Just finished listening to KUNM’s “Happy ChallaDAY,” a fun parody of the classic film, “White Christmas”.
If you remember, in the original film, Vera-Ellen and Rosemary Clooney join Bing Crosby and the ever-delightful Danny Kaye, trying to save the Vermont inn run by Crosby and Kaye’s old major general.
Well, seeing as sunset brings the beginning of Hannukah, the eight-day Jewish holiday, KUNM offered an original musical audio drama, “Happy ChallaDAY!” If the pun isn’t clear, challa or challah is a delicious egg bread that is braided and served on the Jewish Sabbath and on special holidays.
Creator Charles Moster, who has produced three other audio drama musicals, was tickled by the fact that Irving Berlin, who was Jewish, had written “White Christmas,” and other standards commemorating Christian holidays (such as “Easter Parade”).
Some casual listeners are surprised to find out that Irving Berlin was Jewish, but then so was Jack Benny, whose Christmas radio specials were beloved by millions. And there was something else about Irving Berlin – beyond being a superlative songwriter, who could easily empathize with all walks of life through song…
When the song was first written for the film “Holiday Inn,” Berlin had been in an interfaith marriage for over fifteen years, marrying writer Ellin MacKay in 1926. MacKay was more than a decade younger and Roman Catholic. They were widely ostracized by society, as well as by kin – MacKay was disinherited by her father. As far as I understand, they still practiced their individual faiths … and they stayed happily married for another 62 years, until her death in 1988.
So, even if you don’t celebrate Hannukah, I suggest you take a leaf from Berlin’s book, and download the podcast of “Happy ChallaDAY” from the KUNM website. With some excellent singing and songs, and a story that parodies the 1954 film (the General here is named Waverlystein, and he’s opened a B&B on the Red Sea) it’s a light, fun, way to pass a chilly evening.
