{"id":17720,"date":"2014-08-12T22:59:48","date_gmt":"2014-08-13T04:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=17720"},"modified":"2014-08-12T22:59:48","modified_gmt":"2014-08-13T04:59:48","slug":"will-larry-davids-broadway-show-add-to-his-jewish-file","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/will-larry-davids-broadway-show-add-to-his-jewish-file\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Larry David’s Broadway show add to his Jewish file?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By AMI EDEN<\/p>\n

NEW YORK (JTA) — In Larry David\u2019s fake real-life world on the HBO sitcom \u201cCurb Your Enthusiasm,\u201d he is tapped by Mel Brooks to take over the Zero Mostel-Nathan Lane role of Max Bialystock in the megahit Broadway adaptation of “The Producers.”<\/p>\n

Just as Max and accountant Leo Bloom set out to make money by producing a surefire bomb, Brooks picks Larry with the (secret) goal of killing the Tony Award-winning musical and getting his life back. But in an art-imitates-art twist, Larry (like “Springtime for Hitler”) miraculously becomes a hit.<\/p>\n

Now comes news that the real real-life Larry David is\u00a0set to make his Broadway debut<\/a>\u00a0in 2015 with a play titled \u201cFish in the Dark.\u201d David wrote the script and will star in the show.<\/p>\n

David isn\u2019t saying much about the details except that it is a comedy about a death in the family. Before the official announcement, the buzz was that the show would be called \u201cShiva.\u201d<\/p>\n

So odds are good that David will be adding to his already sizable Jewish canon.<\/p>\n

OK, he\u2019s not Philip Roth. But who is? Few in showbiz have tackled as many Jewish topics with as much attitude and as prominently as David has on “Curb” and as the co-creator\/lead writer of \u201cSeinfeld.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the highlights:<\/p>\n

Survivors and making out during ‘Schindler\u2019s List<\/strong>‘<\/p>\n

It was fitting that in 2004, David dedicated the entire fourth season of “Curb” to the Larry-gets-cast-in-“The Producers” plot line. Few have followed as boldly in Brooks\u2019 footsteps as David when it comes to turning the Holocaust into a punch line. In fact, you could argue that David has attempted a far more daring (some would say offensive) maneuver — whereas Brooks deployed comedy as a weapon against Hitler, David has taken aim at the hallowed status of survivors and Holocaust memorialization.<\/p>\n

First came the “Seinfeld” episode (\u201cThe Raincoats\u201d<\/a>) when Jerry is caught making out with his girlfriend during a screening of “Schindler\u2019s List.” As it turns out, the roots of the gag were actually the doldrums of synagogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it must have come from sitting in temple,\u201d David said several years ago in an interview packaged with the release of the series on DVD. \u201cI would sit in temple wondering what would happen if I reached over and touched my wife\u2019s breast now or something like that. I can\u2019t pay attention; my mind wanders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Count Jerry Stiller, fictional father of George Costanza on “Seinfeld,” among those who was a little squeamish about the bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt that they had gone over the line with that one,\u201d Stiller, who is Jewish, once commented about the episode. But he quickly added with a laugh, \u201cThen I said, \u2018Well, Jews go over the line.’ “<\/p>\n

David would cross the line again — this time in an episode of “Curb” featuring a showdown between a Holocaust survivor and a contestant on the reality show \u201cSurvivor\u201d over which one had it rougher.<\/p>\n

Israel activism and tribal loyalty<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2011, between the last two large-scale Israel-Hamas conflicts, David gave us a “Curb”\u00a0episode titled \u201cPalestinian Chicken.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0A lesser artist would have settled for interethnic feuding between supporters of the Jewish deli and the new Palestinian chicken place, but David also delivered a biting take on the often tedious sniping between Jewish universalists (Larry, who has a yen for the chicken and lusts after the Palestinian owner of the restaurant) and tribalists (a yarmulke-clad Marty Funkhauser disgusted by Larry\u2019s betrayal).<\/p>\n

Bonus factoid: Funkhauser is played by Bob Einstein, whose brother is Albert Brooks (yes, that\u2019s right, real name: Albert Einstein).<\/p>\n

Mohels and rabbis<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jewish clergy haven\u2019t fared too well in David\u2019s creative hands (then again, few people do). The rabbis on “Seinfeld” and “Curb” are always flawed, either incapable of keeping a secret or self-absorbed. And then there\u2019s the shaky-handed mohel from \u201cThe Bris\u201d episode of “Seinfeld.”<\/p>\n

The seder<\/strong><\/p>\n

On \u201cThe Seder\u201d episode of “Curb,” Larry takes \u201cLet all who are hungry come and eat\u201d to a new level — inviting a registered sex offender at the last second.<\/p>\n

Jewish self-hatred<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Curb” ended its fifth season with a multi-episode arc featuring Larry being told he was adopted and tracking down his supposed birth family — a collection of decidedly un-neurotic and extremely kind religious Christians. In short, the exact opposite of Larry. The result is a new, gentile, gentler Larry. Until he discovers it was all a mistake, at which point he returns to his old self (following a brief trip to heaven). Implication: The Jews and the Jewish are responsible for all of Larry’s loathsome characteristics.<\/p>\n

It’s hard to think of a more decidedly anti-Jewish message on television.<\/p>\n

Not that there’s anything wrong with that — as long as it’s funny.<\/p>\n

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