March 7, 2019
PREVIEW
, dance, the visual arts and books
NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
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3 NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
Tovah Feldshuh revels in her ‘greatest role’ Film captures play’s celebration of Golda Meir
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mbarking on a phone call with Tovah Feldshuh one recent morning, I had the feeling I was entering a conversation in media res. Perhaps it’s the high-energy quotient that animates her talk — no slow start with intro-
Abby Meth Kanter
“The Holocaust,” the perennially popular TV series “Law & Order,” the massive hit zombie apocalypse show “The Walking Dead,” and as the overthe-top Jewish mom in the uproarious musical series “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” — as well as in the other plays that garnered her four Tony nominations.)
“Golda’s Balcony, The Film” showcases Tovah Feldshuh’s award-winning Broadway performance. P HOTOS COU RTESY “GOLDA’S BALCONY, TH E F I LM”
NJJN Editorial Adviser
ductory pleasantries, even though it was 9 in the morning during a very busy week for the actress, singer, and playwright: She was in Florida for the world premiere of “Golda’s Balcony, The Film” at the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival, an event that, she said, was “astonishing” (and where it was crowned the “Audience Award Winner for Best Feature”). The night before we spoke, she had attended a “spectacular” symphony performance, and as we chatted, she set off in her car to find her way to a nearby nature and wildlife preserve she’d heard about (“I love nature like Golda loved her boys”). But perhaps the most potent reason it felt as if we were in a talk-inprogress was that the main focus of the call was something, she said, that she has “proudly” poured her energies and spirit and talent into for more than 15 years: the lead role in “Golda’s Balcony.” It is, she said, the “greatest role of my 40-year career, playing Israel’s first woman prime minister facing the greatest challenge of her career.” Calling Golda — that’s what everyone called her — “one of the greatest women in history,” Feldshuh said she owes playwright William Gibson a huge debt of gratitude for having written a play that continues to move audiences — and herself. (Distinguishing “Golda” as her greatest role must be placed in the context of her acclaimed portrayals in 100-plus other vehicles of the stage and big and small screens, including the groundbreaking 1970s miniseries
In the midst of war, Golda never stopped “crying for peace,” said Feldshuh. In our free-ranging conversation, what came through most forcefully was how Feldshuh (by the way, she wanted to clarify that it’s pronounced “Feld-shoo”) sees her portrayals — starting from the early performances and through the many times she has inhabited the role on stages throughout the world — as embodying Golda’s, and her own, passion for the nation and people of Israel. When faced with the necessity of waging war — and, posits the play, the terrifying possibility of deploying nuclear weapons against Israel’s enemies on the eve of the Yom Kippur War — Golda never stopped “crying for peace” — for everyone, Feldshuh said. Feldshuh also marvels at this “whirlwind,” a woman who “lived life to its fullest.” Golda’s unremitting energy not only serves as a model for Feldshuh, she said, but powers her own zeal to reenact the well-known saga of a young girl immigrating to
Milwaukee after fleeing pogroms in her native Ukraine who rose to become Israel’s fourth, and still its only female, prime minister. Furthering Feldshuh’s awe of her subject is how Golda’s life as a wife, mother, and schoolteacher was eclipsed by her unwavering commitment to not just supporting the Zionist endeavor, but to being on the ground to help bring it to fruition. Golda’s unfaltering strength also inspires: Throughout the pressures she faced on the domestic, national, and international stages, Feldshuh said, she “was unshakeable, not a person who wept when confronted with troubles,” always presenting “a stalwart front to her people.” Playing Golda fulfills another aspect of Feldshuh’s life: “tikkun olam,” improving the world, by personifying a woman whose revolutionary leadership was critical to the survival of her nation and its “right to exist and to live in peace.” That Israel
does survive and thrive is a “miracle” of history, Feldshuh said. “I love Israel and the Jewish people,” she said; at its heart, “Israel is the prime example of how to live with hope,” and it was Golda who sustained that “tikvah” through the dark days of October 1973. Feldshuh is quick to emphasize, “I love all people with all my heart,” extending that to those who many view as enemies. She has taken pains to befriend Palestinian Arabs — “It is hard to kill someone you’re familiar with” — and stated, “I want everybody to live in two peaceful countries, side by side.” Key to her immersion in Golda and the many other strong Jewish women she’s portrayed, said Feldshuh, is her embrace of her own Jewish identity, a feeling deeply embedded — “My parents loved being Jewish,” she said
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If you go What: “Golda’s Balcony, The Film” When: April 5, 11:30 a.m. Where: JCC MetroWest, West Orange Tickets: $11; $10/ticket for groups of 10 or more Contact: Sarah Diamond at sdiamond@jccmetrowest.org or 973-530-3417 or visit jccmetrowest.org/njjff Star Tovah Feldshuh will appear at the screening.
NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
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Continued from previous page — and she has continued the tradition of large holiday gatherings, including her home being “the magnet for some 45 people at Passover seders.” It’s her love for Israel, Feldshuh said, that has motivated the supportive efforts of which she is unabashedly proud: raising funds around the world for Israeli and Jewish community service organizations, hospitals, and schools, including Magen David Adom, Ben-Gurion University, and Shaare Zedek Medical Center. When making appeals for Israel, she said, she’s proved most effective by telling potential donors that she is asking “for something very inexpensive; I ask you only for money. I don’t ask for your sons’ and daughters’ blood. It is Israel that gives that.” Her labors have not gone unappreciated; among the awards she’s received are the Israel Peace Award and the Jewish Image Award from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture. So now that the Broadway per-
formance of “Golda’s Balcony” is accessible via the big screen, will Feldshuh continue to bring her idol to the stage? Without a doubt, she said. She learns something new each time she treads the boards as Golda, which she’s done many times in the last 15 years. “It’s a story that needs to be told and a voice and an opinion that need to be heard.” She revels in going live as Golda, “making strangers in a theater feel like family, connecting with them on a personal level, having them look me in the eye.” But that’s also the reason she is so delighted with “this treasure”; “Golda’s Balcony, The Film” reveals the energy and zeal she put into it — like watching the charge of a “racehorse under tremendous duress” — and what happens “when a woman in her 50s, with commitment to the vision of a playwright, works out, dons a fat suit and a gray wig,” and goes “very, very, very deep, with restraint and respect” that convey the essence of Golda’s strength and humor and the charisma that ensured her place in history. With close-ups. ✿
What it is WHAT, POTENTIAL viewers may ask, is “Golda’s Balcony, The Film”? First, it is not a movie version of “Golda,” the 1977 multi-character Broadway play by celebrated writer William Gibson (“The Miracle Worker”), which starred Anne Bancroft as Israeli Golda’s Balcony” centers on the turbulent times surrounding the Yom Kippur War.
Tovah Feldshuh has reveled in playing Golda Meir, whom she called “one of the greatest women in history.”
R e d e f i n i n g a g R e at Cyrille Aimée: A SOndheim AdvenTure Sun, mAr 31 AT 7:30Pm Tickets: $26-$36 A dazzling new vocal presence in the Jazz world, she brings a jazzy fresh take to Sondheim’s classics.
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Tickets: $30-$38 Two of music’s hardest working Blues guitarists are coming together for a night of epic riffs, licks and unabashed Soul!
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Prime Minister Golda Meir. Dissatisfied with that work — the critics agreed — Gibson returned to the writing desk, again drawing on conversations he had with Meir not long before her death in 1978. This time he created a play that, while laying out the span of her life — from her childhood flight from brutal anti-Semitism in Ukraine to her historic roles as stateswoman and premier of Israel — focuses primarily on the turbulent time leading up to and during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. And it was scripted for only one woman.
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Arts e x p e R i e n c e
mAx WeinBerg’S JukeBOx SAT, APr 6 AT 8Pm
Tickets: $48-$58 A truly interactive experience, you will choose songs from the glory days of Rock-and-Roll and Max and his crack four-piece band play them!
rOger mCguinn
Thu, APr 11 AT 7:30Pm
Tickets: $33-$45 With hits such as “Turn, Turn, Turn,” “Eight Miles High” and “Mr. Tambourine Man,” Roger McGuinn didn’t just make music; he made history.
JOhn PizzArelli: A CenTenniAl CeleBrATiOn OF nAT king COle SAT, APr 13 AT 8Pm
Tickets: $46-$60 Hailed by the Boston Globe for “reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and re-popularizing Jazz.” Now, John Pizzarelli turns his considerable talent to the timeless music of Nat King Cole.
Billy COllinS, u.S. POeT lAureATe Fri, mAy 31 AT 8Pm
Tickets: $38-$58 No poet since Robert Frost has managed to combine high critical acclaim with such broad popular appeal.
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Fri, Jun 7 AT 8Pm
Tickets: $68-$95 Forever celebrated for his classic hits “American Pie” and “Vincent (Starry Starry Night).”
