Imagine This
Encyclopedia
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, it focuses on a family of actors trying to stage a play about the siege at ancient Masada
to inspire hope and optimism within the Jewish community.
"Professor David Roskies of the Jewish Theological Seminary has written that a little known poem, Masada, by Isaac Lamdan 'more than any other text inspired the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto'".
. He took the music that he had written for the subject to television writer Berenbeim, who resisted the idea, particularly the mass suicide ending of the historical story. But then he decided that the story could work as a play-within-a-play about actors in the Warsaw Ghetto. He told The Times
, "I was suddenly interested in the story for its metaphorical value, not its robes and sandals." Goldsmith joined the team, relishing the chance to write for the serious story.
in July 2007, the musical opened in the West End
at the New London Theatre
on 19 November 2008, following previews from 4 November 2008. It closed on 20 December 2008. Directed by Timothy Sheader, with choreography by Liam Steel, the cast featured Peter Polycarpou
and Leila Benn Harris.
An Original London Cast Recording was released through Dress Circle in the UK. A DVD of the London production was also released.
The filmed version of the West End production aired throughout 2010 on PBS stations in over 40 markets in the United States, as part of their pledge drives and regular programming. It was broadcast with a panel discussion moderated by Neal Gabler, which included director Timothy Sheader, cast members Peter Polycarpou, Sarah Ingram and Roy Litvin, and Holocaust scholar Thane Rosenbaum.
As the company rehearses a play, Adam, a resistance fighter, bursts in and is hidden by the actors. The Nazis follow and arrest Daniel's son. Being one actor short, Daniel tells Adam he will have to play his son's part. Adam tells the company about the fate awaiting those who board the train to Treblinka. He believes that it is necessary to resist the Nazis. Daniel, on the other hand, believes in theatre as a way to help the Ghetto inhabitants escape the horrible reality in which they live ("Imagine This").
Daniel and the company stage a play about the siege and mass suicide of the Jews at the fortress at Masada around 70 CE by the Roman Empire
. The story of the resistance in ancient times parallels the determination by the inhabitants of the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 to resist the Nazis. Daniel plays the leader of the ancient rebellion, Eleazar, and his daughter Rebecca plays Eleazar's daughter Tamar. Tamar is loved by the Roman General Silva, played by Adam. Just before the interval, the Nazis board the stage and promise the audience two loaves of bread and a jar of jam if they board the trains to "a new life in the east" on the following morning. They ask the Jews to bring a suitcase each, containing their most precious belongings.
The Nazis offer Daniel and his company safe passage to Switzerland if they carry on with the play in order to keep the Jews calm. The company struggles to decide between collaboration with the Nazis in return for their freedom and life, and sacrifying themselves in order to warn their audience. They decide that those who support standing for the truth will get up after the scene of mass suicide in Masada. When the scene is complete, they get up one by one until all stand. When the play draws to a close, the Masada landscape is lowered to reveal graffiti written by the actors warning the Jews not to board the train. The outraged Nazis storm the stage, push the company (except Rebecca and Adam) off the stage and murder them (off stage). Adam fights Captain Blick (the Nazi commander), and Rebecca grabs Blick's pistol and shoots him. Adam and Rebecca are presumed to survive.
All the characters return in their pre-war attire to sing "Imagine This".
Act I
Act II
("We were humming the tunes the next day. Extraordinary") and others, the musical closed after two weeks of previews and a month of regular performances upon receiving generally poor reviews from the mainstream British critics, with "many papers attacking it for trivializing the Holocaust
". The press questioned whether, during the current economic woes, audiences want to see such a dark story. Echoing a number of the reviews, a writer in The Guardian
criticized the "cavalier" treatment of the subject and contended that critics were right to question whether "the Holocaust was being co-opted to legitimise and lend cachet to deficient art."
However, some of those critics, namely Norman Lebrecht, reviewed the musical without ever having seen it, getting on the radio and boasting as much in a radio interview with producer Beth Trachtenberg. Its proximity in opening a mere six weeks after the global economic crisis of 2008 no doubt played its role as well in posting its early notice.
Ultimately some redemption did arrive for the show with the announcement of the season's What's On Stage Theatregoer's Awards, for which Imagine This received four nominations, those for Best Scenic Design (Eugene Lee), Best Supporting Actor (Michael Matus), Best Actress (Leila Benn Harris) and Best Musical (Glenn Berenbeim, Shuki Levy, and David Goldsmith).
