How do Musicals reflect the entire spectrum of society and culture?
What is the musical’s role in shaping the societal and national ideology
Kazablan is a milestone in Israeli culture
in that it exposes the ethnic disparities
existing in the country since the early 1950s.
Kazablan, the protagonist, was born in Casablanca (hence the nickname).
The story has been called a Jewish adaptation of Romeo and Juliet,
and the musical an Israeli rendition of West Side Story.
The musical – both the plot and the music –
are based on the American Broadway model.
Although the songs in this musical were written in 1966,
they are still relevant and fresh and have gained
a place of honor in Israel’s pantheon of popular music.
* The lecture is based on the lecturer’s Ph.D. Dissertation titled
“Cheers to this Nation”: National-Israeli Features in
**Dov (Dubi) Seltzer’s Music as Reflected in his Theatrical Arts and Songs.
***The composer, Dov (Dubi) Seltzer,
is an Israel Award laureate [2009] and one of the outstanding
and most influential Israeli composers in the country.
He made his mark on Israeli popular music in the “Army Troupe”,
in musicals, films, music for theater,
songs and arrangements in Hebrew, Yiddish and Ladino.
His musicals and songs are still being played and sung to this day.
Some of them (e.g., Kazablan and Outz Li Guts Li)
are among the most important classical treasures of Israeli culture.