Belle Halpern in Concert, Celebrating "Cravings" CD Release

On Saturday, November 3, at 8:00 pm, acclaimed local cabaret singer Belle Linda Halpern, accompanied by pianist Ron Roy, will celebrate the release of her CD “CRAVINGS: Songs of Hunger & Satisfaction” at Congregation Beth El in Sudbury. All proceeds of the performance will benefit Congregation Beth El in honor of its 50^th anniversary.

The CD recording, a unique intersection between music, desire, and food includes all the songs from Halpern’s very popular and critically lauded one-woman show of the same name. The theatrical show, “CRAVINGS,” a Ko Theater Works production, directed by Sabrina Hamilton, has played to standing ovations, rave reviews, and sold-out runs at the Central Square Theater and Salem Theater Company. “CRAVINGS” received an IRNE nomination for best solo show. Halpern has been called “Boston’s Best Singing Actor” by the Boston Herald; the Boston Globe has called her work “stunning, both as music and theatre,” and both the Globe and the Jewish Advocate named “CRAVINGS: Songs of Hunger & Satisfaction” in their round-ups of best theater.

The delicious theme of her new recording, “CRAVINGS: Songs of Hunger & Satisfaction” is about hunger--for food, acceptance, love, fame, and true nourishment. The repertoire is as much about appetite for food as it is about food for thought, universal themes that Halpern makes very personal.

For the performance, Halpern will draw on songs from the CD ranging from Tin Pan Alley classics to pop anthems, and contemporary ballads to Yiddish show-stoppers. The recording had its origins when Halpern met her musical director and friend, pianist Ron Roy, while she was performing at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA. They were both inspired to create their first cabaret show by a large, voluptuous painting at the local Peasant Stock Restaurant (now Dali) where they were to perform. It depicted a naked woman surrounded by food. Some songs from “CRAVINGS” originate from that first collaboration—including “I Can Cook, Too,” “Peel Me a Grape,” and “My Handy Man”.

One hundred percent of the concert ticket sales will support Congregation Beth El. “I was inspired to donate the proceeds of my CD release concert to Beth El because of how Beth El has nourished me body and soul! Beth El helps me and others taste the sweetness that is in Judaism and can be found in the every day,” says Belle Halpern, Beth El member since 1990.

Tickets are available for $25 and can be purchased by calling the Beth El office at 978-443-9622. Autographed copies of the CD will also be available at the event at a discount price of $15. For more information, visit our website www.bethelsudbury.org.