Vocalist-Rabbi Deborah Zecher Took Her Audience to Sunday School—And They Loved It!

By Bart Greenberg***The delightful Deborah Zecher was a practicing rabbi in a former life, and so presented a cabaret show, Broadway Bible: A Sermon in Sequins, at Don’t Tell Mama that was uniquely hers. She related a collection of Old Testament stories peppered with—Broadway show tunes! And for the most part, not selections you might expect from Biblically-based shows, such as Children of Eden or Godspell, but rather from unexpected sources ranging from Pippin to Kismet to Anything Goes. What’s more natural for Adam and Eve to sing than “Strangers in Paradise” (Robert Wright, George Forrest)? Or for Noah to warn “Soon It’s Gonna Rain” (Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones). For those who have enjoyed the multi-versions of Forbidden Broadway, this show was right up that aisle.

This all hinges on the talents of Zecher. And they are numerous; she’s a natural storyteller who can leaven any tale with both humor and compassion. And with a powerful voice she can easily shift between lo=key charm and full-out belting comedy. You’ll never think of “Something’s Coming” (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim) the same way again after she’s done with it. Or how “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” (Sondheim, Jule Styne) merged with “Moses Supposes” (Roger Edens, Betty Comden and Adolph Green).

No cabaret performer does it all on her own. Director Lennie Watts’ sense of humor was definitely in evidence, as was his brief cameo as the Voice of God. And his hallmark of using every available inch of stage was happily here as well. Music director Tracy Stark was practically a co-star with her vocal contributions, such as on “Anything You Can Do” (Irving Berlin) and her dramatic musical arrangements. Expert guitarist Mike Rosengarten added additional color to the music.

But at the center was Zecher, deeply involved with her presentation and her audience. She soared through a lot of material (perhaps a little too much—occasionally the show felt over-stuffed) scoring every plot point and every joke. Whether it was the independent first woman Lilith believing “There’s Got to Be Something Better Than This” (Cy Coleman, Dorothy Fields) or Moses touchingly assuring his exiles there is a place for them “Somewhere” (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim), Zecher was there. It will be fascinating to see what concept she comes up with next.

Photos by Bart Greenberg