Wilmette Theatre Presents the Hit Film HAVA NAGILA Every Friday, Begin. 5/31

The Wilmette Theatre, 1122 Central Ave., will present Hava Nagila (The Movie), a film that has earned critical praise and delighted audiences around the world, on Fridays through Tuesdays starting May 31.

Hava Nagila (The Movie) is an endearing, sassy, fascinating documentary romp through the history, mystery and meaning of the great Jewish standard. Featuring interviews with Harry Belafonte, Leonard Nimoy, Connie Francis, Glen Campbell, Regina Spektor and more, the film follows the ubiquitous party song on its fascinating journey from the shtetls of Eastern Europe to the kibbutzim of Palestine to the cul-de-sacs of America. High on fun and entertainment, Hava Nagila (The Movie) is also surprisingly profound, tapping into universal themes about the importance of joy, the power of music and the resilient spirit of a people. To learn more about the film and watch the trailer, visit http://www.havanagilamovie.com/index.htm.

Hava Nagila is instantly recognizable - musical shorthand for anything Jewish, a happy party tune that you dance to at weddings, bar mitzvahs and even at Major League Baseball games. It conjures up wistful smiles, memories of generations past...and no shortage of eye rolling. But as audiences will discover in Hava Nagila (The Movie), the song is much more than a tale of Jewish kitsch and bad bar mitzvah fashions. It carries with it an entire constellation of history, values and hopes for the future and encapsulates the Jewish journey over the past 150 years. It also reveals the power of one song to express and sustain identity, to transmit lessons across generations and to bridge cultural divides and connect us all on a universal level.

"When you find a song that says 'Let us rejoice,' there's no better song to leave an evening with. Hava Nagila tells us who we should be and what we, in a fundamental sense, aspire to be - peoples of love and joy and peace," says star Harry Belafonte. Hava Nagila (The Movie) excavates the layers of cultural complexity with humor, depth and heart-traveling the distance between the Holocaust to Dick Dale and his surf guitar, sometimes in the same sentence. It stops at key places-Ukraine, Israel, the Catskills, and Greenwich Village, where Belafonte performed a hopeful version in the late 1950s, only to be countered by Bob Dylan, who butchers the song in his version Talkin' Hava Negiliah Blues.

The film covers Allan Sherman's parody Harvey and Sheila, and Lena Horne's civil rights anthem Now-both set to the tune of Hava Nagila. The film spotlights Italian-American crooner Connie Francis, who made the song the first track on her famous album of Jewish favorites; and Glen Campbell, who released an instrumental version of Hava on the B-side of his theme song from True Grit.It also dissects the proliferation of pop culture references to Hava Nagila in film and TV and brings the song up to the present, where it's a rallying tune at sports games, a hot dance number in nightclubs and a global hit online. The resulting film not only entertains us and makes us laugh; but it reminds us of the power of melody to go deep and to bring a celebration to life - offering delightful moments of discovery, one after another, on the song's fascinating journey from Ukraine to YouTube.

Hava Nagila (The Movie) is directed and produced by Roberta Grossman, written and produced by Sophie Sartain, and produced by Marta Kauffman. The films executive producer is LIsa Thomas, with Cinematography by Dyanna Taylor and Mike Chin and edited by Chris Callister.

Hava Nagila (The Movie) has a run time of 1 hour and 20 minutes and will start appearing on May 31, 2013 and will continue in an ongoing engagement at the Wilmette Theatre. To order tickets for Hava Nagila (The Movie) please visit http://www.wilmettetheatre.com/ or call the box office at 847.251.7424.

The not-for-profit Wilmette Theatre is the premiere multi-arts and performance center anchoring the downtown Wilmette business district by providing vibrant entertainment, education and enrichment for the community. The theater is located steps away from the Wilmette Metra station. For tickets, call the Box Office at 847.251.7424 or visit www.wilmettetheatre.com.