NJJN Spring Arts Preview 2017 by New Jersey Jewish News

Spring Arts Preview Pr

March 9, 2017

The new season in theater, film, music, the visual arts and books.

NJ Jewish News ■ Greater MetroWest Edition ■ March 9, 2017

GET THE BEST SEATS — BUY NOW! MAR 24-25

FRI, MAR 31

SAT, APR 1

THU, APR 6

SUN, APR 9

SUN, APR 30

SUN, MAY 7

STATETHEATRENJ.ORG 732-246-SHOW (7469) NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ

Theater

Laura Lapidus relishes third time playing Daphna in ‘new world’ of 2017

re you a good Jew or a bad Jew? While you may not find the definitive answer in “Bad Jews” — the raucous comedy coming to New Brunswick’s George Street Playhouse (GSP)

Abby Meth Kanter Special to NJJN

on March 21 — what you will find, according to Laura Lapidus, is a torrent of tough questions that may help you consider that self-assessment. And she ought to know: This is Lapidus’s third run in the provocative play by Joshua Harmon — which The New York Times called “the best comedy of the season” in its world premiere Off-Broadway in 2012 in a Roundabout Theatre Company production. The setting for “Bad Jews” is an Upper West Side studio, where 20-somethings Daphna and her cousins — brothers Liam and Jonah — come together after their grandfather’s funeral. At the start, Daphna is declaiming her right to inherit a chai necklace their “Poppy” concealed while imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. With the arrival of Liam — with girlfriend Melody in tow — a caustic family feud erupts. He too wants the symbol of life, and he and Daphna take up arms in a family theater of war, engaging in combat over worldviews, religious beliefs, cultural assimilation, family legacies, and, of course, money and the primacy of male heirs. Daphna believes her right to the necklace is unassailable; she is, after all, the most “Jewish” grandchild — she even threw off her assimilationist birth name, Diana, in favor of the Hebrew Daphna and has plans to set off for the Holy Land to join her Israeli boyfriend and study with a rabbi. Liam sees the chai as a personal symbol of his grandfather’s survival and their family legacy, and believing himself to be its natural inheritor, despite his rejection of Judaism and his “shiksa” girlfriend. By now, Lapidus, 28, is battlescarred but deeply committed to

Laura Lapidus, left, as Daphna, engages with her cousin Liam’s “shiksa” girlfriend, Melody, in the Chicago production of “Bad Jews.” P HOTO BY CHAR LES OSGOOD P HOTOGR AP HY

staging the brawl yet again. She portrayed Daphna in 2015 productions in Washington, D.C., and in Chicago and Skokie, Ill. She first took on the role with the realization that “I ask myself all the time a lot of the questions that the

play asks,” she said in a phone interview with NJJN. Born in Chicago, Lapidus was part of that city’s theater scene for six years — after graduating from University of Michigan, where she studied acting — and moved to New York last summer.

Continued on following page

Laura Lapidus, left, portrays Daphna, who fights her cousin for a family heirloom, in a production of “Bad Jews” in the Chicago area in 2015. P HOTO BY CHAR LES OSGOOD P HOTOGR AP H

NJ Jewish News ■ Greater MetroWest Edition ■ March 9, 2017

GSP play tackles good Jew/bad Jew divide

She was raised Jewish and became bat mitzvah in a Reform synagogue. But in her youth, she said, being Jewish was something she “didn’t think twice about.” Judaism was never forced upon her — although her parents are pleased that she embraces her Jewish identity as “very important to me and a big part of who I am.” “Bad Jews” speaks to her because — though she said has not figured out a “specific way to define myself as a Jewish person religiously” — she subscribes to the notion “that religious beliefs cannot be inherited,” and relishes the playwright’s goal of demonstrating that “religion needs to be something a person comes to on their own.” While she regarded the role as “a really special part, personally and professionally,” Lapidus said she thought “that was it” for her and Daphna after the D.C. run — and then the George Street Playhouse opportunity came up. Before the start of rehearsals, she said, she became “so excited to come back to the play, because it feels to me that we live in a little bit of a different time now.” That different time, she said, has made the “disputes over the gender roles and the cultural and historical aspects of Jewish identity that play out in the main conflict of the piece” particularly meaningful. Part of that she attributes to the dynamics of the presidential contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Lapidus watched how the public processed the behavior of those two individuals and observed

NJ Jewish News ■ Greater MetroWest Edition ■ March 9, 2017

NEIL BERG’S

100 YEARS OF

BROADWAY THE “CATS” TONY® AWARD WINNER AND EMMY / GRAMMY NOMINEE

betty buckley FRI MARCH 10

SUN APRIL 2 • 3PM

JOHNNY MATHIS The Voice of Romance Tour 2017

SUN APRIL 23 • 3PM

JUNE 1

Laura Lapidus in rehearsal for her third run as “Daphna” in Joshua Harmon’s “Bad Jews,” at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick. P HOTO BY B R IAN KELLEY/GSP

