BARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING.Byline: - Nicole Sunkes Former opera singer Oreen Zeitlin wanted to make her Canaan-breed dog Mazal famous, so in 1996 she put together ``Dogs in the Hood: A Holiday Extravaganza ex·trav·a·gan·za n. 1. An elaborate, spectacular entertainment or display: "Washington is an extravaganza of great buildings, greenery, and monuments" Larry Griffin. ,'' a collection of holiday songs performed by humans with a canine perspective. She hired 16 character actors to take on the personas of 17 dog characters she created from her observations at Riverside Park Riverside Park refers to several locations:
New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . ``I wanted to do something that would bring their personalities forward,'' said Zeitlin, who lives in Chicago. ``I made the characters up in my head and gave them each a sound.'' Zeitlin, who is also an ordained or·dain tr.v. or·dained, or·dain·ing, or·dains 1. a. To invest with ministerial or priestly authority; confer holy orders on. b. To authorize as a rabbi. 2. cantor cantor [Lat.,=singer], a singer or chanter, especially one who performs the solo chants of a church service. The office of cantor, at first an honorary one, originated in the Jewish synagogues, in which from early times it was the custom to appoint a lay member to , created, produced and wrote all of the songs and performed on four of them. Classical violinist Yana Goichman, 54, from New York City, bought the album because she knew people who worked on it and wanted to see what all the buzz was about. ``The songs are very funny,'' she said. ``If you imagine the songs being performed by a cartoon character, it's hilarious.'' With titles like ``Walkin' in a Whippet Wonderland'' and ``Oy, Canaan Dog Canaan dog a medium-sized (35-55 lb), spitz-type dog with a sandy to red brown, white or black coat, with white markings. The tail is curled over the body. , Oy, Canaan Dog,'' the album's 17 tracks are spinoffs of traditional Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa songs. ``I wanted the holiday theme so that dogs are included in the family holidays,'' Zeitlin said. The Web site she created, www.dogsinthehoodinc.com, features ``dogographies'' and illustrations of each of the characters. You can also listen to clips of each dog sing and leave fan mail for your favorite character. The album is available now at Wal-Mart and online at www.amazon.com, www.cdbaby.com and the Dogs in the Hood Web site for $13.98. It will also be available soon at Tower Records and Barnes & Noble. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: no caption (``Dogs in the Hood'') |
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