November 18, 2016 – Sarasota, FL

“Remember[ing] the Sabbath day,” the fourth commandment if you are Jewish as there are 613 to try to accomplish over a lifetime – a very lofty endeavor, can have many interpretations. As Temple Emanu-El members on this Sabbath eve, it can mean celebrating Shabbat Alive – “an exhilarating musical service where worshippers celebrate with upbeat, contemporary arrangements of the traditional Sabbath prayers.” However, if you are the Weinberger’s, this Shabbat Alive is even more elevated as our daughter, Erin J. Weinberger, takes the stage in her debut performance as a Hot Box Girl in “the Asolo Rep’s highly anticipated 2016-17 season, the fifth and final of its celebrated American Character Project.” And according to the playbill, “GUYS AND DOLLS is hailed as one of the greatest musical comedies of all time.” Spoiler alert…pure enjoyment and entertainment! The actors, actresses, orchestra, musical arrangements and choreography captivate your imagination with the “high-stakes quests for love and luck.”

As we took our opening night Row C, Seats 15 & 17 in the Mezzanine Section, Steve burst with joy, and long before the first note of the orchestra, the whole row had been informed that Erin was a Hot Box Girl. It was precious. I too was overwhelmed with pride and excitement to converse with anyone, so I waited patiently for the first chord of the opening number to fill the Mertz Theater. It has always been Erin’s goal to be an ensemble girl, and there she was on the stage on this particular Sabbath with Chris Hoch (Nathan Detroit) from Broadway’s Matilda, La Cage aux Folles, Shrek, Beauty and the Beast, Veronica J. Kuehn (Miss Adelaide) from Mamma Mia!, Cole Burden (Sky Masterson) from “the national tours of  Bridges of Madison County and the 25th Anniversary of LES MISERABLES” and Audrey Cardwell (Sarah Brown) who just completed the title role in the national tour of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella.

During the rehearsal processes of most shows, Erin and I often dissect and dive into conversation about the historical references of the scripts, the musical lyrics, and I try to learn to play the piano scores (not for the public). This show has been no different. The references are brilliant. For example, there is a reference to a town in Maryland – Pimlico. The audience usually roars with laughter, but if you do not know that the reference of Pimlico – a horse-racing track in Baltimore for “The Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown races (after the Kentucky Derby, and before the Belmont Stakes),” then the line flies over your head.  Another example of needing a glossary to help define lines is when Sky Masterson teases Sarah Brown about his knowledge of the Gideon Bible and he references the Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (“the Hebrew-form names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, respectively”). First of all, these are tough names to utter on stage as they take deliberate elocution, and second the line is empty unless you know that these three young men were companions of Daniel, in the book of Daniel, who refused to worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and were [ultimately] thrown into a burning fiery furnace.”  Masterson brags to Sarah how he once won a $5K bet on knowing this as he “is a betting man.”

Erin’s costumes as a Hot Box Girl are 1950s burlesque-style and rather revealing. On this night, she knew, of course, that her dad was in the audience and she told me that she whispered to the other three Hot Box Girls prior to going on stage, “Daddy, I’m sorry,” as he would have to cover his eyes. Like we say in our family, “Keep the drama on the stage.”

This Shabbat was definitely alive and well. Guys and Dolls is an exceptionally funny show that “promises… this and promises…that. [It] promises… anything under the sun (adapted lyrics from Sue Me).” Mazel Tov to Erin Weinberger and the entire cast of Guys and Dolls. Thank you to fellow Jew, Frank Loesser, for writing the lyrics and music to this show and giving us an exciting way to “remember this Sabbath day.”