Theater

Continued from previous page

FRI JUNE 2

SAT JUNE 17

Bernadette Peters JULY 27

FRI OCT 6

COUNT BASIE THEATRE 99 MONMOUTH ST • RED BANK, NJ 07701 NEW JERSEY STATE COUNCIL OF THE ARTS

A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION www.njartscouncil.org

NEW JERSEY STATE COUNCIL OF THE ARTS www.njartscouncil.org

732-842-9000 TheBASIE.org

that men and women had “access to different modes of being,” diverging manners of interaction that emerged in the lead-up to the election — and are strongly reflected in “Bad Jews.” As for the play’s various perspectives on American-Jewish identity, Lapidus said, “I have a really clear understanding of what it means to be a modern Jew in America,” especially under the shadow of the Holocaust. After all, “our culture and world and tribe were threatened so recently, we still need to be protective and maintain a moral compass to see the world through a new mode of dissent and identity searching.” That sense of protective pride is another reason the play’s vicious rows have made her welcome the challenge of playing Daphna in 2017 America. In reaction to one phrase the character uses to launch a challenge to her cousin’s rejection of Judaism — “Now, when it’s safer to be Jewish than it’s ever been…” — Lapidus said, “I don’t know if that’s true today.” If Daphna is the “good” Jew of the play, does the fact that her character is an opinionated, aggressive, smug, holier-than-thou type of 22-year-old raise fears of perpetuating a new negative Jewish girl stereotype — albeit an “antiJAP” image? Lapidus acknowledged that Daphna

isn’t perfect and “does not behave in a way that is free of responsibility.” She is, said Lapidus, “fighting to get a little bit of status in her family, and she unravels a bit.” Despite Daphna’s flaws, Lapidus said, she has “a special kind of belief in her; I understand her antics from the inside out.” She remembers how sad she was at the end of her last appearance in “Bad Jews,” wondering when she would have “another chance to play a woman fighting for her intellectual and moral status.” She said she is grateful for the kind of part not usually written, calling Harmon a “great playwright” for having done so. In fact, Lapidus said, it is a display of the playwright’s “genius” that he “vividly and clearly presents the two sides as interesting and valid…and asks audience members to figure out where they fit in.” (Lapidus was also glad to mention that Harmon’s play “Significant Other,” another Roundabout production, opened this month at The Booth Theatre in its — and his — Broadway debut.) What have been audience members’ reactions to Daphna and the play? “It has such specificity to American Jews,” Lapidus said, posing “real questions for so many people who are now trying to be good and do good and cultivate a strong sense of who we are.”

Continued on following page

MAR 19 — APR 2

WEEK 1

OPENING NIGHT

WEEK 2 SUN 3/26

Double Feature 3:00pm

Hummus! The Movie ▲ The Last Blintz ▲

7:00pm

The Women's Balcony ▲

MON 3/27

7:30pm

The People vs. Fritz Bauer ●

TUE 3/28

12:30pm The Women's Balcony ▲ 7:30pm

WED 3/29

11:30am The Law ▲ 7:30pm

THU 3/30

MON 3/20

7:30pm

TUE 3/21

Double Feature

WED 3/22

12:30pm Art and Heart: The World of Isaiah Sheffer ▲

7:30pm

The Law ■

SAT 4/1

8:30pm

AKA Nadia ▲

SUN 4/2

2:00pm

Supergirl ▲

4:30pm

The Galilee Eskimos ▲

SAT 3/25

Closing Night 7:00pm

Siberia ▲ Disturbing the Peace ▲

Address Key

Harmonia ▲

▲

Cloudy Sunday ▲ Past Life ■

JCC MetroWest 760 Northfield Avenue, West Orange

■

Bow-Tie Cinema, SOPAC 1 Sopac Way, South Orange

12:30pm Cloudy Sunday ▲

●

Dolan Performance Hall College of Saint Elizabeth 2 Convent Road, Morristown

7:30pm 7:30pm

THU 3/23

Moos ▲

12:30pm Moos ▲ Art and Heart: The World of Isaiah Scheffer ▲

Starring Jessica Chastain

Maurice Levin Theater, JCC MetroWest, West Orange

Paradise ▲

7:30pm

The Zookeeper’s Wife Sunday, March 19, 7:00pm

Bar Bahar (In Between) ▲

7:30pm

Shalom Italia ▲

8:30pm

A Grain of Truth ▲

GET TICKETS NOW! www.boxofficetickets.com/jccmetrowest Visit www.jccmetrowest.org/njjff/festival-guide-tickets for film details and festival schedule.

JCC MetroWest is a beneficiary agency of Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ. We strive to ensure access and meaningful participation by all members of the community.

