Shemot: What You're Hoping to Get Out of That Trombone

As you are probably aware - or should be by now - the Ohev Players are about to return to our synagogue stage, with a terrific production of Meredith Willson's "The Music Man." We're performing four shows on 1/25, 1/26, 2/1, and 2/2, and tickets are on sale
now. You may also be familiar with my own love of theater, and how much I am inspired to see people of all ages and stages of life come together to make this show happen. It is a true community-builder... and also, the music is great! In truth, I never really knew much about this particular show. I'd heard the name, but didn't know any of the music, and had *zero* sense of the plot. Playing a central character, the Mayor of River City, has certainly taught me a lot. And I thought I would dedicate a series of three blog posts (starting now) to some of the things I've learned, and hopefully you'll find them interesting as well.

I must say, I was already intrigued the moment I opened the script. The last page of the book's introduction, after the list of scenes but before "Act One" has even begun, the script presents a short note from Meredith Willson, who wrote the book, lyrics, and music for the show. I keep thinking about that statement,
both for my portrayal of Mayor George Shinn, but also as an important lesson about relationships in life. The letter reads as follows: "Dear Director: The Music Man was intended to be a Valentine and not a caricature. Please do not let the actors - particularly Zaneeta, Mayor Shinn and Mrs. Shinn, who takes herself quite seriously - mug or reach for comedy effect... The humor of this piece depends upon its technical faithfulness to the real small-town Iowans of 1912 who certainly did not think they were funny at all." I was captivated by this paragraph for a few different reasons.

First of all, humor is in everything. You don't need a laugh track or a punchline to be funny, and finding humor in something doesn't have to mean
you are mocking it. I feel this way about the Torah all the time. In this week's Torah portion, for example, there is an incredibly dark scene, where Pharaoh has commanded that all male Hebrew babies be thrown into the Nile. Nothing funny about this AT ALL. Pharaoh instructs two midwives, Shifra and Puah, to oversee the killings. They, however, are loyal to (our) God, and decide, at great personal risk, to defy this order. When Pharaoh questions why there are still babies alive, they tell him (essentially) that these crazy, wild, tough Israelite women just pop 'dem babies out before the midwives can even arrive!! No one is trying to "mug" or "reach for comedy effect," but the Torah is reminding us that humor has ALWAYS been a way we deal with tragedy *and* with simple, everyday, mundane real life.

I love the idea of faithfulness that Willson espouses. To preserve authenticity, see the beauty in everything - like the small-town, turn-of-the-century lives of good people in River City, IA - and to affirm the dignity of every individual.

Protagonist or antagonist, everyone is the hero in their own story, and each person is the "keeper of the flame" for some truth and essential principle that is vital to her/him. The key to relationships is to see the other person's narrative, and to honor it, even if (and when) you disagree. I can't say I'll be playing Mayor Shinn perfectly, but I do hope I do him justice. I like the character a lot, and certainly appreciate his increasingly frantic feeling that no one else sees what a swindling spellbinder this Hill-fella really is! Honoring Meredith Willson's wishes, in the end, isn't just about good (or faithful) acting, but it's a reminder about how to view the world, how to engage with others in relationship, and always, ALWAYS to see the humor all around us and be able to laugh. It's good for the soul.


CC images in this blog post, courtesy of:
1. Cathy Baum on Facebook (picture of (nearly) our whole Music Man cast!)
2. Joe Haupt on Flickr
3. Ad Meskens on Wikimedia Commons (Hieroglyphs depicting birthing chairs in the period of Hapshepsut in Egypt)
4. Piqsels