The 2022 Intersisterhood program will be “Rogers and Sperberstein: Better Than Never!” The event will be held on Wednesday, May 25, at 7 pm, at Beth David Synagogue. It will feature Robert Rogers and David Sperber performing their parodied versions of Broadway tunes with lyrics they created, all with a Jewish twist. Refreshments will be served. The admission price of $5 will be collected at the event, and attendees will have an opportunity to be entered into a drawing for door prizes.
Attendees should RSVP by Wednesday, May 18, to their respective synagogues: Beth David at 722-1793 or bethdavid@stny.rr.com; Temple Israel at 723-7461 or titammy@stny.twcbc.com; and Temple Concord at 723-7355 or templeconcordaa@gmail.com.
“Ready to laugh and be entertained? The time has come!” said the organizers of this year’s Intersisterhood event. “The event will bring together Sisterhood members from Beth David, Temple Israel and Temple Concord, and is being coordinated by Intersisterhood Committee members Dora Polachek, Barbara Zelter and Ani Loew.”
Rogers is the director of the Robert Rogers Puppet Company, now in its 42nd year, and has performed locally, nationally and internationally. He and his family moved to Broome County in 2002. David Sperber, after training in New York City in ophthalmology and retinal surgery, moved to the Binghamton area in 1996 and established his practice, Retina Associates.
Rogers and Sperber originally met when they were high school students in New Rochelle, NY, and reconnected in Binghamton. “It wasn’t until years later,” Rogers noted, “that we realized our hometown connection. By chance, we both had joined Temple Concord. One Friday night, I heard David’s name as he was called up to the Torah, and that’s how we became good friends thereafter.” Rogers recalls bantering back and forth with Sperber about theatrical trivia. “I worked in the performing arts,” Rogers added, “and if David hadn’t become a physician, I think he would have loved to be in the theater.”
Their test as a musical comedy team came when they performed together at a Saturday night Temple Concord congregational dinner. “We were a hit,” Sperber quipped, “and our personae evolved into what we currently are: Rogers and Sperberstein, the unsung and unknown Jewish musical theater duo.”
At another Temple Concord dinner event, Sperber rewrote the lyrics to “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” from “Kiss me Kate” as “Brush Up Your Torah.” “At which point,” Sperber added, “Robert realized that I could write much better than I could sing. We continued writing new Yiddishe lyrics to classical show tunes, and have performed our act numerous times – twice, to be exact.”
“With their penchant for adding a Jewish twist to classic Broadway songs,” organizers said, “this Intersisterhood event is just what the doctor ordered. Both Robert and David look forward to entertaining us at what will surely be an event to remember!”