From Moses to Mostel: A History of the Jews (According to Musical Theater)

From Moses to Mostel:
A History of the Jews
(According to Musical Theater)

The Town Hall, NYC, February 26, 2015

Reviewed by Ron Forman for Cabaret Scenes

From Moses to Mostel: A History of the Jews (According to Musical Theater) was exactly that. Using the Broadway music of, among others, Harold Rome, Kurt Weill, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, the show entertainingly told the story, beginning with the Garden of Eden (“Here in Eden” from The Apple Tree) through World War II (“Who’s This Geezer, Hitler” from Lionel Bart’s Blitz!). The show was hosted by Robert Klein (pictured) and featured Rachel Stern, Steve Rosen, Joanne Borts, Rob Evan, Deep Singh, Falu and Lorin Sklamberg and the Klezmatics.

Klein opened the show with a hilarious song about his getting a colonoscopy, “I Don’t Like Getting Older,” that is interrupted by a phone call from Adonai (The Hebrew word for God) speaking in a female voice. She has decided it is time to close the curtain on the human species. Klein pleads for a chance to keep the species alive by telling the story of the Jewish people in music. Stern was outstanding in two numbers in Act I, “Lost in the Stars” and “Mene, Mene, Tekel” from the 1937 musical Pins and Needles. Stern and Klein combined for a hilarious “I’m Not a Well Man” from I Can Get It for You Wholesale. Act I ended with a rousing “Heaven on Their Minds” performed in booming voice by Evan.

Act II opened with Klein being put on hold by Adonai, as the company performed “The Inquisition” from the film The History of the World Part I. The highlight of the show was a medley of Yiddish songs written by Yiddish star Aaron Lebedoff and performed, as the audience clapped along, by the Klezmatics with Sklamberg’s vocal and accordion. Borts’ voice worked magically on “Edelweiss,” a tribute to Yiddish star Theodore Bikel who had introduced the song in The Sound of Music. The show ended with Klein awakened from what was a dream to have his colonoscopy performed, followed by the Klezmatics encore of “Mazel Tov.”

Tags: Aaron Lebedoff, Adonai, American Songbook, Blitz, Broadway, Broadway Musicals, Cabaret, Cabaret Reviews, Cabaret Scenes, CD, Clubs, Composers, Deep Singh, Edelweiss, Falu, From Moses to Mostel: A History of the Jews (according to Musical Theater), Garden of Eden, Great American Songbook, Harold Rome, Heaven on Their Minds, Here in Eden, I Can Get It for You Wholesale, I Don’t Like Getting Older, I’m Not a Well Man, Jazz, Jazz Singers, Jerry Bock, Joanne Borts, Klezmatics, Kurt Weill, Lionel Bart, Lorin Sklamberg, Lost in the Stars, lyricists, Mazel Tov, Mene Mene Tekel, Musicals, Musicians, Nightclubs, NYC, Pins and Needles, Popular Song, Rachel Stern, Revues, Rob Evan, Robert Klein, Ron Forman, Sheldon Harnick, Show Tunes, Singers, Songbook, Standards, Steve Rosen, Supper Clubs, The Apple Tree, The History of the World Part I, The Inquisition, The Sound of Music, The Town Hall, Theodore Bikel, Venues, Vocalists, Who’s this Geezer Hitler”, World War II, Yiddish songs

Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews