It would take this entire page to list Bernie Kukoff’s achievements. But briefly, he’s been an actor (at Second City and Williamstown Theatre Festival); creator, producer and writer for a host of TV series (“Diff’rent Strokes,” “The Cosby Show” and many others); produced theater in New York (including the blockbuster “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”); and has published a collection of poetry. He and his wife Lydia, who live in Nassau, New York, were founding members of The Chatham Synagogue. That’s where Kukoff will reprise his musical, “Ah, Jerusalem,” which has come full circle from its inception at the synagogue to its run in Israel. The staged reading, on Saturday, May 5, is a fundraiser for the congregation as well as a celebration of Israel’s 70th Independence Day. This is our 20th year in the Hudson Valley. We kept our apartment in New York until about five years ago. We’re here full time and love it. My wife is on the board of the Chatham Film Festival, and we’re active in the synagogue. There’s a group here, Plays in Progress (PIP), that consists of playwrights, directors and actors. We meet once a month for a workshop and put on a program every year. It’s a good, talented group and very enjoyable, the kind of thing I didn’t have a chance to do when I was doing TV. We’re putting on a benefit for Hudson Hall this Sunday, a program of short plays called “Women at the Wheel." We go to Israel frequently — I’ve produced a couple of things there. About five years ago, Danny Paller, an Israeli musician and composer/lyricist, approached me and asked me to help put together a musical for the English-speaking tourists in Jerusalem. It would be something for them to do after a day of touring. I was thrilled; I’d never written a book to a musical. We started writing it right here. I worked with Lucille Lichtblau, a playwright (we were at Yale School of Drama together), who is supremely talented, and Alan Gelb, a professional writer. Danny wrote the score. “Ah Jerusalem” is about an American family’s time-tripping journey through Jerusalem. We presented it first at The Chatham Synagogue. When it moved to Israel, we used Israeli actors, and it had a run at The Tower of David Museum in the Old City of Jerusalem. Now we’re doing it again as a staged reading with professional actors. They’re all local – I didn’t have to get people from New York. There are a lot of really fine, talented people in the area.
