Posted on 08/31/24
Jerusalem, Israel - Aug. 30, 2024 - One of the most important and complex characters in Tanakh is David HaMelach. He has been the subject of innumerable works of art, literature, and music.
A new musical, David the Servant King, tells the story through the eyes of David’s mother, Nitzevet, through song and dialogue, David’s journey from shepherd to King of Israel.
The script, music, and lyrics for “David the Servant King” were written by Shlomit Koffler Weinreb. She was known in Baltimore as Shalomis and was in the Baltimore-based women’s band, Ayelet HaShachar. “I first conceived of the idea for writing the musical in 2017 but had no idea how to turn my dream into reality. It wasn’t until after I made aliyah in 2021 that everything started to come together and it was clear that Hashem was blessing the project, step by step,” shared composer Koffler Weinreb. She was inspired to write the musical after reading the chapter on Ruth and David in Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov’s "Book of Our Heritage."
On September 15, 2024, in the Judean Hills of Efrat, where David grew up and pastured his sheep, a preview concert of 14 songs from the musical will be performed Appropriately, the name of the synagogue where the concert is to take place is called Shirat David. The special performance is by women and for women only.
The Tower of David night show on King David has some of the hundreds of works based on the Biblical King of Israel projected on the stone walls.
Of the cast of 40 are other women who made aliyah from Baltimore, Rachel Anolick, 2008; Aviva Karpel, 1973; Shayna Levine-Hefetz, 2015; and Simcha (Sandra) Orman, 2009.
During the past year, in the longest war Israel has experienced, with no end in sight, rehearsals for the concert began and have continued without missing a beat. A member of the cast, Rachael Rosenbaum, posted what it’s been like for her to be part of the concert during these stressful, uncertain times: “Speaking as one of the performers, I hate to think of how much flatter and harder this summer would have felt without rehearsals for “David the Servant King.” There is so much in this musical project filling our hearts and souls to the brim! And we are bursting to share it with the audience!"
The timely relevance of the musical is "felt to the goosebump level" Levine-Hefetz told BJL. in the scene and song where David confronts and kills Goliath and afterward leads the Israelite army in cries of ‘There is a G-d in Israel!... Drive out the Philistines! Vanquish our enemies! For there is a G-d in Israel!’
DAVID THE SERVANT KING MUSICAL REVIEW CAST all made aliyah from North America, including Rachel Lock (she once played the role of Tracy in Hairspray, so she considers herself an honorary Baltimorean, hun), Avital Macales, Michal Lourenco, Zahava Margulis, Ariella Anouchi, Gila Staum-Seeman, Meira Bar-Lev, Jennifer Fleischer, Rachael Rosenbaum, and Amy Schwartz.