Only 50 days until July 4th, when Fiddler on the Roof premieres (in Yiddish) off-Broadway. And now, we know who will be in it.

If you’ve heard of anyone in the cast, it’s Jackie Hoffman, the Emmy-nominated comedian (for Feud) whose Broadway credits have included scene-stealing in everything from Hairspray to Xanadu to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She is also extremely, very, super Jewish. She has performed musical parodies of pretty much every Jewish holiday you can think of— including Shavuot. Hoffman will be playing Yenta the matchmaker, because of course she will.

Your Tevya is Steven Skybell, who has been on Broadway several times, including in the last revival of Fiddler (he was a replacement Lazar Wolf). He grew up Jewish in Lubbock Texas, which would make shtetl-dwellers’ heads spin.

Jill Abramovitz will play Golda, and, yes, her Broadway credits too include the last run of Fiddler (she replaced Grandma Tzeitel, and understudied both Golda and Yenta). She’s also a songwriter, including contributing lyrics for Broadway intermarriage musical It Shoulda Been You.

Neither of the leads are big names, so it’s exciting to see what could be the big breaks of actors who have been in the business for some time.

The supporting cast is:

Kirk Geritano as Avram, Samantha Hahn as Bielke, Cameron Johnson as Fyedka, Daniel Kahn as Perchik, Ben Liebert as Motel, Stephanie Lynne Mason as Hodel, Rosie Jo Neddy as Chava, Raquel Nobile as Shprintze, Bruce Sabath as Lazar Wolf, Jodi Snyder as Fruma-Sarah, Lauren Jeanne Thomas as The Fiddler, Bobby Underwood as the Constable, Michael Yashinsky as Mordcha, Rachel Zatcoff as Tzeitel.

Also in the production is: Jennifer Babiak, Joanne Borts, Josh Dunn, Michael Einav, Evan Mayer, Nick Raynor, Kayleen Seidl, Adam Shapiro, and James Monroe Stevko.

Of course, the director is the legendary Joel Grey. Some of the cast members have experiences performing in Yiddish, but for some, it’ll be like a mamaloshen boot camp.

See you in July!

Photo by Joan Marcus

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Ugh, what can’t Katrina Lenk do?

Over the last year, Lenk has appeared on Broadway in Indecent, had a small role on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and currently stars in The Band’s Visit (she’s definitely a contender for a Tony nomination). That’s a lot of Jewish art for someone who isn’t actually Jewish, but Lenk wasn’t content to stop there. At MCC’s annual Miscast Gala (actors perform gender-swapped numbers), she took on that granddaddy of all Jewish American culture— Fiddler on the Roof.

Lenk wonders what it would be like if she were a wealthy man. And just to blow our minds all the more, she plays violin while she’s singing. It’s not even fair.

Even without the violin, it’s a hell of a performance, sultry, and full of comedy. She does act a bit cruelly skeptical that Tevye would use his wealth to study Talmud all day, but that is perhaps where the cultural gap between Jews and Gentiles comes in. Also, she’s wearing all white with red pumps, and she looks even more amazing than usual.

I can’t stand it. Watch the video of “If I Were a Rich Man” for yourself:

Image via YouTube

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If there are two things Jews are known for, it’s theatre and psychological issues. But did you know those two things closely overlap to the point of being exactly the same? You probably did!  But just in case you didn’t, here’s a list of why watching a contemporary play is exactly the same as a Jewish family going to therapy.

1. It’s mostly a bunch of  multigenerational Jews whining.

You can take years of classes about breaking playwriting down to its fundamentals: structure, beats, dialogue, arc, etc. But let me save you thousands of dollars: at their core, plays are about Jews whining. Even if the play is about WASPs or blue collar Southerners struggling with their repressed homosexuality during a sweltering Texas summer (the only other groups of people contemporary plays are about), odds are it’s written and/or directed by a Jewish person. And even if there are no Jews within a hundred mile radius, all plays are about people complaining, which is a popular Jewish pastime.

