Tonight, at 19:45, Wendy and I will be getting on a Sheirut and heading to the airport in Tel-Aviv. I am heading off to Berlin, Germany from December 31, 2010 until January 3, 2011. After my time in Germany with my father's college roommate and his wife, I will be heading off (on my own) to Italy. Starting off in Venice, then heading off to Florence, and ending my time in Italy in Rome. Not to worry, I will be meeting up with a couple friends in Rome due to the fact that we are staying at the same hostel. I will try to post a blog entry everyday for my duration in Europe. I will also post pictures of the amazing sites that I will be seeing.
Next time in Europe.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas Time, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Girls Night Out
As a cast member from the show, I got a letter from Andrew Lloyd Webber. It says:
"Dear Mr. Berl and the cast of Joseph,
May I express my joy in hearing that students in Jerusalem are staging our production. It gives me particular pleasure to know that the presentation will be staged with the creativity and distinction that befits its standing in the music theater community. It is great to know that Joseph will be presented in the Holy City by dedicated and talented students, and that it will add to the holiday festivities in Israe. It was my first musical venture and remains close to my heart.
Know that I salute your efforts and will be interested in hearing of your success.
With the best wishes for a smash hit and the glorious fulfillment that comes with the performance. I remain,
Pretty cool, huh?
As you all know today is Christmas. But here in Israel, it doesn't feel like Christmas. Last night, a bunch of us Nativers tried to go to Midnight Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Unfortunately, the church was full and we couldn't get in. We tried to go to another church, but you needed a ticket to get into that church. My friend, Tanya, and I decided to go to the Kotel (Western Wall) instead. Some background information for all of you: I feel no connection to the Wall at all. I see it as a wall that the Romans built and had every right to tear down. Jews idolize the wall (which is breaking the Second Commandment.)
Tonight the Carmiel girls had "Dessert and Wine" aka Girls Night Out. We had planned to go to this restaurant called Little Italy. We had made reservations for 20, but only 15 could show up. Right off the bat, we could tell it wouldn't be a great night. They were rude to us the second we walked in. You should never be rude to a paying customer. We sat down and ordered desserts and a bottle of wine. Then, the manager came up to us and yelled at us saying how this was a restaurant, not a coffee shop. That we had to order real food and spend 60 NIS each. So we all got up and left and walked next door to a restaurant/coffee shop called Cup-O-Joe. They had no problems with us there and the night went smoothly from then on out.
"Dear Mr. Berl and the cast of Joseph,
May I express my joy in hearing that students in Jerusalem are staging our production. It gives me particular pleasure to know that the presentation will be staged with the creativity and distinction that befits its standing in the music theater community. It is great to know that Joseph will be presented in the Holy City by dedicated and talented students, and that it will add to the holiday festivities in Israe. It was my first musical venture and remains close to my heart.
Know that I salute your efforts and will be interested in hearing of your success.
With the best wishes for a smash hit and the glorious fulfillment that comes with the performance. I remain,
Pretty cool, huh?
As you all know today is Christmas. But here in Israel, it doesn't feel like Christmas. Last night, a bunch of us Nativers tried to go to Midnight Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Unfortunately, the church was full and we couldn't get in. We tried to go to another church, but you needed a ticket to get into that church. My friend, Tanya, and I decided to go to the Kotel (Western Wall) instead. Some background information for all of you: I feel no connection to the Wall at all. I see it as a wall that the Romans built and had every right to tear down. Jews idolize the wall (which is breaking the Second Commandment.)