Box office (973) 313-2787 www.SOPACnow.org
south oRange peRfoRming aRts centeR one sopac Way, south oRange nJ 07079
19TH
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Opening Night 7:00pm Promise at Dawn
A NNU A L
Followed by a Dessert Reception
THURSDAY • MARCH 28
MARCH 27– APRIL 7
GET TICKETS NOW! jccmetrowest.org/njjff
973-530-3417
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Double Feature 11:30am How to Swim In Her Footsteps 7:30pm The Tobacconist
Bow-Tie Cinema, South Orange**
FRIDAY • MARCH 29
11:30am The Interpreter
Post-screening discussion
SATURDAY • MARCH 30
Double Feature 9:00pm Travelogue Tel Aviv The Unorthodox
SUNDAY • MARCH 31
10:30am Teen Film Fest 1:00pm Stockholm 7:00pm Redemption
Post-screening discussion
MONDAY • APRIL 1 11:30am Scaffolding
Post-screening discussion
7:30pm Footsteps of My Father College of Saint Elizabeth* Post-screening discussion
7:30pm Simon & Théodore
TUESDAY • APRIL 2
11:30am The Syrian Patient
Post-screening discussion
7:30pm Wajib
WEDNESDAY • APRIL 3
Double Feature 12:30pm Death Metal Grandma The Mamboniks 7:30pm Who Will Write Our History? Post-screening discussion
THURSDAY • APRIL 4
11:30am Working Woman
Post-screening discussion
7:30pm You Only Die Twice
Post-screening discussion
FRIDAY • APRIL 5
11:30am Golda’s Balcony, The Film Post-screening discussion
SATURDAY • APRIL 6 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.
All films screened at JCC MetroWest, 760 Northfield Avenue, West Orange unless noted otherwise. See below for alternate screening locations. *
Dolan Performance Hall College of Saint Elizabeth 2 Convent Road, Morristown
** Bow-Tie Cinema, SOPAC 1 Sopac Way, South Orange
Check website for additional guest speakers and programs.
Double Feature 9:00pm Boxes Echo
SUNDAY • APRIL 7
11:00am Back to Berlin 2:00pm Family in Transition
Post-screening discussion
Closing Night Double Feature 7:00pm The Outer Circle The Other Story
Followed by a Dessert Reception
NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
WEDNESDAY • MARCH 27
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Film fest celebrates diverse cinema culture
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“The Other Story”
Photo from Kiss Me, Kate (Fall 2018)
diplomat, film director, and war hero. The closing night double feature on Sunday, April 7, will include a short, “The Outer Circle,” about the fraught gathering of an Iraqi-Jewish “Death Metal Grandma” family in England, and “The Other Story,” by THE OPPORTUNITY to see Tovah Feldshuh renowned Israeli filmmaker Avi Nesher, about on screen in her award-winning Broadway turn two Israeli women, one fleeing the chaos of in “Golda’s Balcony” — and to greet the cel- secular hedonism for the discipline of faith, the ebrated actor in person — may be the high point other desperate to transcend her strict religious of the 19th annual New Jersey Jewish Film Fes- upbringing for sexual and spiritual freedom. In between, films will offer an eclectic range tival, but among its offerings, say organizers, are of stories, including: plenty of cinematic gems. An Israeli father struggles to keep his family Over two dozen acclaimed films will be together while shown during transitioning to the festival, takbeing a woman; ing place March an octogenar27-April 7 at ian sets out to (mostly) JCC find and exM e t r o We s t i n act revenge on West Orange. the SS officer They include who killed his features, docu“The Outer Circle” parents and is mentaries, comedies, and shorts from Israel, America, France, joined in the search by the Nazi’s son; Master Germany, Poland, and other countries, many Sgt. Roddie Edmonds declared, “We are all Jews followed by discussions led by filmmakers and here,” when his German captors ordered him to identify the Jews among his fellow POWs; experts. Opening the festival on Wednesday, March Israeli doctors save the lives of wounded Syrians 27, will be the award-winning French film secretly transported across the border from their “Promise at Dawn,” based on the epic memoir war-ravaged country; while delivering wedding by novelist Romain Gary, who was born a Lithu- invitations by hand, a Palestinian father and son Continued on page 11 anian Jew in 1914 and became a noted French
“Wajib”
7 NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
A timeless script Play about a Russian-Jewish immigrant’s struggles has modern overtones
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lthough a play at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick is set in the early 20th-century, its story of a Russian Jew’s flight from persecution and struggle to find acceptance in America has modern resonance. “The Immigrant,” which runs March 12-April 7, was written by Mark Harelik based on the true story
Debra Rubin
When Haskell Harelik first arrived in Hamilton, Texas, from Russia, he made a living selling bananas from a wheelbarrow.
NJJN Bureau Chief
of his grandfather, Haskell Harelik, who fled czarist Russia and ended up the lone Jew in the small town of Hamilton, Texas. The play, with its four-person cast, has been performed throughout the country for a number of years. “It’s a really beautiful personal story about a guy who leaves a pogrom and personal trauma and tries to establish a new life for himself in a land he knows nothing about,” said Benjamin Pelteson, who plays the title role of Haskell Harelik. “It resonates for me with a lot of things happening today with people who come to this country for their own personal safety.” Jim Jack, the show’s director and the theater’s director of education and outreach, called “The Immigrant” “a great story for these polarizing times.”