2. Everyone projects (their emotions).

No one will ever address their issues head-on. In plays, everything must be “subtextual,” which is theatre lingo for “passive-aggressive.”  No one in a play or in therapy will ever say “My father’s death unearthed a lot of conflicting feelings for me, especially since I was a young man struggling with his sexual identity who never felt truly accepted by his family. That is why I spent six years wandering the Midwest and never reaching out to my family.” They’ll just say something like “You forgot your bag” with a strange amount of tension. That’s how you know it’s not really about the bag.

If you need more examples of passive-aggressiveness or subtext, call your mother. If you still remember her number. And God forbid you visit.

3. Everyone projects (their voices).

In plays, actors must speak to the back row of a 1,000+ seat theater. Jews also speak to the back row of a 1,000+ seat theater, even if they are sitting in a small office in Westchester or at the grocery store or a funeral. There are a lot of techniques actors use to prevent vocal damage from all that loud talking, but Jewish families know the trick is to start early and do it often.

4. It can cost between $40 to  $200+.

It depends on your insurance.

5. It costs extra if Nathan Lane is there.

Nathan Lane is a huge box office draw. He’s a star of both stage and screen. Even people from Iowa know who he is. Right now, he’s starring as Roy Cohn in Angels in America for a limited engagement on Broadway, but if you want to book him for your therapy session, act fast and expect to pay a premium. This is Nathan Lane we’re talking about.

6. The chairs probably aren’t comfortable.

They’re not torture devices, but still, if you had a choice between this chair and a different chair, you’d probably choose a different one.

7. Everyone is unbearable.

I mean, really, ugh, who wants to hear about these people for hours? Could they be more self-pitying?  They grew up comfortably middle-class! Why are they complaining so much? Do they have any perspective at all about what some people go through? Their grandparents lived through the Holocaust for God’s sake! UGH, now the sister has a monologue? Is she seriously talking about her cat and her 10th birthday party? Why can’t she just let it go and move on like a normal person? Jesus Christ. How much longer is this thing?

8. The people around you are crying and you’re not.

If this piece of art or therapy session is connecting with other audience members or your own family in a way that it’s simply not connecting with you, it might make you feel like you’re emotionally dead inside.  What are you missing? Are you simply a broken person? Should you broach the issue, air your fears? No, not in front of them. They’re either strangers (if you’re at a play) or your family (if you’re in therapy), neither of whom you want to be vulnerable in front of. Rationalize why you’re not moved. No one actually feels genuine emotions. It’s certainly not a personal failing or something to be worked on in another session.

9. If no one reveals an earth-shattering secret, then there is no point.

People spend years ruminating over other people’s flaws as well as their own. This includes fictional character archetypes as well as your loved ones, whom you hate and whom ruined your life. So what’s the point of listening to other people hash out well-trodden psychological issues, which have doubtlessly been discussed to death on stage or in an office in New Jersey? For the earth-shattering secret, of course! Keep pushing until an emotionally-charged announcement shifts everyone’s perspective about everything. The son was dead all along! The son never existed in the first place! The son was the mysterious cowboy! You should feel crushed under the secret’s terrible, all-consuming weight. All the sacred truths that you took for granted should vanish, leaving you cold and empty and confused.

And if that doesn’t happen, then get your money back.

10. The likelihood of a permanent life-change is nil.

You might leave thinking “Wow, that was a revelation. It made me rethink my whole life. I am a changed person.” But you’re not, and you never will be.

Photo via Wikimedia

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Imagine if the night of Purim you could walk into the home of Queen Esther. A drink in your hand—let’s say, a Huntsman… or even better, a HuntsHaman—you’d let her transport you into her sensual, mysterious world.

