As a Jewish child in the mid-1960s, overpowered by the Christmas revelry all around her, Susan Lieberman bought a little tree and made her own ornaments out of construction paper. Her mother, unhappy but trying to compromise, insisted that Susan put the tree out on the balcony.
“It was a lonely time,” acknowledges the Chicago-raised, Wilmette-based Lieberman, now 45.
It is that sense of isolation Lieberman wanted to address in “Prairie Lights,” the new musical receiving its world premiere by Stage Left Theatre at Theatre Building Chicago through Jan. 4. For this Hanukkah-themed musical, Lieberman wrote the book and teamed up with Chicago playwright-lyricist David Rush and Boston-based composer Rosalie Gerut for the score.
“Prairie Lights” follows the journey of two Jewish siblings riding the orphan train west to Wellspring, Nebraska in 1905. They reach Wellspring in the midst of the Yuletide season and are adopted by the only Jewish couple in town–Abraham and Sophie Birnbaum. With the children in their lives, the Birnbaums faith is renewed, while the town–recovering from a scarlet fever epidemic–learns about tolerance.
The musical, while not based on a real Jewish family, was inspired by the orphan trains, a concept developed in the 1800s by social reformer-minister Charles Loring Brace, founder of the Children’s Aid Society. The goal of the program was to send New York City’s orphans west, to be adopted by “good Christian farm families.”
“Statistic-wise,” says Lieberman, “I read that about 99 percent of the children were Christian, and one percent were `Jewish and other.’
“In `Prairie Lights,’ I was interested . . . to look at their isolation and their [adoptive] parents’ isolation. Where do you go for kosher food in Wellspring, Neb., in 1905?”
“Prairie Lights” began as an Emmy-nominated PBS teleplay called “Prairie Latkes” in the early 1990s, a collaboration between Rush and Lieberman. After its television airing, Rush, who, like Lieberman, is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, decided music could more vividly tap into the characters’ souls. That was in 1995. The work has since been opened up to include a much larger cast of characters and the scarlet fever epidemic over its long development period at Chicago Dramatists and through Stage Left’s new play program, “Downstage Left.”
“The emotional heart of the story,” says lyricist Rush, “is a boy [the devout orphan Benjamin] longing to be true to himself and reaching out to a community. It really cried out for singing. There are things people go through that they can’t articulate verbally, but they are better expressed musically.”
And though “Prairie Lights” may be seen as a refreshing antidote to all the “Christmas Carols” and “Nutcrackers,” Lieberman insists that Hanukkah should not be viewed as a Jewish Christmas. Her goal is to highlight the importance of maintaining individual traditions and peacefully co-existing with other faiths.
“With `Prairie Lights,’ I want to be clear that we absolutely don’t do Christmas–that religions are individual entities unto themselves as opposed to being viewed in relation to other faiths. It’s about co-existing as long as we respect each other’s individual traditions.”
Now the mother of three young children, does Lieberman feel she has to celebrate Hanukkah as elaborately as Christians celebrate Christmas?
“Today, I think there is too much recognition of Hanukkah,” she responds. “It’s actually one of the lesser of the Jewish holidays. With `Prairie Lights,’ I hope people don’t think Hanukkah should be observed on the scale of Christmas. I do want to let others know that Jews have holidays all year long. They’re fun, and you can invite friends of all faiths to enjoy them with you.”
That’s what “Prairie Lights” is ultimately about–a mutually respectful coming together of people during times of crisis and celebration. Director Drew Martin plans to emphasize “those fundamental needs, particularly in terms of family life and asserting yourself within the realm of community.”
“The children revive the town,” said Lieberman. “Hanukkah means re-dedication. By the end, everyone in this town is rediscovering each other and re-dedicating themselves to each other.”
“Prairie Lights”
When: Through Jan. 4
Where: Stage Left Theatre at the Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.
Price: $16-$26; 773-327-5252