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with music by Shuki Levy
Shuki Levy
Shuki Levy is a music composer and television writer, director, and executive producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as Inspector Gadget, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, M.A.S.K., Dinosaucers, Dragon Quest, He-Man and the...
, lyrics by David Goldsmith
David Goldsmith
David John Goldsmith is a former English cricketer. Goldsmith was a right-handed batsman who fielded as a wicket-keeper. He was born in Romford, Essex....
and a book by Glenn Berenbeim. Set in the Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
during World War II, it focuses on a family of actors trying to stage a play about the siege at ancient Masada
Masada
Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau, or horst, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is best known for the violence that occurred there in the first century CE...
to inspire hope and optimism within the Jewish community.
"Professor David Roskies of the Jewish Theological Seminary has written that a little known poem, Masada, by Isaac Lamdan 'more than any other text inspired the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto'".
Background
Israeli composer Levy had long nurtured an interest in writing a show about the siege at Masada around 70 CECommon Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
. He took the music that he had written for the subject to television writer Berenbeim, who resisted the idea, particularly the mass suicide ending of the historical story. But then he decided that the story could work as a play-within-a-play about actors in the Warsaw Ghetto. He told The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, "I was suddenly interested in the story for its metaphorical value, not its robes and sandals." Goldsmith joined the team, relishing the chance to write for the serious story.
Productions
After a tryout at the Theatre Royal in PlymouthPlymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
in July 2007, the musical opened in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
at the New London Theatre
New London Theatre
The New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden...
on 19 November 2008, following previews from 4 November 2008. It closed on 20 December 2008. Directed by Timothy Sheader, with choreography by Liam Steel, the cast featured Peter Polycarpou
Peter Polycarpou
Peter Polycarpou is a British stage and TV and film actor, best known for playing Chris Theodopolopoudos in the television comedy series Birds of a Feather.-Career:...
and Leila Benn Harris.
An Original London Cast Recording was released through Dress Circle in the UK. A DVD of the London production was also released.
The filmed version of the West End production aired throughout 2010 on PBS stations in over 40 markets in the United States, as part of their pledge drives and regular programming. It was broadcast with a panel discussion moderated by Neal Gabler, which included director Timothy Sheader, cast members Peter Polycarpou, Sarah Ingram and Roy Litvin, and Holocaust scholar Thane Rosenbaum.
Synopsis
After a glimpse of happier times in Poland before World War II, the scene shifts to 1942 in the Warsaw Ghetto. There, a company of actors is headed by actor-manager Daniel Warshowsky. Daniel's wife is taken by Nazis.As the company rehearses a play, Adam, a resistance fighter, bursts in and is hidden by the actors. The Nazis follow and arrest Daniel's son. Being one actor short, Daniel tells Adam he will have to play his son's part. Adam tells the company about the fate awaiting those who board the train to Treblinka. He believes that it is necessary to resist the Nazis. Daniel, on the other hand, believes in theatre as a way to help the Ghetto inhabitants escape the horrible reality in which they live ("Imagine This").
Daniel and the company stage a play about the siege and mass suicide of the Jews at the fortress at Masada around 70 CE by the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. The story of the resistance in ancient times parallels the determination by the inhabitants of the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 to resist the Nazis. Daniel plays the leader of the ancient rebellion, Eleazar, and his daughter Rebecca plays Eleazar's daughter Tamar. Tamar is loved by the Roman General Silva, played by Adam. Just before the interval, the Nazis board the stage and promise the audience two loaves of bread and a jar of jam if they board the trains to "a new life in the east" on the following morning. They ask the Jews to bring a suitcase each, containing their most precious belongings.
The Nazis offer Daniel and his company safe passage to Switzerland if they carry on with the play in order to keep the Jews calm. The company struggles to decide between collaboration with the Nazis in return for their freedom and life, and sacrifying themselves in order to warn their audience. They decide that those who support standing for the truth will get up after the scene of mass suicide in Masada. When the scene is complete, they get up one by one until all stand. When the play draws to a close, the Masada landscape is lowered to reveal graffiti written by the actors warning the Jews not to board the train. The outraged Nazis storm the stage, push the company (except Rebecca and Adam) off the stage and murder them (off stage). Adam fights Captain Blick (the Nazi commander), and Rebecca grabs Blick's pistol and shoots him. Adam and Rebecca are presumed to survive.
All the characters return in their pre-war attire to sing "Imagine This".
