Hebrew Hillbillies

"Hebrew Hillbilly: Fifty Shades of Oy Vey" is an autobiography that traces a life in the music business. It is a story of a dedicated artist's furious struggle to live a life on the fringe of fame. The character in the title "Hebrew Hillbilly" refers the play's author, Shelley Fisher, a Jewish pop/country singer born in Memphis, Tennessee. This text will be the link

A contemporary of Dolly Parton, Fisher resembles her in looks: tiny waist and ample cleavage with big blonde tresses. Also like Parton, she is a songwriter who records her own material, but whereas Parton stuck closely to her country roots, Fisher has diversified to include disco and pop music in her repertoire.

She came closest to realizing her ambitions for recognition when she penned a follow up to "Disco Duck" written by Rick Dees, DJ in Memphis in the '70s. The tidal wave she is set to ride turns to a trickle when her premature infant daughter is hospitalized with whooping cough, and she chooses to stay by her side instead of headlining a gig that could cement her fame; coincidentally, the job goes to Parton.

At its heart this is a story of tenacity. Fisher has never thrown in the towel. She continues to write and record her own music and play in gin joints and honky-tonks all over the country. Still in terrific shape as a result of good genetics and hard work, she is roughly the same age as Parton; she continues her artistic endeavors.

This fact alone makes "Hebrew Hillbilly" a worthwhile evening. Fisher sings as well as recreates a myriad of characters onstage including: her mother, father, Elvis Presley, three husbands, herself as a 12-year-old and various record producers and talent agents she meets along the way.

Each character is deftly defined, and as the story progresses, she marks the seminal moments with songs that inspired the events that unfold. Her most endearing characters are her parents who she paints a loving portrait of, sometimes with broad strokes and at others with painstaking detail. For example, she reminisces about the comforting smell of her father's aftershave and her mother's guilt-laden tirades.

There is also a lot of humor in her storytelling. She recounts her first encounter with anti-Semitism in the fifth grade. A boy she has a crush on calls her a dirty Jew. She punches him in the face but is admonished by her father, not for hitting him, but for not aiming below his bellybutton. She also makes humorous references to Memphis as well as pointing fun at her large breasts.

Particularly moving is Fisher's face, eyes sparkling with emotion as she sings her songs which are snippets of the various feelings she has experienced during her personal narrative. These songs belong wholly to her and, one suspects, could never be sung in quite the same way by anyone else. They are the jewels in the crown of her life. Spread over several decades and reflecting the popular conventions in music at those times, to some they may seem dated, to others a trip down memory lane.

There are times when the audience finds itself clapping to the music with encouragement from Fisher. There are songs in the canon that are more enduring in both lyric and music, for example, the song about the birth of her daughter and another about the death of her father.

The reason to see the show is Fisher herself. She is an inspiration to all artists including: actors, writers, visual artists and musicians to continue creating and performing in spite of the fact that success and recognition may be elusive.

"Hebrew Hillbilly" runs thru Nov. 22 at Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Dr., Fort Lauderdale. For tickets or information, call 954-678-1496 or visit empirestage.com.