Maybe you’re in fifth-century B.C. Persia. Or maybe you’re in Trump-era New York City. It doesn’t really matter: let your imagination run wild…

A powerful and brave figure in the Jewish tradition, Esther will be at the center of an immersive performance taking place for two nights this week in Brooklyn, New York. FolksbieneRU, the Russian division of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (also affiliated with Genesis Philanthropy Group), has created this new interactive theatrical experience, House of Esther, as a creative way for New Yorkers to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim.

The eponymous heroine of the book of Esther is many things— seductress, regal queen, savior of the Jewish people. So this work might better be titled House of Esthers, given that Esther’s multifaceted nature is fractured into several entirely different people.

“The event explores the many faces of Esther,” said Lena Kushnir from the National Yiddish Theatre, explaining that the show will show six different characters inspired by Queen Esther, who will each emerge as a different strong, sexy, modern woman. Think of it as the Jewish answer to Sleep No More, the hit interactive experience that’s been running in New York since 2011 (House of Esther is content to run for two days, coinciding with the beginning and end of the holiday). 

Audience members will explore the space at their own pace and dive into a series of  thought-provoking, sexually-charged scenes involving the six Esthers. At the end of the performance, the space will transform into a club, with a bar selling Purim-inspired drinks, such as Queen’s Landing and Paper Cut.

So if you’re tired of feeling like Purim is a holiday for kids, it’s time to have a definitively more adult experience.

House of Esther is playing at The Paper Box on Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m. Entry is 21+, tickets are selling for 25$ online, 30$ at the door.

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Anne Frank’s face is unmistakable, in her cheerful smile and short dark hair. Anne Frank is a symbol of tragic fate, a life cut short, of wasted potential. But perhaps most recognizable in Anne Frank’s face is the spirit of a girl longing to live a normal life from the confines of a hidden attic, a young girl who wrote with sensitivity, grace and humor.

But Anne Frank never wrote again after The Diary of A Young Girl. Anne Frank died in 1945 at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, succumbing to illness, starvation, or both. However, the exact cause of her death is unknown, and in 2015, The Anne Frank House released a report showing Frank’s date and location of death may have been incorrect. Despite the inconsistency, most believe diarist Anne Frank died at the age of fifteen.

For Israeli actress, Chen Drachman, the reporting surrounding Anne Frank’s death sparked thoughts about death’s supposed definitiveness. In her screenplay, Ruth’s, Drachman asks the provocative question: What if? What if Anne Frank was alive today? What if Anne Frank was living among us? And what if Anne Frank was your grandmother? Such is the premise of Drachman’s short screenplay in which Lizzy confronts her grandmother, Ruth, at a Passover gathering about her real identity, a secret Lizzy has long suspected. In a chilling moment, Lizzy says to her grandmother, “It’s you, isn’t it?”

Part of Ruth’s success can be attributed to the appearance of Tony award-nominated actress Tovah Feldshuh in the lead role, (The Walking Dead, most currently, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) during a reading fundraiser this past November at the JCC in Manhattan.

The screenplay focuses on themes of guilt and celebrity fetishism, as well as the ties that bind us together as family and most interestingly, the millennial generation’s fixation with “doing good.” As the older Anne wisely suggests, some secrets are best left buried. The adult Anne Frank is adamant about maintaining secrecy, stating that she’s paid her dues and deserves peace and quiet. The dialogue between the snappy Feldshuh and the idealistic Drachman is vibrant and realistic; Feldshuh provides a portrait of the wry and quick witted Jewish grandmother with ease.

Although the screenplay is short, hovering just around 10 minutes, the larger questions Drachman brings up feel limitless. What price do we pay when we’re transformed from human to symbol?

Drachman, who is a third generation Holocaust survivor is acutely aware of the negative feedback she could receive from imagining such a scenario, the boldness of revising history. But what is art if not our outlet to imagine other dimensions and reality? What child didn’t want to go through the wardrobe and into Narnia?  

