People are hungry for happy stories, stories of celebration and joy, says Palo Alto playwright and children’s author Caryn Huberman Yacowitz. Some of the happiest stories Huberman Yacowitz has ever heard are about how couples found each other and fell in love.
“People love to talk about how they met, and when they do, they reveal personal qualities, tell interesting stories — sometimes mind-boggling stories.”
A year ago Huberman Yacowitz, 65, interviewed 16 couples at her synagogue, Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills. Based on the memories they shared, Huberman Yacowitz wrote the play “Bashert!” (a Yiddish word meaning destiny or soul mate). She directed and produced the play, which had its debut in November in the Beth Am sanctuary in front of more than 350 people.
“The response was very positive — just wonderful, really,” says Huberman Yacowitz. “These all are happy stories, stories that bring back a magical time, stories about when something positive and beautiful happened.”
Some were short — told in “Laugh-In” style — and others were longer pieces. Mike Morgenstern provided accordion accompaniment. And to tie the narratives together, Huberman Yacowitz wrote a dialogue between God and a narrator. Rabbi Janet Marder, senior rabbi at Beth Am, played the role of God, who is heard but not seen in the show.
“It was a delight to play God in this production,” Marder says. “There’s nothing a rabbi enjoys more!”
The next production of the play, which features 13 actors with a range of stage experience, is set for March 20, again at Beth Am. This performance, followed by a wine and cheese reception, will be a benefit to support the Poltava Synagogue in Ukraine (Beth Am’s sister congregation) and Ethiopian Jews (through the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jews).
In the play, one of the vignettes is about Judy and Arthur Goldberg, who met a half-century ago driving in Cape Cod. She was in a car with some girlfriends and he was in a car with Judd Hirsch — yes, that Judd Hirsch (the actor most known for his role of Alex Rieger on “Taxi”). At a traffic light, the guys held up a sign saying they were harmless.
“We wrote back, and we all continued to write signs back and forth as we drove — think early texting,” says Judy Goldberg, 71. The last sign read, “Let’s have coffee at the next rest stop.”
Married 48 years, the Goldbergs, now retired, live in Menlo Park. “It was delightful to watch our story being performed.”
Roy Blitzer, an actor in the production, watched from the stage as fellow thespians performed a vignette about how he met his wife, Carol. “I was a graduate student at U.C. Berkeley and Carol was an undergrad. I took a journalism class, and happened to sit next to her,” says Blitzer, 66, a management coach-consultant and part-time adjunct faculty member at three local colleges.
When the two met, Blitzer coincidentally had a slip of paper in his pocket with Carol’s name and phone number. His aunt had sent the number to him after meeting Carol a few weeks earlier in Los Angeles, but he hadn’t really paid much attention. “We met on a Tuesday,” recalls Blitzer. “On Thursday, I pulled the paper from my pocket and realized it was the same person.” The Blitzers live in Palo Alto, where Carol is assistant editor at the Palo Alto Weekly. They have been married 42 years.
Debbie and Bruce La Fetra’s story also appears in “Bashert!” Married 17 years, she is a lawyer and he is a marketing consultant. The couple, who live in Sunnyvale, met during their freshman year of college and married 10 years later.
“We were friends in college, close friends,” recalls Debbie, 44. “When my grandmother passed away, Bruce bought a ticket and put me on the plane.” After college, the two fell out of touch but then later reconnected as friends. “One day, we kissed — and we got engaged that same day,” says Debbie. “Once we figured it out, it appeared that everyone else already knew we belonged together.” Watching their story onstage was “sweet” and made the La Fetras smile.
“In my plays, I always make them laugh and make them cry,” says Huberman Yacowitz, who also co-wrote the musical “Jeans!” (with Diane Claerbout and Enid Davis) about blue jeans pioneers Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis. It was produced four times between 2004 and 2007. She also writes and directs for Suburban Squirrel, a sketch comedy group based in Mountain View.
Born in New York City, Huberman Yacowitz earned a degree in history and political science at Rutgers University and, later, a master’s degree in creative writing at San Francisco State University. She has two grown children and one grandchild.
Huberman Yacowitz is moved by the enthusiastic response to her “Bashert!” “That is the beauty of theater,” she says. “Nothing touches us — no book, no movie — quite the same way as a play, with real people on stage delivering a story. This play is my gift to my congregation.” n
“Bashert!” is scheduled for 5 p.m. March 20 at Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Altos Hills. $25, includes wine and cheese reception. Limited seating. For tickets, contact Judy Sack at [email protected]. To book a performance, or for information about producing “Bashert!” or “Jeans!” call (650) 326-0600 or e-mail [email protected].