This program is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

NJ Jewish News ■ Greater MetroWest Edition ■ March 9, 2017

17TH ANNUAL

Theater

NJ Jewish News ■ Greater MetroWest Edition ■ March 9, 2017

Continued from previous page

3:00pm Adult $36; Senior $34: Student $18 New York cabaret artist Andrea Marcovicci recreates her moving show, I Am Anne Frank, based on the famed diary, with music by Michael Cohen and lyrics by Enid Futterman, accompanied by a live chamber orchestra. I Am Anne Frank is a lasting tribute to the diary’s namesake as well as the many victims and survivors of the Holocaust. The Axelrod performance will include a children’s ensemble.

8:30pm VIP $75; Patron $56; Premium $46: Regular $36 Noa (Achinoam Nini )‫אחינועם ניני‬is Israel's leading international songwriter and songstress Israeli born of Yemenite origin, Noa has shared the stage with superstars such as Sting, Pat Metheny, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Andrea Bocelli and many more. She is recognized as Israel’s first Good Will Ambassador for FAO, Together with her longstanding collaborator Gil Dor, she has released over 15 albums which have sold millions the world over.

The play has elicited a “huge” range of responses, said Lapidus, although the laughter that greets it seems to be universal. Following one performance, a woman accosted her in the lobby and said, “Oh, you were such a bitch.” Another time, in Chicago, a woman waited for her after the show and, through tears, thanked her for her portrayal and for embodying the exact questions she was searching to answer during years laden with family troubles. Of course, Lapidus doesn’t expect a simple repetition of her prior experiences playing Daphna. Any play, she said, “needs to be set up with a kind of balance.” Jessica Stone, director of the GSP production, is in charge of striking that balance, and Lapidus is wondering if now, in what many see as a more dangerous time, Daphna’s character may be softened a bit and made more protective of her Jewish identity. The “harder she is, the more annoying she is,” said Lapidus, but in today’s climate Stone may prefer that her personality not turn the audience off to her strong views, which Lapidus considers more “necessary” now. “As an actor, the last thing I would say is, ‘This is how I do it,’” said Lapidus, adding that she is excited to

If you go What: “Bad Jews” by Joshua Harmon

Directed by Jessica Stone. Laura Lapidus plays Daphna; Maddie Jo Landers, Melody; Alec Silberblatt, Liam Haber; Amos VanderPoel, Jonah Haber.

Where: George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick When: March 21-April 9 Tickets: $20-$69 (rush tickets are approximately 50 percent off) Contact: 732-246-7717 or visit georgestreetplayhouse.org once again take on the “inner life of this person I love fighting for, looking forward to jumping in with new people in this new world of the play, here in New Jersey.” ✿

JEWISH HERITAGE MUSEUM of Monmouth County

Adult $36; Senior $34: Student $18 New York contemporary dance troupe, TranscenDanceGroup, led by choreographer Gabriel Chajnik, perform an original work G*D, a multimedia dance play based on the true story of Haim Tzvi Rosmarin, a Polish Holocaust survivor who after liberation settled in Argentina. The program features renowned violinist Niv Ashkenazi, winner of the 2010 American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition.

ALBERT LONG is “The Living Sequel” As The Legendary George Burns Sunday, April 2, 2017 • 2 PM $10 members, $12 non-members

July 9 & 16 at 3 PM, July 12 & 13 at 8 PM Premium Adult $42; Premium Senior $39; Regular Adult $38; Regular Senior $35 A world premiere written and directed by Mark Medoff, Tony Award winner for Children of a Lesser God, TIME AND CHANCE is the story of four women—a recovering alcoholic, world famous painter; her partner, a former NY Times art critic, now gallery owner, unbeknownst to her partner, dying of a rare, hereditary disorder; an abandoned teenager with a startling gift for prevarication and drawing; and a music professor who yearns for the courage to find out if she can be a career musician, who has just discovered her late mother’s diary from the concentration camp, Theresienstadt. Each of the women plays a character from Theresienstadt, where the young professor’s mother and grandmother were incarcerated. From the fear, vitriol, cruelty, humor, and, ultimately, love and mercy, come the redemptive power of family.

AMY WEINSTEIN

Curator of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum 9/11 MEMORIAL & MUSEUM

Ms. Weinstein will talk about the mission of the Memorial & Museum, and its Monmouth County Connection.

Sunday, April 23, 2017 • 2 PM $10 members, $12 non-members

A special performance of REAL DIAMOND

A talk by Rabbi Robert Fierstien ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE JEWS

The Premier Neil Diamond Tribute Band

Sunday, June 11, 2017 • 7 PM

Wednesday, April 26, 2017 • 1 PM $3 members, $5 non-members Students free

To be held at Monroe Township Senior Center 12 Halsey Reed Rd Monroe Township, NJ 08831

$36 person • Sponsorships available Reserve your tickets now!

The Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County 310 Mounts Corner Drive, Freehold, NJ

These program co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey and the B’nai Sholom-Beth El Foundation.

For more information or to make a paid reservation please call the Museum at 732-252-6990, or visit www.jhmomc.org

www.axelrodartscenter.com 732-531-91056

Paid reservations are non-refundable. Maximum capacity is 100, so paid reservations are recommended. The JHMOMC is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is handicapped accessible.

