bananukah

Get A Close-Up on Hanukah with BANANUKAH!,
the CD and live show from Danna Banana

NEW YORK, NY--- Danna Banana, New York Magazine’s Editor’s Pick as ‘Best Party Entertainer’, is back with Bananukah!, a brand new rollicking CD of tuneful songs celebrating Hanukah. Just in time for Christmas!

Danna Banana has won raves everywhere from the LA Times (“bright tunes and comic, clever lyrics”) to the NY Post (“ripe talent!”) and on Bananukah!, his fourth album, he explores the music and story of Hanukah with the same playful spirit, zany humor, and sound musicianship that have made him a stand-out in the world of children’s music and won Grand Prize in the prestigious John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

Why Hanukah? Why now? “Well, it all started with the name,” he recently recalled. “The title felt like a natural. And there didn’t seem to be any Hanukah shows that tell the story and use the music of the holiday like the many Christmas shows out there. So I wrote the show and I’ve been performing it ever since.”

Though he’s written a couple of great originals for Bananukah!, in most the show he sings traditional Hanukah music that’s familiar to his audience. “I wrote two songs, but mostly I arranged and ordered the tunes so that they tell a story--with a few helpful voiceovers, from my kid correspondents at BNN--the Banana News Network. It’s all present tense, as if it’s happening right now, and kids get into being my MaccaB-boys and Latke Fairies. Wherever we go, audiences really enjoy it-- kids and parents, observant or not. We’ve tried to capture that enthusiasm, that ‘ruach’, as they say in Hebrew, on our cd.”

Danna Banana has performed Bananukah! everywhere from the Yeshiva of Flatbush to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM). “The show is really lively and interactive” says Rita London of CMOM. “It’s informative, but at the same time, he manages to tell the Hanukah story in a way that’s really fun for kids. The emphasis is definitely on entertainment. Our children loved it.” With kids from the audience acting up as warriors, high priests and latke fairies (the last not part of the strict historical
record), and piano and drums providing a strong get-up-and-dance backbeat, Bananukah! is definitely not a sit-down show.

Danna Banana is a trained baritone and has sung many roles in operas and oratorios throughout the country. “Singing is so much fun for me, and such an important part of Hanukah and Judaism—one of my goals was to get people singing, dancing, shaking shakers, just having a good time, “ says Banana. The Bananukah! CD and the live show do just that. There’s a whole lot of ruach goin’ on! Perfect for that other December holiday.