Lauriel Friedman and Benjamin Pelteson in rehearsal for Mark Harelik’s “The Immigrant” at George Street Playhouse. P HOTOS COU RTESY GEORGE STR EET P L AYHOU SE
He noted the play’s theme of seeking safe haven in the United States and adapting to a new country and
language is “exceptionally timely,” and should resonate with audiences. “The questions it raises are ones
Haskell Harelik’s original store in Hamilton, Texas, which the Russian-Jewish immigrant opened around the turn of the last century with a loan from a Christian couple who befriended him.
we continue to wrestle with today,” said Jack. “What are the values of this country, and who do they belong to? What role do immigrants have in creating and shaping the fabric of this country? What role does compassion play in in the way we interact with people, and how do we allow immigrants access to the American dream?” The original Harelik sailed from Eastern Europe to Galveston, Texas, the western port of U.S. entry. He moved to Hamilton, southwest of Dallas, and took up selling bananas from a wheelbarrow. When he was down on his luck, a local couple, Milton and Ima Perry, aided him. Milton, a banker, loaned Harelik money to buy a horse, which he used to pull a pushcart of vegetables and fruit around town. The peddler eventually brought over his wife — Matleh, known as Leah — from Russia, and Milton soon helped set him up in a store, which became Haskell Harelik Dry Goods Company, and later Haskell Harelik’s Department Store. “It was a risky thing to do,” said Jack about Milton’s generosity. “AntiSemitism was not rampant, but it certainly existed, so [Milton] put his reputation on the line for Haskell. … It looks at the difficult work of assimilation and is a funny, moving portrait of relationships between people radically different from each other and how compassion transforms them.” Haskell and Leah had three sons, the youngest of whom was the playwright’s father, Milton — named in
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continued from previous page honor of Milton Perry — who took over the store from his father. Jack said he immediately connected to the story since his own family is from east Texas and his wife’s family emigrated from Russia in the last century and moved from the Lower East Side to Dallas. “In our bedroom we have two quilts, one made by [Jack’s wife’s] great-grandmother that has as its pattern stars of David, and another quilt made by my great-grandmother, who stitched the names of the children into the blanket,” he
The Theater List “Mamma Mia.” The hit musical based on the songs of ABBA runs through March 24. $50-$64. Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Deal Park, axelrodartscenter. com, 732-531-9106. “The Belle of Amherst.” Crafted from diary entries, letters, and poems by Emily Dickinson, the play is a spellbinding
said. “They lay side by side.” “The Immigrant” also resonates with Pelteson, whose paternal grandfather narrowly escaped Nazi Germany on the last boat allowed to leave. On his mother’s side, the family escaped the anti-Semitism in Russia and Poland, sharing many of Pelteson’s character’s experiences. Toward the end of the play, there is a debate about how many Jews should be let into Texas. “When you think about it, it is the same debate being litigated now Haskell Harelik was able to bring over his wife, Matleh, known as Leah, with money earned from his business ventures.
drubin@njjewishnews.com
and insightful look at the life of one of America’s greatest poets. April 13 – May 5. Two River Theater, Red Bank, tworivertheater.org, 732-345-1400. “Aida.” The award-winning opera tells the love story between an Ethiopian princess and an Egyptian military commander. $50-$64. May 31-June 16. Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Deal Park, axelrodartscenter.com, 732531-9106.
TICKETS START AT $25 ORDER NOW FOR THE BEST SEATS!
MAR 12 - APRIL 7
immigrant
the
by Mark Harelik directed by Jim Jack
Sponsored by The Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation
GEORGE STREET PLAYHOUSE 103 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
David Saint, Artistic Director Kelly Ryman, Managing Director
TIX | GeorgeStreetPlayhouse.org • 732-246-7717 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.
about how many people to let in, how many people can we accommodate,” Pelteson said. “The play makes a good case for welcoming people without being preachy or didactic.” Pelteson has appeared in numerous theatrical and Shakespearean productions around the country, and been featured in television shows including “Law & Order,” “Homeland,” and “The Americans.” The three other cast members — Gretchen Hall of South Orange, Lauriel Friedman, and R. Ward Duffy — have extensive New York and regional theater experience. ✿
Brad Zimmerman, a New Jersey native, stars in “My Son the Waiter.” COU RTESY MOR R I S M U SEU M
“MY SON the Waiter, a Jewish Tragedy” will play May 2-5 at the Bickford Theatre at the Morris Museum. This comedy comes to Morristown after a West Coast tour, giving the northern New Jersey community the opportunity to experience the show that the New York Times described as “Delicious! Distinctly original … powerfully poignant,” and “Great comedy!” The star of the show, Brad Zimmerman, originally from Oradell, chronicles his early days in New York City when he waited tables before his comedic career took off. Zimmerman brings his hilarious and heartfelt theatrical journey to where his own story began — New Jersey. Zimmerman’s career highlights have included opening for giants such as Brad Garrett, Dennis Miller, Susie Essman, and Julio Iglesias. Tickets $45, $40 seniors, $25 students, $35 museum members. For performance times or to purchase tickets, visit morrismuseum.org/theatre or call 973-971-3706.
