Well, we knew it was only a matter of time until the Purim Encanto parodies started rolling. First, there was this quirky parody from Seth Chalmer, to the tune of “Surface Pressure,” about the struggles of making mishloach manot, the boxes of treats and trinkets exchanged by some Jews during Purim.
But now, finally, we have our first full-on Encanto Purim spiel. For those of you less familiar with the Jewish holiday, a Purim spiel (from the Yiddish word for play or skit) is a theatrical recounting of the Purim stories that Jewish communities put together for the holiday.
Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, in collaboration with Temple Isaiah of Los Angeles, put together an Encanto-themed spiel to the tune of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” called “We Don’t Talk about Haman” (because, of course!). It opens with two little kids, Lucy, who is dressed like Mirabel from “Encanto,” and Avi, dressed like Olaf, the Disney “Frozen” character voiced by Jewish dad Josh Gad. The two talk about how they don’t really know what the story of Purim is about.
In comes Cantor Lizzie Weiss and Rabbi Jaclyn Cohen (who is also a Kveller contributor) to do the explaining, and the majority of the singing, recounting the “megillahnovela.” Cantor Lizzie plays Esther in certain scenes, and Rabbi Jaclyn plays Vashti. It’s truly wonderful to see more women in Jewish holiday parodies!
Lyrics from the parody include Rabbi Jaclyn singing “I’m sorry mi hazzan [Hebrew for cantor] go on,” and Mordechai, taking on Dolores’ part, singing about Haman: “I associate with the sound of groggers and ‘boo boo!'”
“I’m here to kill the Jews, I make history, my name they will boo,” Haman, who stands in for Camilo’s part of the song (and also brings the moves!) sings.
This parody has it all: sequins, dancing, pirate Mordechai, sparkly Minnie Mouse ears, a sassy Vashti, Haman in a cowboy hat and lots and lots of groggers! Watch it below:
