Haazinu - Evening of wonder

B"S"D

Did anyone else attend the Haazinu Concert at The Jazz at Lincoln Centre last night?

If you didn't, you missed out on one of the most enjoyable concerts this year!

Under the leadership of Suki & Ding, & an all star Orchestra, the show was amazing.

The concert started right on (Ding) time, with Orchestra playing as we all came into the theatre. This theatre is the newest of the Lincoln Centre's theatre, & it's sooo beautiful. It's more rounded than the other theatres.

The first act up was the Yeshiva Boys Choir. I wasn't sure who was conducting the orchestra. I didn't recognize him. but then I was able to catch a closer glimpse & saw that it was Eli himself--although he really wasn't like himself at all. More on this later....

The choir sang 4 songs. The first one was them coming onstage to Bar Hey Hey, with a very cute boy playing on an Israeli clay drum to the beat of the regular drums. There were kids doing flips, cartwheels, and the most perfect split!

The next song was V'Ohavta. No matter how many times I see the choir perform it, it just gets better & better every time!

The third song was Sha'Bchi. I love the fast pact dancing that is done at the beginning of the song. The boys were all in sync.

The final song was the popular Kol HaMispallel, which was their first hit song. One of my favorite parts of the choir's performances is that in the middle of the song, Eli Gerstner comes up & joins the boys. But wait! who was that coming up to sing? It wasn't Eli Gerstner--it was someone who looked like him, but had a beard! Whoa! Purim sure came early this year!

After YBC, a young girl who is deaf gave a beautiful speech on how important Ha'Azinu is to her & her family.

The next act was Marc Salem, who is a mentalist. He was very humorous, entertaining & truly wowed the crowd with his abilities. He had the entire crowd involved in his act.

After that, came the newest Chazzonishe sensation, Simcha Levenstein. Some are calling him the "mini Helfgot." It's unbelieveble that someone so young could sound like an accomplished Chazzon! His rendition of Acheinu was breathtaking beautiful. If he sounds this good at his age, one could only wonder what he'll sound like 10 years from now.

Then came the incomparable phenomenal music legend, Avraham Fried. He sang as always beautifully. I think if Avraham sang the alphabet, he would still make it a show stopper. Along with the group The Shabbatons, he started off singing "Yehi Ratzoin." He then did a medley of wedding songs. Next he sang the beautiful "Father Don't Cry. Avraham ended with a duet with Simcha
Levestein singing "Lamama."

The best part of the concert was the finale. Avraham Fried starts singing "V"Nohafoch" & the next thing you know a bunch of little clowns run in & start singing "Mi Shenichnas Adar" (btw, those clowns were 5 of the YBC soloists.). Very soon after they came on, the rest of the choir came on, all dressed up in costumes & masks (the 3 smallest were wearing a Bill Clinton mask, a Hillary Clinton mask & a Rudy Guliani mask. They were all holding gigantic balloons that spelled out "HAPPY PURIM HAAZINU." All the other performers came onstage to join in, including the now bearded Eli Gerstner (great mask!).

Haazinu should be very proud for putting on a flawless & amazingly enjoyable performance. May they have much success in all they do for the hearing impaired community.

sent from: janda3@gmail.com