Under Nell's Spell
Nell Carter is harassing orphans as
the evil Miss Hannigan in the 20th-
anniversary Broadway production
of 'Annie.' But offstage, she's a
typical Jewish mother.
MICHAEL ELKIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
N
ell Carter ain't misbe-
havin'. She's just a lit-
tle frustrated, trying
to get those seats at
the Martin Beck Theatre filled
with more kids to see Annie.
Thank God, she says, she has
Judaism to keep her from getting
jaded.
Not all of her fans realize it, but
Nell Carter, who plays the harri-
dan Miss Hannigan in the 20th-
anniversary revival of Annie,
most certainly is Jewish.
"I've been Jewish all my life,
you know?" she says, Stars of
David twinkling in her eyes,
pointing to her heart as she offers
a visitor to her mid-Manhattan
hotel suite a sampling of hospi-
tality and humor.
"How'd you like some bad cof-
fee?"
Carter is perkin'. The Tony
Award-winning star ofAin't Mis-
behavin' says Judaism keeps her
joint jumpin'. Religion is her emo-
tional and spiritual fuel.
No one had to convert Carter
to the wonders of Judaism.
"Ifs such a wonderful religion,"
she 'says, noting that although she
had felt Jewish for a very long
time, she went through the actu-
al Conservative conversion
process 13 years ago — and not
because she wed a Jewish man in
her second marriage.
"No," she says, "I married him
because he was Jewish.
It was time, she notes, that her
religious status was finally in sync
with the way she felt in her soul.
Going through the ritual just
felt right: "It was a way of ac-
knowledging just who I am."
Being involved in a legendary
family show like Annie is impor-
Michael Elkin is entertainment
editor of the Philadelphia
Jewish Exponent.
Talking about a trip she once
Judaism, Carter says em-
"My grandmother said to me
took to Israel, accompanied by her phatically, bolstered her will to to do what I thought was best,
rabbi, David Baron, Carter fo- triumph over the trauma.
that I have only one soul and
cuses on the time she spent at the
"I couldn't see, but I wanted should take care of it."
Western Wall.
my Bible and a book of Hebrew
Carter has taken pains to en-
"You cannot help but feel prayers," she says of her requests sure that her son Joshua knows
deeply loved and spiritual" as a to her doctors.
his people's past.
Jew in Jerusalem, notes Carter.
"I went into the operating
"I will teach him German," she
As she sits in her suite, over- room singing `Shabbat Shalom.' says, "so he'll understand about
looking Central Park, Carter ac-
the people who tried to decimate
knowledges that life hasn't
Not everyone in her family has us."
always been an amble down easy greeted Carter's conversion to Ju-
Carter gained a better under-
street.
daism with well wishes, but, she standing of her in-laws by ques-
There was the double brain says, "I could care less what they tioning them about what it
aneurysm she suffered some years think."
meant to be survivors of the Holo-
ago, in which she temporarily lost
She has a grand backer in her caust, a subject, she discovered,
her sight and almost died.
grandmothenoro BY CAROL ROSEGG/JOAN M ARcht, until then, was verboten.
`That was the beginning of
the end of my marriage," she
says of the reaction her ques-
tions provoked.
"I had crossed the line. I
discussed something that had
not been discussed [in the
family] before. It took a
stranger like me asking ques-
tions. They were never able
to finish their loss before," to
deal with the pain of their
past, until Carter forced them
to face the issue.
"It's amazing what we hide
from each other, how much
damage we do to each other,"
says Carter, who will never
hide her pride in being Jew-
ish. In fact, she has often
thought about making aliyah.
Meanwhile, she has
thrown herself into the de-
cidedly unlovely role of Miss -\
Hannigan, scourge of or-
phans.
Does this mean that Miss
Hannigan is Jewish?
"No," says Carter, without
hesitation. "I don't know any
mean Jewish ladies."
When the sun comes up
tomorrow, Carter will once
again be onstage.
But one thing she leaves at
the stage door is any ambi-
tion for her son to follow in
her fast-flying feet.
Sure, she says, he can get
into show business — one
day. "Right after he becomes
the first black Jewish Re-
publican president of the
United States," she says. ❑
tant for the family-oriented moth-
er of three.
"I want to see more kids in
those seats, more families com-
ing to see this show," she says.
Bringing children into the-
ater — "having them sit next
to each other — black, white,
Jewish, Christian — is a good
way for them to get to know
each other." It's the ticket to
mutual understanding, Carter
contends.
When it comes to peace and
harmony, she believes in both
religiously.
"Two of my children are
Christian, and my son Josh, 7,
is Jewish," she says. Josh, she
says, has his priorities straight.
"He was dating a 6-year-old
girl, and she said to him, 'Is it
true you are black?'
Josh said, 'No, actually, I'm
cocoa."
The performer who got her
TV break in "Gimme a Break"
sits in her hotel room quoting
Broadway stories and Bible
lore.
The Birmingham, Ala.-born
actress, born Catholic and
raised Presbyterian, seems to
have been bred with a Jewish
sense of humor.
"I keep a kosher house real
easy," she says.
"I don't cook."
It is safe to say she is at
peace with her religion.
"To me," she says, "Judaism
is the safest religion."
Safe? What about the her-
itage of hate Jews live with?
The history of 5,000 years of
persecution? What about Jews
who argue with other Jews
about the direction of the reli-
gion?
"We do not disagree with
each other," she says softly.
Nell Carter: "I keep a kosher house real easy," she says. "I don't cook."
"We discuss."
e
For tickets to Annie at `--\
the Martin Beck Theatre
New York, call (212
239-6200.