Drachman has raised about a quarter of what she needs to make the screenplay into a movie by submitting to a variety of diverse festivals both mainstream and niche around the world. (Individuals are welcome to donate online, as well.) The screenplay has been recognized several times, including the NYC Independent Film Festival. Ruth’s is sponsored by a 501(c)(3), non-profit, From The Heart and with runaway successes like Sarah DeLappe’s The Wolves, it’s a good idea to keep your ears open to smaller projects with big hopes.

Photo of Drachman, left and Feldshuh by Oren Korenblum.

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Next week, one of the most famous Yiddish plays of all time is making its return to New York (no, not Fiddler in Yiddish, that’s later this year).

In 1892, playwright Jacob Gordin premiered The Yiddish King Lear. It is not a translation of the original play; rather, it retells the Shakespearean tragedy as the struggles of a renowned rabbi with his children, who represent disparate types of Jewry, from Hasidic to secularized. (The titular patriarch is considered one of the meatiest roles in Yiddish theatre; it defined the legendary Jacob Adler’s career.) Now, the play returns as a staged reading to Manhattan, for two nights only. And stay tuned— you could go see it.

The new Lear is David Serero, an actor and opera singer born in France, who also directed, produced, and adapted this production. (YIVO is also a producing partner.)

On the surface, Serero may be an odd choice for the role. First of all, he’s only 36, much younger than the role he’s portraying. In addition, he’s not a Yiddish speaker— in fact, he’s Sephardic (of Moroccan descent). As to his age, he’s already played Shylock, so a tragic Jewish father of adults is within his range. That performance of Merchant of Venice was part of a string of productions adapting classic theatrical works for Sephardic audiences. Others included Othello (Serero was Othello) and Nabucco (yes, he was Nabucco). But playing Gordin’s version of Lear is a lifelong dream, and Serero is excited to jump to the Ashkenazi world of performance.

“For me, Yiddish theatre is Jewish theatre,” he told Jewcy. “My goal is to bring Yiddish theatre in English for everyone, including non-Jews. You don’t need to be British to love Shakespeare or French to love pastries!”

One step towards accessibility is translation. In the upcoming production of Lear, the text will be in English, but the show will contain classic Yiddish songs (providing, presumably, an opportunity to hear Sesero’s baritone). Following both performances, Gordin’s great-granddaughter and biographer, Beth Kaplan, will host talkbacks. Serero hopes that this reading will be a step towards a fully mounted production of the play.

So, interested yet? Well, if you sign up for Jewcy’s email list, you’ll automatically be entered in a drawing to win a pair of tickets to the show! You have through the weekend, and winners will be notified Monday morning, January 29th. At that point, you can pick which performance you’d like to attend. 

Yiddish King Lear plays January 30 and February 1 at 8 pm at the Orensanz Foundation, 172 Norfolk Street. You can also buy tickets here.

Image courtesy David Serero

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Mindy Raf didn’t have enough time to come out to her mother who passed away ten years ago. But Raf’s one-woman show, NOT THE ONE: A Love Story creates a stage to keep Raf’s dialogue with Kitty Raf alive; a celebration of her mother mixed with an interrogation of how relationship models are evolving in 2018.

NOT THE ONE: A Love Story made its international debut at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the show has continued with monthly NYC performances, including January 25th and 26th at The Tank. Directed by Tara Elliot, the 60 minute show blends stand-up with storytelling and traditional theatre, juxtaposing the more traditional values Raf’s Jewish mother taught her about love with her current polyamorous relationships.

Raf, who identifies as pansexual, is interested in expressing fluidity and acceptance when it comes to love, sex, gender, and monogamy.

“You don’t have to fully understand something in order to accept it,” says Raf. “And when you tell your story you become visible, you represent nuances and this allows other people to see themselves and be seen as well.”

Are people shocked by polyamory?

“There are many preconceptions about non-monogamy and polyamory, like assuming you’re always going sex parties. Which is fine if that’s your thing, but a relationship structure doesn’t mean you’re love or sex life is just one thing or the other,” says Raf.

