![\"Feldshuh](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Goldas_Balcony2.jpg\" "\\"Goldas_Balcony2\\"")
<\/a>Broadway actress Tovah Feldshuh knows all about portraying real-life figures. She\u2019s played such notables as Katharine Hepburn and Tallulah Bankhead, among others. But she\u2019s most famous for her portrayal of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.<\/p>\n\u201cI love playing historical characters,\u201d Feldshuh said from her home in New York City. \u201cI think acting a real-life person is easier because there\u2019s something for you to study. There\u2019s a lot of footage of Golda, plus I\u2019ve traveled to places that she lived. The success of portraying a historical figure is in how much elbow grease and diligence you put in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Feldshuh starred in \u201cGolda\u2019s Balcony,\u201d written by William Gibson, who also penned \u201cThe Miracle Worker,\u201d in 2003. It went on to become the longest running one-woman show in Broadway history with 493 performances. Feldshuh was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress. <\/p>\n
Since then she has presented the play in London, Los Angeles and Australia. Two years ago, she purchased all rights for the play from Gibson\u2019s estate so she could perform the show in between other acting gigs. She is bringing the play to the Old Globe Theatre for a month (it replaces Roger Rees\u2019 one-man \u201cWhat You Will,\u201d as he had to cancel due to scheduling conflicts). <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something that I hope will be with me for the next quarter of a century,\u201d said Feldshuh, who is best known for playing defense attorney Danielle Melnick on TV\u2019s \u201cLaw & Order.\u201d \u201cThe play is very smart and accurate. It\u2019s a tour de force for any actor who wants to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The play follows Meir from her time as a young girl in Russia, hiding under the stairs during pogroms, through her time as an American schoolteacher to becoming the fourth prime minister of Israel. The play also focuses on the Yom Kippur War, when Israel was attacked by Egypt and Syria in 1973, which led to Meir\u2019s downfall.<\/p>\n
\u201cGolda was a courageous woman,\u201d Feldshuh said. \u201cShe had a vision and she fulfilled her vision. She wanted the Jewish people to live in safety. She was a normal woman who didn\u2019t ask for the office. They elected her and then came to her, asking her to be prime minister. She gave her whole life for the state. That\u2019s why it\u2019s an honor to play her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Feldshuh\u2019s beliefs also mirror Meir\u2019s, especially when it comes to the statehood of Israel. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to get peace in the Middle East,\u201d she insisted. \u201cWhether or not people agree, Israel now exists. The Jewish people are not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
By owning the rights to \u201cGolda\u2019s Balcony,\u201d Feldshuh not only can perform the show when and where she wants, but she can also tell others about the woman she respects so much.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this play, I get to create opportunities for myself,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m lucky to be able to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n