Friday, October 4th 2024   |

Theatre

‘Suffs’ creator Shaina Taub cites Jewish text in Tony Awards acceptance speech

By PHILISSA CRAMER

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — To celebrate her second Tony of the night on Sunday, “Suffs” creator Shaina Taub turned to Jewish tradition.

Taub won awards for best book of a musical and best original...

Remarkable ‘Here There Are Blueberries’ is a riveting Holocaust whodunit

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“)

With the rapid rise of blatant antisemitism in the world today, there is probably no better time than now for the presentation of Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich’s Here There Are Blueberries....

In ‘Here There Are Blueberries,’ playwrights Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich focus on the perpetrators of the Holocaust

By ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — “I’ve always wanted to write about the Holocaust,” the playwright Moisés Kaufman, son of a Romanian Holocaust survivor, told me this week. “But it’s the one thing in history that...

Cantorial soloist Jordan Lawrence cast as a nun…again

By ALAN SMASON

For the third time in several years, Congregation Gates of Prayer cantorial soloist Jordan Lawrence is playing a singing nun on stage and it’s a “habit” her synagogue fully supports.

Lawrence, normally a leader in Shabbat worship...

‘Cabaret’ and ‘Prayer for the French Republic’ among the Tony Award nominees this year

By LISA KEYS

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — At a time of rising antisemitism, two shows about Jews caught up in a dangerous climate of hate received multiple nominations yesterday for the 2024 Tony Awards.

A brand-new revival...

Theater charity Broadway Cares donates to Israeli groups after criticism over Gaza aid

By LUKE TRESS

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — The theater charity group Broadway Cares donated $400,000 to four Israeli aid organizations after coming under fire for its contributions to Gaza relief.

The donations follow a pledge Broadway Cares...

Jewish songwriting couples are focus of ‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’

By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“)

With a subtitle – “The Carole King Musical” – it’s easy to conceive that “Beautiful”  is a musical that only concerns the life of legendary Jewish songwriter Carole King and ancillary figures...

Actress and teacher Joanna Merlin, original Tzeitel in Broadway’s ‘Fiddler,’ dies at 92

By ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL

(JTA) — Joanna Merlin, a famed acting coach and casting director who early in her career as an actress created the role of Tevye’s daughter Tzeitel in the original Broadway production of “Fiddler on the Roof,”died Sunday...

Antisemitism-themed ‘Leopoldstadt’ and ‘Parade’ are big Tony Awards winners

By ANDREW LAPIN

(JTA) – Broadway made a statement about antisemitism Sunday evening, as two high-profile shows on the subject this season — the play “Leopoldstadt” and the musical revival “Parade” — pulled in multiple major Tony awards.

Some of...

The cast of Broadway’s ‘Parade’ says Kaddish before each show, says star Micaela Diamond

By JACKIE HAJDENBERG

(JTA) — Eight times a week, audiences at Broadway’s “Parade” see the curtain rise on a retelling of an act of antisemitism. What they don’t see is the Jewish ritual that comes first.

In an essay for...