She also mentions that people come back to see her show multiple times likely searching for answers while delighting in listening to love and sex spoken about in such a frank way: after all it’s just one woman standing on the stage, no mic, no bells and whistles.

Raised in a Detroit suburb, Raf went to a Reform synagogue, attended Hebrew school and went through all the usual milestones of a Jewish upbringing from confirmation to a bat mitzvah. “You know there’s that Jewish thing we all joke about, calming your anxious Jewish mother down when it comes to your love life. The show deals with the struggle and the celebration of that dichotomy, the parts of your life that are Jewish mother approved and the parts that are tougher to communicate.”

Are Jews really that neurotic? “I’ve met a lot of chill Jews,” Raf says, also mentioning that she experiences humor to be very much part of Jewish culture and often functioning as a refuge from anxieties. Her 2013 young adult book, The Symptoms of My Insanity, deals with a hypochondriac teenager and Raf is interested in dismantling stereotypes about native Jewish anxiety.

The world of Raf’s childhood was largely heteronormative, and NOT THE ONE: A Love Story explores a way to blend past and present.

“We tend to insert our own point of view into other people’s experiences out of fear of the unknown. We think we have to put ourselves and others in these boxes with solid walls. We don’t all have to be fluid, but if we come from kindness and allow the space for other people to live their lives and be fluid… it’s just better,” Raf comments.

Raf, (recently she’s been called the female Woody Allen. Does it bother her? Not at all, but she does hope people will start to move away from the cis white male stereotypes of Jewish humor) feels very connected to her Jewish identity and talks about the developing process of executing Judaism in everyday life in a way that feels authentic. She considers herself very spiritual, but much like her path to becoming who she is today, she’s working towards balance within organized religion and personal spirituality.

“Specifically in the Jewish family narrative, it’s very challenging to be modern and also identify with something that relies on tradition without feeling like you’re letting someone down. But I’m trying to take the things that I identify with in Judaism and recreate them in a way that works for me. Sometimes I feel guilty about that process and other times I’m like, this really isn’t anybody else’s business.”

As an afterthought Raf adds,  “And if people do make it their business, I hope they do so with kindness and curiosity. ”

For more information about Raf, weed lube, and upcoming performances click here.

Photo credit Christiana Chavez

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Although not quite at Fiddler on the Roof levels of ubiquity, The Dybbuk, or, Between Two Worlds, written at the turn of the century by ethnographer and playright S.Ansky, is one of the most widely known works of Yiddish theatre.  The tale of thwarted lovers and demon possession continues to inspire re-stagings and re-imaginings. The latest is Looking Through Glass, a new modern-day adaptation by observant Jewish troupe 24/6 Theater, written by Ken Kaissar and directed by Yoni Oppenheim.

In the original play, Leah is the only daughter of a wealthy widower. Khanan is a poor Talmud scholar whose father died before his birth. They meet over a Shabbat meal the very night Khanan arrives in town to study at the beit midrash, and feel an instant connection—a connection that, unbeknowst to them, is the result of their fathers’ youthful promise that their unborn children would marry each other.

But motions are already in place to betroth Leah to another, much to the displeasure of her and Khanan. Khanan, already a Kabbalist, turns to increasingly fringe rituals to try and magically halt the engagement negotiations and acquire enough money to present himself as a suitable candidate. Eventually in desperation he calls on the Devil— and dies.

In Looking Through Glass, it is Leah’s mother is rather than father who is widowed, and Leah (Judy Ammar) has new dimension as an ER doctor. Leah and her beloved still meet on his first night in town—he is hanging out on her stoop in Brooklyn, reading a book of Kabbalah, as one presumably does in Brooklyn—but he is no Talmud student.

This Khanan— now named Jacob (David Hilfstein)— proudly tells Leah, her boyfriend, and her mother that he is a yeshiva drop-out who prefers to study now on his own. What’s more, he is a full-time “professional protestor” (not his term) from DC, passionate about protecting the rights of immigrants.

