BONUS: Sondheim & Judaism (with Michael & Ida Rae Cahana)!

The Gospel of Musical Theatre

Today we welcome two very special guests: Cantor Ida Rae and Rabbi Michael Cahana of Portland’s Congregation Beth Israel!

We're chatting about Sondheim’s Jewish heritage – and the subversive power of ritual & theatre in Jewish contexts.

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We talk about:

• Jewishness in the music of Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim
• West Side Story as an immigrant show exploring the tension between alienation and assimilation
• "Outsider" narratives in Sondheim’s stories as a reflection of both his Judaism and his homosexuality
• The "problem of the ending" – and the phenomenon of unresolved musical, dramatic, and theological conclusions
• Purim, the tradition of the Purim Spiel, and the subversive nature of Purim
• How we pass down our stories to our children

*Read Gabrielle Hoyt’s article "Kaddish for Steve" at https://www.americantheatre.org/2022/01/28/kaddish-for-steve-on-the-jewishness-of-sondheim/

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You’ll hear:

• The Prologue and Quintet ("Tonight") from West Side Story (2022 film soundtrack)
• The documentary Original Cast Album (You can find it on YouTube!)
• The Finale ("Children Will Listen") from Into The Woods (Original Broadway Cast recording)
• "I Remember" from Evening Primrose (Sung by Bernadette Peters on the 2016 Album The Essential Sondheim)
• The cast of Congregation Beth Israel’s 2016 production of West Side Spiel. Watch the whole Spiel on CBI’s YouTube page: https://youtu.be/Ely7r_Ax_AE

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Check out some of our all-time favorites!

• Phantom of the Opera
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
• Jesus Christ Superstar!
• Schmigadoon! (Season 1 / Season 2)
• West Side Story!
• Yentl!
• Frozen!
• Barbie!

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Continue the conversation with us on Instagram (@gospelofmt).