BWW Reviews: BELZ! THE JEWISH VAUDEVILLE MUSICAL is Jam-Packed with Classic Jokes and Memorable Yiddish Songs

BELZ! THE JEWISH VAUDEVILLE MUSICAL is the story of a movement that ultimately had a profound effect on American popular culture as Jewish performers from Eastern Europe and their immediate descendants took their acts from the shtetls to the great capitals of Europe, then to New York's Second Avenue, the Catskills, Broadway, and finally to radio, television and Hollywood. Think Jack Benny, George Burns, Milton Berle, Victor Borge, Buddy Hackett, Sid Caesar,Eddie Cantor, Jack Carter, Henny Youngman. All were nationally prominent and left their mark on American humor in the decades that followed.

The Belz of the title is the name of the small Jewish shtetl in Galicia (now part of Ukraine, near the Polish border). Numerous Jewish Americans, including this writer, can trace our roots back to this part of the world. It is also the birthplace of Hugo Schwartz (Andy Hirsch), who has a dream in 1917 to be a performer who can make people laugh and cry. A series of serendipitous incidents provides him with the opportunity to leave home and pursue the career of his dreams, taking him to the big cities of Prague, Vienna, Paris and Berlin.

Along the way, Hugo meets beautiful women, one of whom, Rivka (Ashley Taylor), he marries and with whom he begins a family. With another woman, (glorious singer Stasha Surdyke), Hugo shares an amorous flirtation as he flits from theater to theater across Europe before fleeing the Nazis in the late Thirties. While the uncomfortable anti-Semitic humor of the time may bother audiences, it is a true representation of what Jewish people had to endure at the time and thus deserves to be in the show.

Kudos to Hirsch and Taylor who, with their expert mannerisms and changes in attitude, very effectively show us Hugo and Rivka as innocents falling in love, parents dealing with struggles and hardships, and finally as grandparents dealing with the new realities of Jewish life in America. Their life was not always easy or fun, but we witnessed how their love guided them to stay together.

Throughout the show, Max the piano player (talented Ait Fetterolf) is not only the accompanist but also joins in the kibitzing. I especially loved the few bars of "Let My People Go" at the beginning of the show, even before we met any of the characters. It set the tone for what was to follow.

"Belz! The Jewish Vaudeville Musical" is jam-packed with the greatest of the classic Jewish joke routines, as well as many memorable songs in Yiddish, Hungarian, Czech and German from the golden years of Jewish cabaret. I was surrounded in the audience by many who hummed or sang along in English and Yiddish, taking me back to my childhood when I listened to my grandparents singing the same songs.

The cast of "Belz!" includes (in alphabetical order) Veronica Alicino, Jadie Duncan, Ait Fetterolf, Lance Frantzich, Andy Hirsch, Bridget James, Hallie Jordan, Vano Kimmel, Tom Lazur, John Moscal, Arthur Parian, Kenn Schmidt, Helen Siff, Suzan Solomon, Charlie Stabile, Stasha Surdyke, Ashley Taylor, and Richard Warren. The ensemble players are to be commended for their realistic character contributions throughout the production.

"Belz!" was originally produced in 1979 as a small revue, but later expanded to a large cast musical in 1984 at the Callboard Theatre a, where it ran for over a year. It's time for a new generation of theatregoers to experience what made the show so extraordinarily popular.

"Belz! The Jewish Vaudeville Musical"

Written and directed by Pavel Cerny. English lyrics by Charles Kondek. Additional lyrics by Pavel Cerny. Choreography by Sandy Simone and Leslie Stevens. Musical director: Ait Fetterolf. Presented by Orpheum Theatre Corporation.

Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423. Performances continue through April 14, 2013 Thurs.- Sat. at 8pm, Sun. at 3pm

Tickets are $30. Students and seniors: $25. Call (800) 838-3006 for reservations or book online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/276015

For Group Sales, please call Rosalie Lazarus at (818) 986-2908.