Leah’s mother and her boyfriend quickly out themselves as conservatives, asking Jacob why he wants to be an unemployed “agitator” protecting terrorists. (A line made a bit more nuanced by the fact that Vidal Loew, who plays the boyfriend, delivers it in a strong French accent.)

The boyfriend, Shmueli, is far more fleshed out in 24/6’s adaption than the nameless bridegroom in the original. Shmueli and Leah have known each other for years and have been dating for months by the time Jacob shows up. They are comfortable together, but no match for the chemistry the strangers have with one another.

In this version it is Leah, rather than a parent, who invites the stranger into their home for Shabbat dinner. And in this version, they don’t just stare at each other over the candle flames—after mom goes to bed, Jacob quizzes Leah about her level of attraction to him vs. Shmueli, then pulls her close and nuzzles her cheek.

In a talkback after the show, playwright Ken Kaisar said he wanted his adaption to empower Leah—“make her the driving force of the play, bring her to the fore.” But this is the first of several uncomfortable moments in which the script doesn’t seem to fully recognize the unbalanced power dynamic between her and Jacob.

In the modern era, it is not her father’s decision that forces Leah into a marriage, but societal pressures. She picks the stable Shmueli over the unknown passion represented by the stranger. (A choice that to me made a lot of sense, given Jacob’s grating enthusiasm for group meditation exercises—he’s #thatguy at your Shabbos table.)

But more damning is his reaction when running into Leah shortly after she has accepted Shmueli’s proposal. He yells at the woman he’s known for all of one weekend: “How could you expect me to be happy for you?” and then precedes to berate her for breaking his heart and removing all meaning from his life—a line that caused my female friend and I to turn to each other with eyebrows raised high in alarm.

If Leah was really a “driving force,” as Kaissar said, perhaps she would have pushed back a little more on this, but their fated attraction has its pull. She urges Jacob to find meaning in his life and forget her, and they tearfully part.

Like Khanan, Jacob now proceeds to die before his time, by suicide rather than the devil. And like Khanan, Jacob returns on Leah’s wedding night to possess his fated bride.

In The Dybbuk, this possession is invited by Leah—a powerful moment where, for the first time in the narrative she takes control of her own life.  In Looking Through Glass it comes across as far less consensual (though Ammar gives a stunning performance, switching back and forth between her voice and that of the vengeful dybbuk).

In both iterations of this story, the exorcism efforts of the community fail, because ultimately Leah does not want to be saved.

The end of 24/6’s show reveals that, like in the original play, the fathers’ had made a pact of betrothal for their children. So how does the fact that Leah’s attraction to Jacob may not have been her own, but the machinations of a dead father? It’s never explored.

The show’s premise has a lot of promise, and brilliant, compelling performances from the two leads and from Avi Soroka (who plays the ghost of Sholem Ansky, as well as of Leah’s father, and is hard to take your eyes off of while he speaks). The staging at Jewel Box Theater in Manhattan was gorgeous, and it will be exciting to see what the cast brings to the next performance of the play, this Sunday at Ansche Chesed synagogue in Manhattan.

But it seems strange that a retelling that aims to delve into Leah’s inner life has so many moments that don’t fully explore her reactions—perhaps she doesn’t call out Jacob’s manipulations because of her Orthodox background, or because of her lack of a father figure, but we can only guess. If she’s still okay with the fact that she dies on her wedding day because of another man’s pact, then we need to know why.

It seems Leah has resisted capture once again.

24/6 will perform a reading of the play at Ansche Chesed in their chapel at 4pm this Sunday January 7th. Free and open to the public.

Photos by Paul Terrie

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The National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene gives the people what they want. “Folk” is in the name, after all. And obviously, the people want Fiddler on the Roof performed in the mamaloshen. Naturally. If you don’t, there is something wrong with you.

