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LTV Ziņu dienests, CC BY 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), via Wikimedia Commons
Eurovision Song Contest Winners Made Their Intro Video in Israel
This year’s Eurovision Song
Contest did not go Israel’s way
— but even though the coun-
try didn’t make it to the final for
the first time in six years, it did have
some representation in Turin, Italy.

That’s because Ukraine, which
won the competition with Kalush
Orchestra’s “Stefania” rap song,
filmed its introductory video in Israel.

The intro, known in Eurovision
jargon as the “postcard,” features
contestants who typically are filmed
in a place of their choosing in the
country that hosts that year’s contest
(normally, the country that won the
previous year).

But the war has complicated trav-
eling out of Ukraine, where civilian
flights have basically stopped since
Russia invaded Feb. 24. And filming in
the war-torn country has also become
difficult and potentially dangerous.

So Ukraine’s Suspilne public broad-
Members of Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra at the opening ceremony of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy
caster last month arranged for Kalush
Orchestra to travel to Israel and
record there their “postcard” video,
which was shown in the grand final
ahead of the contestants’ live perfor-
mance. The Ukrainian band in Israel took
place at the headquarters of the
Jewish Agency in Jerusalem, in the
very room where Chaim Weizmann
was sworn in as Israel’s first pres-
ident, according to the Times of
Israel. The final video does not feature
Israel in any way. It shows the band
members, who were filmed against a
green screen, against drone footage
of several monuments in Italy.

At a facility in Israel of the Jewish
Agency, which helped bring Kalush
Orchestra and 23 other contestants
for an annual Israeli pre-Eurovision
event called “Israel Calling,” the
Ukrainian band also performed for
Jewish refugees from Ukraine. About
50 of the refugees enjoyed a live,
unplugged rendition of “Stefania,”
a rap number featuring traditional
Ukrainian instruments and motifs.

— Cnaan Liphshiz
Bruce Glikas/WireImage via JTA
‘Funny Girl’ Snubbed, But ‘Lehman’ Stock Rises in Tony Nominations
Some of the biggest Jewish names on Broadway
weren’t shining so bright in this year’s Tony nom-
inations. The much-anticipated revival of “Funny Girl,” with
Beanie Feldstein in the Barbra Streisand role as pio-
neering Jewish comedienne Fanny Brice, came up
almost empty-handed. The show received only one
nomination in total, for featured actor Jared Grimes.

Also snubbed: “Plaza Suite,” a revival of the Neil
Simon play starring real-life Jew-ish couple Sarah
Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, only gar-
nered one nomination, for costume design.

Jews and Jewish-themed shows were more suc-
cessful elsewhere, however. “The Lehman Trilogy,”
a multigenerational history of the infamous Jewish
family of financiers, received eight nominations,
including best play; all three lead actors were also
nominated, including Adam Godley, who is Jewish.

“Girl from the North Country,” a jukebox-style
production built around Bob Dylan’s songbook,
received seven nominations, including Best Musical
and Best Book of a Musical; the Great Depression-
era orchestrations of Dylan’s tunes were also rec-
ognized. “North Country” star Mare Winningham
was nominated for lead actress. Winningham was
4 MAY 19, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Beanie Feldstein as “Fanny Brice” during the opening
night curtain call for the musical “Funny Girl” on
Broadway at The August Wilson Theatre in New York
City on April 24
raised Catholic, but converted to Judaism in her
40s. “Mr. Saturday Night,” Billy Crystal’s musical
comedy based on his 1992 film about a fading
TV comic, received five nominations, including
best musical and best actor for Crystal. He also
co-wrote the nominated book with Jewish writing
duo Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. Featured
actress Shoshana Bean, who is Jewish, was also
nominated, as were the Jewish writers of the
show’s music, composer Jason Robert Brown and
lyricist Amanda Green.

“Company,” a gender-swapped restaging of the
Stephen Sondheim classic, scored nine nomina-
tions. “Caroline, or Change,” Tony Kushner’s Civil Rights
Era-set musical about a Black maid who works for
a Southern Jewish family in 1963, received three
nominations. And “American Buffalo,” a revival of caustic
Jewish playwright David Mamet’s 1975 play about
a junk shop, was nominated for four Tonys, as was
“Take Me Out,” about a professional baseball player
coming out as gay, by Jewish playwright Richard
Greenberg. “How I Learned to Drive,” a revival of the Pulitzer-
winning 1997 play dealing with taboo topics such
as pedophilia and incest, was nominated for three
Tonys, including best revival. Its author, Paula
Vogel, had a Jewish father and has also written
other Jewish-themed plays.

— Andrew Lapin