Creating musical harmony Four choirs and 14 guest performers take the stage in interfaith peace concert

his spring, an interfaith concert of Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester for peace will be sowing what Psalms.” the organizers hope are new The concert will feature the Harmoseeds of harmony. The event, taking nium Choral Society under the direcplace at Oheb Shalom Congregation tion of Anne Matlack, the Kol Dodi in South Orange on Sunday, April 2, Community Chorale of MetroWest NJ, will bring together over 130 singers Voices in Harmony of Essex County, and musicians from Jewish, Christian, and the St. Andrew & Holy CommuJoshua Jacobson, founder of and Muslim backgrounds to perform a nion and Morrow Church choirs, joined the Zamir Chorale of Boston repertoire that celebrates all three faiths by 14 guest singers and instrumentaland music professor, is and more. ists. They include Zafer Tawil, Amir the guest conductor. Cantor Erica Lippitz of Oheb Sha- Vahab, and Peri Smilow. Joining LipP HOTO COU RTESY JOSH UA JACOB SON lom, a prime mover behind the event, pitz will be guest cantors Perry Fine, said that when the Meredith Greenberg, concept arose back in and Benjie-Ellen 2015, “we had no idea Schiller. Special to NJJN that it would be so relSome of the perevant.” The current political climate, she formers, talking with NJJN at a recent added, has shown in stark terms the im- rehearsal, described the joy emerging portance of fighting bigotry and instead from sharing their varied music. They building mutual caring and respect. are hoping their audience is similarly Inspiration for the event, according inspired. to Lippitz, came from internationally Cheri Dworkin said she hadn’t sung renowned choral authority Dr. Joshua for many years, and in 2015, when she Jacobson, the founder of the Zamir decided to do it again, she researched Chorale of Boston and professor of available groups to find one with music and director of choral activities the values and the type of music she at Northeastern University. wanted. “Of all of them, this was really “Choruses are a model of the ideal a great fit,” she said of Kol Dodi. “It community: a community of expres- enriches all our lives.” sion, in which through our differences “I’m a musical Jew,” said singer Cantor Erica Lippitz accompanies the Kol Dodi community choir in rehearsal for the April 2 interfaith concert at Oheb we create harmony. By creating an ebb Jim Peskin, who described himself as a Shalom Congregation. P HOTO BY J I M P ESKI N and flow of musical dissonance and “newbie,” having only joined Kol Dodi consonance, we learn to disagree and about five years ago when he settled agree,” wrote Jacobson in an email ex- in the South Orange area. He was at- better place than settling in the heart” family in memory of their son Jonah, change with NJJN. tracted, he said, by both the repertoire and transforming into a wild peace, he who died 22 years ago at the age of 15. Jacobson said he hopes that the mes- and ideals of the group. wrote. “Wild Peace: Suddenly…Like As with the first event two years ago, sage of the afternoon will be “contaPeskin described the power of Wildflowers” is the concert’s title. it honors his affinity for people regardgious, and that our musical model will music in an email to NJJN. “Music The April event is the second con- less of race or ethnicity. Speaking at be an inspiration.” comes from the heavens and has no cert sponsored by the Solkoff Eskin the rehearsal, his mother Marcia said The event celebrates the value of of Jonah, “Judging people by the color differences and the beauty of othof their skin was an anathema to him.” erness, he added. “Our upcoming Jonah also loved music, and played the Temple Sha’arey Shalom, Springfield, will host the annual Salo Enis program brings together music and clarinet and the oboe. He would surely Memorial Tribute Concert to keep alive Enis’s dedication to Jewish music, people who come from differing culhave reveled, she said, in the camaradeliterature, and poetry. Enis, a Holocaust survivor, was an adult-education tures, differing religions, differing rie of these performers and their comteacher of Jewish literature, a mentor, and a klezmer music lover, compolitics. We are attempting to create mitment to building connections. poser, and performer who played the coronet well into his 90s. harmony and counterpoint that tranThat commitment comes through This year’s concert, “Songs of Affirmation and Hope,” will be held scends these differences.” loud and clear from those taking part. on Sunday, March 19, at 4 p.m. It will feature the Kol Dodi Community Jacobson will serve as guest conducCantor Fine of Temple Beth Shalom Choir under the direction of Cantor Erica Lippitz and Valeriya Tuz. Kol tor and narrator for the program, which has championed bridge-building Dodi is a 40-voice choir showcasing a variety of folk, classical, and modincludes some of his original work. through Voices in Harmony, which he ern Jewish music performed in Hebrew, English, Yiddish, and Ladino. The offerings range from his “Ani cofounded almost two decades ago, Temple Sha’arey Shalom’s youth and adult choirs will join in several V’Atah” and “Adinu: A Sufi Song,” and he described the present assemnumbers, and Cantor Amy Daniels will be the featured soloist. arranged by Shireen Abu-Khader and bly of performers as “a mosaic that Tickets are $20; $18 in advance. Call 973-379-5387. Andre De Quadros, to the traditional we’re very proud of.” Continued on following page “Dona Nobis Pacem” and an excerpt