Roles and original London cast
(The Warsaw character names are followed by the Masada character names in brackets)- Rebecca (Tamar) - Leila Benn HarrisLeila Benn HarrisLeila Benn Harris is a British actress and singer. She trained at Arts Educational School in London and graduated with a BA in Musical Theatre. Upon graduation, she was cast in the lead role of Carmen in the No.1 National Tour of Fame...
- Daniel (Eleazar) - Peter PolycarpouPeter PolycarpouPeter Polycarpou is a British stage and TV and film actor, best known for playing Chris Theodopolopoudos in the television comedy series Birds of a Feather.-Career:...
- Max (Jeremiah) - Sevan Stephan
- Sarah (Naomi) - Sarah Ingram
- Adolph (Caesar) - Bernard Lloyd
- Lola (Salome) - Cameron Leigh
- Jan (Aaron) - Steven Serlin
- Izzy (Pompey) - Michael Matus
- Otto (Rufus) - Gary Milner
- Adam (Silva) - Simon Gleeson
- Captain Blick - Richard Cotton
- Leon (David) - Nathan Attard
- Jacob - Marc Antolin
- Hannah - Rececca Sutherland
Musical numbers
Prologue - Warsaw 1939-1942- The Last Day of Summer — Rebecca, Daniel and Company
Act I
- Warsaw 1942
- Imagine This — Daniel and Company
- Jerusalem/Masada 70CE
- Masada Prologue — Rebels
- Rufus's Letter to Caesar — Rufus
- Free (Jerusalem Sequence) — Rebels
- When he looked in my eyes — Tamar
- Rome, Imperial Palace
- Salome's Lament — Salome, Slave girls, Roman soldiers
- When I looked in her eyes — Silva
- No More — Pompey
- Masada - Several Months Later
- Free (Reprise) — Rebels
- Rebels' Prayer — Tamar, Naomi and Rebels
- Masada — Eleazar, Tamar, Rebels
- Hail — Silva, Tamar, Roman Soldiers
- I am the dove — Naomi and Tamar
- Hail (Reprise) — Silva
- Far from here, Far from now — Silva, Tamar
Act II
- Warsaw
- To touch a cloud — Daniel and Company
- The Last Laugh — Daniel
- Masada
- Don't mind me — Pompey and Aaron
- Writing on the wall — Rufus and Roman Soldiers
- I Surrender — Tamar, Silva, Eleazar
- Far from here, Far from now (Reprise) — Tamar
- Passover Prayer — Jeremiah and Rebels
- The Choice — Eleazar, Tamar, Naomi and Rebels
- Warsaw
- To touch a cloud (Reprise) — Company
- Imagine This (Finale) — Company
Critical reception
In spite of several four-star reviews, including the Sunday Telegraph ("A Triumph" "I adore this show" "4-stars"), the London Paper ("A mesmerising journey"), London Lite ("Bursting with drama" - 4 stars), Spoonfed.co.uk ("It must be rated a triumph"), The West End WhingersThe West End Whingers
The West End Whingers is a London-based theatre blog which publishes humorous and satirical reviews of mostly West End theatre productions.The blog was founded in June 2006 by a pair of London bloggers known only as "Phil" and "Andrew" who were inspired to begin the blog after seeing a production...
("We were humming the tunes the next day. Extraordinary") and others, the musical closed after two weeks of previews and a month of regular performances upon receiving generally poor reviews from the mainstream British critics, with "many papers attacking it for trivializing the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
". The press questioned whether, during the current economic woes, audiences want to see such a dark story. Echoing a number of the reviews, a writer in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
criticized the "cavalier" treatment of the subject and contended that critics were right to question whether "the Holocaust was being co-opted to legitimise and lend cachet to deficient art."
However, some of those critics, namely Norman Lebrecht, reviewed the musical without ever having seen it, getting on the radio and boasting as much in a radio interview with producer Beth Trachtenberg. Its proximity in opening a mere six weeks after the global economic crisis of 2008 no doubt played its role as well in posting its early notice.
Ultimately some redemption did arrive for the show with the announcement of the season's What's On Stage Theatregoer's Awards, for which Imagine This received four nominations, those for Best Scenic Design (Eugene Lee), Best Supporting Actor (Michael Matus), Best Actress (Leila Benn Harris) and Best Musical (Glenn Berenbeim, Shuki Levy, and David Goldsmith).
External links
- Official site
- Imagine This review at the British Theatre Guide
- Review and song list, curtainup.com, 20 November 2008