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| Magazine Feature |

The Show Must Go On

Frum service providers share some of the most bizarre requests — and their efforts to accommodate

The Show Must Go On

Name: Yanky Katz, YK Events

Accommodating interesting requests is part of my job. At one upscale Shabbos sheva brachos weekend in a hotel, with every possible upgrade, the baal simchah requested white-gloved waiters to serve the guests high-end whisky, wine, and… diet peach Snapple (his favorite drink). At another hotel weekend, the client requested that butlers in white jackets be situated every 15 feet in the lobby so the guests wouldn’t need to take a few extra steps to ask for directions.

Then there was a particularly memorable bar mitzvah weekend in a hotel. The baal simchah requested that the Yedidim Choir, together with Motty Ilowitz, sing “A Yiddishe Mama” in the middle of Shabbos lunch, in honor of his elderly grandmother. Well, what the customer wants, the customer gets! So we had Motty and the choir, in shtreimelach and Shabbos finery, singing this vaudeville oldie. The fire alarm went off in the middle of the song and the hotel made us evacuate the guests, but thankfully it was nice weather, and everyone got to take a walk and work up an appetite for the chulent.

And on the subject of music, that brings to mind an upscale musical production I once coordinated. It was summertime, and the client wanted it to be held outdoors. “No problem,” I said, “ but we’ll need a tent. We can’t play G-d with the weather.”

But the client said the budget didn’t allow for a tent, and against my professional opinion, insisted on going ahead with his plan.

The day of the event arrived, and the skies were threatening. The caterer, staging crew, cranes, lighting team and sound guys all showed up but refused to set anything up because of the forecast.

We waited a bit but things didn’t clear up, and by midafternoon I said, “We need a new venue.” Switching venues for an event like this isn’t something we do, ever, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

The search was on. I got on the phone and called ten different halls, but everything was booked.

Finally, at 3:30 p.m., four hours before the event was scheduled to start, I found a hall.

“If you can pull it off, then go ahead,” they told me.

We showed up at the hall at 4:00. It was being used by a day camp during the day, and the place was a wreck. There was glitter, toys, and food strewn about. We had to clean up, decorate, build a stage, and install a sound and lighting system, and we had less than three hours to do it! Oh, and not to mention that everything was still stuck at the original venue.

I can’t say I didn’t work really hard, but by 7:30 the hall was completely transformed, and the event was magnificent.

Wedding Party

Name: Simcha Leiner, singer, composer

OFcourse, clients always have requests about the music they want, but it doesn’t stop there. I often get instructions about what I should or shouldn’t wear (i.e., wear a blue tuxedo so you won’t overshadow the groom, who’ll be wearing a black tuxedo). Then there was the nonreligious Friday wedding I sang at, where the hosts asked if I’d stay late into the evening, and they’d make sure nobody would see me driving away.

But the couple who takes the cake is for sure the one who asked me to sing “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window” while their pets walked down the aisle to the chuppah. I had the band play the song instrumental, and yes, the pets really did walk down the aisle.

Excerpted from Mishpacha Magazine. To view full version, SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE or LOG IN.

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