Last year the Tonys had the chutzpah to fall on Shavuot, so we comforted ourselves with a menu for a themed holiday meal. This year, all is right in the world again, and in anticipation of the Tony Awards this Sunday (you can read about which Jewish folks or works stand to win here), there are at least two different Broadway-themed Shabbat dinners happening (in Brooklyn, if you even had to ask).

And so, we would like to present you with a potential menu gleaned from these meals, in case you want to have one of your own tonight. We’ve limited it to dishes associated with nominated shows from this season, and hyperlinked to explanations of the references:

• Motzi with Charlie and the Challah Factory (OK, this is an exception to the rule, because the show got snubbed, Tony-wise.)
• Kiddush with Cabernet from Away
• Don’t have red wine? Then it’s The Great Kiddush of 2017
• “Quinoa’ll Be Found” Salad
• Hello, Colli-flower! side veggie
• Hello, Dairy! cheesy quiche (you can’t expect only one Bette Midler reference!)
• Orzo, A New Play by J.T. Rogers
• Great “Comets” of 1812 meatballs
• Dear Edamame Hansen
• After dinner hot refreshments with AnasTEAsia
• Indecent-ly Good Brownie Bites

Bon appétit, and break a leg.

Image of Josh Groban in Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 by Chad Batka. Challah photo via Flickr.

The post Themed Shabbat Dinners: Tony Awards 2017 appeared first on Jewcy.

The Tony Awards are this Sunday, unfortunately, the same evening as the second night of Shavuot. Observant theatre fans are figuring out how they’ll make it work, and one friend told me that she’s throwing a party for her friends who won’t be able to watch that night for religious reasons. She’s shared the menu with Jewcy, and the puns are as strong as the dairy meal seems delicious!

See how many references you get, and don’t worry, we’re linking to explanations:

• “My Shot” Jello Shots
• Sangri-la
• Cabarnet
• The Color Purple (wine)
• Kinky Kale Salad
• Julius Caesar Salad
• Cabbage Salad (Something Rotten)
• Mystery of Edamame Drood
• “Under the Sea” Pasta
• Joseph and the Amazing Tricolor Pasta
• Wicked Potatoes
• Ogre Layer Rings
• Let the Spaghetti Squash In
• Pumpkin Pie (Waitress)
• Rainbow Quiche
• Next to Noodles
• Cheescago
• Brie Loves Me
• Chedda Gabbler
• Mozzarella
• The Light in the Pizza
• Cheesus Cake Superstar
• Legally Blondies
• Eclipsed Coffee Ice Cream
• The Curious Incident of the Pie in the Night Time

Illustration (IT’S A CHEESECAKE ON A TONY AWARD. GET IT?): Gabriela Geselowitz, Image sources: Wikimedia

The post A Tony-Themed Shavuot Dinner! appeared first on Jewcy.

Acclaimed British thespian Sophie Okonedo won the Tony award for best actress in a play last night, for her performance as Ruth Younger in the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun. In a gracious, emotional speech, she thanked producer Scott Rudin, who “somehow had the vision that a Jewish Nigerian Brit could come over the pond and play one of America’s most iconic parts.”

Okonedo, who is a graduate of London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, was born to a Jewish mother and a Nigerian father. She attended a Reform synagogue in London with her Yiddish-speaking grandparents, who were immigrants from Eastern Europe. In 2005, she told the UK’s Daily Mail, “I came across as much racism in the Jewish community as I did outside the Jewish community. No more, no less.”

In 2009, she spoke passionately about her Jewish heritage to the Jewish Journal. “It’s all in my blood,” she said, recalling her grandparents’ Jewish home. “They celebrated all the holidays, and they spoke Yiddish when they didn’t want me to understand the conversation. I feel sad I didn’t learn Yiddish as a child. It’s such a fantastic language, so expressive. And now my grandparents are too old to teach me.”

Her acceptance speech sparked a flurry of interest on Twitter and blogosphere—we learned the news from @JewishTweets, who tweeted “#MazalTov” to Okonedo. And @Dramaturgs wrote, “I don’t know about you, but Sophie Okonedo is my favorite Jewish Nigerian-English Tony winner.”

Watch her acceptance speech here:

http://youtu.be/1Ko46Bf-qls

Image: Entertainment Press / Shutterstock.com

The post Sophie Okonedo, Jewish Nigerian Brit, Wins Tony For Best Performance by an Actress in a Play appeared first on Jewcy.