9 NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
DANCE Twirling with tradition Ariel Rivka Dance brings playfulness, emotions to the stage
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Ariel Grossman, artistic director of Ariel Rivka Dance, with David Homan, her husband, executive director, and composer-in-residence.
ike the drive to express her creativity through movement, Ariel Grossman’s Judaism is “very much ingrained in who I am.” But defining specifics of her beliefs or practices is trickier, she told NJJN in a telephone interview. Take, for example, the concept of a divine power. “I don’t really know what my belief is, but every time I take a flight I ask God for a safe flight,” said Grossman, 36, the
P HOTO BY T YLER JON ES
Shira Vickar-Fox
NJJN Managing Editor
founder, artistic director, and choreographer of the eponymous Ariel Rivka Dance company based in Jersey City. There are also elements of Judaism that she says are “stuck” in her, such as attending High Holiday services. “I always want to hear the shofar.” For Grossman, a definition of her Jewish values came from her job teaching Hebrew school at the Brotherhood Synagogue in Manhattan, and during her eight years as a preschool teacher at the Jewish Community Project in Tribeca. As an educator she emphasized “values, community, and relationships,” she said. Her lessons included Jewish stories, traditions, and culture “without it feeling heavy” — concepts she also applies to raising
Scenes from “The Book of Esther,” a retelling of the Purim story about Queen Esther and Vashti. P HOTOS BY JASON SI MON her two young children, Eva, 5, and Max, 2, with husband and creative partner David Homan. Having Judaism “ingrained” in her means that she’s come to realize her religion influences her creative process as well. Along the course of her professional journey, Grossman said she learned to apply the rejuvenating power of Shabbat — a period of rest — to spark her creativity. She also ties her choreography to the sacredness of Jewish traditions — her company performs a similar repertoire every season which reminds
her “of how we celebrate the same holidays every year.” “That’s something that feels Jewish to me,” she said about performing signature pieces such as “Book of Esther,” “Ori,” and “Variations on a Box.” “You can make slight changes, but it’s important to let something be because there’s a reason why it’s so powerful and affective. There’s a reason why you keep returning to it.” Ariel Rivka Dance, founded in 2008, is comprised of seven to eight dancers and an additional four apA performance of “Ori” at the 2018 Battery Dance Festival. P HOTO BY R ICHAR D W. DAVI S
prentices; most company members (all women) have been dancing with her for more than four years. “We’re definitely a family,” said Grossman, who readily praised their talents. “They’re really strong, intelligent, creative people who have definitely taken my artistry to another level.” At the close of the spring dance season in New York, she pauses to write a card to every dancer identifying the ways in which she was grown artistically. Grossman gives credit to the practice of Shabbat for teaching her to “slow down to remember and think about and notice the important things that have happened over the week or the past few months,” she said. The concept of a Shabbat also gives her breaks from the stress of having to constantly produce new works. “You are forced to be in the moment all the time, but in my creative process I’m always feeling this pressure to have a product and I’ve been making myself slow down,” she said. It’s given her time to experiment and “explore ideas and be OK with making mistakes and see-
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DANCE
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ing what comes out of that.” One result of her experimentation is “Rhapsody in K,” a work inspired by the movements and sounds of daughter Eva, with music composed by Homan and Stefania de Kenessey. The work was collaborative; her dancers created phrases from video recordings of Eva. “It’s exploring our child-side of us and what that can do for us as adults,” Grossman said, expressing her admiration for
If you go
Who: Ariel Rivka Dance; for details about upcoming performances, visit arielrivkadance.com
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What: A free, interactive family program and performance When: May 11, 3 p.m. Where: Central Presbyterian Church, Montclair
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What: “Mossy, a performance that’s part of “Taste of Culture” When: May 13, 6-8 p.m. Where: City Hall, Jersey City
how children lack inhibitions in their movements. “Rhapsody in K” will have its world premiere in performances at Baruch Performing Arts Center at the end of March and will also be performed Saturday, May 11, at Central Presbyterian Church in Montclair. As a choreographer, Grossman is interested in exploring people’s “ideas and feelings.” In her most Jewish-themed dance, “The Book of Esther,” she delves into the character of Vashti, who is banished from the kingdom for not obeying King Achashverosh in the Purim story. Grossman removes the negativity that traditionally surrounds the character and, in her take, reframes Vashti as a strong woman who inspires Esther to stand up to the king and his evil adviser, Haman. “I was able to explore the character and her emotional narrative through dance,” she said of Vashti, whose kinship with Esther in the dance is illuminated with a stirring duet. Grossman’s professional life remains tied to the classroom and the studio. She has a bachelor’s degree in dance and a master’s in early childhood education. She teaches the 2s at the Corlears School in downtown Manhattan and dance at the Performing Arts Workshop in Jersey City. Educational programming is a vital part of her company. Ariel Rivka Dance conducts interactive performances and workshops across the country, including the May performance in Montclair. “Because my work is really accessible, the older audiences and family audiences who aren’t necessarily dance people are more willing to try it,” she said. “The music is beautiful and the dancers are beautiful and I know how to work with children and make people laugh.” ✿
