«It’s About Time» Coming to Beth-El

“The show is about a large extended family that discovers that a long lost member who has been very successful with a Brazilian resort has died and left his fortune to the family, but with various conditions,” explained director Lou Levitt who has directed the ensemble for the past 10 years after almost lifetime as an actor and a singer.

The conditions deal with time – the family must decide within three weeks who will go down to manage the resort for 10 years before they can sell it. If not, the fortune will go to establish a yeshiva (school) in Africa. The musical shows various family members trying out for the conveted position which entails a $10-million annual honorarium while the remainder only receive a one-shot payment of $100,000.

Besides the time-related conditions, musical director Ken McCrindle added that the concept behind the play is about passing time, using it, and not wasting it. The lyrics from the two-act play are all original and the score features familiar melodies from Broadway shows or popular tunes.

Besides being all volunteers, the performers and production team are mostly seniors who age from their 60s to their 80s. For the first time, four youngsters will be involved in the show for the Bar Mitzvah celebration.

The whole process of creating a new play takes several months, Levitt said, from the script writing and production meetings to pre-winter rehearsals to reading the script during the winter (either here or in Florida) and more rehearsals in the spring.

The show is coming along quite nicely and will be fully ready by opening night, he assured. “They all know their stuff. They’ve worked really hard.”

For the performers, the annual musical means various things. A longtime actress described being part of a cast as almost a family. “It doesn’t matter if you love them or hate them. When that stage is under our feet, we all pull together. It’s like a high.”

Nat Rabinovitch, a longtime actor, said that doing the show is good for the mind as well as the body. “It’s something that everybody looks forward to coming to each morning. When this is over, it’s a big letdown.”

From Monday, June 18 to Thursday, June 21, the show starts at 7:30 pm and costs $20. The Sunday, June 24th matinee starts at 1:30 and costs $18. For information and tickets, call (514) 738-4766. The funds from the five shows will all go to the Beth-El synagogue.