KlezCalendar

"The Golden Dreydl: a Klezmer Nutcracker" at the Regattabar

WGBH "Sound & Spirit" radio host Ellen Kushner and the Shirim Klezmer Orchestra will perform their award-winning collaboration, "The Golden Dreydl: a Klezmer Nutcracker!" at the Regattabar (in the Charles Hotel, Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA 617-876-7777) on November 30 at 3:00 and 5:30pm. Tickets are $14 (adults), $8 (seniors & kids).

"The Golden Dreydl: a Klezmer Nutcracker!" is a Chanukah-inspired fantasy-adventure tale: 'Tchaikovsky meets Harry Potter and they go to a Jewish wedding! Kushner's enchanting storytelling is woven into a live musical performance of Shirim's ingenious klezmer adaptations of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. The whole family will enjoy this multifaceted performance: a new twist on an old favorite. It is available on CD by Rykodisc and has won radio’s prestigious Gracie Allen Award.

Ellen Kushner writes and hosts the nationally distributed PRI show "Sound & Spirit" and is also an award-winning fantasy writer with three novels to her credit: Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners, Thomas the Rhymer, and (with Delia Shkerman) The Fall of the Kings, just published by Bantam Books. "Sound & Spirit" is heard on over 100 stations nationwide, and 89.7 FM WGBH Radio on Sundays at 5:00 p.m.

Shirim Klezmer Orchestra has released five recordings, including their crossover hit "Klezmer Nutcracker" on Newport Classic. They were featured on the soundtrack of Woody Allen’s "Deconstructing Harry" and have toured in North America and Europe.

"We wanted to create a new holiday story rich in Jewish themes and values, drawing on Jewish folklore and ethics,"
-Ellen Kushner ("Sound & Spirit")

"Shirim's Klezmer Nutcracker sounds utterly natural and totally compelling. Klezmer devotees will rejoice at the fresh stock of great tunes, and classical fans so far immune to the Russian composer's populist favorite
should find themselves swooning. Shirim's genre-crossing conception is a delight and its playing a joy.
-Billboard Magazine (Critics Choice)

"The Golden Dreydl makes an archetypal Christmas experience into a rollicking adventure tale for Jewish children -- and their beleaguered parents.. The klezmer-ized melodies are only the start, as Kushner and Shirim transform the various acts of the popular ballet into an empowering story for youngsters. No satire or mere parody, The Golden Dreydl is more like a message from an alternative holiday world, one that Jewish parents and klezmer fans will be delighted to receive." Mark Schwartz, BarnesandNoble.com