“Moses Man” is a true story following Jewish couple Kalman Haber and his wife on their journey through Europe to escape persecution during World War II. The musical will make its debut at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Wells-Metz Theater.
The main character, Avi, is played by junior Nathan Robbins , who said his transformation from actor to character was an incredible journey.
Robbins is transforming into the younger version of Avi. The older version narrates the musical as if to his grandson , telling the grueling story of how he and his wife survived the Holocaust.
“The challenge has been trying to find his ‘life is beautiful’ attitude in such a dark story and trying to navigate those waters,” Robbins said.
Junior Kaitlyn Mayse plays the character Lia, Avi’s wife , who is also the leader of a Zionist group in Austria.
“There is a lot of pressure surrounding this role,” Mayse said. “Lia and Avi’s story is actually the true story of the book writer/lyricist Deborah Haber’s parents. It is a stressful task to take on portraying someone’s mother and then add a different time period and culture. It seemed so daunting at first.”
Mayse said Haber was present daily at rehearsals, and she was able to learn and shape her character based on the stories and insight Haber could bring to the role.
“She was an invaluable resource for me and my character work,” Mayse said.
Sophomore Christian Fray, who plays Efra, a member of Avi’s revolution group, said the biggest difference with this show is it is actually a workshop.
“This means that the composer and writer are working with us and the director and music director,” he said. “They are giving us rewrites, and we can go up to the writers and say, ‘this line here,’ or ‘this lyric seems out of character for my character in the show.’”
Fray said both the cast and crew are focusing on the script, so costuming and set will not be as elaborate as previous productions.
“The most interesting thing that happened I think was listening to the tapes that the writer used as her inspiration for the script,” Fray said. “The show is based on the story of the writers’ parents, and the tapes were her father retelling the story.”
Robbins said the feeling of wanting to do the writer’s story justice has been a daunting experience for him. He loves having the writers in the room, being able to feed off and morph to their reactions.
“This certainly isn’t the last stop,” he said. “It’s going to change and evolve from here.”
Robbins said the show will be a cathartic, emotional experience for its audience, and each showing may slightly vary due to its unique workshop nature.
“People should come see this show because it delves into aspects of the Holocaust that are not as well known,” Mayse said. “And it is truly a universal story of hope and perseverance and love.”
“Moses Man” opens 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Wells-Metz Theatre and will also be performed at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Student tickets cost $15, and general admission tickets are $25.
Tickets are available at the IU Auditorium box office and online.