The time will be July. The place will be the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan. Most other details are still forthcoming, but the musical’s lyricist, Sheldon Harnick, and the great director Jerry Zaks are both signed on as production advisors. Beyond that, we only have this vague, and honestly sort of confusing statement by the Folksbiene’s executive Christopher Massimine to go by. He says the production “will be presented in the context of a historical retrospective hypothetically introducing the idea that Sholem Aleichem has been present at the conception of the adaptation of his work for the musical stage.”

What? So, does that mean a framing device where Sholem Aleichem appears as a character? Is this going to be for Fiddler what Indecent was for God of Vengeance? Do we breathe new life into Tevye and his family by making the actors break the fourth wall or something?

“The idea we are putting forth would be an accurate re-creation of how this musical might look in its native Yiddish tongue,” Massimine continued.

What does re-creation mean? Is the translation new? Is the choreography different, like in the most recent Broadway revival?

WHAT IS GOING ON?

In any case, this production is far from the first performance of Fiddler in Yiddish (to say nothing of other Yiddish adaptations of Aleichem’s work). Back in the 1960s, only a couple of years after the Broadway production premiered, original director/choreographer Jerome Robbins helmed a Yiddish-language version of the show— in Israel (there’s even a cast album, and it’s great).

So we have a ways to wait before seeing Yiddish Fiddler onstage, but ideally more information will come soon. In the meantime, stay strong, and listen to every single cast recording of the show there is (and there are at least a dozen,) over and over to pick your favorite.

UPDATE, AS OF MARCH 16: JOEL GREY IS DIRECTING THIS PRODUCTION. GET. HYPE.

Photo of  the 2015 revival of Fiddler on the Roof by Joan Marcus

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A new year— a chance at new beginnings, and most importantly, a new round of Broadway and off-Broadway shows. The fall season brought us singing sponges, live goats, and Amy Schumer. What will the next months bring, and, of course— is it good for the Jews?

It depends on what you’re looking for. While musicals continue to boast Jewish stars (Elsa in the upcoming Broadway production of Frozen went to Camp Ramah!) and creators (shows by writing teams Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe are being  revived), if you want to look for overtly Jewish content onstage, you’re probably going to need to see a play. But on Broadway and off, you’ll have plenty of options, first off-Broadway, and later on in the season, on the Great White Way itself:

Off Broadway:

In the Body of the World (begins performances January 16):

While the play may not have much Jewish content, it is a new autobiographical piece (based on a recent memoir) by an artist of Jewish descent— Eve Ensler, the creator of The Vagina Monologues, has a one-woman show about becoming deathly ill while doing advocacy work abroad.

Jerry Springer the Opera (January 23):

This one is a revival, and, yes, an opera. It actually has fairly Christian themes, but it is what it says on the label: an opera about Jewish television personality Jerry Springer.

Amy and the Orphans (February 1):

This new family drama features a bickering bunch on a road trip on the Long Island Expressway following the death of their father; while the degree of Jewishness is not yet clear, one character is a Jewish convert to Christianity, so it follows that the rest of his family is probably of Jewish origin as well.

Admissions (February 15):

This play is the latest from Jewish writer Joshua Harmon, the mind behind Bad Jews and Significant Other. It features a woman trying to diversify a prep school and explores larger questions of ideology and privilege. The main character’s name is Sherri Rosen-Mason, and like many Harmon protagonists, she is a secular Jew.

Broadway:

Angels in America (February 23):

Tony Kushner’s famous two-part play on New York and the AIDS crisis is revived in New York, by way of London. It features the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg serenading a dying Roy Cohn in Yiddish. Enough said.

Travesties (March 29):

This production is another revival— of a 1974 play by Jewish playwright Tom Stoppard. One of its three protagonists (the other two being Lenin and James Joyce) is Tristan Tzara, the Jewish co-founder of Dadaism.

Photo of Jerry Springer the Opera via Wikimedia

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