Elaine Durbach

“Songs of Affirmation and Hope”

NJ Jewish News ■ Greater MetroWest Edition ■ March 9, 2017

Music

The Music List

NJ Jewish News ■ Greater MetroWest Edition ■ March 9, 2017

Garland Jeffreys. With a brand new album scheduled to drop this spring and a feature documentary in progress, the legendary Garland Jeffreys continues to defy expectations. It’s impossible to classify his music into neat little boxes — his thoughtful, passionate songs mix new wave, soul, reggae, garage rock, doo-wop, and Latin influences to create a deeply personal hybrid that reflects his multi-ethnic roots. March 18, 8 p.m. Jewish Community Center of Central New Jersey, Scotch Plains, jccnj.org, 908-889-8800, ext. 253 Sharim v’Sharot Jewish Choral Festival. Sharim v’Sharot, People of Song, a choral foundation under the leadership of Dr. Elayne Robinson Grossman, music director and conductor, will present Jewish choirs from New Jersey in performance at the 10th annual Sharim V’Sharot Jewish Choral Festival. In celebration of the centennial of the American-Jewish composer Leonard Bernstein, guest speaker Cantor David Tilman will give the scholar -in-residence address on “The Life and Jewish Works of Leonard Bernstein.” Admission is free. March 19, 2 p.m. Burlington County Library, Westampton, contact sharimvsharot@gmail.com “The Lions of Broadway, Cy Coleman and Jerry Herman.” Pianist, singer, and lecturer Fred Miller has spent several decades profiling America’s popular composers and musicians. Seated at the piano, he will sing songs written by Broadway greats Cy Coleman and Jerry Herman, and provide insight into their lives. March 19, 2-4 p.m. Temple B’nai Abraham, Livingston, tbanj.org/primetime, 973-994-2290

Monmouth Museum Wine Club presents

Wine & Inspiration

David Broza and Ali Paris. “Bridging the Divide” concert and conversation with Israel’s premier folksinger, David Broza, and Palestinian musician Ali Paris. The event marks the 30th anniversary of the Amy Adina Schulman Memorial Fund, an endowment supporting social action projects created in memory of the Princeton resident

Sunday, March 26th 5 to 7 PM RSVP at monmouthmuseum.org

We will gather at the

DETOUR GALLERY

for a personal tour of world class contemporary art. 24 Clay Street, Red Bank

A fine selection of wine will be presented by Discovery Wines Shop in New York City, along with hors d’oeuvres of the season. Individual Tickets are $100 per person per event. For further information, call 732.224.1993.

Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles. A psychedelic, multimedia concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The performance by the legendary Beatles cover band is a fundraiser for NCJW West Morris Section. March 23, 8 p.m. Mayo Performing Arts Center, Morristown, contact lisakb53@yahoo.com

765 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft, NJ

Music

Continued from previous page Many of the singers, who come from towns and congregations across central New Jersey, belong to more than one of the groups involved. “We love to sing,” said Louise Karger, who, with her husband Dan, belongs to Kol Dodi and Harmonium. They have been involved with the choral groups for decades. For music teacher Valeriya Tuz, the furor over refugees and the policies of the Trump administration pack a personal punch. Tuz, who codirects Kol Dodi with Lippitz, im-

who died at 20 from an aneurysm. March 26, 4 p.m. Richardson Auditorium at Princeton University, Princeton, tickets.princeton. edu, 609-258-9220 Kol Halayla. Rutgers University’s first coed a cappella group hosts a Shabbat A Cappella concert with Muhlenberg College’s Chaimonics and Brandeis University’s Manginah. April 22, 9:30 p.m. Rutgers Academic Building room 2125, New Brunswick, kolhalayla.com/concertpreorders.html Andrea Marcovicci. New York cabaret artist Andrea Marcovicci recreates her moving and charming show “I Am Anne Frank” based on the famed diary, with music by Michael Cohen and lyrics by Enid Futterman, accompanied by a live chamber orchestra. Originally presented at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, in 1996, “I Am Anne Frank” is a lasting tribute to the diary’s namesake as well as the many victims and survivors of the Holocaust. April 23, 3 p.m. Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Deal Park, axelrodartscenter.com, 732-531-9106 Idan Raichel. International musician Idan Raichel, well known and loved as the band leader of the Idan Raichel Project over the last 12 years, is making a bold new move by returning to the live concert scene with his solo performance. Raichel will play acoustic piano, electric piano, percussion, drum pad and looper, and even some chosen toys of his two young daughters, which he uses to create sound in honor and celebration of his fairly new status as a father. April 25, 8 p.m. Bergen Performing Arts Center, Englewood, bergenpac.org, 201-227-1030 Noa. Noa (aka Achinoam Nini) is Israel’s leading international songwriter and performer. She sings in six languages and has shared the stage with superstars such as Sting, Pat Metheny, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Andrea Bocelli, and more. Together with her longstanding collaborator Gil Dor, she has released over 15 albums which have sold millions the world over. May 13, 8:30 p.m. Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Deal Park, axelrodartscenter. com, 732-531-9106 The Real Diamond — The Premier Neil Diamond Band. Come sing along to your favorite Neil Diamond tunes as performed by the energetic and enthralling Real Diamond cover band. The event is sponsored by the Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County. June 11, 7 p.m. Monroe Township Senior Center, Monroe Township, jhmomc.org, 732-252-6990

