It was a long road to Purim Schpiel 5781. I was writing the script for The Rocky Horror Purim Show just as the Covid-19 pandemic was beginning to impact Hong Kong. Last year’s Purim Schpiel then became the first UJC program disrupted due to the spread of the virus. This was disappointing, but none of the hard work the cast and crew put into the show went to waste. It was incredibly gratifying for all of us to perform the schpiel for the kahal last week. As I conceived the schpiel as a tribute to the late night TV horror movie hosts of my youth, it was fitting that we brought this Purim play to the screen. (YouTube counts as “the screen” — look it up.)

Making the shift from a live performance to a film was challenging. It would have been completely impossible without the guidance and expertise of Justin Solomon. Justin was an indispensable member of our production team. The filming and editing of the schpiel fell on his shoulders. His generosity with his professional skill and with his time was simply astounding. Justin, we cannot thank you enough.

Filming the schpiel on Zoom was extremely complicated. People in different locations cannot sing together on this platform. This meant that we had to film each sung part separately and then poor Justin had to edit the pieces together. To help the performers, Ayal and our one-man orchestra, Costel Pascu, recorded backing tracks for every part of every song. All this work had to be done before we could begin rehearsals. Huge thanks are due to our Hazzan and to Costel for the immense effort this required. Costel did a a great deal of vital work in post-production as well. And his cameo appearances in the schpiel were priceless.

Many thanks are due to the incredible cast of The Rocky Horror Purim Show. Please give it up for: Josh Lavin, Lauren Grossmann, Priscilla Adams, Ayal Ben Or, Emma Lavin, Ross O’Brien, Sam Speed, Rachel Fleishman, Sarah Churgin, Barbara Thomas, Peter Roschke, Sergio Fernandes de Lima, Costel Pascu, and Rachamim Zamek. Rehearsing on Zoom was difficult and tedious and filming this way even more so. Many thanks to our schpielers for their patience, good humor, and for being so serious about being ridiculous. One of my favorite numbers in the schpiel was “Let’s Do the Hebrew.” Todah Rabbah to Emma Lavin, our choreographer, for her work on this segment. In the spirit of the times, Emma made an instructional video for the cast to learn their moves. Poor Hazzan Ayal does whatever over-the-top loony thing I ask him to do in these schpiels. He outdid himself as Dr. Achshenstein and, as always, was an incredible musical director for the production.

Lastly, thanks are due to our broadcast team. We got the band from High Holidays back together to make sure the premiere ran smoothly. Josh Lavin and Aaron Liebling (did you catch the homage to Aaron in the schpiel?) once again ran the back of the house with great skill.

No one does Purim like The UJC. I mean this in a good way. Thanks to the cast and production team, Purim 5781 was filled with joy and we got the holy silliness that we needed this year.

I hope none of you missed the schpiel. If by some chance you could not tune in on Purim, you are well and truly out of luck.

No, you’re not. I’m kidding. For a limited time, you can watch the schpiel on our YouTube channel. Use this link to watch, or perhaps rewatch, The Rocky Horror Purim Show: https://youtu.be/NjCQECgSCDM

Enjoy!

All Blessings,
Rabbi Z