Cantor Colman: From Fairfax to ‘Fiddler’

By ALAN SMASON

Cantor Joel Colman, a hulking figure of a man with a deep and rich bass-baritone voice to match his size,  has been a busy bee these days. Fresh off the June summer worship services at Temple Sinai, Colman, who hails from Detroit, was invited to visit his best friend and fellow Cantor Alan Lieder with whom he grew up. Lieder, who now lives in Fairfax, VA, was a classmate at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion at the same time as Colman and is the director of education at Temple Rodef Shalom in nearby Falls Church.

Cantor Joel Colman arrives in Fairfax aboard his special mode of transportation. (Photo courtesy Joel Colman)

What made the 2300-mile round trip all the more special was Colman’s method of transportation:  his crimson-colored Kawasaki Vulcan model 1500 motorcycle with the license plate that reads “CHAI.”

Colman’s motorcycle is also outfitted with an amateur (HAM) radio, but he never used it on the road or paid attention to his cell phone for messages. “It’s funny, but when you’re in a car, you could be listening to an iPod. You could be listening to satellite radio. You could be eating. You could be drinking and with a headphone you could be talking on a cell phone. On a motorcycle I did not of that,” Colman said.

“Even with all that stimulus in the car you can still be bored,” he continued, “but on a motorcycle trip you are so focused on what’s in front of you – the road conditions, the cars around you, the weather – that your mind is engaged. And it’s almost refreshing to have that kind of time with yourself.”

What Colman didn’t realize was that the Eastern portion of the nation would be reeling from a heat wave at the same time he would be traveling on the road. “I had to stop and hydrate,” he admitted. Colman had ice water he kept in a container and he frequently stopped, stretched his legs and drank. “That’s when you check your cell phone,” he continued.

Cantor Joel Colman next to his Kawasaki motorcycle with the license plate "CHAI." (Photo ©Alan Smason) CLICK TO ENLARGE

Only a few months before the trip Colman had auditioned for a role in Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre’s August production of “Fiddler on the Roof.” It was a role he knew well. He had played Mordcha the innkeeper a decade ago at an earlier production at Dixon Hall for Summer Lyric Theatre and, not surprisingly, he got the nod to repeat the role.

With all of that alone time on his motorcycle, Colman opted to practice his lines and he is certain he puzzled more than one passing motorist as a result. “I was practicing my lines while I was on my bike and I would be gesturing with my hands while I was riding down the highway,” he explained.

Other than a few turned heads, the trip was uneventful except for a torrential downpour in Knoxville, Tennessee (see video link below) and Colman spent several days together enjoying his host’s hospitality in Fairfax. Knoxville_movie

He returned to New Orleans in time for rehearsals for “Fiddler on the Roof” that began last week. Rehearsals take part both in the afternoons and at night, but Colman is enjoying it all.  “I’m having a ball,” he boasted. ” Even with weeks of rehearsals, the show only plays for four days, August 2-5. But the cantor believes such a “compressed time” allows Summer Lyric Theatre to attract other talented actors and actresses with busy schedules. “It allows them to engage people who wouldn’t be able to participate,” he averred.

Colman feels quite comfortable as Mordcha and there are several personal connections he feels to the cast. One of the Tulane students playing roles in the production is a young lady from Long Island. “Her cantor was one of my cantorial teachers at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion,” he pointed out. “The woman playing Tzeitel (Ali Bloomston) is from Birmingham and she is a member of one of the shuls out there and the gentleman playing Motel – Dan Iwrey – is from my hometown in metropolitan Detroit.”

Colman believes the greatest strength of “Fiddler on the Roof” is its book by the late Joseph Stein. “Just the play itself is an amazing story,” he stated. “Not all musicals have that.” As Mordcha, the cantor will be part of all of the large cast numbers, which are the opener “Tradition,” the powerful singing and dance sequence in “To Life,” the wild and funny “The Dream,” and the closing work “Anatevka.”

Following the run of the musical, Colman will be gearing up for the beginning of the Temple Sinai Religious School and the upcoming High Holiday services. Yet another challenge awaits him in March: his first opera.

As a member of the Vocal Arts Choir, Colman sang with the New Orleans Opera Association in a presentation of “Carmina Burana” this past spring. A backstage encounter led to a meeting with artistic director Robert Lyall, who invited him to audition for a possible role in next season’s production of “Samson et Dalila” by Jewish composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The opera, based on The Book of Judges, offers Colman an opportunity to use his voice and acting skills together.  His audition, which was for the role of the Old Hebrew, also included Hugo Grimm’s “Kaddish,” a liturgical piece with very low bass notes. “When I sang it, I made sure I had the music and the translation,” he said. It allowed Colman an opportunity to show the true depth of his voice and, not surprisingly, he got the role. “Samson et Dalila” will play at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts on March 15 and 17, 2013.

Colman is grateful to be studying with his vocal teacher, Philip Frohnmeyer, a noted opera singer himself and a member of the Loyola University School of Music.

Colman and fellow Temple Sinai clergy Rabbi Ed Paul Cohn will both be participating in a Jewish music conference being sponsored by the American Society for Jewish Music, the Department of Jewish Studies and the Music Department at Tulane University. Colman will be singing as part of a concert still being planned on March 3, which will also involve Touro Synagogue Cantor Jamie Marx and Gates of Prayer Cantorial Soloist Victoria Cohen May.

But opera and Jewish music aside, Colman is presently geared up for the opening night of “Fiddler on the Roof” Thursday night and its rich musical score by Sheldon Harnick and the late Jerry Bock. “As I said, sometimes a musical can overcome a poor book because of the strength of the music,” he noted. “But ‘Fiddler’ is blessed. It has a compelling story and music that everyone is still singing since 1964.”