“Funny Girl” and “Harmony” star Julie Benko welcomed her first child, a daughter, on Thanksgiving day, and she shared the news on social media in the most Jewish Broadway fashion — by posting a video of her daughter’s first jam, at just 3 days old.
In the video, Benko, 35, sits at the piano with husband Jason Yaeger and belts out the song “A Sleepin’ Bee” with her little newborn in a carrier on her body. The song has beautiful Jewish significance, too, co-written by Truman Capote and Harold Arlen, the Jewish son of a cantor who would go on to win an Oscar for composing “Over the Rainbow.” It was part of Capote’s first musical, “House of Flowers,” about bordellos in Haiti and it was the incredible Diahann Carroll who first sang it, in her Broadway debut. The musical was a flop, yet the song took on a life of its own. It has been sung by the likes of Tony Bennett and Julie Andrews. Yet, many would argue that it is Barbra Streisand who made the song iconic — she sang it on her first TV performance on the “Jack Paar Show,” and it was the final song on her first album; she has been quoted saying that it is one of her favorite tunes.
Benko is deeply connected to Streisand, who starred as Fanny Brice in the original “Funny Girl” Broadway show and in the subsequent movie. While the song is a love song, it’s also a perfect lullaby, in which Carroll’s Otille coaxes the bee to keep on sleeping while she sings about requited love. To add to that, Benko’s own social media handle is “JujuJulieBee,” so it is also a lovely personal choice for the singer, whose voice is as sweet as jujube candy.
In the video, as Benko belts the song out seamlessly just three days postpartum, she also explains the meaning of her daughter’s name, Sophie Eloise Yaeger-Benko. In accordance with Ashkenazi Jewish tradition, the first letter of each name is in honor of a relative who has passed away. The “s” in Sophie stands for Benko’s maternal grandmother, Sylvia, while the “e” in Eloise stands for Yaeger’s maternal grandmother, Elly.
“We know they would both be thrilled to learn of this little one’s arrival and we know she will honor their memory always,” Benko wrote on social media, sharing that their Thanksgiving baby taught the couple the “deepest meaning of gratitude.”
Benko also shared that she watched “Grease” during early labor and joked that one hasn’t “lived until you’ve contracted during the lyric ‘she swam by me, she got a cramp’ of ‘Summer Lovin’.'”
The singer and actress did say they wouldn’t share Lulu’s face on social media quite yet, but we’re hoping they will share many future family jam sessions. A hearty mazel tov to the Benko Yaeger family — we wish you many days filled with music and nights filled with sleep.
@jujujuliebee Introducing our sleeping bae-🐝, Sophie Eloise Yeager-Benko AKA Lulu! We’re in love! Thanks for all the well-wishes! @Jason Yeager #newbaby #haroldarlen #trumancapote #jazz #singer #newparents #piano #asleepinbee