Tonight the Carmiel girls had "Dessert and Wine" aka Girls Night Out. We had planned to go to this restaurant called Little Italy. We had made reservations for 20, but only 15 could show up. Right off the bat, we could tell it wouldn't be a great night. They were rude to us the second we walked in. You should never be rude to a paying customer. We sat down and ordered desserts and a bottle of wine. Then, the manager came up to us and yelled at us saying how this was a restaurant, not a coffee shop. That we had to order real food and spend 60 NIS each. So we all got up and left and walked next door to a restaurant/coffee shop called Cup-O-Joe. They had no problems with us there and the night went smoothly from then on out.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Many of you are probably unaware that I was just in a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." We had a total of 7 shows in 5 days. My roles (in order of appearance) were: the sister, Dinah (it makes sense because my name is Dena), jazz dancer, Harem girl, Joseph's subconscious, chorus, Screaming Egyptian girl in Pharaoh's court, Waltz dancer, Calypso dancer, and the coat bearer. Backstage, I was dance assistant and makeup assistant. On the first night of the show (Thursday December 2), I was surprised with how well we did. The first night Wendy Brodsky, Sara Fletcher, Matt Goldberg, Tanya Werger, Sarah Lesser, Allie Griff, Ariel Lubow, Ariel Wertheim, Jenny Bromberg, Kayla Reisman, Calah Hardin, Becca Rosenthal, Robyn Klitzky, Dave Yedid, Jason Kornblatt, Corey Rosen and Shira Anis all came to see the show. It was great. Monday the 6th, we had 2 shows. I didn't know anyone at that show. As our director called matinee performances "Sesame Street Shows." He was right. It was all kids. Monday night, I knew people that came. All of Nativ staff came, Carmi Cheskis-Gold, Ben Fiedler, Matt Goldberg, Sean Haber and Aaron Gillman. I knew a couple other people that came, but they aren't on Nativ. Tuesday the 7th went pretty well too. I didn't know anyone at this performance because Tuesday nights are Erev Nativ, so the Nativers weren't allowed to go. Wednesday the 8th's matinee performance wasn't quite that clean. But our evening performance was much better. Zoe Kronovet (my roommate), Ashleigh Hayflich (my roommate), Lauren Binder, Aaron Soskin, Gordy Volk, Tali Marcus, Elana Petelnik, Tamar Friedman, Shoshana Coven, Daniel Lewis, Matt Alfasso, Levi Mastrangelo, Dana Bornstein, Amy Shumer and Hilary Zarnett. It was such a great show. Thursday the 9th was our final show. Our director, kept telling us that we had to push each other. This show was not for the audience, this show was for us. He also told us no pranks. (The ones I planned for on stage were modified for backstage). Elie Dickler, Aviva Pollack, and Matt Goldberg came to see us for our final performance. I pulled a fantastic prank. Yisrael (who played Joseph) is afraid of snakes. My original plan was to get a rubber snake and tape it inside the sleeve of the coat so that when I brought it down and he put on the coat, he would freak out. It wouldn't have worked because he found out about the rubber snake on Tuesday. Because I hold his gold outfit in my costume bag, I give him the gold outfit during intermission. For my prank, I carefully folded the gold, put the snake in the middle, and folded the rest over it. I proceed to hand him the gold. He tells me to put it down. I tell him he has to take it because I have to get to the other side. As he takes it, I move a little farther from him when suddenly he screams "Oh My Gosh! Oh you bitch!* That was well played." Prank equals success. Then our makeup lady takes pictures of me with the snake. It was a great night. Our cast party was a lot of fun too. I'm glad I took part in this show. It was a great experience and I made so many friends who live here who can't wait to have me over for a Shabbat or whenever. I even got to keep some of the props. I got to keep the pants, my harem skirt, the harem earrings, and of course the Joseph finale shirt. On the first night of the show during warmups, our director read a couple letters to us. One was from Shimon Perez. Another was from Andrew Lloyd Webber himself. I am going to get a copy of the letter from the composer. On the last night, the show was recorded, so I will also be receiving a copy of the show. I'm sad the show is over now because I don't know what to do at 7:30 on a Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday night anymore. I'll figure out something to do, I always do.
the cast
family
harem
holding the coat
Makeup! Miriam, on the left is our actual makeup lady. Adina (right) and I (middle) assisted
Pharaoh
Snake
I am waltzing in the right hand side of the picture.
*If you are reading this to younger children, please insert a different word here (like meany).
*If you are reading this to younger children, please insert a different word here (like meany).
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