Imagine This is a musical with music by Shuki Levy, lyrics by David Goldsmith and a book by Glenn Berenbeim. Set in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, he focused on the families of actors who tried to play dramas about the siege on ancient Masada to inspire hope and optimism within the Jewish community.
"Professor David Roskies of Theological Theological Seminary has written that a little-known poem, Masada, by Isaac Lamdan 'is more than any other text inspiring a revolt in the Warsaw ghetto'".
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The Israeli composer, Levy, has long been interested in writing performances about the siege in Masada around AD 70. He took the music he wrote for the subject for television writer Berenbeim, who rejected the idea, especially the end of the mass suicide of the story of history. But then he decided that the story could serve as a drama-in-drama about the actor in the Warsaw Ghetto. He told The Times, "I was suddenly attracted to the story because of its metaphorical value, not the cloak and the joint." Goldsmith joins the team, enjoying the opportunity to write serious stories.
Maps Imagine This
Productions
After trials at Theater Royal in Plymouth in July 2007, the musical opened in the West End at the New London Theater on November 19, 2008, after a preview of November 4, 2008. It was closed on December 20, 2008. Directed by Timothy Sheader, with choreography by Liam Steel, the players featured Peter Polycarpou and Leila Benn Harris.
Original Brand Recording London was released through Dress Circle in the UK. A London production DVD was also released.
The West End production version aired throughout 2010 at PBS stations in over 40 markets in the United States, as part of their regular appointments and program support. It was broadcast with a panel discussion moderated by Neal Gabler, who included director Timothy Sheader, the cast of Peter Polycarpou, Sarah Ingram and Roy Litvin, and Holocaust scholar Thane Rosenbaum.
In October 2014 Theatreworkz, an independent amateur theater company performs the premiere National Amateur Imagine Imagine It to gain critical recognition from both local audiences, schools and industry professionals.
In October 2016 Freies Musical-Ensemble MÃÆ'¼nster, an amateur theater company from MÃÆ'¼nster, Germany featuring Premiere of Imagine Germany. Production received excellent press criticism and was received enthusiastically by the audience.
Synopsis
After a glimpse of happy times in Poland before World War II, the scene shifted to 1942 in the Warsaw Ghetto. There, an actor company headed by actor-manager Daniel Warshowsky. Daniel's wife was taken by the Nazis.
When the company trains the play, Adam, a resistance fighter, storms in and is hidden by actors. The Nazis followed and captured Daniel's son. Being a short actor, Daniel told Adam he had to play the role of his son. Adam told the company about the fate of waiting for the people who took the train to Treblinka. He believed that it was necessary to fight the Nazis. Daniel, on the other hand, believes in the theater as a way to help the Ghetto population escape the gruesome reality in which they live ("Imagine This").
Daniel and the company staged a drama about the mass siege and mass murder of Jews in the fortress in Masada around AD 70 by the Roman Empire. The story of resistance in ancient times parallels the resolve of the residents of the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 against the Nazis. Daniel plays the leader of the ancient revolt, Eleazar, and his daughter, Rebecca, plays Tamar, Eleazar's daughter. Tamar is loved by General Roman Silva, played by Adam. Just before the break, the Nazis climbed onto the stage and promised the audience two loaves of bread and a bottle of jam if they took the train to "new life in the east" the next morning. They asked the Jews to carry their luggage, which contained their most valuable items.
The Nazis offer Daniel and his company a safe journey to Switzerland if they continue with the game to keep the Jews calm. The company struggles to decide between collaboration with the Nazis in return for their freedom and life, and sacrifices themselves to warn their audience. They decide that those who support standing for the truth will rise after the mass suicide scene in Masada. When the scene is over, they wake up one by one until all stand up. As the game drew to a close, Masada's landscape was revealed to reveal the graffiti written by the actors warning the Jews not to ride the train. The angry Nazis stormed the stage, prompting the company (except Rebecca and Adam) to step off the stage and kill them (off stage). Adam fought Captain Blick (the Nazi commander), and Rebecca grabbed the Blick gun and shot him. Adam and Rebecca are considered to survive.
All the characters return in their pre-war clothes to sing "Imagine This".
Roles and original London gave UK National Amateur Premiere (The name of the Warsaw character followed by Masada character names in parentheses)
- Rebecca (Tamar) - Leila Benn Harris Rebecca (Tamar) - Elly Taylor
- Daniel (Eleazar) - Peter Polycarpou Daniel (Eleazar) - Neil Richardson
- Max (Jeremiah) - Sevan Stephan Max (Jeremiah) - David Gudgeons
- Sarah (Naomi) - Sarah Ingram Sarah (Naomi) - Jenine Grover
- Adolph (Caesar) - Bernard Lloyd Adolph (Caesar) - Peter Haynes
- Lola (Salome) - Cameron Leigh Lola (Salome) - Caroline Redden
- Jan (Aaron) - Steven Serlin Jan (Aaron) - Martin Grover
- Izzy (Pompey) - Michael Matus Izzy (Pompey) - Spencer Hawkes
- Otto (Rufus) - Gary Milner Otto (Rufus) - Frazer McDonald
- Adam (Silva) - Simon Gleeson Adam (Silva) - Chris Squires
- Captain Blick - Capt. Captain Richard Blick - Sebastian Goss
- Leon (David) - Alexander You/Jamie Davis/Nathan Attard Leon (David) - Louis Meminger
- Jacob - Marc Antolin Jacob - Joel Wylie
- Hannah - Rececca Sutherland Hannah - Carole Haynes
Music number
Critical reception
Apart from some four-star reviews, including Sunday Telegraph ("A Triumph" "I love this show" "4-stars"), The London Paper London Lite ("Bursting with drama" - 4 stars), Spoonfed.co.uk ("This should be ranked victory"), The West End Whingers ("We hum songs of the next day. "Extraordinary") and others, the musical was closed after two weeks of preview and a month of regular performances after receiving generally poor reviews from mainstream British critics, with "many papers attacking to belittle the Holocaust". The press questioned whether, during today's economic woes, audiences want to see such dark stories. Echoing a number of reviews, an author at The Guardian criticized the "arrogant" treatment of the subject and argued that critics were right to question whether "the Holocaust is being co-opted to legitimize and lend the art cachet less."
However, some of the critics, Norman Lebrecht, reviewed the musical without ever seeing it, appearing on radio and boasting in a radio interview with producer Beth Trachtenberg. His proximity to the opening just six weeks after the global economic crisis of 2008 undoubtedly played his role as well in posting the initial notice.
In the end, some redemption arrived for the show with the announcement of the Stage Show Awards at Cinemas this season, where Imagine This received four nominations, namely Best Scenic Design (Eugene Lee), Best Supporting Actor (Michael Matus), Best Actress (Leila) Benn Harris) and Best Music (Glenn Berenbeim, Shuki Levy, and David Goldsmith).
References
External links
- Official site
- Imagine this review in the British Theater Guide
- List of Reviews and songs, curtainup.com, November 20, 2008
- Freies Musical-Ensemble MÃÆ'¼nster: Imagine This 2016
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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