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FilmFest
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“Redemption”
r “In Her Footsteps” h reveal the generational gaps in Arab-Israeli society; and, desperate to ensure that a record of the Nazis’ genocidal brutality not die with them, members of the Oyneg Shabes group risk all to chronicle the e reality of life in the Warsaw Ghetto. e Not to mention: a 97-year-old Shoah survivor y seeking acceptance as a Death Metal singer, Jews ish retirees so devoted to Latin dancing they earn n the title “the Mamboniks,” and four comrades t doing their all to see that their friend receives the n Nobel Prize he strove for all his life (one problem: he’s dead). “It takes more than a village to put on a festival a of this size and scope,” said festival cochair Andrea Bergman. “We are so fortunate to have a stellar e line-up of staff and volunteers to help us showcase these incredible films.”
y y l I d
If you go
What: New Jersey Jewish Film Festival When: March 27-April 7 Where: JCC MetroWest, West Orange (and other venues) Tickets: General seating, $13; $11 for students, seniors, and for matinees (before 5 p.m.); $10/ticket for groups of 10 or more; sponsorships begin at $325 and include an all-festival pass and other benefits Contact: Sarah Diamond at sdiamond@jccmetrowest.org or 973-530-3417 or visit jccmetrowest.org/njjff
“The Syrian Patient” Her cochair, Joni Cohen, expressed her pride that “the festival has become so well recognized in
New Jersey and beyond.” The “wide range of exceptional films,” said festival director Sarah Diamond, “advance our mission to foster Jewish culture and community.” Committee members Caren and Herb Ford of Livingston founded the NJJFF in 2000. Vicky Jacobs is festival curator; Mara Miller is administrator. Sponsored by JCC MetroWest’s Gaelen Center for the Arts, the festival receives support from the NJ State Council on the Arts and from more than two dozen community and corporate sponsors.
— ABBY METH KANTER
Coppelia March 16 - 17 Two River Theater | Red Bank, NJ tworivertheater.org
Beauty and the Beast May 10 State Theatre New Jersey | New Brunswick, NJ stnj.org arballet.org | 609.921.7758
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At last, octogenarian artist steps into the limelight Exhibit of ‘outsider’ paintings, drawings is his first solo show
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hough supposedly retired, show-style event in Hackettstown. Richard Brown runs an inter“I took out my phone and showed net marketing business and him some pictures, and he was very inserves as an agent, enthusiastically terested,” Brown said. Susan, sitting at promoting the work of another artist. his side, nodded, recalling the encounUntil recently that was more than ter. Because Brown is self-taught, the Brown ever did for his own art, but appraiser dubbed his work “outsider things have changed. An exhibit of his art” and told Brown to contact him. drawings and paintings is on display Although there was no response at JCC MetroWest in West Orange when he did call, Brown was emboldthrough April 28. At 82, the Livingston ened by the positive reaction to his resident is having his first solo show. artwork. He contacted a friend who On the walls of the JCC’s Arts and put him in touch with Lisa Suss, viTheater Lobby are the charming car- sual arts manager at the JCC’s Gaelen toon figures Brown Art Galleries, who painted decades ago looked at his work Special to NJJN when his kids were and promptly invited little, quirky pen-andhim to join the diswash portraits, and colorful cityscapes tinguished roster of artists who have sketched with markers during a holi- exhibited at the venue. day in Portugal in 2017. Suss told NJJN that Brown’s work “I never did anything with my pic- “has charm stemming from his straighttures when I was younger because I forward take on his family, friends, and thought I wasn’t good enough,” Brown environment. His primitive paintings admitted to NJJN during a visit in the and drawings are the work of a man Livingston condo he and his wife, Su- profoundly involved in interpreting his san, moved into in November, after 40 world. The work continues my goal of years in West Orange. He is an easy- challenging JCC members to appreciate going, practical kind of guy, clearly not a wide variety of art.” inclined to the agonizing self-examinaLike many other artists, Brown has tion typical of some artists. This is just not established a market value for his how it was. But his dismissive attitude work before now and is facing dilemwas shaken by an encounter last year mas about pricing and whether to part with an expert at an Antiques Road- with his pieces. He is simultaneously
eager to share his creativity and worried about how it will be received. And his wife is girding herself to have the As with this triptych of Popeye portraits, Richard Brown’s creativity often spreads to the frames around his work.
