The Canadian Jewish News, Friday, June 25, 1976 - Page 11
Arts
By JENIVA BERGER
The Second City players, left are Catherine O'Hara,
securely anchored as the leading purveyors of topical satire, have struck gold in John Monteith, Andrea Martin and Dave Thomas. Missing is Benjamin Gordon,
Song-and-comedy troupe
their latest show. From a stalwart of the troupe.
A Birmingham, Alabama, Hadassah lady talking Yiddish with a deep southern drawl; a hilarious spoof on a Nashville bluegrass yam entitled "A Bagel is Not a Doughnut"; a humorous look at a cantors' audition — these are just a tew examples of the refreshingly original style of humor that were used by the four-man, song-and-comedy troupe The Aya-
lons to thoroughly delight a capacity audience at the 10th annual Ezra and Kadima Schools concert at Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue last week.
The humor of this group, the members of whom were bom in Israel, now based in New York but still frequently touring Israel, is very much in the spirit of Sholom Aleiehem and Shimon Dzigan in that it is empathetically laughing with us rather than apologetically laughing at us..
Thus, while its antics . conceming Jewish life are gentle yet truthfully revealing, their jibes at external features — such as Kissinger, Ronald Reagan and a southern highway patrol — are
brief but satirical in the best witty manner.
Their audience rapport is terrifically effective; and when they do sing, it is in the manner of truly seasoned pros.
It was most gratifying not to have had to suffer through the same old tired and annoying jibes about Jewish princesses and intermarriages which a few Jewish TV comedi-ians are still resorting to today, in order to try to frantically win Gentile approval;
The Ayalons prove that there is a far tmer blend of Anglo-Jewish humor which is far mOre accurate in reaching the collective North American Jewish funnybone.
From a purely musical point of view, the really impressive part of this
performs here Sept. 13
TORONTO —
The Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, having received wide acclaim on its 1972 Canadian tour, returns to Toronto under the sponsorship of the Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation and the Cana: dian Friends of Tel Aviv University.
The IPO, under the baton of its renowned conductor Zubin Mehta, will give only one performance at Massey Hall, Toronto, on Sept. 15 at 8:30 p.m. Zubin Mehta, the 40-year-old maestro from Bombay, India, has been the music advisor of the IPO since 1969, and has accepXti the music directorship of the New York. Philharmonic Orchestra following the 1977-78 season. . The program will include the Concerto for Orchestra by Bartok, and the Symphonic Fantasti-quet Opus 14, by Berlioz. The performance will be followed by a reception at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at which Mehta and the orchestra will be met by public officials and by
concert patrons of this event.
The Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation is i nonprofit organization devoted to promoting cultural exchanges between Canada and Israel, to providing scholarships for talented students and to supporting cultural programs in Israel.
The CICF curreintly provides eight scholarships to Israelis and one to ai Canadian Studying in Israel, In addition, it owns and supports a Tzlil AmrMobile Music Unit which brings cultural edu- ■
cational programs to remote communities in Israel. In Canada, the CICF presents the best of Israeli performers and artists. The 1976-77 season promises some exciting events.
The Tel Aviv University is intimately involved in Israeli cultural events as it is the only uiiiversity to have a fine arts faculty and music academy.
Patron tickets are obtainable from either the Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University, or the Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation.
concert was the Toronto contribution in the first half of the program. The combined talents of Cantor Eliezer Kirshblum, the combined choirs of Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Adath Israel, and Moishe Turk's orchestra, were all skillfully interwoven to produce a dynamic rendition of Amar Rabbi Elazor, that ageless cry for peace.
Featuring as soloists both Cantor Kirshblum and bass-baritone soloist Lanny Tenen. the orchestration of this piece was so skillfully ihtejgrated between solo and fu|l orchestral-choir segments, in terms of dramatic intensity, that the end result vi-as prolonged audience applause.
Besides three other choir selections (including an appropriate opening with Louis Lewandowski's polyphonic Halleli^jah Choms), the first half of
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the program also featured Cantor Ben-Zion Miller singing some selections from his just:re|eased LP album (including ToraJh and V'Chulam).
Cantor Louis Danto's renditions of recitative selections in skillful coun-. terpoint with both solo piano and solo flute, was followed by the concluding number. Das Baal Shem Tov backed up by full orchestra.
All in all. this was a most musically substantive as well as highly entertaining eviening.
They have confidence. Second City. Think what would have happened if their new revue. For a Good Time, CaU 363-1674 had turned out to be a clinker. With a title like that, the critics \vouId have had a field day.
Lucky for Second City and their fans that the show is a roaring success, laced with as many jokes and quips and packed with as much sharp repartee as aiiy shows in the past have been.
Now. securely anchored as the leading exponent of topical satire in Toronto, Second City holds on to a comedy formula that's worked so well with them in previous productions that it proves ieveryorie out there seems to like them.
For instance, all topical revues satirize current political events, but no other e x pi oils their fantasy life with such cunning as does Second City.
Take, for example, one sketch in which Dave Thomas and Ben Gordon play a couple of lacklustre Canadian soldiers engaged in guarding the 37th parallel (with bows and arrows yet!) in a war against the United States.
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While our guys mourn the lo§s of Big Macs, sneakers and Ford Tori nos, one of them comments on the sad state of affairs in baseball. "The Expos have played themselves 25 times," he says disgustedly; His compatriot answers, "Yeah. T hey finally won a game."
Second City also generally includes a torch song which is, unless; the lyrics falls down, a show case number for a lucky songbird. This time it all hung together under Alan Guttman's nimble direction at the piano while the inimitable Andrea Martin put Cole Porter at his raunchiest, to shame.
Schizoid personalities have always populated spme of my favorite Second City sketches (being a schizoid at heart, ipyself) and I was particularly drawn to a new sketch with Dave Thomas as a marriage counsellor trying to help a wacky lady, Catherine O'Hara,
who insists on taking the part "of her iibsent husband and eventually the part of the counsellor as well.
The switch-around provides some high sailing moments, and during sketches like these you get a good idea of the precision timing which distinguishes Second City's skill.
The talented band of young performers atsp whips up a new approach to their improvisational section of the show by turning famous book titles suggested by the audience, into originial songs. If that doesn't sound funny, try on for size "The Story of O" as an Irish ditty.
As usual, the show ends with a grand camp satire of some familiar entertainment genre.
Under Joseph Flaherty's direction, the new show has been culled from material polished in late night improvisations
at Chicago's Second City which oiir troupe visited on an exchange basis in
the spring.
That's what I call bringing it all back home.
diliifSigiiiiiiiiB^
In the aftermath of the trage(dy at the Munich Olympics Israel reassesses its role in international athletics on...
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