Meri Ziev of Ocean Ridge often has roles at the Lake Worth Playhouse. This month she's Josephine Strong in Urinetown, The Musical. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Mary Thurwachter
A decade ago, Meri Ziev’s children dragged her to an audition for a musical at the Delray Beach Playhouse. Or maybe she dragged them. In any event, her progeny wanted to be in a play and, as she watched the auditions, she realized she could do that too. All of them got parts and Ziev launched her community theater acting career.
Today, Ziev and her husband, Arthur, live in Ocean Ridge and are empty nesters. Their daughter, Natalie, just graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in marine science and wants to be an occupational therapist. Their son, Jason, has a degree in musical theater from Emerson College in Boston and had lead roles this year in the Lake Worth Playhouse's performances of Tommy and Rock of Ages.
Ziev works part-time as a speech-language pathologist at Galaxy Elementary School and is a cabaret singer who performs at venues such as the Black Box at the Lake Worth Playhouse, condos and assisted living homes. But much of her time goes to productions at the playhouse. Her current role is Josephine Strong, the mother of the hero in Urinetown, The Musical, a satire of the legal system, capitalism, corporate mismanagement and municipal politics. In the play, a 20-year drought has led to a ban on private toilets.
The show runs Oct. 6 through 23.
Josephine, said Ziev, seems slow to understand things but is a strong and fierce defender of her son.
“The show is coming together in a delightful way,” she said. “It’s a clever, interesting subject without being heavy.”
Ziev, 56, said she has always loved music and singing and has come to love the camaraderie, creativity, storytelling and music she finds in community theater. Passion is necessary, because community theater requires a serious time commitment. She rehearsed with the rest of the cast from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday until tech week, when rehearsals run from 6 to 11 p.m. and include weekend hours.
Her husband, a developer and business consultant, gets involved in the shows. “He’s a big music lover and you can often find him working concessions or as an usher,” she said.
Ziev’s fondness for music dates back to her childhood. “I remember singing from the backseat of my dad’s car,” she said. “He played eight-tracks, often Sinatra. I played the flute in high school and mom would take me to the symphony. But I was shy in high school.”
It’s safe to say she overcame her reticence.
Her favorite part was Bloody Mary in South Pacific.
“I didn’t audition because I didn’t think I was appropriate for the part,” Ziev said. But when the woman who got the part had to bow out, Ziev was asked to step in.
“I said, ‘Oh, I get to sing Bali High, I’ll do it,’” she said. “I had to transform completely — my gait, my posture, I lowered my voice and changed my accent. I even had to wear makeup on my teeth.” She found the role “fun and exciting.”
It was not her most challenging role —that was Lady Thiang in The King and I.
“I had to get knee pads to do the show because we had to get down and bow to the king so much. It was physically and emotionally challenging,” Ziev said.
Among her favorite actresses are Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin and Alfre Woodard. But her all-time favorite is her cabaret coach Faith Prince, best known for her work in Broadway musicals. “She has been in movies, cabaret and on TV,” Ziev said. “She is extremely fun, quirky and interesting.”
Besides Urinetown The Musical, Ziev is preparing for a cabaret show with Kelly DiLorenzo called The Legendary Ladies of Song: Side by Side at the Stonzek Theatre (Lake Worth Playhouse’s Black Box) March 10-12.
If You Go
What: Urinetown, The Musical
Where: Lake Worth Playhouse, 212 Lake Ave.
When: Oct. 6-23
Tickets: $23-$38
Info: 586-6410;
www.lakeworthplayhouse.org.
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