Elaine Durbach
walls of their home stripped bare for a month. “I’m going to miss them,” she exclaimed. Richard Brown shows one of his favorite works, a study that earned a prize in an art show 50 years ago. P HOTOS BY EL AI N E DU R BACH
Brown said he started making pictures as a little child, growing up in Norwalk. Conn. His parents, who had moved there from Brooklyn, paid no attention to their kid’s dabbling, though they didn’t discourage it either — except on one occasion. Aged about 11,
If you go
What: “Richard Brown, Outsider Art” When: Through April 28 Where: Arts/Theater Lobby, JCC MetroWest, West Orange Contact: Lisa Suss, 973-530-3413 or lsuss@jccmetrowest.org
he tried out a free-life drawing class in nearby Westport. To his astonishment, a nude woman was modelling for the students. He drew her and came home pleased with his work. His mother wasn’t as impressed. “She threw out my pictures,” he said with a rueful grin. “I wish I still had them.” It didn’t occur to Brown at the time that being a commercial artist was a viable profession. “I looked into it but I saw that so few commercial artists made a good living,” he said. “There wasn’t a future in it, not the kind I wanted. So I forgot about that and went into business instead.” Starting in college, he sold cookware and later moved on to premium items, with a business he called Rich Promotions. “Life is a Popeye’s girlfriend Olive Oyl was a Richard Brown subject years ago.
-journey,” he said, briefly turning philonsophical, “with a series of decisions that daffect the direction you take.” o That doesn’t mean he stopped hpainting. Especially in the summer -months when they stayed at their lake,side home in Andover, he continued to
produce pictures. Though he has been doing less lately, the walls are covered with his work. Pride of place goes to a moody picture in shades of gray based on a photograph depicting a slum neighborhood. “It won second place at a show organized by the Irvington Art Association in the spring of 1969,” he related with open pride. On the facing wall is another picture that was less warmly received — a big painting of his daugh-
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Brown said his daughter did not want this picture of herself as a bride, surrounded by the men in the wedding party, because “he made her look too big.” ter as a bride, surrounded by the men in the wedding party. “She didn’t want it,” Brown said with a laugh. “She says he made her look too big — and she’s a slender little thing,” her mother said. But both parents like it and there won’t be a price tag on it. He will be offering for sale giclee prints of other pictures he wants to keep. The frames on their walls are as varied as the pictures — part of a collection Susan found as she became interested in antiques and drew her husband into that passion. He has painted or textured some of them, having fun exploring different ideas, just as he does with his images. For this artist, creativity truly is all about the pleasure. ✿
13 NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
Artist Richard Brown and his wife Susan stand in front of the “Blondie and Dagwood” picture he painted to mark one of their anniversaries.
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NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
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JCC METROWEST presents an exhibit of pastels and photography by Gaelen Juried Art Show award winners Anita “Contemplating the Vastness” Gladstone and Albert Martin. The ex- by Anita Gladstone hibit will be on view through April 28. Gladstone is an award-winning pastel artist who said she finds pastels’ wonderfully vibrant colors to be an exciting way to express her interest in the beauty of landscapes. The subject of photographer Martin’s exhibit is flowers. He purchased flowers and let them dry naturally. Then he photographed them with a macro lens. “Not only have I been able to capture the colors of the flowers, but the technique has allowed me to capture both the interesting shapes of these dried flowers and the texture of the petals.” The art show winners exhibit takes place in the Gaelen Gallery East located in the JCC MetroWest, West Orange. The gallery is open during JCC operating hours. For more information contact Lisa Suss at 973-530-3413 or lsuss@ jccmetrowest.org.
MAR 23
A Man and His Prostate with Ed Asner
MAR 22
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Hairspray Sing-Along with host Jeremy Grunin!
