“Expectant Fathers: Shuki and David at West End first orchestra rehearsal, 2008.”
For any musical, the best day of rehearsal, at least for me, is the Sitzprobe. A strangely suggestive German word which means, literally, “to sit and probe,” it’s the day the cast and the orchestra meet for the first time and sing through the score. The magic either happens or it doesn’t. Luckily, this day, it happened. The history of the show that resulted is long, bumpy and complex, but it is now called Masada 1942, it’s a success at the National Theatre of Israel in Tel Aviv, and there is a European tour being planned that includes bringing it to America.
What is not complex are my feelings for the man in the picture with me, the genius Shuki Levy. Shuki, the show’s founder and composer, is a brother, a counselor, and a friend. A man of honesty, integrity, and prodigious talent. I have known and worked with him now for nearly 20 years.
What I love about this picture is what I love about collaborating with this exceptional artist – as we stand there together, listening to the score we’ve created being performed for the first time, he is fully committed to the work in front of him, focused only on how to make it better, without ego, without stress, without fear. The result was, and is, music that is always, at its core, heartfelt, raw and real. Setting lyrics to his melodies has always been a privilege.