ENTERTAINMENT

Israeli Aliza Kashi Sings
For Audiences The World Over

RITA CHARLESTON

Special to The Jewish News

I

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76

FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 1990

-r

t all began for her here
in the '70s, primarily be-
cause of her misuse of the
English language.
Already an established per-
former in her native land and
throughout South America,
Aliza Kashi made her
premiere appearance (the
first of 179) on Mery Griffin's
TV show. Freezing in front of
a live New York audience and
blurting out, "Hello peoples,"
the words, spontaneous and
delivered in her own in-
imitable accent, immediately
won the hearts of those in the
studio as well as those wat-
ching at home.
But it was a long road that
took Kashi from her
homeland in Israel to the
stage in Buenos Aires to
Canada and finally to the
United States.
"I always wanted to sing,"
Kashi confides from her home
in California. "But even
though people are born with
the desire, I believe the en-
vironment has to be right for
the talent to flourish."
For Kashi, that right en-
vironment was serving in the
Israeli army and being chosen
to entertain the troops. From
there her talents grew and
were recognized. She had a
hit record and traveled all
over her country when an im-
pressario from Buenos Aires,
who came looking for an
Israeli performer to be on his
TV show, discovered Kashi
and took her back to South
America with him.
Her contract was for two
weeks, but Kashi spent the
next three-and-a-half years in
Latin America, eventually
landing her own television
shows in Brazil and Mexico
City. She was then offered a
contract to come to Canada
and finally the United States,
where she now makes her
home, although, she admits
proudly, her roots remain in
Israel.
Kashi speaks and sings in
six languages and says she
enjoys people and cultures
worldwide. However, it is the
Latin culture, she notes, that
appeals to her most.
"I cannot explain it. I'm not
Shirley MacLaine who
believes in other lives, but I
know that when I went to
Argentina I didn't know any
Spanish. I learned a song
phonetically on the plane so
that I would be able to sing in
their language. But living

0••

Israeli-born entertainer: Aliza Kashi.

there for two weeks I couldn't
tell them I was hungry or I
wanted to go to sleep, so I had
to learn Spanish. And it came
to me as if I'd known it all my
life."
However, she adds, she has
always loved studying all
languages. "I love words.
Even in my singing. I believe
that there are singers who
sing rhythms and those who
sing words. I try to sing the
words since they are so very
important to me."
In addition to her singing,
Kashi has been studying ac-
ting, hoping to add to her pro-
fessional career. Recently she
has come under consideration
for two roles, one in a movie
and the other on Broadway.
Several years ago she co-
starred with Gordon MacRae
in a tour of the Broadway hit
Golden Rainbow. She also
performed in the lead role of
Mme. Pistache in the Broad-
way hit Can-Can.
"I would like to go into ac-
ting," she volunteers, "and am
now studying it formally. My
teacher said I'm better in
dramatic roles, but I believe
I'm good in comedy. I can do
both. I believe that any singer
who sings ballads well, and I
think I do, can act because to
bring across a ballad you have

to tell a story from beginning
to end. And since I'm study-
ing acting my understanding
of building a song is improv-
ing. Everybody can sing, can't
they? But to do it right is a
beautiful art form."
In her more than three
decades in the business,
Kashi says the only real
regret of her life is that she
didn't try her hand at acting
sooner.
"But I believe that
everything in life comes when
you are ready for it, even per-
sonal relationships. So I pro-
bably wasn't ready before. But
I certainly am now.
She is also ready to reaffirm
family relationships and
deepen her roots. "I still have
a big family back in Israel so
I go back to visit during
Passover. I just sent my sister
a letter in Israel telling her,
in Hebrew, of course, that the
older I get the roots are star-
ting to scratch at my insides.
The roots are saying, 'Here I
am, please take notice.'
"So I think now a lot about
my family and about Israel.
My work is here; my life is
here, but I go to visit
whenever I can in order to
recharge myself emotionally.
It's something that can never
be denied." ❑

