Dudu Fisher Performs At Jewish Center Of The Hamptons

Jewish Center of the Hamptons (JCOH) hosts Les Misérables Broadway performer and Israeli singer Dudu Fisher, best known for his performance as Jean Valjean in the Broadway musical “Les Misérables,” on Sunday, July 3, at 4 p.m.

Fisher, the first Israeli artist invited to sing in the former Soviet Union, has performed with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and recorded a show tunes album with the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1988, he was invited to London to take part in a Royal Command Performance hosted by United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II. It was at this performance where he met famed theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh, who then presented him the opportunity to perform on Broadway and London’s West End.

“My biggest achievement was to get a contract that specifically says I would be excused from shows on Friday nights, Saturday matinees and all Jewish holidays,” Fisher says. “This had never been done before. It was Cameron Macintosh who gave me this chance, and I will never forget it. I love him very much. I think he did a great thing for the Jewish people.

“My mother would tell me, be a doctor. Singing is nice for the bathroom and for kids,” he says, adding his mother’s initial thoughts about his singing aspirations. It was advice he thankfully ignored. He went on to study at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music after his military service and then served as Cantor in Tel Aviv, followed by four years in South Africa. For over 30 years he sang during Jewish High Holidays at Kutsher’s Hotel, the famed resort that inspired the film “Dirty Dancing.”

The concert will be sponsored in part by longtime JCOH congregant Esther Muller-Wieder and husband Ben Wieder in memory of Esther’s parents, Freida and Moshe Meisler, who loved to sing Shabbat songs with Fisher on Friday nights. Moshe Meisler, who served as Cantor at the Seasons Hotel Synagogue in Netanya, Israel for 40 years, loved to hear the various renditions of many prayers presented by Fisher and emulated some of them at his synagogue.

“My mother, a Holocaust survivor, was affected by dementia. Dudu took time from his busy schedule to visit my mom several times a week to sing to her in Yiddish, Hebrew, and English,” says Muller-Wieder. “As a matter of fact, my mother was not only mesmerized but had her spirits lifted by Dudu Fisher.”

Tickets to the concert are $72 ($54 for members) at jcoh.org/event/dudu-fisher/. The JCOH is at 44 Woods Lane in East Hampton. Preregistration and proof of vaccination are required. For details call 631-324-9858.