HaBustan Ha Spharadi

Somehow I'd never seen the musical HaBustan HaSepharadi by Yitskhak Navon (who later became president of the State of Israel). Nor did I know it is a series of sketches tying together well-known Ladino romanceros -- songs whose words are in 500-year old Spanish kept alive by Jews scattered by their exile from Spain. All I knew was that the play was about his childhood in Jerusalem. That was enough for me to pick up that early dialogue was in Ladino -- which is to say that I picked out a few of the few Spanish words I know. People who know Spanish and have studied Spanish literature from the 15th century, say they understand most of what's said in Ladino. The audience was a nice mix of ages, from teenage and maybe younger to folks who, if they did not themselves remember the 1920s in Nakhalaot were the children or maybe even younger siblings of the characters in the play. Many sang along with the songs, which is always fun at a play like this. Copyright 2013 Jane Schulzinger Fox