What’s the quintessential Jewish joke? One a Jew has heard a hundred times and a gentile won’t understand. If you’re Jewish, you’ve heard that joke a hundred times.
If you’re a gentile, you’re probably just as confused as the non-Jewish audience that sat like welcome strangers through the opening of the campy, confounding new musical, “The Yiddish are Coming … The Yiddish are Coming” at the New Denver Civic Theatre.
This slight, silly mess was commissioned as a Jewish “Nunsense.” But not even the welcome presence of a piano player offering punchline translations (Carl Haan) brings clarity to what this unformed project wants to be. A comedy? A revue? A satire? Right now it seems best suited for cocktail hour in the Poconos.
It’s not the cast. These six adorable youngsters are outstanding. It’s not even the jokes. (OK, so it’s never good for comic timing when you must provide a translator and a glossary.)
Rather, this toothless show is so desperate for your affection, you’ll swear Sally Field is underneath that outlandish mahjong headdress. It’s so affable, it’s unthinkable it came from the same creative team that unleashed the wickedly smart show-biz satire “Ruthless, the Musical” (Joel Paley and Marvin Laird).
“Yiddish” leaves one feeling utterly ambivalent, which in the theater can be worse than awful. It’s like being in a train wreck where no one gets hurt.
Scatterings of the opening- night crowd did have an outrageously good time. I didn’t get the jokes, so I didn’t. My Jewish guest did – saw them coming a mile away – so she didn’t. Though it all rang true, she still thought it a waste of her time.
The show opens with no discernible structure. First we hear a clever tune explaining how 10 Yiddish words are now part of the English language (like kosher and bagel). Then we’re off to something called the Tchotchke Awards (translation: sentimental souvenir junk), which honor outstanding achievement in synagogue shows. So far, so good.
A couple of tangential comic bits lead us to believe this will be a night of random sketch comedy. But after 20 minutes, an actual plot begins to unfold. New York actor Christian Von Trapp (likeable David Ruffin) is so desperate for work, he will pretend to be a Jew to help the congregation at Temple Ben Shtiller put together their song-and-dance entry for the next Tchotchkes (rival synagogues include Temple Bette Midler and Temple Ben Affleck). Before long, a competing diva (well-played by Dana Baráthy) is on to him.
Though the music is often strident, many pop-culture references are clever – “Seinfeld’s” classic “can’t spare a square” episode, “Fiddler on the Roof, Part 2 – Tzeitel’s Revenge,” “Torah, Torah, Torah” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Seder?”
The best number explains the rules of “Yinglish” (“You wouldn’t just say, ‘my son’; you would say, ‘my son the doctor.”‘) But it’s mostly better on paper than on stage. When so much is supposed to seem intentionally tacky, you had better make it exactly clear what’s supposed to be awful – and what isn’t.
The title is a takeoff on Carl Reiner’s funny 1966 film “The Russians are Coming …” which teased the prevailing “run-and-
hide” Cold War mentality. “Yiddish” ends with a treacly message of inclusion (“We are all ‘chosen people’ in some ways”), which further clouds the intent.
Was this really just an afterschool special on understanding? Until we know for sure, trust that title – and batten down the hatches.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
“The Yiddish Are Coming … The Yiddish Are Coming”
MUSICAL|New Denver Civic Theatre, 721 Santa Fe Drive|THROUGH JULY 16|8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 3 p.m. Wednesdays and Sundays|90 minutes, no intermission|$34.50-$39.50|303-309-3773, 866-464-2626, ticketswest.com or King Soopers stores
* 1/2
