“Common Cents,” an original play about money with music by Myra Cohen Klenicki, opens Sunday, June 23, presented by the Monroe-based Bimah Players. Joe Sherbin of West Windsor is the accompanist for the show based on works by Dorothy Parker, Mark Twain, Guy de Maupassant, and others.
Raised in Highland Park, Sherbin has been playing piano and singing since he was 11. “I entered the world of theater from the doors of a huge old van driven by Elliot and Michael Taubenslag, and from this van would emerge actors, sets, and costumes,” he says. “Every Sunday we met at Elliot’s East Brunswick home, and laughed our way through the Lincoln Tunnel, to the Jan Hus Playhouse in NYC, to perform a different original children’s theater production each week. This routine lasted for many years, and I learned my craft at the hands of real pros, who encouraged me to improvise musical underscoring in addition to piano accompanying.”
Sherbin graduated from Rutgers and studied piano at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has been teaching music and performing for the past 30 years. His favorites styles to play and sing are Broadway, jazz, and classic rock.
“While studying voice and piano with Ernie Scott, I lucked out when he was performing in ‘The Piano Lesson’ on Broadway,” says Sherbin. “I filled in for him on piano at places like Ramada Renaissance in Times Square and Jerry Beyer’s in Matawan — and I stayed on at Jerry Beyer’s for many years. I have been playing piano and singing at venues all around New Jersey ever since.”
After living in Red Bank for 15 years, he moved to West Windsor two years ago. “I am the uncle (and piano teacher) of two very musical kids, and my sister, Cindy Chait, is a community theater regular,” says Sherbin. Chait portrayed Velma Von Tussle in “Hairspray” (The News, July 8, 2011), and in the title role of “The Drowsy Chaperone” (The News, May 25, 2012), both at Kelsey Theater.
Sherbin has been the music director for Concordia Players in Monroe for three years. His first show, a tribute to George M. Cohan, was directed by Tony Adase and choreographed by Susan Zuckerman. “It was a wonderful experience,” says Sherbin. “Having worked with kids most of my career, I got to see just how fulfilling it can be to work with enthusiastic seniors.”
He recently worked at the Main Street Theater Company in Sayreville, playing rehearsal piano and pit pianist for “Children of Eden.” In February he portrayed Larry in Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” at the same theater. “I got a chance to act, sing, dance, and even play the piano onstage and in character,” says Sherbin. “Working with an incredibly talented ensemble was a lot of fun.”
Other favorite roles include King Arik in “The Apple Tree” at Villagers’ Theater; Perchik in “Fiddler on the Roof” at Plays in the Park, and the monologue “My Music” in “Sex, Relationships, And Sometimes…Love” at Old Library Theater and Main Street Theater.
Sherbin met Myra Cohen Klenicki during a production meeting for Concordia Players. “Myra has a wonderful sense of humor and has a unique approach to making history and philosophy come alive onstage,” says Sherbin.
Common Cents, Bimah Players, Monroe Township Jewish Center, 11 Cornell Avenue. A play with music about music and happiness based on stories by Mark Twain, Dorothy Parker, Guy de Maupassant, and others. Register. $15. E-mail dirbimahplayers@aol.com for information. 609-860-1372. www.bimahplayers.org.
