July 09, 2020
By CURT SCHLEIER
(JTA) — In a recently released Netflix film, Broadway star Ben Platt shared his coming out story — and it involves a trip to Israel.
He shared the vignette from “Ben Platt: Live from Radio City Music Hall,” which debuted in May, in a clip on his Twitter account on Monday.
loved sharing my queer story in my concert on @netflix (you might even call...
June 17, 2020
By STEPHEN SILVER
(JTA) — The coronavirus pandemic has done something that no war, natural disaster or other calamity has been able to do for more than 50 years: It’s put a stop to stage performances of “Fiddler on the Roof.”
The current North American tour of “Fiddler” was halted on March 13, a day before Broadway went dark. The last show of that tour before the cancellation, in a...
April 15, 2020
(JTA) — “The Prince of Egypt” is having another moment in the desert sun.
The 1998 animated film on Moses and the Exodus story has been turned into a recent musical in London. It’s streaming on Hulu. And in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, the original movie’s music is getting online love from fans who are being soothed by soundtrack tunes such as “When You Believe,” which won an...
January 31, 2020
George Dansker will be holding his annual lecture tonight on a Jewish composer tonight following services at Touro Synagogue, 4238 St. Charles Avenue. This time, though, the subject is not nearly as well known as those for whom he has held previous tributes (Bernstein, Berlin, Weill, Rodgers, the Gershwins etc.).
Harold Rome, a composer and lyricist who was at one time a golden-haired boy of Broadway, will be the focus...
December 30, 2019
NEW YORK (JTA) — Anatevka had a special guest in attendance on Sunday afternoon: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attended the Yiddish production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” or “Fidler Afn Dakh,” at Stage 42 in Manhattan.
Following the show, Clinton went on stage to hug director Joel Grey. In a video shared to the show’s social media accounts, she also spoke to the cast.
“I just can’t tell...
December 28, 2019
(JTA) — Composer Jerry Herman, who wrote music and lyrics for Broadway hits including “Hello, Dolly!” and “La Cage aux Folles,” died at the age of 88.
Herman, who was diagnosed with HIV in the 1980s, died in Miami on Thursday of pulmonary complications, his goddaughter told the Associated Press.
One of his best-known songs was “I Am What I Am,” from “La Cage aux Folles,” which became an LGBT...
November 29, 2019
By CURT SCHLEIER
(JTA) — You may not know who Ken Ludwig is, but you almost certainly know his work. Ludwig is the reigning king of theatrical farce. Among his 28 plays are six that made it to Broadway and seven to London’s West End, including “Lend Me a Tenor,” “Crazy for You,” “Moon Over Buffalo” and “20th Century.”
They have earned him a passel of awards — multiple Tonys...
November 13, 2019
By NICHOLAS HAMBURGER, Special to the CCJN
The Jewish Women’s Theatre will perform The Matzo Ball Diaries tonight at Shir Chadash Conservative Synagogue in Metairie.
The show begins at 7:30 PM, marking the fifth leg of the Santa Monica-based theater group’s week-long “Southern Tour,” which the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life coordinated.
Founded in 2008, the Jewish Women’s Theatre aims to give “voice to contemporary Jewish stories in America.” The non-profit...
October 15, 2019
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“)
The partial collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel under construction in New Orleans on Saturday, October 12, sent tons of debris and a crane across the street impacting the historic Saenger Theater building, where the national tour of Wicked was being housed. With street closures around the complex due to two unsecured cranes and a mandatory evacuation of the area by city...
September 22, 2019
(JTA) — It’s life imitating art over at New York City’s off-Broadway production of “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish.
Stephanie Lynne Mason and Drew Seigla, who play the young couple Hodl and Perchik in the production, are engaged, the show announced Sunday on its Twitter feed.
“We’re KVELLING! Our real life Hodl & Perchik are engaged! Talk about a match made in heaven. Congratulations Stephanie & Drew,” the tweet...