migrated to the United States from Russia in 1991, and has found the choral fellowship at Oheb Shalom deeply comforting. “I trust the people here,” she said. On the Friday preceding the concert, March 31, Jacobson will be speaking after evening services. There will be a dinner, for which reservations are required. The talk is at 8 p.m., and is free and open to the public. The concert will be held on Sunday, April 2, at 4 p.m. Funding is from the Oheb Shalom Jonah Solkoff Eskin Memorial Fund. ✿

For more information, go to Ohebshalom.org.

Film

25 NJ Jewish News ■ Greater MetroWest Edition ■ March 9, 2017

Festivals provide international film tour of Jewish world JCCs in West Orange and Scotch Plains to offer annual cinema fests

wo annual film festivals will take viewers on an international tour of the Jewish world, offering premieres and award winners focusing in on everything from the Israeli-Palestinian crisis to women’s role in modern society. The 17th annual New Jersey Jewish Film Festival (NJJFF), sponsored by JCC MetroWest, will offer 20 films March 19-April 2 at the Cooperman JCC’s Maurice Levin Theater in West Orange, with additional screenings in Morristown and South Orange.

Debra Rubin

NJJN Bureau Chief

The 12th annual Jewish Film Festival of Central New Jersey will feature five films at the Carmike/ Rialto 6 theater in Westfield, April 19-May 16. It is sponsored by the JCC of Central NJ in Scotch Plains.

“Moos” is a Dutch romantic comedy centering on a young woman inspired to pursue her dreams of a music career when her childhood friend returns after serving in the IDF.

“The Women’s Balcony” focuses on a gender rift in a devout Orthodox community in Jerusalem. Marcy Lazar. “We’re particularly proud of our opening night film, ‘On the Map,’ a documentary that

At a glance

“A Grain of Truth” is a thriller that examines anti-Semitism in modern Poland. “These are international films that have been evaluated and prescreened by our very dedicated film committee,” said Randi Zucker, the Central JCC’s director of arts, education, and Jewish programs. The committee is chaired by Elyse Deutsch and

tells the story of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 1977 European Cup championship.” The win by Israel’s national basketball team, according to its captain, Tal Brody — originally of Trenton — showed that “Israel is on the map, not just in sport, but in everything.” Zucker called the film a “really a heartwarming story that features interviews with all the players” who were members of the winning

Continued on following page

The NJ Jewish Film Festival of JCC MetroWest will screen 11 New Jersey premieres. The films’ topics include such subjects as Israeli and Palestinian soldiers who transcend their opposition to discover their true enemy (“Disturbing the Peace”); facing and coping with the Holocaust (“Cloudy Sunday,” “Paradise and Shalom Italia”); and profiles of several important personages (“Art and Heart: The World of Isaiah Sheffer” and “The People vs. Fritz Bauer”). Dramatic films include one about the French health minister in 1974 who fought for women’s rights (“The Law”) and a thriller that examines anti-Semitism in modern Poland (“A Grain of Truth”). On a lighter note are “Hummus! The Movie” and “The Last Blintz.” Two films look at Israel’s kibbutzim and the celebration of the Israeli spirit (“Siberia,” “The Galilee Eskimos”); another is a modern fable based on a seminal Jewish story (“Harmonia”). There are also films about women caught between familial demands and realizing their dreams (“Moos”); women reclaiming their role in society (“The Women’s Balcony”); the tale of three Israeli-Arab women trying to balance traditional and modern culture in Tel Aviv (“Bar Bahar”); questions of identity and its ramifications (“AKA Nadia”); and the fascinating tale of an Orthodox Jewish girl from Bergen County who finds her place in an unusual sport (“Supergirl”).

NJ Jewish News ■ Greater MetroWest Edition ■ March 9, 2017

Film

Continued from previous page team — except one, whose widow represents him. “It really sets the tone for the sentiment in Israel at that time and demonstrates the impact the championship had on the country as a whole.” Three films, “The Women’s Balcony,” “Grain of Truth,” and “Moos,” will be shown at both festivals. Zucker said “The Women’s Balcony,” an Israeli film that focuses on a gender rift in a devout Orthodox community in Jerusalem, “has been popular at film festivals around the world. The film is entertaining but also hits on the topic of how women are seen in the Orthodox community. It is eye-opening, with a nod to humor.” It is on the JCC MetroWest schedule for Sunday, March 26, at 7 p.m. in West Orange, and for Tuesday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Westfield. “Moos” is a Dutch film revolving around a young woman, Moos, whose childhood friend, Sam, is a surprise guest at a Chanukah celebration. Sam, who has just returned from Israel after serving in the IDF, inspires Moos to follow her dreams of pursuing a musical career. “It is the lightest film we are showing,” said Zucker. “It’s a slice of life showing a Jewish family. It’s a romantic comedy that I think will resonate with the audience.” “Moos” will be screened Monday, March 20, at 7:30 p.m. in West Orange and Monday, May

