The genius of the Hebrew translation of "Bring Him Home" from Les Misérables
The Broadway Maven, David Benkof, interprets Broadway
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Shalom!
This week, The Broadway Maven looks at Les Misérables:
• On Monday, May 10 at Noon and 8 pm ET, there will be a FREE Zoom class exploring that global blockbuster. Register here.
• My latest video covers Broadway challenge songs, similar to the face-off between Valjean and Javert.
• This Weekly Blast looks at the brilliant Hebrew translation of “Bring Him Home”; RANTS about the accents used by performers in Les Miz; RANTS about a Tony-winner that may not deserve its accolades; and links to two YouTube GEMs: one about the musical structure of Les Miz and my new “Younger than Jailbait” video about Creepy Broadway.
Translating song lyrics is a real challenge. The translator has to consider meaning, rhythm, and rhyme - all while matching the music. That can lead to interesting and sometimes brilliant choices.
Take Les Misérables’s “Bring Him Home” in Hebrew (you can see my friend Rabbi Eddie Bernstein sing it here). The translator recognized that the song is a prayer, and found a translation that evokes siddur (prayerbook) Hebrew but keeps an important syllable intact.
So instead of opening “God on high,” the first three syllables become the word “Elohai” - which means “my God” and is a word commonly found in Jewish prayers.
Pitch-perfect.
Sign up for Monday’s Les Misérables class here.
Your homework for the class: "I Dreamed a Dream" is the emotional high point of Les Misérables. The 4-minute video below contains 12 young women from 12 high schools performing snippets of the song. Who nailed it best? Be sure to watch the video at least twice before deciding. If you need a tie-breaker, you can see the full performances here. Put your answer in the comments below the video.
Why is Les Misérables so often presented by actors using English accents?
Yes, I get it. Historically, the show was presented in London before it “crossed the pond.” But the British accents don’t make any sense in the context of the story.
The characters are French. They should have French accents - or, if not, then whatever accent is normal for the region in which it’s presented. Which means on Broadway it should be performed by actors singing with American accents.
There’s room to comment below. Please explain what I’m missing!
Anita Weisenfeld (guest post): Sorry, but I disliked The Band's Visit. (I know, I know, it won 10 Tonys!) A sweet story with great potential was padded with "side" stories that added nothing to the plot. There were some terrific performances by Katrina Lenk and Tony Shalhoub, but they couldn't enliven what was - for me - a slow moving, often boring production. I actually began checking my watch to see how much longer I had to sit in the theatre, and I appreciated the fact that the show was presented without an intermission.
(Do you have a RANT or RAVE about Broadway you’d like to share? Submit it to DavidBenkof@gmail.com. Not all submissions can be accepted, and we reserve the right to edit for style and length.)
Here, the YouTube channel “Inside the Score” gives a close - but not overly technical - look at the musical motifs in Les Misérables, and how various aspects of the score support each other and the themes of the show. Definitely worth considering as you look to deepen your appreciation of this show, particularly in preparation for Monday’s class.
Here’s a fun video I released this week about creepy and disturbing parts of show tunes that don’t tend to bother most Broadway fans - but should.
Note: links to register for ALL classes are ALWAYS available at TheBroadwayMaven.com.
Monday, May 10 Les Misérables (FREE, Noon and 8 pm ET)
Thursday, May 13 SNL’s Jews (Registration closed, Noon ET)
Monday, May 17 NO CLASS - JEWISH HOLIDAY OF SHAVUOT
Thursday, May 20 Funny Women (Registration closed, Noon ET)
Monday, May 24 Evita (FREE, Noon and 8 pm ET)
Tuesday, May 25 Barbra Streisand’s musicals (Noon ET, ALL-ACCESS only)
Thursday, May 27 Norman Lear’s sitcoms (Registration closed, Noon ET)
Monday, May 31 The Book of Mormon (FREE, Noon and 8 pm ET)
-David Benkof, The Broadway Maven
