Charles Petzold

Yesterday evening I had the great privilege to hear the legendary Israeli chanteuse Tamar in the show Yesterday, Today, and Tamar! at the East Village alt-cabaret supper club Pangea. Tamar held us spellbound from the outset with her entrancing rendition of “Nights in White Satin.” Never had the words so much meaning, even when sung in Hebrew, and Tamar demonstrated her extreme artistic integrity by not omitting the thrilling spoken-word poem that accompanies the song.

Tamar commands the stage with fortitude and defiance, her big eyes carefully surveying the audience to ensure that everyone is paying attention and understanding what she’s saying. This can be tough at times, particularly when Tamar delves into Biblical and political history. I didn’t quite follow the connection between the story of Abraham and something that Jessica Fletcher said in an episode of Murder She Wrote, but that might be my fault.

After Tamar sang the Simon & Garfunkel version of the Peruvian song “El Condor Pasa,” Tamar praised the grand tradition of cultural appropriation, which she suggested was a particular talent of Jewish artists — “we take things and make them better.”

Tamar has been banned from performing in her native country. It’s not quite clear why. The story behind the ban was delivered in rapid-fire Hebrew but somehow involves George Peppard and Radio Haifa. But Tamar is nothing if not a survivor. Her career might be in decline; today might not be quite yesterday; but that’s OK, for as Tamar wisely observes “Time is not chronological.”

To me, the most unforgettable part of Tamar’s performance was an angry and riveting rendition of Zager and Evans’ eerily prophetic hit “In the Year 2525” leaving us to wonder: Will man be still alive? Our faith in humanity was restored, however, with a quite moving version of Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne,” sung first in Hebrew, then English.

As we were leaving Pangea — the marvelous songs we just heard still swirling in our heads — someone mentioned that Tamar was yet another cockeyed persona of the alt-cabaret performer Tammy Lang, aka Tammy Faye Starlite. This article seems to confirm that theory, but I have by doubts. Tamar is too good not to be real.