well, That's Show Biz, 12-18-2022 38 Chanukah

Chanukah

“Well, That’s Show Biz!”

12-18-2022

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• Welcome to “well, That’s Show Biz!”. I am your host, Jeremy Freedman, every week I bring you music from Broadway, Movies, and Entertainers along with some anecdotes, information, and commentary all based on a theme. The Jewish holiday of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, starts tonight. Chanukah is a fun, non-religious holiday, that celebrates the the Jewish Maccabees defeat of the Syrian Greeks and the subsequent rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. Now, there are not too many theater songs that mention Chanukah so we are going to augment our celebration with songs that have a Jewish bent to them.

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• We are going to start off our first set with Adam Sandler’s live performance of his “ The Chanukah Song, Pt. 2”. Then, the banking family of the Rothschilds arose in Germany in the 1700s through the patriarch Mayer Amschel Rothschild and his 5 sons. This is made clear in the song “Sons” from The Rosthchilds as led by Hal Linden of Barney Miller fame.  Also in the cast can be found a young Chris Sarandon as Jacob Rothschild and a young Robbie Benson as Solomon Rothschild. Chris Serandon is better known today as Prince Humperdinck in The Princess Bride. And Robbie Benson was a teen idol in films such as Ice Castles and was the voice for the Beast in Beauty and The Beast. And we are going to close the set with “Somewhere Out There” from the animated movie An American Tale about Fievel Mousekewitz and his emigration to America sung by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram.  Here is Adam Sandler with his Chanukah song, Part 2.

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• You just hear Adam Sandler with “The Chanukah Song, Pt 2”, “Sons” from The Rothschilds, and “Somewhere Out There” from An American Tale as we celebrate Chanukah today on “well, That’s Show Biz!”

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• Chanukah starts tonight and we are celebrating today on “well, That’s Show Biz!” with Jewish themed songs. 13 - The Musical is about a New York Jewish boy on the cusp of his Bar Mitzvah who has to deal with his parents’ divorce and his mother moving him to a small town in Indiana. We are going to hear the opening number, “13”, from the Netflix movie version of the show. Then, the musical Milk and Honey, which was composer Jerry Herman’s first, is about a group of American widows looking to find husbands while touring Israel during its struggle to gain independence. We are going to learn all about the word “Shalom”. And finally in this set, Neil Diamond remade the first non-silent movie, The Jazz Singer, about the son of a devout Jewish cantor who defies his father to become a singer. We are going to hear the song “America”.  Here’s 13.

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• <Underwriting>

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• You are listening to “well, That’s Show Biz!” on [station ID]. Today’s theme is Chanukah which starts tonight. To start our third set, the musical Caroline or Change is about a Black woman who works as a maid for a Jewish family in 1963 Louisiana. The score combines spirituals, blues, Motown, classical music, and Jewish klezmer and folk music. An explanation of Chanukah is told in the song “The Chanukah Party”. After that, a 19 year old Barbra Streisand in her first Broadway role as a secretary sings of her name, “Miss Marmelstein” from I Can Get It For You Wholesale. Then we will hear “Sabbath Prayer” from the movie version of Fiddler on the Roof”. And finally we will go back to the musical Milk and Honey to hear the title song.  Here’s “The Chanukah Party” from Caroline or Change,

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• You are listening to “well, That’s Show Biz!” and you just heard “The Chanukah Party” from Caroline or Change, “Miss Marmelstein” from I Can Get It For You Wholesale, “Sabbath Prayer” from Fiddler on the Roof, and the title song from Jerry Herman’s Milk and Honey.

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• Before we begin the final set, if you would like to contribute to future shows, you can send me your theme and song suggestions to wruushowbiz@gmail.com. And please, contact the station at WRUU.org and tell them how much you enjoy the show.

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• Now for our final Chanukah celebration set. Tom Lehrer was a Harvard University mathematics professor who also wrote and performed satirical songs. We are going to hear his song “(I’m Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica”. Then we are going to hear again from Barbra Streisand singing Fanny Brice’s signature song “My Man” that was featured in the movie version of Funny Girl. We will follow that with “Anatevka” from the 2016 revival of Fiddler on the Roof as the Jewish residents are forced to leave their town. And finally, the Jewish American experience is related in the works of Safam, a Jewish American pop/rock band from Massachusetts. Judah Maccabee was the hero of the Chanukah story and their song of the same name tells of the legacy of “Judah Maccabee.  Here’s Tom Lehrer with “(I’m Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica”.

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• You just heard Tom Lehrer’s “(I’m Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica”, Barbra Streisand singing Fanny Brice’s signature song “My Man” from the movie version of Funny Girl, “Anatevka” from Fiddler on the Roof, and “Judah Maccabee” by the American Jewish pop/rock band Safam as we celebrate Chanukah on this edition of “well, That’s Show Biz!”. If you would like to help out with future shows, send your theme and song suggestions to wruushowbiz@gmail.com. And tell the station how much you enjoy the show by contacting them at WRUU.org. I hope you can join me next Sunday as we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day. See you next week.