Culture shocks, especially those familiar to Israelis trying their luck in New York, are at the heart of the wacky, heartwarming and funny comedy “Next Stop: A Comedy of Misconnections,” currently playing at the 4 Fun stage space in Habima, Tel Aviv.
The play is in English, which may seem unusual for a show in Habima, which is Israel’s national theater, but it makes sense with the work.
Written by Noga Milstein and Mili Avital, starring Milstein’s creative partner, Ben Perry, a former Tziporela troupe, and directed by Avital, an Israeli actress who has long lived in the United States with her husband, Oscar-winning screenwriter Charles Randolph, and their two children.
But first let’s go back to the genesis and the writing of “Next Stop”.
Milstein plays the role of Maya, an Israeli-American actress who dreams of playing on Broadway (but who would gladly accept the “Off-Broadway” too).
On a dating app, she meets Hazan, an Israeli entrepreneur (Perry) who has just arrived in New York to sell his crazy ideas to an American company.
The magic doesn’t work, but the audience follows them as they try to make their dream come true in the Big Apple, facing a culture they realize is harder to understand. than they thought.
THE once upon a time can easily identify.
The play is made up of short sketches, such as this incomprehensible conversation with a telephone company, these job interviews that have neither head nor tail or these romantic dates that the language barrier transforms into a fair of innuendos .
Much of the original content is drawn directly from Milstein’s experience as a career actress in New York.
After flying to New York for a two-month vacation in 2014, she canceled her return ticket, determined to try her luck for a year, long enough to land a role in an Off Broadway show.
“I wanted to gain some experience, some legitimacy, before returning to Israel,” says Milstein.
She was on stage from the age of six, as a dancer, studied theater in Israel and landed small roles in children’s theater shows, commercials…
Raised in an English-speaking environment, Milstein thinks her English is good enough for the stage. Turns out, if the accent is good, her game is off, which she didn’t realize until she came to New York.
She runs the auditions for only one month.
After seeing an “Off Broadway” children’s show, she had the idea of creating a show for a duo of actors.
“I wanted to put on a show, stop waiting for opportunities,” says Milstein.
“I didn’t know it would take me ten years to produce it. »
Noga Milstein in “Next Stop,” her co-written play with Mili Avital about two Israelis in New York, on stage at Habima in March 2023 (Courtesy of Shir Stein)
“Next Stop” begins as an Iris Morgenbesser play that Milstein saw in Israel.
With the permission of the author, she adapts it to her own experience as an Israeli who went to try her luck in New York.
“It’s about all those everyday situations that you think you know how to handle, but in the end you realize that you are powerless, like for example to call a telephone operator”, adds Milstein, referring to this scene from “Next Stop in which she perfectly mimics the tone and tone of AT&T customer service.
She called her piece “Next Stop” in reference to the announcement made in the metro and, more generally, to this city, she says, in which “we can always try something else”.
While writing, Milstein met actress Mili Avital, through the after-school program at the Hebrew school that Avital’s children attended and where Milstein was then working.
Avital asks Milstein if she babysits.
“I did everything in those days,” says Milstein.
“Wine tasting, hosting, teaching… I was also an assistant, I sold ‘Sesame Street’ by telephone, I worked at the reception of a cloakroom… Babysitting? Got it. You want someone who speaks Hebrew and you feel comfortable with. »
Milstein becomes the official babysitter of Avital’s children and the actress begins to read the script being written. She makes remarks to Milstein and introduces her to people in the business.
Like Milstein, Avital experienced culture shock when she arrived in New York in the early 1990s to study theater at Circle in the Square Theater School. She hardly waits before breaking through. Discovered by an agent, while she was a waitress, she was quickly chosen to play the leading female role in the science fiction film “Stargate”, released in 1994.
She succeeded, says Milstein.
“She was involved, but in a bit of a superficial way,” says Milstein.
“Deep down, I always hoped to convince her to get more involved. »
Milstein raises funds to mount “Next Stop” through a crowdfunding campaign. His friends help him with the lighting, the visuals and even the production, the first month when the play is performed, at the Broadway Comedy Club, a small theater with a relaxed atmosphere.
Ben Perry (left) and Noga Milstein in ‘Next Stop,’ Milstein and Mili Avital’s play about two Israelis in New York, on stage at Habima in March 2023 (Courtesy PR)
The play finds its audience, and Avital thinks of making Perry, the male lead, a tech entrepreneur. Thus, they give private performances for companies in the new technology sector run by Israelis.
Avital then became a producer and director. The idea is to come and perform the play in Israel, but the COVID pandemic breaks out.
Milstein, then in a relationship and with a baby, took up the idea last fall and returned to Israel, where she performed her play at the Tzavta Theater.
She performs several times at the Habima theater, with the aim of making her show known to the human resources managers of Tech companies and then giving private performances.
The duo have since performed “Next Stop” in neon-lit venues like Tel Aviv’s Hangar 11 or Habima 4 Fun, a smaller stage on the ground floor of the Habima Theater reserved for private performances, such as this was the case for IBM Israel.
Milstein is already concentrating on her next project, this time for the screen because she says she is exhausted by the efforts necessary to bring the public to the theater.
She too is ready for her “next stop”, but for now, this entrepreneur of the theatrical scene despite herself is delighted to have come to this point with this work which echoes her personal experience.
(Milstein assures that the male role, played by Perry, is very much his own experience.)
“It really speaks to Israelis,” concludes Milstein.
“I think it will speak to everyone, to everyone who has lived elsewhere. »
The next performance will be given on March 7, at 8:30 p.m., at the Habima Theater.
