in our archives.
  • Community Links
    • Organizations, Etc.
    • Other News Sources & Blogs
    • Business Directory
  • FAQ
  • JI Chai Celebration
  • [email protected]! video
Weinberg Residence Spring 2023 box ad

Search

Archives

"The Basketball Game" is a graphic novel adaptation of the award-winning National Film Board of Canada animated short of the same name – intended for audiences aged 12 years and up. It's a poignant tale of the power of community as a means to rise above hatred and bigotry. In the end, as is recognized by the kids playing the basketball game, we're all in this together.

Recent Posts

  • Settling Ukrainian newcomers
  • A double anniversary
  • Deep, dangerous bias
  • Honouring others in death
  • Living under fire of missiles
  • Laugh for good causes
  • Sizzlin’ Summer in June
  • Parker Art Salon on display
  • Helping animals and people
  • New LGBTQ+ resource guide
  • Innovators in serving the community
  • First Jewish Prom a success
  • Prince George proclaims Jewish Heritage Month
  • Community milestones … Wasserman & Feldman
  • Düsseldorf returns painting
  • קנדה גדלה במיליון איש
  • Garden welcomes visitors
  • Spotting disinformation
  • A family metaphor
  • Hate crimes down a bit
  • First mikvah in B.C. Interior
  • Check out JQT Artisan Market
  • Yiddish alive and well
  • Celebrating 30th year
  • Get ready to laugh it up
  • Supporting Beth Israel’s light
  • Na’amat to gather in Calgary
  • Community artists highlighted
  • KDHS hits all the right notes
  • Giving back to their community
  • The experience of a lifetime
  • Boundaries are a good thing
  • Mental health concerns
  • Food insecurity at UBC affects Jewish students, too
  • Healthy food Harvey won’t eat
  • חודש שלישי ברציפות של הפגנות

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @JewishIndie

Tag: ABBA

KDHS hits all the right notes

KDHS hits all the right notes

Rachel Gerber, playing Donna Sheridan, performing “Money, Money, Money” in King David High School’s production of Mamma Mia! (photo from KDHS)

High school theatre programs have the power to unite a student body. At King David High School, community values are inseparable from the student experience, and their recent production of Mamma Mia! May 3-4 was a captivating demonstration of exactly that.

Mamma Mia! follows a young bride’s search for her birth father, leading her to invite three of her mother’s former lovers to her wedding. It is a tale of love, friendship and family, told through the beloved hits of the iconic ABBA. I was lucky enough to see the King David High School production of the show on its sold-out closing night May 4. The audience was brought to its feet by the final song, “Waterloo.”

Staging a musical such as Mamma Mia! requires teamwork and camaraderie. The show largely relies on its ensemble and King David’s ensemble and principal actors seamlessly collaborated in their singing, dancing and acting. Several of the actors agreed that the most meaningful part of the process was the cast coming together over the course of rehearsals and the performances.

The cast featured students from grades 8 to 12. The on-stage band, led by Johnny Seguin, was professional and impressive, providing a soulful and steady backbone for the actors. With an electric musical score, a heart-warming plot and countless laughs, any theatre’s take on Mamma Mia! is sure to delight its audience, and this production was no exception.

The graduating seniors of King David claimed the stage in roles that showcased their respective talents. The curtains rose as Kailey Bressler, playing Sophie Sheridan, enchanted the audience with an angelic rendition of “I Have a Dream.” Bressler – who, full disclosure, is my sister – portrayed Sophie with a balance of sweetness and confidence, accompanied by her breathtaking voice. While I did not see Mhairi Hemingson’s portrayal of Sophie the day before, she earned herself rave reviews – I heard she gave a genuine and graceful performance.

The introduction of Sophie’s mother, Donna Sheridan, and the Dynamos sent laughter and excitement throughout the audience. Nikki Wiseman brought energy and humour to the character of Rosie, skilfully counterbalanced by Kiera Katz’s poised and classy portrayal of Tanya. Both Wiseman and Katz said that a memorable part of the rehearsal period was developing the dynamic between their characters, and their efforts paid off, eliciting roaring laughter with each interaction. Completing the trio was Rachel Gerber’s portrayal of the matriarch, Donna. Gerber’s performance emanated confidence, energy and depth, bringing some to tears with her rendition of “The Winner Takes It All.”

The leading male characters of the show – Sophie’s three possible dads – also delivered heartfelt and vibrant performances. Shai Rubin’s Sam was dignified and upbeat. Ori Haber, who played Harry, shared that his favourite part of rehearsals was crafting the intricate interactions among the dads, who happen to be his real-life best friends. The actors’ friendship translated on stage, especially with the masterful comedic timing of Yair Cohen, playing Bill. Another standout was Jesse Millman’s exuberant stage presence as Sophie’s fiancé, Sky.

