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Son Called Moon:

The idea for a musical titled Son Called Moon came to Ari in 2018. He had been struggling with sexuality and identity, immersing himself in spiritual studies such as yoga and Kabbalah. He wanted to write his personal story in a way that would feel intimate, but universal enough that everybody could see themselves in it. A story about searching for truth, yearning for freedom, battling desire and ultimately finding peace and clarity in human connection. The story of a son becoming a father.

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ARI JACOB Bio:

Ari Jacob is a Melbourne-based singer, songwriter, pianist and creative. After completing a Bachelor’s of Music in Jazz Composition at Monash University and releasing his debut EP “Sink Without Drowning”, Ari moved to Israel in 2017 to broaden his spiritual and artistic horizons. There he went on a journey of healing and growth through meditation and yoga, Kabbalah and plant medicines, but mostly a lot of music. Ari was the in-house composer for internationally acclaimed podcast “Israel Story” with which he toured the US three times as the musical director of their live show. Ari then formed the band “Shayari” with Israeli violinist and singer-songwriter Shay Perry – together they played over 100 concerts in 2019 and recorded their debut album “Economy of Heart”. In the years that followed Ari created music for dance, film, theatre, and produced albums for emerging Israeli artists in Tel Aviv and Berlin, alongside his original album releases, “As/Is, “Live in Jaffa” and other singles.

During these years Ari chipped away at his life-long dream; to create an original musical. For 6 years Ari wrote over 25 songs and 4 scripts for “Son Called Moon”, including workshops, concerts, recordings, and grant applications. In 2023 Ari ran a Headstart campaign to fund the recording of a collection of new songs, written in open D tuning on guitar. This became the music for the story of Moon (to be played by Ari) and his relationship with Sun, the ever-present feminine, which takes a surprising turn when Moon eats from a forbidden fruit. Ari then began planning the stage production.The album was released in early June, whilst the first single “Feel it Coming” came out in April. Just a few months ago in June 2024, Son Called Moon premiered at Chapel off Chapel for 4 performances, with a 6-person cast, 8-piece band, and an almost sold out season. Son Called Moon has been invited to perform another season in Sydney, in September 2025.

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Follow ARI JACOB
Website – Facebook – Instagram – Spotify

Follow SON CALLED MOON
Instagram – Spotify

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On being queer

I grew up as a closeted queer male in a tight-knit religious community. I never experienced homophobic rhetoric from my surroundings, I was only ever shown love and acceptance for being myself. And yet, at the same time, I didn’t know any queer people. I could not overlook the homogeneity of the people in my community, and lived most of my life frozen in fear and completely convinced that something in me was broken. I spent years in total denial, and then years trying to fix myself, always carrying a deep shame, which at times felt reinforced by the religious texts that we studied in high school, even if indirectly. Musical theatre was my greatest sanctuary in those years. Those times with our amazing directors and my fellow castmates were the most formative, liberating and inspiring that I remember from my youth.

It wasn’t until my late teens that I spent time overseas, in Israel and Europe, that I allowed myself to explore these parts of me that had remained in the dark for as long as I could remember.I started writing Son Called Moon in the month after I finally spoke about my sexuality with my family, friends and community, at the age of 23. I was embraced lovingly, accepted whole-heartedly, and a huge weight was lifted, but the healing was far from over. Art, music, and this musical specifically, held space for me to ask questions, release old beliefs, to discover and reinvent myself in ways I could only have dreamed of when I was growing up. Somehow, this story took a very unexpected and ironic turn when in December 2023, just before I started working on the stage production for Son Called Moon, I fell in love with a woman – my now partner, Yakira, who choreographed the musical and who has helped me find the peace, acceptance and intimacy that I had always been searching for.

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On being Jewish

The season of Son Called Moon came during a time that was very delicate and heavy for the Jewish community. The war in Israel and Palestine has caused irreversible pain, paralyzing tension and division both amongst Jews and with other local communities. It was humbling and powerful for me to be a Jew sharing my art during these times, in a way that had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with being human, with faith in God, and with learning to love. But long before this war, Son Called Moon was a very Jewish story, about healing generational trauma and liberating the soul.

The generational scars of the Holocaust are an undeniable element of our community life. I believe that all traumas leave part of us broken and part of us stronger. Indeed, mycommunity is characterized by a fierce ambition, a strong voice against injustice, incredible charitability and impenetrable values of community and cultural life. And yet, we live with a deeply internalized fear and distrust of the unknown. Our community is somewhat sheltered, conservative, and with a strong culture of staying close to home.

When I first spent proper time in Israel, I realised that as a Jew, I had never experienced the freedom of true belonging, in a country filled with others who share my ancestral and historical narrative. When I began living in Israel, speaking Hebrew and integrating with Israelis, I felt at home in a way I hadn’t before. There was nothing political or ideological about it. It was a feeling of nourishing myself with something that my people had been missing for thousands of years – the connection to a spiritual and historical homeland.

Moon’s story was also one of my people – a story of a diaspora generation that finally has the privilege to deconstruct the traumas which have gathered into walls which until now, have kept us safe. We can finally collect the harvest of our parents’ and grandparents’ perseverance to provide us with security and abundance. We can let go of the fear and isolation that has held us hostage, to rediscover that we are, just as all peoples of the world should be, free and safe on planet earth. Son Called Moon was a lot about embodying that sense of liberation for my community.

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On special needs

I think my wisest artistic muse, and my greatest teacher about healing in life has been my sister Tali. Tali was diagnosed with ASD in 2002, I was 7 years old. From a very young age, Tali’s presence made me contemplate the universe and my own existence. Of course, having a sibling with autism has its challenges. It was only in recent years that I started to understand just how fundamentally my sister Tali has impacted who I am today.

My parents are the most devoted and strong people that I know. One of their most incredible achievements in their work with Tali has been her reading. Today, Tali can read any text put in front of her with ease, even if it contains words that she wouldn’t use in her natural speech. She is clear and articulate and incredibly moving when she reads.

My feelings for Tali have always been the juice of my creative energy, and so I knew that I wanted to pay tribute to her in Son Called Moon., I decided I wanted to record her reading a text for the album. I wrote it during some days that we spent together on a family holiday, and we recorded it on the last night of the holiday. The result is the opening piece of the album, “Call Me Moon”, which also appeared in the stage musical. We also did a collaboration with All Things Equal, a cafe where Tali and other young adults with disabilities are employed. They were the ushers and merch sellers during our season of Son Called Moon.

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AMNPLIFY – DB