Keeping ‘Fame’ in the family

GILLIAN KLAWANSKY

Now, seven years after her passing, Melman’s young cousin and biggest fan, Erin Midzuk, will play Miss Bell in the King David High School Victory Park (KDVP) production of Fame.

“As a child, I remember going to watch one of Lisa’s productions,” recalls Erin, 16. “After the show we went backstage to see the cast. I was just amazed to see my cousin – someone I knew and who knew and loved me – be the person on the stage. I felt so proud. I think that kickstarted my passion for arts and culture.

“Lisa used her loud, energetic personality and her talent to help and inspire others. Through her, I saw that there’s something for everyone. I wasn’t the most academic person, so when I discovered my passion for performing, I felt I’d found my thing.”

Although she was just nine years old when Melman passed away, Erin has beautiful memories of her cousin. “She connected with us on a different level,” she says, reflecting on the time she and her siblings spent with Melman. “It’s all very well to play with kids, but I really felt that she deeply cared for us. She always inspired me.”

It was Melman’s unwavering optimism that really set her apart, says Erin. “At that age I couldn’t really understand what being sick was, but whenever we’d ask her what was wrong, she’d explain it to us in the most positive way possible. I was just amazed by how positive and energetic she was all the time, no matter her situation.”

Erin came to KDVP, Melman’s alma mater, expressly because of the school’s strong arts and culture offering. She has since acted in all its major annual productions, playing the lead in last year’s Holocaust play, which went to the prestigious Festival of Excellence in Dramatic Arts for high schools.

“Often when I perform, I feel Lisa’s presence,” says Erin. “For me, drama is very much about the reason behind your performance, rather than about getting caught up in fame and how other people see you. Lisa used her passion and talent for performing to bring joy to others and to inspire them. I try to take on the same mindset.”

Erin didn’t expressly audition for the role of Miss Bell, and her teachers were unaware she was related to Lisa. “I’d always wanted to play the role, because obviously I have a connection to it, but it wasn’t a specific goal of mine. Once I got it, I thought there must be some connection here, though.

“If I can play Miss Bell in the best possible way, embodying Lisa, then I think I’ll be honouring her. She was in the middle of playing Miss Bell when she fell ill and she had to stop performing, so it’s like I’m carrying her legacy – finishing the shows she didn’t manage to do.”

The head of drama, arts and culture at KDVP, Renos Spanoudes, is directing Fame. “While she was at the school before my time there, I knew Lisa and worked with her after she matriculated,” he says. “I took the school’s drama students to see her play Miss Bell in Fame – I think it was her last performance of the production. She even had a little Q&A with the kids afterwards.

“Lisa was a powerhouse, one of the very few that this country has seen in terms of voice and presence on stage. She was just something phenomenal, and the industry embraced that.”

Spanoudes was unaware of Erin’s connection to Melman until she mentioned it a few weeks ago. “It’s wonderful on a spiritual level. If Lisa’s soul could see or feel what Erin was doing, she would be so thrilled, because it’s a legacy. It’s great that Erin is doing this because she’s talented – it’s in the DNA of the broader family.”

Theatre legend Hazel Feldman, who produced the production of Fame in which Melman starred, says: “It’s kind of weird that Lisa has a family member reprising that role, but it’s kind of wonderful as well. I always felt that Lisa was probably one of the finest singers and most talented performers in this country.

“She was 110% professional with a sense of humour, but also with a sense of purpose. There are not many of those people around like that these days, sadly. Lisa was a special performer and she’ll always have a very special place in my heart.”

Barbara Wolf, a former KDVP deputy principal, remembers Melman as a smart, creative student who strove for perfection in all she did. “She always sang in the presentations organised for the various Jewish festivals, but we did very few musicals in the years that she was at the school. The only one I remember very clearly was her leading role in The Fantasticks. I remember her so clearly singing that wonderful, haunting song, Try to Remember.

“Her debut in musical theatre was on the stage at KDVP, but it was only after she left school that she grew into the outstanding musical theatre actor that she became a powerhouse of talent with the most amazing voice,” said Wolf. “It was then, too, that she grew in confidence – something she didn’t always have at school. She never forgot her days at the school, though, and when I asked her to sing at Jeffrey Wolf’s farewell dinner (when he retired as headmaster in 1998), she readily agreed to do so and came straight from the theatre to sing.”

Melman’s brother, Mark remembers how his sister’s energy infused those around her. “I think Erin was just inspired. Lisa opened a lot of energy for everybody, both old and young. She had a voice and the ability to get people motivated in ways in which they never thought they would be. Through the guiding light of what she did, she brought young people visions of being a star.”