At the ripe age of eight, Yehezkel Lazarov began to tap dance. At the age of nine, he watched A Chorus Line on VHS and knew exactly what he wanted to be. Since then, he has managed to become one of the most active and original artists in Israel, mastering every field he dips his pinky toe in – acting, dancing, directing, writing, stage design, and, in recent years, teaching.
He recently played the lead role in The Picture of Dorian Gray, which he also adapted, directed, and designed for Habima. In Moscow, he starred in the series The Mentalist, despite not knowing a lick of Russian. And now, he's taking to the stage of Tel Aviv's acclaimed Cameri Theater with the Tony Award-winning musical, A Chorus Line. Add to this the fact that for five years he has also been involved in education at Studio Ankori (a high school for creative thinking and entrepreneurship that he founded together with Osnat Haber Koton), and you can believe him when he says that he hardly ever sleeps.
From Gesher to Broadway
© Eyal Landesman
After years of escaping from the world of musicals, at 44, Lazarov is starring in the most classic musical of all, and this choice seems to be the best gift he could have given himself. "A Chorus Line created a meeting point between two extremes for me – a sense of ironic fate," he explains. "On the one hand, it brings me to my earliest places; I started to tap dance at the age of eight because ballet was frowned upon, I saw the film at the age of nine, and the dream began to peck at me: everything about this production – the songs, the sounds, the characters and their lines – were like direct arrows to the heart of the child who dreamt of being an actor, dancer, and singer."
On the other hand, at the age of 15, Lazarov shifted gears towards classical modern ballet, and suddenly, his love for musicals took a hit. "When I was dancing in Batsheva, it was embarrassing to admit that I was into musicals. During these years, all of my artistic thinking had changed into procedural thinking – less forward, not so glamorous. In fact, all that exists within this musical is contrary to my entire credo...and yet, I now play the director's role in it. "
So then why did you choose to take the job anyway?
"I was rehearsing for Fathers and Sons at Gesher, which is really 180 degrees from this thing. I was sitting with the actors when suddenly, I received a phone call asking me if I wanted the role of the director [Zach]. I don't know how to explain it, but I said yes from the most intuitive place. Something in the role of the director resonated with my level of readiness to take on all that it entailed," explains Lazarov. "There's something about the role of the director looking in from the sidelines, who tap dances, too – something that I haven't touched since the age of 14. This is perhaps the most wonderful thing I could gift to myself...I am so happy about this choice and really enjoy it. It's refreshing and has a completely different energy than I am used to."
And indeed, this may well be one of the biggest plays to ever be performed on Broadway. The theater transforms into a rehearsal space, housing exhaustive auditions for a musical, with actors, dancers, and musicians, at the end of which the director must choose the final cast. The candidates themselves are completely exposed as they present their personal stories: some are moving, others surprising, or even funny at times. Lazarov naturally slides into the virtuosic director's role. He is encouraging, hardening, and embracing of anyone desperate enough to win over his approval. At the same time, he is also dealing with a past lover (played by Maya Dagan), who comes to the audition and drops him into a whirlpool of raw emotions. Lazarov unleashes his innumerable talents on stage in Tsedi Sarfati's brilliant adaptation of this Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway to sweep audience members off their feet.
From the stage to the school to the ex-Soviet Union
© Kasymova Guuzal
Lazarov, unlike many actors who have dabbled in directing, has developed a full career as a director, and these days he has three plays running at the Gesher Theater in Jaffa.
Does an actor like you not feel a bit frustrated when he's forced to stay behind the scenes?
"It always amazes me that I have the ability to put myself aside and I really enjoy the director position," Lazarov pauses a moment to say a few words about the Gesher Theater: "There are not many theaters that allow art to happen, where they strike a real interest in a work that does not necessarily take into account economic interests. They took a risk and allowed the productions to run for a fourth year – Gesher Theater is the warmest place an artist can ask for."
In the past five years Lazarov has been at the head of an educational institution and is very proud of it. "Studio Ankori is a joint venture between Osnat Haber Koton, CEO of Ankori Networks, and myself. The school runs from 7th through 12th grade and is designed for creative thinkers. While you still learn core lessons, you also get to study theater, dance, art, music, and film – and at no stage do you have to narrow in on just one. There is a unique pedagogy for the studio that we developed: the year is divided into four seasons, each season revolves around one theme. We do not test a child's talent at any stage," he adds.
And it would be impossible to ignore the fact that you became a star in Russia without knowing Russian.
"It started with a series I shot two years ago in Moscow, with a Russian-French production, and the Russian production company approached me with a proposal to act in The Mentalist. In 100 days of filming, there was not a single scene I wasn't in. We filmed with an earpiece on set and an actress in another room feeding me lines. I learned the texts in English the night before to figure out what I was going to talk about. I acted with the biggest Russian actors in the industry; they spoke to me in Russian and I didn't understand a word. It was one of the most amazing lessons in acting I've ever had. Understanding that the spoken word is very important and fun, but there are a lot of things bigger than that – there is frequency, feeling, emotion, energy. This was an acting lesson, but also a life lesson."
© Ronen Akerman
Catch the very talented Yehezkel Lazarov as he puts Michael Douglas to shame in A Chorus Line at the Cameri Theater. For showtimes, check out the event.