As King David prepares to send off its graduating class, Mamma Mia! proved to be the ideal narrative for its seniors. The story captures the journey of navigating unique paths while having the comfort of community to fall back on. It is about growing up and self-acceptance in an ever-changing world. Gerber and Bressler’s rendition of “Slipping Through My Fingers” perfectly captured the emotional core of the story – it was an emotional moment for the families of the graduating class, as well.

With their talent and joy, this remarkable cast and crew made Mamma Mia! a pleasure to watch, and a beautiful testament to the strength of King David’s community.

Alisa Bressler is a fourth-year student at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. She is an avid reader and writer, and the online director of the arts and culture publication MUSE Magazine. Bressler is a member of the Vancouver Jewish community, and the inaugural Baila Lazarus Jewish Journalism Intern.

Format ImagePosted on May 12, 2023May 11, 2023Author Alisa BresslerCategories Performing ArtsTags ABBA, KDHS, King David High School, Mamma Mia!, musicals
If you’re feeling down

If you’re feeling down

Warren Kimmel and Cathy Wilmot in Arts Club’s Mamma Mia. (photo by David Cooper)

Warning: The song titles mentioned in this article have been known to cause stuck-song syndrome for several weeks. Read at your own peril.

So, let’s say it’s Friday night and the lights are low, and you’re looking out for a place to go. Is the music in your head yet?

Even if the simple mention of the name Mamma Mia doesn’t have you drumming up ABBA songs in your head that get stuck there for days at a time, don’t jump to any quick conclusions about whether you’ll enjoy this play. I am not a raving ABBA fan, but highly recommend it – for the singing, the characters and, very last but far from least, the outrageous closing number.

If, for some reason, this were the last review I were able to write, I would put down my pen feeling complete, having seen Warren Kimmel prance around stage in a hot pink jump suit singing ABBA. Does this man’s talent know no bounds?

It’s also worthy to see, at least once, the show that has had such lasting power and whose celluloid “offspring” has broken records.

The title of the 1999 musical was taken from the group’s 1975 hit. In London’s West End, it became the eighth-longest running show in history, as well as the ninth-longest-running show in Broadway history, closing in 2015 after 14 years.

In 2008, Mamma Mia became the highest-grossing film to ever be released in the United Kingdom, beating Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

But, if you’re not one of the huge Mamma Mia fans out there, you may not know the story.

We open on a Greek island, where Sophie and friends are planning for her wedding. Sophie reveals that, upon reading her mother’s journals, she may know the identity of her father, whom her mother left before Sophie was born. Sophie has narrowed the list to three potentials and, without telling her mother, invites them to the wedding.

When the possible dads show up, mom is more than a little surprised and curious that they all ended up coincidentally on her island at the same time, but even they don’t know at first the real reason they were summoned.

Dad potential Bill Austin (Warren Kimmel) is the early favourite, but the question of who the real father is stays up in the air – and please, no bribes this time. I’m not telling.

This is really the feel-good play of the summer. The singing is fabulous and many of the dance numbers (including seven guys doing a can-can wearing diving flippers) are highly entertaining.

If you’re a fan of Absolutely Fabulous, you’ll recognize a lot of Joanna Lumley’s character Patsy in Mamma Mia’s Tanya. One half-expects her to pull out a cigarette and bottle of booze and start tripping around the stage.

Even a mild ABBA fan will enjoy the music and the way the lyrics are woven into the story. Since the words of many of ABBA’s songs talk about relationships and life, they lend themselves well to being adapted into dialogue and plot.

I am left with two complaints, however. The first is the exaggerated movements and over-acting that permeate the first quarter of the production. It seems to be a fault of many musicals, as though every sentence that isn’t sung needs grand arm gestures or running around the stage for no reason. Once that dies down, however, you are free to sit back, tap your toes and enjoy the fun.

The second has to do with a dream sequence that completely lacks any esthetic cohesion. A chorus in full-body leotards, leaves on their heads and arms, left me with more questions than answers about what was going on.

But this is where the story ends, this is goodbye. I know some JI readers might think Mamma Mia is just going to be a silly romp. However, if you’ve got no place to go, if you’re feeling down, if you change your mind, be the first in line … oops, there I go again.

Mamma Mia is at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage until Aug. 12. For tickets and information, visit artsclub.com.

Baila Lazarus is a Vancouver-based writer and principal media strategist at bailalazarus.com.

Format ImagePosted on June 15, 2018June 14, 2018Author Baila LazarusCategories Performing ArtsTags ABBA, Arts Club, Mamma Mia!, musical, theatre, Warren Kimmel
Proudly powered by WordPress