Despite a fall, the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue cantor carries on leading all in song.
By Hank Pollard/Special to The Malibu Times
The joy of Chanukah came to Malibu a week early this year, and it came in grand style. The annual Chanukah Concert, preented by the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue, took place in the Malibu High School auditorium Friday evening. This was the Center’s fourth annual, and it was a fittingly happy family affair. The large audience enthuiastically joined in the singing with much hand clapping, making it seem more like a reunion than a concert.
Cantor Marcello Gindlin was the master of ceremonies. Despite a tumble on the darkened stage at the outset of the concert, Gindlin maintained his poise and infectious energy throughout the evening. (Gindlin said he had merely responded to the traditional theatrical injunction-“break a leg.” In fact, he later discovered he had actually broken his elbow and suffered injuries to his leg.) The youthful Cantor led the MJC&S choir and orchestra in songs running the gamut from religious and traditional to secular with a rock beat. The adult chorus was supplemented by a children’s chorus (average age around four) singing Chanukah songs tothe amompaniment of a blizzard of camera flashes from proud parents. Cantor Gindlin sang several Yiddish lullabies that resonated with the audience, particularly older members with immigrant parents or grandparents. The teenage MJC&S Youth Orchestra aIso perfomed and the audience responded appreciatively. The Cantor led the chorus offstage and distributed Chanjukah gelt and dreidels to the many children in the audience. Joined by members of the audience, they also sang and danced through the aisles to Klezmor music resoundingly played by the orchestra. In an evening of many highlights one of the most memorable was the appearance of Mallory Lewis and her puppet, Lamb Chop. She is a masterful ventriloquist and entertainer, and clearly is an acorn that fell close to her mother’s tree. The duet, Irving Berlin’s “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better,” was sung by Lamb Chop and Gindlin, and produced a standing ovation.
Interspersed throughout the concert were video montages on a backdrop that included scenes of children playing, singing and dancing atthe MJC&S and in lsrael, and even a snippet from a Woody Allen rnovie. The evening ended with much applause, laughter and warm embraces.