Image by Russ Roland

“Moses Man,” a musical about a family’s 9-year-long World War II survival odyssey that took them on a sanctuary search from Vienna, to Cyprus, Palestine and Africa before finally landing in America, has enough “now you’re safe, now you’re not!” twists and turns to justify being dubbed a Holocaust musical thriller. With book and lyrics by Deborah Haber and music by Casey Filiaci it is based on Haber’s father Kalman (Opa) and now 96-year old Lily Haber’s true escape saga.

With a talented young cast of fourteen — and several playing multiple roles — it stars Kevin McGuire as Opa, Evan Daves as his grandson Moshe, Tess DeFlyer as Lia and Joanne Borts — a Folksbiene alumna whose credentials include the recent Broadway hit “Once” — as a Gestapo guard, Austrian, refugee and taverna owner. Other multi-character portrayers—Ryan Speakman as an SS Obersturmbannfuhrer Eichmann, Ship Captain, Cypriot, Sailor, British Major, and American Commander; Scott Scaffidi who plays a character Efra, Sailor, British Governor, refugee and super multi character actor T J Mannix who plays a police chief, Gestapo member, Italian Border Guard, British Officer and American Sailor. On stage there was an inanimate “cast” of large wooden crates—each with stenciled-in-black hoped-for destinations.

“Moses Man”’s [July 8-12] was part of The New York Musical Theatre Festival at The Alice Griffin Theatre at Pershing Square Signature Center on West 42nd Street.

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During my chats with Haber (Executive Artistic Director of DEEP Arts and past producing Artistic Director of Rochester Children’s Theatre for 23 years), she told me “Three years ago I decided to go for it — set everything else aside. My dad died 21 years ago, mom was getting older. Sitting around the Seder table he started to tell his story, talking about Moses…He was a plumber, a Zionist through and through…a leader of his Hashomer Hatzair group.”

Haber recalled: “My mom was born in Vienna, my dad was from a small town in Poland…I always knew they went through the Holocaust… but did not understand their journey. I knew they were in Africa for five years Malawi [formerly Nyasaland]… in a British detention camp… to Durban, South Africa where my sister was born… We have an audio testimony from my father, that’s how I started to tell the story. For three years I listened to those tapes for hours… there are so many things in the script in his voice.

“Originally cast for 8 then 9, now 14, I decided to expand the number of characters. We’ve done it for schools, readings in Rochester and Indianapolis, [the reaction is] phenomenal. History teachers want this so they can connect. During talk-backs students can relate to their life, identifying with the history through provoking action… I say to them, ‘You may have been learning about the Holocaust in school. Perhaps you know someone who went through this…has a history… I show them my father’s papers… [which] brings this story to the next generations… to the now.”

There is a scene in the play when Haber’s 18 year old mother Lia (sung exquisitely by DeFlyer,) in the midst of a moment of danger and holding back panic, sings “And Mama Needs Cherries” cherries that her mother must have — a touchstone at normalcy and sweetness. During intermission I showed Haber a little Ziploc bag of red Bing cherries I had brought with me as a snack. She was speechless…as was I.

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