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Never On Shabbat

This year's Balfour Concert
brings Israel's Dudu Fisher
an observant Jew
to the stage in a musical retelling of his life story.

of West Bloomfield

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of Tel Aviv's Great Synagogue; a turn-
ing point came when he saw Les
Miserables in London.
"I was known among the people
hen it comes to the
who used to go to synagogue and lis-
stage, Dudu Fisher is an
ten to cantorial music, but my big
open book.
break started in Israel when I por-
An Orthodox cantor
trayed Jean Valjean in Les Miserables,
who negotiated a Sabbath-off
starting in 1987. We did it for three
Broadway contract, Fisher tells his
years.
life story in the one-man show Never
It took a lot of chutzpa for me to
on Friday, which he brings to
audition for that show. I never had
Orchestra Hall on Sunday, Oct. 17,
been on a theater stage before. I
for the 66th annual Balfour Concert
never took an acting lesson in my
sponsored by the Zionist
life. I saw the show in London in
Organization of America.
1986, when it had just opened, and it
A combination of song and narra-
amazed me. I was sitting there mes-
tion, the show covers Fisher's early
merized, and I remember saying to
years in Israel, moves on to his attain-
myself that this show was made for
ing the leading role in Broadway's Les
me. The music is so appropriate for
Miserables and explores the entertain-
my voice.
er's efforts to find secular work while
As soon as Fisher saw that British
remaining observant. There are show
version, he went
tunes, a little
to buy books by
opera, Israeli
Victor Hugo and
songs and canto-
everything he
rial music.
could find about
"I wrote the
the history of
Hebrew version,
the period.
and it was writ-
"I never knew
ten for me in
Jean Valjean
English by Larry
because I studied
Amoros in
in the yeshiva,
America," says
and they taught
the 40-some-
us about the
thing Fisher,
Bible," explains
who debuted his
the singer-actor,
theater piece at
who performed
the Jewish
cantorial music
Repertory
at the Fisher
Theater in New
Theatre about
York. "I thought
six years ago.
I had to produce
"I was very
something of my
lucky because
own that I
the show was
wouldn't [be
Dudu Fisher: "Dudu is a nickname my
controlled by
asked] to play on grandmother gave me, and unfortunately,
Cameron
Friday or
in America, its a bad name."
Mackintosh, and
Saturday."
he decided I
Fisher's canto-
would go to Broadway. To get the
rial career reaches back to his grand-
kind of contract that dismissed me
father, who listened to him sing
from Friday nights and Saturday
around the Friday night table and
matinees was achieving the most fan-
encouraged him to develop what he
tastic dream."
considered natural talent. Although
The father of three, Fisher was
Fisher, a tenor, gained fame as cantor

SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News

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82 Detroit Jewish News