Buddhist News
Jewish Journal: buddhist
William Shatner is God. And Pharaoh. Just in time for Passover, the Jewish Music Group (a division of Shout Factory) has released “Exodus: An Oratorio in Three Parts,” performed by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. “It’s perfect seder entertainment,” Shatner said recently, but more than that, “it speaks to people of all religions. Exodus: An Oratorio” is divided into three parts: “Moses and Pharaoh,” “The Ten Plagues” and “Redemption.” The music mixes symphonic and sacred, modulating strings, choral voices and baritone solos to provide both uplift and ballast to the biblical material — as well as gentle musical transitions between some of Shatner’s narrative performances. “It was quite a happening,” Shatner recalled in a recent telephone interview.
Shatner was born in Montreal, Canada, to Jewish parents and grew up in a kosher home. Although only 79 original episodes ran between 1966 and 1969, the “Star Trek” series cemented Shatner in the popular consciousness.
Nonetheless, after the series was cancelled, and following a divorce, Shatner was forced to live out of his truck, performing summer stock. During this period, concerned that he had been typecast as Kirk, Shatner wandered in the wilderness, taking whatever roles he could.
More recently, Shatner hit gold again, portraying attorney Denny Crane on “Boston Legal,” a role he originated on the series “The Practice.” Shatner’s life has also had its share of tragedy: his third wife, Nerine, drowned after mixing valium and alcohol. Shatner recently told Details magazine that he didn’t “understand closure … we grieve forever.”
In 2004, Ben Folds produced “Has Been,” a collection of songs, many of which he co-wrote with Shatner, including featured guest performances by Joe Jackson and Aimee Mann. Itkin grew up in a conservative Jewish home, began writing music at 14 and conducting at 16. “We kept winnowing and winnowing the list” he said, “and Shatner’s name kept coming up. Itkin contacted Shatner, and it turned out that not only was he interested, he was available on the needed dates.
“It was intriguing,” Shatner recalled.
So with little preparation, other than years of reading the haggadah at seders, Shatner arrived in Little Rock the night before the first performance.
“He was great fun to be around,” Itkin recalled.
“On Saturday,” Shatner said, “everything fell into place.” “There’s no magic like a live audience,” Shatner says in the recording’s liner notes. Shatner recalled. In recent years, the immediate post-seder entertainment has been funny Passovers songs (like “There’s No Seder Like Our Seder” to tune of “There’s No Business Like Show Business”). This year may well find our seder going forth with Shatner and the “Exodus Oratorio.”
