ode to women in black (apolitical)
reasons to be cheerful while living in israel
number one: i get to see non holy broadway musicals performed in the holy language
on mondaynight i went to see chicago the musical in tel aviv. translated into hebrew by translator extraordinaire ehud manor, directed and choreographed by british conniseur ken oldfield and starring local icons rita and riki gal, it was rather fun.
real aficonados will wax lyrical about rita's performance as roxy (rough equivalent of a musical with bette midler - it was a gay man's dream) i actually found her a bit whiny preferring new comer maya dagan who like most israeli stage actors can also be found (soap) starring on israel tv.
what most impressed me though, was the international level of professionalism which is so lacking in other aspects of israeli life. although i've only ever seen the film, my impression was that barring the obvious language differences, the production was identical to any other production world wide. i particularly appreciated the intentionally minimalistic set which featured the orchestra sitting 0n stage taking an active part in the narrative and had most of the cast dressed in skimpy black numbers which served to effectively forge together the atmosphere of both a jail and jazz club.
of course this last effect was slightly diminished in the israeli version.
for while in other countries such costumes come in stark contrast to every day wear, here in israel a little black off-the-shoulder-off-the-thigh-off-the-midriff is standard fare for a club, shopping, a bar mitzva, an interview, work... well anywhere basically .
without wishing to sound too prudish i do think that israeli women wear unnecessarily restricted amounts of fabric. there has to be a limit to how much ventilation you need in an outfit. its easy to become oblivious but every now and again something happens to reminds you that no, its not so normal. once i was in a jerusalem cafe with my mother and a good friend and my mum lent in and whispered in classic mother type stage whisper - "dont look now but i think those women behind us are on the game!". my friend and i turned subtley and after viewing the scene for a good 5 seconds pointed out to my mother that no these were not ladies of the night, israeli women just dress that way!
i kid you not. and its not just the minimalist nature, its the colour too. a few years ago, on a work holiday with the ministry of health i was amazed by the group of secretaries who managed to go camel riding, jeeping and hiking all wearing the same type of black outfits that they wore to go out to eat and karaoke in later (and i'm not referring to footlockers special range of clothes for the late night gym freak)
lets face it, women in black in israel isnt just a political movement... its a way of life. for many israeli women the only part of their body which isnt black is their hair (its naturally black so they dye it red!)
anyway israeli fashions aside i still enjoyed the performance and heartily recommend it. i just feel that i should warn you that you may find it harder to be engaged in a scene with scantily clad women singing in sinister chorus about how they crudely did away with their lovers if you're distracted by the fact that you're sure you recognize one of them from kupat holim... or perhaps it was the bank!
number one: i get to see non holy broadway musicals performed in the holy language
on mondaynight i went to see chicago the musical in tel aviv. translated into hebrew by translator extraordinaire ehud manor, directed and choreographed by british conniseur ken oldfield and starring local icons rita and riki gal, it was rather fun.
real aficonados will wax lyrical about rita's performance as roxy (rough equivalent of a musical with bette midler - it was a gay man's dream) i actually found her a bit whiny preferring new comer maya dagan who like most israeli stage actors can also be found (soap) starring on israel tv.
what most impressed me though, was the international level of professionalism which is so lacking in other aspects of israeli life. although i've only ever seen the film, my impression was that barring the obvious language differences, the production was identical to any other production world wide. i particularly appreciated the intentionally minimalistic set which featured the orchestra sitting 0n stage taking an active part in the narrative and had most of the cast dressed in skimpy black numbers which served to effectively forge together the atmosphere of both a jail and jazz club.
of course this last effect was slightly diminished in the israeli version.
for while in other countries such costumes come in stark contrast to every day wear, here in israel a little black off-the-shoulder-off-the-thigh-off-the-midriff is standard fare for a club, shopping, a bar mitzva, an interview, work... well anywhere basically .
without wishing to sound too prudish i do think that israeli women wear unnecessarily restricted amounts of fabric. there has to be a limit to how much ventilation you need in an outfit. its easy to become oblivious but every now and again something happens to reminds you that no, its not so normal. once i was in a jerusalem cafe with my mother and a good friend and my mum lent in and whispered in classic mother type stage whisper - "dont look now but i think those women behind us are on the game!". my friend and i turned subtley and after viewing the scene for a good 5 seconds pointed out to my mother that no these were not ladies of the night, israeli women just dress that way!
i kid you not. and its not just the minimalist nature, its the colour too. a few years ago, on a work holiday with the ministry of health i was amazed by the group of secretaries who managed to go camel riding, jeeping and hiking all wearing the same type of black outfits that they wore to go out to eat and karaoke in later (and i'm not referring to footlockers special range of clothes for the late night gym freak)
lets face it, women in black in israel isnt just a political movement... its a way of life. for many israeli women the only part of their body which isnt black is their hair (its naturally black so they dye it red!)
anyway israeli fashions aside i still enjoyed the performance and heartily recommend it. i just feel that i should warn you that you may find it harder to be engaged in a scene with scantily clad women singing in sinister chorus about how they crudely did away with their lovers if you're distracted by the fact that you're sure you recognize one of them from kupat holim... or perhaps it was the bank!
posted by LG at 2:08 AM
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