“You can never break an unbreakable soul.” These words came to performer/composer Sam Glaser as he wrote about Jewish perseverance in slavery, and they are the words that will resound through Nicolet High School’s theater on Sunday afternoon, March 2, 4 p.m.
Sixty-eight local children, aged 5-12, will belt out the powerful phrase in a rhythmic melody as they flank Glaser and act as his students, hosts and co-stars in his musical production, “Kol Bamidbar/A Musical Journey Through the Five Books of Moses.”
Glaser, who wrote the songs and dramatic exchanges that bridge them, will be in Milwaukee for two shows next weekend. One is a community concert on Saturday night, March 1, at Mequon’s Beth El Ner Tamid Synagogue featuring selections from his new CD, “The Bridge,” “old standards” and “a hora that gets everyone up and dancing,” according to a letter from Glaser’s Los Angeles office.
The other is Sunday’s Kol Bamidbar concert. In a unique system that, according to local actress and educator Felice Leib, has been successful around the country, local children learn the music and attend four rehearsals with co-directors Leib and Tom Weissgerber, theater program director at the Milwaukee Jewish Day School. Then, the day of the show, Glaser will rehearse with the children and the curtain will rise for the one-hour performance.
“The music is fabulous and it deepens and enriches their understanding of Bible, the Passover story and the journey to freedom and being a Jewish people,” said Idy Goodman, Jewish family educator at the Harry & Rose Family Jewish Community Center, who is sponsoring the event as part of its Family Entertainment Series.
The kids’ learning the music so intensively makes the experience not just about music but truly about education, explained Glaser in a telephone interview. “The message burrows in there a little deeper.”
Though it has been produced in cities nationally with entire schools teaching the songs and performing as a group, Milwaukee students are participating on an individual basis. Local educator Liza Weimer wrote the classroom activity guide that is used nationally by participating schools.
Glaser outlined the concert’s “musical journey.” “We’re taking the actors and audience on a journey from perhaps not understanding initially why one might want to take a journey through the Torah … to come to the conclusion that it’s not only interesting but it’s our lives…. We can find ourselves in the Torah and we can find inspiration for how we go through our everyday lives,” he said.
Glaser, whose first Jewish CD was released in 1992 and became one of the best-selling Jewish albums of the year, is known for his blend of pop, jazz and rock coupled with Jewish concepts and outreach.
The Kol Bamidbar project continues Glaser’s vision by bringing together local children from all streams of Judaism and from public and Jewish day schools.
That’s part of the value of this experience, explained Goodman. “It’s the embodiment of being one people, Klal Israel.”
Ruth Wallace, co-chair with Sarah Kealy, agreed. “I think it’s a great opportunity for kids to work together and, in this particular instance, for kids of very different backgrounds. Also, most kids never get to be on stage with a famous person.”
For the children rehearsing, the benefits of the journey with Glaser may have just begun.
“I like being part of a group and working together and I like singing a lot and dancing. I think the music is cool,” said Ariel Rothenberg, 10.
The concert with the children is sponsored by the JCC and supported by the Jewish Community Foundation of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. The Robin Temkin Theater Endowment provides additional support.
Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children aged 2-14 and free for children under 2. For more information, call Idy Goodman, 414-967-8195.
The Saturday night community concert, slated for 7:30 p.m., is part of the JCC Celebrity Concert Series and in cooperation with and held at Beth El Ner Tamid Synagogue. The series is also funded by a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation. Tickets are $12 for adults in advance, $15 at the door, $8 for students aged 6 through high school. For more information, call Holly Williamson, JCC director of Jewish culture, 414-967-8209.
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