The story of Esther, the beautiful, modest Jewish woman who became Queen of Shushan (Persia) and risked her life to save the Jewish people, has drama, comedy, suspense, danger, and a happy ending—all the elements of a blockbuster success.
With this in mind, the Efrat/Gush Etzion RaiseYour Spirits Summer Stock Company, which was formed in response to the increased terror attacks in 2001—“an antidote to the sadness around us”—has produced an extraordinary new musical extravaganza, "Esther and the Secrets in the King’s Court." Presently playing to packed halls in Israel, the musical has a cast of more than 100 religious women and girls, all of whom live in Gush Etzion, a 20,000-strong Jewish community of largely English-speakers located 10 miles south of Jerusalem and considered the capital's southern security zone.
Performed in English, the musical's clever script, witty lyrics ("The Eunuchs with Tunics”), catchy music, impressive sets and costumes, as well as flute and harp solos, have attracted more than 8,000 women for a total of 20 performances—women who have made the night ride on bullet-proof buses from Jerusalem, Rehovot and Petach Tikva.
“We were nine months into the intifada, when two women from Efrat [a community of 8,000 in Gush Etzion] were killed,” said director and former Clevelander Toby Klein Greenwald. "We decided that we couldn’t just sit around in despair."
The Company's first production, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” which opened in August 200l, was an instant success. By popular demand, they performed the production 11 times, although three shows had been scheduled. It was also presented to the Women’s Caucus of the Knesset, and segments were shown on Israeli television. Besides raising the spirits of the cast, production team and audiences, $30,000 was raised to help families victimized by terror. All proceeds from the new production go directly to the Gush Etzion Foundation to help families and victims cope with the trauma of terror.
“Esther” was a perfect choice for the Gush Etzion Company's next show. "The tale of court intrigue, assassination plots, grand banquets, a beauty contest, the threat of Jewish annihilation and a cliff-hanging climax—the Scroll of Esther, which is read on Purim—is a producer’s dream," said the show's producer, Sharon Katz, formerly of New York. Its heroine is a beautiful, shy Jewish girl who is thrust onto the stage of history after the defiant queen is eliminated by the powerful King Ahasuerus. The villain, Haman, who plots to destroy the Jews throughout the King’s 127 provinces, is treachery personified. Mordechai, a visionary, is a low-profile hero who holds to his principles and triumphs over evil.
“Most of the plot and dialogue are authentic, taken right out of the Megillah [Scroll],” said Katz, who along with Klein Greenwald and choreographer Arlene Chertoff, formerly of Manhattan, wrote many of the lyrics to the show's 22 songs. Katz also plays Ahasuerus, the Persian king who assumed the throne in 368 B.C.E.
The play opens in the midst of a party Ahasuerus is throwing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the exile of the Jews to Babylonia. The prophet Jeremiah had predicted that the Jews would return to the Holy Land after 70 years, an event that could have a destabilizing effect on his regime. Unfortunately, the king miscalculates the date by three years, and, in a beauty contest for a new queen, he unwittingly falls for a Jewish girl.
Esther keeps her Jewish identity secret, revealing it only when she begs for her life and the lives of her people, who are threatened by Haman’s scheme to annihilate them. In an outpouring of love, the king promises to give Esther half his kingdom and bring the villain to justice. The rest, as they say, is history.
"Prince Darius, son of Esther and Ahasuerus, is an anachronism in the play. He did not appear in the Megillah," said Klein Greenwald, who studied Midrash and checked with several Torah scholars to be sure that her interpretation was in keeping with biblical commentators. "But since he was responsible for the return of the Jews to Israel, we decided to put him in. The return was in keeping with Mordechai’s dream.” The casting committee enhanced the role (which carries the narrative) when Larilyn Cole, formerly of Virginia, auditioned. Cole, a professional performer with a melodious Ella Fitzgerald-like voice, recently came on aliyah to Israel and settled in Alon Shvut, one of the largest communities in Gush Etzion. The daughter of a minister, she is a recent convert to Judaism.
How did they find so much local talent? "We were inundated. More than 400 women auditioned for roles in the play and casting was one of the most difficult jobs,” said Klein Greenwald. Haman, played by British-born Yael Goldstein, for example, was so convincing that many thought they had snuck a man into the show.
The finale of “Esther and the Secret’s of the King’s Court” is a flash forward in history. The Scroll of Esther ends with the Jewish military victory over its enemies, Mordechai’s promotion to viceroy in the Persian Kingdom, and the proclamation to celebrate Purim as a holiday for all time, including a feast and the sending of delicacies to friends and gifts to the poor. The Gush Etzion production ends with an exhilarating and moving song, a grand finale evoking the return to Israel:
“They’ll come down from the mountains, they’ll come down from the skies
They’ll come up from the valleys, with music and with sighs
They’ll walk across the deserts, with laughter and with prayer
Our sisters and our brothers will be waiting there.”
