Actress Daphna Rechter and attorney Reuven Ladianski are running for Tel Aviv City Council on the Let the Animals Live ticket.
By GREER FAY CASHMANDaphna Rechter 88 224(photo credit: Courtesy)
BEST KNOWN for his portrayal of Jean Valjean in productions of Les Miserables in Israel, London and on Broadway, Dudu Fisher will soon appear before his largest audience ever. He has sung in solo performances around the world and his wide-ranging repertoire includes opera, musical comedy, liturgical songs, Elvis Presley's catalog, Hebrew hits, Yiddish nostalgia and more. But this time, a group of American Jews who were interested in featuring Fisher on a television special to be aired on PBS (which has some 350 member stations and more than 100 million viewers) put up a half-million dollars for Fisher to sing against various backgrounds in Israel. The grand finale takes place in the Beit She'an National Park against the backdrop of the ancient Roman amphitheater. The project took three days to shoot, but was five years in the planning. Fisher regards it as a major stepping stone in his career. Though he is not short of exposure, the special will nonetheless bring him to the attention of audiences who may not have been aware of him before. It will also help to promote Israel as a tourist destination.
AFTER AN 18-year hiatus during which he worked for Channel 1 and Channel 2, then for a mortgage bank and most recently as a partner in a firm called Press Cast, Gadi Sukenik returned to Israel Radio on the day of the Kadima primaries as a guest interviewer on Keren Neubach's Agenda. Much more relaxed behind the microphone than in front of the camera, he did a great job.
SOMEONE AT Israel Radio must have screwed up the rosters. Aryeh Golan, who was one of the late-night anchors and commentators on the marathon broadcast of the Kadima primaries Wednesday night, left the studio after midnight and was back at the microphone at 6 a.m. on Thursday. Considering that he is supposed to scan all the morning papers before he starts work, it means that he had almost no sleep.
CELEBRATED ACTOR Alon Abutbul, who last year initiated a guitar festival in the desert, is looking forward to a big crowd at this year's event during the intermediate days of Succot (October 15, 16 and 17). The event at the Ma'ayan Haneurim farms will include a mix of Jewish tradition, guitar workshops, open stages for both professional and amateur performers and more. Among the stars appearing at the event will be Shuli Rand, whose Succot-based movie Ushpizen was an enormous hit, and who recently released his first album, Nekuda Tova (Good Point), in which he sings 11 songs that he wrote himself. They are based on the teachings of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav. The album sold more than 30,000 copies, earning Rand a gold CD.
IT SEEMS as if animal rights in Tel Aviv-Jaffa are best protected by stage and screen personalities. There's Orna Banai, who currently sits on the Tel Aviv City Council and also broadcasts commercials for animal rights groups, and there's actress Daphna Rechter, a long-time animal rights activist who is running for election to the next Tel Aviv-Jaffa City Council in November. Rechter, who owns three dogs, is running on the Let the Animals Live ticket headed by attorney Reuven Ladianski. She is fourth on the list.
WHAT DO Pnina Rosenblum, Dalia Rabin and Anastasia Michaeli have in common? Rosenblum, a cosmetics queen and former model and singer, was a very short-term member of Knesset; Rabin was a four-year MK and served as deputy defense minister; and Michaeli, a model and presenter on Russian-language Channel 9 Television, was on the Kadima Knesset list - but failed to get elected. But politics is not all they have in common. The three are members of the recently organized Friends of the Association for the Welfare of Israel Soldiers, whose other founding members include public relations guru Ran Rahav, Ilana Kapitolnik, who heads Israel Gateway, which facilitates international trade, Amir Haik, Uzi Landau, Haim Romano, Bina Braun, Ephraim Lapid, Ruth Rubinstein, Nir Dvori and Givatayim Mayor Reuven Ben-Shahar.
AFTER SHAKING the foundations of bureaucracy and taking the wind out of the sails out of some of Israel's most affluent and influential people in Musar Hashilumim (The Morality of Payments), it looks as if television, radio and print personalities Orly Vilnai and Guy Meroz are about to launch a permanent arrangement. The two were married to other people when they first met, but have since divorced. Initially they denied any romantic entanglement, but in recent weeks they have made their after-hours relationship public. Now they have let it be known that they intend to get married some time early in 2009. He has three children and she has one.
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
