Rabbi Jaclyn Cohen of Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles, who gave us this hilarious and rousing Purim parody to Lizzo’s “Juice” back in 2023, is back with a timely parody of the hit “Wicked” song “Popular,” titled “Favorite.” The blockbuster movie adaptation of Jewish music maven Stephen Schwartz’s Broadway hit just won two Oscars this month, after all.
Instead of pink-clad aspiring witch Glinda teaching future Wicked Witch of the West Elphaba how to be more socially adept at the magical Shiz academy, Cohen reworked the song to be about Mordechai teaching his (niece? cousin?) Esther to be King Ahasuerus’ favorite. The stakes, some would say, are quite higher: attempting to no longer be a social pariah is one thing, but trying to save your entire people from annihilation by seducing the King of ancient Persia (aka Shushan) as Esther did is quite another.
The video opens with Rabbi Jaclyn dressed up as Mordechai, donning quite a lovely Hanukkah robe and white hair wig, telling Esther, played by Cantor Randall Schloss, about why he will help her hide the fact that she’s Jewish. A little tap number leads Jaclyn’s transition from Mordechai into Glinda, and Schloss’ Esther into Elphaba (he looks amazing in green, trying on a myriad of costumes). Then Mordechai/Glinda sings about all the ways they can hide Jewish identity, like using “myrrh and frankincense.”
“You’ll be the king’s favorite!/He’ll make you Wife #1/And we’ll shout, “Well done!”/Oh this spiel will be such fun!” Mordechai assures a stressed out Esther, who admits: “I have mixed feelings/Must I hide I’m Jewish?/Here in Shushan things ain’t great/But who am I to try to fix them/Do I have secret powers, don’t make me laugh.” Mordechai assures her she will be the favorite and help the ruler forget all about his first wife Vashti.
“Though you protest/And you seem quite stressed/I know deep down inside/You’re gonna be the favorite and fill our people with such pride,” Cohen sings.
The rabbi definitely brings that Glinda energy that we all need in our Purim celebrations (where I bet there will be quite a few people dressed up as the magical frenemies this year). Happy Purim to all!
