HOLIDAYS

•

ENERATION

1

The cast of Beth Shalom's Purim play with director Joe Lewis (front).

hey came from far,
They came from nearby,
They dressed like Esther & Mordechai.
They booed mean Haman,
And all did say
That Purim's
A perfectly fine Holiday!

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

Assistant Editor

F

irst came the Shushan
boys — a group of
wicked skinheads
wearing big black boots with
foil tops. They're real heels,
rotten to the core, who make
their money giving shoe
shines to all the Yuppies in
Shushan.
Then came their boss, the
evil Haman. Smiling
wickedly he approaches the
king. Get rid of the Jews,
Haman tells Ahasuerus.
Ahasuerus issues his
decree. But what does it say?
Nothing about Jews. In-
stead, the king has demand-
ed the end to all shoes!

Here's the story: Haman
has a cold. So when he says
"shoe" or "Jew" or "achoo,"
they all sound alike!
It wasn't exactly the usual
story of Purim, but there
was no business like shoe
business at Congregation
Beth Shalom as some of the
younger synagogue mem-
bers rehearsed for a play
based on the holiday.
Oak Park resident Joe
Lewis wrote and directed the
play, which saw its world
premiere last Sunday.
In rehearsals, young actors
and actresses had little
doubt the play would be a
success; it was a shoe-in,
they concurred.
Wearing suspenders and
heavy boots, jeans and house

robes, the children climbed
to the stage to sing "These
Jews Are Made for Walk-
ing" and "Good Morning
Shushan."
Lewis was encouraging. At
the end of the first rehearsal,
he clapped and assured the
budding thespians, "That
was excellent! Superb! A vi-
sion realized!"
Their coats and comic
books strewn about the
tables in the social hall, the
boys and girls took a mere
five-minute break before
they began a second rehear-
sal.
"I think you should inter-
view me," volunteered Scott
Adelman, 9. "I'm Haman."
He explained his part in
brief: "I'm not letting

Hannah Lewis peeks out from under the curtain during rehearsal.

Preparing for the big night: Shushan boys and a decree to end all shoes.

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