8, at 7:30 p.m. in Westfield. In a press release from JCC MetroWest, “A Grain of Truth” was described by Carol Berman, manager of its Gaelen Center for the Arts, as a “thriller that examines anti-Semitism in modern Poland.” One of 11 N.J. premieres being offered by the NJJFF, it is based on the eponymous bestselling novel and centers on a “maverick prosecutor” drawn into the investigation of a string of ritual killings that seem to point to a blood libel set against a backdrop of growing public and media hysteria. It will be screened Saturday, March 25, at 8:30 p.m. in West Orange, and Tuesday, May 16, at 7:30 p.m. in Westfield. The NJJFF will open Sunday, March 19, at 7 p.m. with the N.J. premiere of “The Z o o k e e p e r ’s Wi f e , ” f e a t u r i n g t w o - t i m e Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain

If you go “For full schedules and ticket information: NJ Jewish Film Festival — Visit NJJFF.org or facebook.com/NJJFF or call 973-530-3417. Jewish Film Festival of Central New Jersey — Visit jccnj.org or call 908-889-8800.

as Antonina Żabińska, and European Film Award nominee Johan Heidenburgh as her husband, Dr. Jan Żabiński, director of the Warsaw Zoo. The couple secretly works with the Resistance during World War II to save the lives of Jews trapped in the Warsaw Ghetto. The screening will be followed by a dessert reception. The JCC MetroWest’s festival will offer a free screening of “The People vs. Fritz Bauer” — about a German-Jewish prosecutor who defied his country to bring Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann to justice — at the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown on Monday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. “The Law,” the true story of France’s tenacious health minister Simone Veil — a Holocaust survivor who became a champion of women’s rights — and her groundbreaking struggle to legalize abortion, will be shown in West Orange on Wednesday, March 29, at 11:30 a.m., and at Bow-Tie Cinema in South Orange on Thursday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m. “Past Life,” a new film by renowned director Avi Nesher, is about memories of the Holocaust; it follows two sisters who journey to Poland to learn about their father’s life during the war. It will be screened at Bow-Tie Cinema in South Orange on Wednesday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. Some films will feature post-screening discussions led by local clergy, academicians, and filmmakers. ✿ drubin@njjewishnews.com

“The beST COMedy

of the season”

– The New York Times

bad JewS by Joshua Harmon directed by Jessica Stone

March 21 – april 9 half–PriCed TiCKeTS for March 21, 22 and 23 at 8pm; March 26 at 7pm

Use code: PC50 Seating subject to availability at time of purchase, not valid on previously purchased tickets, packages, side seating and may not be combined. No refunds or exchanges.

Order NOw 732.246.7717 • GSPonline.org GEORGE STREET PLAYHOUSE 9 Livingston Avenue

•

New Brunswick, NJ 08901

David Saint, Artistic Director Michael Mastro, Resident Artistic Director Kelly Ryman, Managing Director

Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund. This program is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, A Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Visual Arts

27 NJ Jewish News ■ Greater MetroWest Edition ■ March 9, 2017

Judaica artist draws on her love of Torah and Hebrew

f Naomi Goldman were to draw a diagram depicting her life, it would have the same elegant, looping forms as her art, interweaving the exotic and the familiar.

Elaine Durbach Special to NJJN

She was born in Casablanca, Morocco, in 1968, and the following year her family moved to Monsey, N.Y. As a student and then a professional, she progressed from the aesthetic to the practical and back, studying art, and then nursing, and then more art. She now lives in West Orange. Goldman references her love of Torah through the Tree of Life.

Naomi Goldman’s depiction of Jerusalem. P HOTOS COU RTESY NAOM I GOLDMAN

Interwoven through all her work was — and is — her love of Judaism. As she puts it, “I look for the truth of this world and the meaning and purpose of our existence. For me, that’s about my creator and what relationship I can have with God. And the more I align my life with God’s will, the more everything works out in all areas of my life.” In visual terms, that orientation finds expression in archetypal Jewish images — like pomegranates, the golden city of Jerusalem, and trees — and lines of Hebrew text. Inspiration might come, Goldman explained, from a prayer or just a phrase from the Torah. You can see the result — richly colored images reminiscent of embroidery or ceramic de-

Artist Naomi Goldman of West Orange will have her Judaica art on display at JCC MetroWest through the end of April. signs — at an exhibition of her work at JCC MetroWest’s Cooperman JCC in West Orange until April 30.

