Who has seen Houdini?

>> Yiddish Theatre's top-secret Hollywood musical

by AMY BARRATT

Who isn't fascinated by the greatest escape artist of all time, Harry Houdini? But how many of us know that in reality he was a big mama's boy named Erich Weiss, who embraced and then rejected spiritualism? You can learn about these and other facets of the man by attending The Great Houdini, a new musical currently playing in Yiddish at the Saidye Bronfman.

Due to the barring of press from the first week of performances, I cannot review the show--at press time, I had not yet seen it. Nevertheless, through dogged research and a few strategically placed spies, I have been able to piece together an impression of this extravaganza.

Following a preview last week, sources who shall remain my parents likened The Great Houdini to "a good Lyric show," referring to the high-gloss, semi-professional company that has been AWOL from local stages for a couple of years now. In fact, The Great Houdini draws substantially from old Lyric Theatre talent, with a set by Jean-Claude Olivier and costumes (scores of them) by Peter de Castell. Also in great Lyric tradition, thanks to the 45(!) performers not being paid a dime for their time, Yiddish Theatre has been able to put together a really big shoe on a shoestring budget. The same trustworthy sources complained that the canned music was too darn loud, but perhaps that's a problem which will have been ironed out by now.

The life story of this original musical is nearly as interesting as that of Houdini himself. It was explained to me last week by the personable duo of lyricist Alexander Ary and composer-arranger Elan Kunin--who also, incidentally, plays the lead.

According to Kunin, Bryna Wasserman had for several years been interested in doing something about Houdini. She remembered having seen a TV movie on the subject some time ago called The Great Houdinis. It was 1976, to be precise, and the picture starred Paul Michael Glaser (of Starsky and Hutch fame) as the escape artist, along with fellow '70s TV icons Sally Struthers, Adrienne Barbeau and Bill Bixby. (Does anyone know if this is available on video? I must have it!)

Through the wonders of the Internet, Wasserman and company tracked down the script and then the screenwriter, Melville Shavelson. This guy began working as a Hollywood scriptwriter in 1944, and over the next four decades wrote, and/or directed and/or produced over 30 film projects, among them gentle comedies like Yours, Mine and Ours, and sentimental biopics like The Five Pennies.

Although basically retired for the last 15 years, the octogenarian agreed to Wasserman's request that he adapt his Houdini script for the stage.

Shavelson did the job in English, then Yiddish Theatre stalwart Sara Rosenfeld translated it into Yiddish. Rosenfeld then worked hand-in-hand with lyricist Ary, who also writes in English. It may sound like an insane way to work, but it has had its advantages, such as allowing the Yiddish Theatre to hire the best person for the job, regardless of whether or not they speak Yiddish. It also means that, while this premiere production is being done in Yiddish, an English version already exists on paper. Ary and Kunin say that at the moment they are not looking beyond the current run at the Saidye, but both admit they would love to see the show produced in English--or even French--and seen by a wider audience. :

The Great Houdini to April 16 at the Saidye Bronfman Centre Theatre, weekdays 8pm, Sat 8:30pm, Sun 7pm, Tickets $24-27; 739-7944