Gay cantor
Don Croll left Broadway to find more consistent work as a Jewish cantor, coming out as gay along the way
Don Croll
DAVID TAFFET | Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com
Don Croll has learned that his way to becoming a cantor — with an Actor’s Equity card and a Broadway run — was not that unusual. Today Croll is the cantor at Temple Shalom in North Dallas.
After graduating from Ithaca College with a major in theater, Croll was hired as a dancer for the Summer Music Theater in Charlotte, N.C. There, he earned his Equity card and next was hired by Fran and Barry Weissler for their National Theater Company.
At the time, it was one of the best children’s theater companies in the country, Croll said, adding that the Weisslers acquire since become what Croll calls “the revival king and queen.” Their show of Chicago has been running on Broadway since 1996.
“They liked me very much and would have used me one day,” Croll said. He said he ran into the couple at Fair Park Music Hall, at the opening of one of their shows, and Barry Weissler told him, “You could include understudied Joel Grey in our revival of Cabaret.”
Croll did make it to Broadway
Parish Fires Gay Cantor: “Those who minister in the Church…are to support Church teaching and practice”
Jeffrey Higgins says he never idea his same-sex marriage would be a problem at his occupation. But on November 8, his marriage came up during a conversation that led to his termination from Mother Seton Catholic Church in Germantown, where he worked part-time as a cantor and choir member for 1.5 years.
On November 8, Higgins, 29, says Pastor Lee Fangmeyer invited him to his office, asked him about his marriage, and then asked him if he’d resign. “I was shocked,” Higgins says. “He told me it had been discovered, that’s the word he used, that I was gay and married and would I resign. I told him I wouldn’t resign, that I liked my job, that I was good at my job, and I didn’t view the need to resign. He told me I’d been an asset to the music program at Mother Seton and that I’d be missed, but that I was terminated as of that moment.”
Higgins told ABC7 News that a fellow parishioner allegedly saw him and his husband together in public and then found their wedding photos online and alerted the church. He says he didn’t broadcast his marriage while working at Mother Seton, but pointed o
Taking pride in who they are: Houston-area clergy open up on personal journeys
Galveston Congregation B’nai Israel Rabbi Peter Kessler, Congregation Brith Shalom Cantor Mark Levine and Congregation Beth Israel Cantor Kenneth Feibush got together for lunch on June 12. Inset: Congregation Or Ami Rabbi Gideon Estes was out of town during the lunch. |
By JUDY BLUESTEIN LEVIN•• |
The Houston/Galveston area is home to two cantors and two rabbis who happen to be gay.
They stand for the evolution of gay rights, from an openly homosexual rabbi who had to wait nearly 20 years to attend rabbinical institution, to clergy who came out to their congregations, confident they would deprive their jobs (they didn’t) and a cantor whose only experience has been love and acceptance.
When Rabbi Peter Kessler of Congregation B’nai Israel in Galveston first applied to Hebrew Union College in 1979, he was turned down. He was openly gay and the rabbinical school was not yet accepting openly gay candidates.
Nearly two decades later, the school finally opened its doors to LGBTQ+ students and, in 1991, he began his quest to change into a rabbi.
While waiting to begin his rabbinical journey, Rabbi Kessler
Dr. James Cantor (@jamescantorphd) is a clinical psychologist and sexologist whose research centers on the development of sexual interests, including sexual orientation and paraphilias. He maintains the Sexology Today blog, which focuses on the current state of sex research.
What We Consider with James Cantor:
- What makes people gay?
- The differences between gay men and same-sex attracted women.
- What should society complete about pedophiles who select to live lives of celibacy rather than operate on their urges?
- Is there a link between autism and gender dysphoria?
- What's the deal with asexuality, paraphilia, vorarephilia, and that thing you think about when nobody else is around?
- And much more...
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/815
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