Fwd: KlezNut, Boston, Aug 25

[Ari Davidow <ari...>]

>Date: 27 Jul 2000 19:13:02 -0500
>Sender: Ellen Kushner <ellen_kushner (at) wgbh(dot)org>
>Subject: KlezNut
>
>
>Sound & Spirit & Northeastern University ArtStuff present:
>
>THE GOLDEN DREIDL:  
>A KLEZMER "NUTCRACKER" FOR CHANUKAH
>a family entertainment
>
>featuring the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
>as interpreted by 
>The Shirim Klezmer Orchestra
>with original story by Ellen Kushner
>
>Friday, August 25, 2000 
>8:00 pm
>Blackman Theater, Northeastern University
>Ell Hall, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, Mass.
>
>Tickets are $10, and are available from the Northeastern Ticket Center, in 
>the lobby of Ell Hall.  
>For charge sales and information, call (617) 373-2247.  WGBH members get 20% 
>discount!
>
>The performance will be recorded by WGBH Radio for release by PRI as a 
>national public radio Chanukah special in December, 2000
>
>Public radio personality Ellen Kushner has teamed up with one of today's 
>hottest klezmer bands, to create a brand-new retelling of an old story:
>
>Sara is a little girl with a problem:  she hates the annual family Chanukah 
>party!  But then a mysterious party guest gives her the gift of a golden 
>dreidl.  The dreidl is under a powerful enchantment, and with it Sara is 
>catapulted into a magical world of demons and fools, sorcerers and sages.   
>
>*      *       *
>
> "It's like:  'Tchaikovsky meets Harry Potter and they go to a Jewish 
>wedding!' " says writer and narrator Ellen Kushner.  "Shirim's music is a 
>brilliant re-arrangement of the holiday classic.  At first you laugh, but 
>then, we hope, you get sucked in to a whole new way of hearing the familiar 
>music.  We wanted to create a holiday story rich in Jewish themes and 
>values, drawing on Jewish folklore and ethics."   
>
>The project began with Shirim's recent album, Klezmer Nutcracker, which had 
>a suite of six dances from Tchaikovsky.  Shirim leader Glenn Dickson 
>explains:  "[Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker] shares Russian roots with klezmer 
>music; it is dance music like klezmer music is... The results surprised us - 
>this was not just a novelty, but a piece of music which made sense and had 
>its own integrity and charm." 
>

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