Theodore Bikel, who passed away just two weeks ago, at the age of 91, would have loved this show, “Another One Hundred Years”, a history of Jewish songwriters on Broadway. So, KulturefestNYC, an international Jewish performing arts festival, produced by National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, now celebrating its 100th anniversary, added a special tribute to Bikel, a renowned actor, singer, songwriter, and raconteur. In the colorful, dimly lit 54 Below, two media screens entertained the event’s guests, as they wined and dined, with archival clips of Bikel’s life and works. Interspersed with the film clips were songs from Fiddler on the Roof (which will return for its fifth Broadway revival this fall), in which Bikel had starred on Broadway in 1967, as Tevye, also called “Papa” in the show. Rebecca Hoodwin, who had played Golde to Bikel’s Tevye, in a 1995 tour, was tonight’s Bikel raconteur, sharing lovely and humorous memories. Bikel had also performed the role of Captain von Trapp in the original 1959 production of The Sound of Music, so tonight we heard “Edelweiss”, as well as songs from Bock and Harnick, “If I Were a Rich Man”, "In My Own Lifetime", and “Sunrise Sunset”, all brightly sung at the event by David Edwards, Jonathan Hadley, and Peter Davenport. In keeping with the theme of Jewish songwriters, Fiddler on the Roof has music and lyrics by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, and The Sound of Music has music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.
All of tonight’s vocal performers are current, former, or aspiring actor-singers on Broadway. And, the composers and lyricists, whose careers were excerpted on the media screens, were presented in chronological order of their eras. Margery Cohen sang “Autumn”, by David Shire and Richard Maltby, Jr., Loni Ackerman sang “I’m Still Here”, from Follies, by Stephen Sondheim, Jon Peter Lewis sang “Summertime” (accompanied by his guitar), from Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward, Sean McDermott and Ashley Moniz sang "All the Wasted Time", from Parade, by Jason Robert Brown, Amos Wolff and Alan Wiggins sang "What Would I Do?", from Falsettos, songs by William Finn, and Garth, Amos, Alan, Maddy, Jessica, Jenny sang "Heart and Music", from A New Brain, songs also by William Finn. Additional Jewish songwriters included in tonight’s centenary celebration were Jerry Herman ("Shalom", sung by Russell Fischer, from Milk and Honey, Stephen Schwartz and Charles Strouse ("Blame It On the Summer Night", sung by Elyssa Mactas, from Rags, Andrew Lippa (“Live Out Loud”, sung by Abigail Shapiro, from A Little Princess), and “Yip” Harburg and Jay Gorney (“Brother Can you Spare a Dime?”).
Among my favorites were the early presented, ever simple tunes, “How Deep Is the Ocean”, by Irving Berlin”, sung by Maddy Trumble, and “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’”, by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, and Dubose Heyward, sung by Lawrence Craig. It should be noted by fans of Broadway and classic standards, that 54 Below has at least one, often more, shows each night, and they’re well located right in the Broadway community, within the space that once housed the ever-infamous, Studio 54. You can see the Upcoming Events for 54 Below HERE.
Music and Lyrics by David Shire and Richard Maltby, Jr.