A passion for Israel, sparked when she studied in Jerusalem, got her on a detour into nursing, “since it’s a job I knew I could do there.” That plan was short-circuited, however, when she met her husband while she was working at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. They settled on the Lower East Side, lived there for seven years, and had two children, before leaving the city in 2000. In New Jersey, she continued with her nursing, working in surgery and endoscopy centers. As immersed as she was in work and parenting and religious life, she kept her other plans alive. “Living in Israel is still a dream of mine, and I hope to move there one day soon,” she told NJJN. Her love of art has also continued. While living in New York, she studied at the Henry Street Settlement on the Lower East Side, and after moving to this area, she took classes at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey in Summit. The work in her new show at the JCC is decorative and two-dimensional, done with acrylics. At the center in Summit she also did sculpture and plein air landscapes in oil. She said, “My goals are to continue exploring my creative side and hopefully develop my talents more and more.” As for the Yiddishkeit so evident in her work, it has deep roots that run through her Jewish education in Monsey, and then studying and living in Jerusalem. “I have a deep spiritual connection and love Hebrew and the Torah very much,” she Continued on following page

NJ Jewish News ■ Greater MetroWest Edition ■ March 9, 2017

Visual Arts

JCC MetroWest presents an exhibit of photographs and mixed media by Gaelen Juried Art Show award winners Richard Earl and Barry Altman. The exhibit takes place in the Gaelen Gallery East at the Leon & Toby Cooperman JCC, Ross Family Campus, 760 Northfield Avenue, West Orange. The exhibit will be on view March 5-April 30. A reception for all spring shows will be held on Sunday, March 5, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. According to photographer Richard Earl, “The camera is a remarkable tool. It allows the artist to reveal that which can never be seen.” His compelling photographs range from traditional imagery, such as landscape and portraiture, to photographic montages. To Earl, the compilation of these layered images mirrors the complex nature of experience. The result is the creation of images that have both power and presence; images that achieve “more reality” than a single layer can express. He states, “The enlarged scale of many of these pieces leads to a sense of something just about to happen in the “Rhapsody” scene, something awaited with longing and great anticipation.” by Barry Altman Mixed Media artist Barry Altman says, “As a retired surgical specialist, it is probably natural that I use tactile concepts, three dimensionality, and warm colors in my work. I often incorporate assemblage, collage, and unusual elements such as dried vegetation, wire screening, excelsior, cardboard, dried mushrooms, and even pasta. My sources include classical music, my life experiences, and extensive travel around the world. Some of my works exhibit strong emotional content while others are more abstract and investigational.” Judaica paintings by artist Naomi Goldman fill the Arts/Theater Lobby. Goldman is Moroccan born, grew up in New York State, and now resides in West Orange with her family. Her art brings together the spiritual beauty of biblical verses, with the aesthetic beauty of oil and acrylic on canvas. The Steiner Court Showcases continue to exhibit significant, accomplished clay works. The Gaelen Gallery East is open during regular JCC hours: Monday-Thursday, 5:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday, 5:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 7 am-7 p.m. For “Autumn more information, please in the contact Lisa Suss at 973Broken World” 530-3413 (lsuss@jccmeby Richard Earl trowest.org).

Continued from previous page said. The writing she features in her work reflects that passion. For example, in a mosaic-style painting of Jerusalem, she includes the words said in prayer each day: “And to Jerusalem, your city, in mercy please return.” In another picture, the Torah itself is her inspiration. Curving around a jewel-bright array of branches and leaves she has written, “It is a tree of life to those that hold onto it.” In addition to the JCC exhibition, you can see examples of her work on her website, naomijudaicaart.com. ✿

April 23 • 3 p.m. World’s Greatest Composers Father Alphonse conducts well-known classical works

Calendar

April 30 • 3 p.m. Stompin’ at the Algonquin James Langton’s NY All-Star Big Band swing-swing-swings.

“Pulped Under Pressure.” March 19-May 7. With traditional hand papermaking at its core, “Pulped Under Pressure” underscores important, contemporary issues steeped in history and craft. Enticed through touch, these works by seven artists encourage a contemplative slowing down even as they urge recognition of some of the most pressing issues facing civilization today. Monmouth Museum, Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, monmouthmuseum.org

2016-17 Broadway Series presented by Manasquan Bank

U O SEL R A C

“Night at the Museum.” April 1. A scavenger hunt fund-raiser benefitting the National Council of Jewish Women, West Morris Section. Morris Museum, Morristown, contact jbuchfir@bu.edu Ellen Hanauer: “Transform.” April 7-June 26. A fiber exhibition depicting the human condition of falling down and the journey of finding one’s way back to self. Noyes Arts Garage of Stockton University, Atlantic City, artsgarageac.com

Music by Richard Rodgers Book & Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Above: “Go” by Ellen Hanauer

Based on the Play LILIOM by Ferenc Molnar • As adapted by Benjamin F. Glazer

Original Dances by Agnes de Mille

May 12-21, 2017

Left: “Freefall” by Ellen Hanauer