‘In Stitches’ at Academy Square Galleries “Look at the View” collage by Catherine LeCleire
Robert Eric’s Piano Man: A Tribute to Billy Joel
MAR 30
MAR 31
THE STUDIO MONTCLAIR Incubator at Academy Square Galleries presents “In Stitches,” a show of works by two local artists, Randy Keenan and Catherine LeCleire, on exhibit March 20-May 22. Their collections are connected through their methods of stitching artwork together to tell a larger story of expression through printmaking, assemblage, quilting, and encaustic painting. Randy Keenan’s work spans a variety of media from master quilts to multi-media assemblages. Catherine LeCleire’s prints and silkscreens offer a playful, yet powerful
repetition of images or words. Hours of the Academy Square Galleries, Montclair, are Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Visit studiomontclair.org/exhibitions or call 862-500-1447.
Introducing Alexis Morrast
Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn
Bollywood Boulevard
For the complete 2018-2019 performance schedule, visit
grunincenter.org
Box Office Hours: Mon.-Fri. P 10:00am-5:00pm 732.255.0500 P College Drive P Toms River P NJ Group Rates Available
APR 5
APR 7
The Visual Arts List “Color, Light & Form.” Artist Sue Sweeney’s works appear at the Grant Avenue Gallery through March 30. Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Deal Park, axelrodartscenter.com, 732-531-9106 “Art & Healing: Expressions of Trauma and Gratitude.” This exhibit highlights how art and creativity helps the healing and recovery of those diagnosed with cancer. Each artist explains how their artwork impacted the experience of their diagnosis. Free. Through May 19. A panel discussion with the artists takes place April 14, 2 p.m. Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, monmouthmuseum.org, 732-747-2266
“Hero” by Karen Starrett on exhibit at Monmouth Museum
“We are the Change: Our Voices Matter.” The sixth annual student art installation features works by middle and high school students from across New Jersey on issues impacting their communities. Free. May 15-June 30. To make a reservation, email Ally. Evans@chhange.org. Brookdale Community College, Middletown, brookdalecc. edu, 732-224-1889 “New Directions in Fiber Art.” The juried show features 41 New Jersey artists who created pieces from traditional and contemporary fibrous materials. Through June 16. Noon-5 p.m., Wed.-Sat. Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, montclairartmuseum.org, 973-746-5555
15 NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
The Music List
scription available. March 24, 4 p.m. JCC MetroWest, West Orange, jccmetrowest. org/gaelen, 973-530-3915
“Jews and All That Jazz.” Jazz pianist Emmet Cohen plays from a variety of composers, while also discussing the lives and histories that inspired their music. $12. March 24, 2:30 p.m. Temple B’nai Abraham, Livingston, tbanj.org, 973994-2290
“Mostly Music.” This chamber music concert features a series of string concertos by Back, Tartini, Haydn, and Kriesler. $35, free for those under 21. March 24, 3:30 p.m. Temple Emanu-El, Westfield, mostlymusic.org, 908-789-8578
“Landon String Quartet.” The group from the Shepherd School of Music of Rice University performs as part of the Conservatory Music Chamber Concert Series. Dessert reception follows. $25, $20 member and student. Series sub-
“Tunes that Speak and Words that Sing: Reclaiming the Poetry of the Jewish People.” Eleanor Epstein, founder and conductor of Zemer Chai and choral music scholar, participates in Shabbat evening services. Free. April 2, 7:30
Eleanor Epstein conducting. p.m. Anshei Emeth Memorial Temple, New Brunswick, aemt.net, 732-545-6484
Jazz musician Emmet Cohen of Montclair
“From Ladino to Yiddish to Opera.” Cantors Marina Shemesh, Benjamin Warschawski, and Brian Shamash, the Shiur Libeinu Choir, and the Temple Sinai Band present an evening of cabaret in honor of Rabbi Stuart Gershon’s 25 years at Temple Sinai. Wine, cheese, and dessert reception. $24,
$18 in advance. April 6, 7:30 p.m. Temple Sinai, Summit, templesinainj. org, 908-273-4921 “Carmina Burana: A Scenic Cantata.” Monmouth Civic Chorus performs. $38$56. April 6, 8 p.m. Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Deal Park, axelrodartscenter. com, 732-531-9106
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PRINCETON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
GET TS! KE TIC
ROSSEN MILANOV , MUSIC DIRECTOR
DVOŘÁK/LIEBERMANN/MAZZOLI Saturday MARCH 23 8pm Sunday MARCH 24 4pm ROSSEN MILANOV, conductor CHELSEA KNOX, flute Missy MAZZOLI / Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) Lowell LIEBERMANN / Concerto for Flute and Orchestra DVOŘÁK / Symphony No. 8 Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University
princetonsymphony.org or 609/497-0020 Dates, times, artists, and programs subject to change. Made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
< Chelsea Knox, principal flute Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Coming May 19: Mango Suite and music by Falla!
NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
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The Music List Continued from previous page
“Chamber Music for Winds.” A performance of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra at the Institute for Advanced Study. Free, advanced registration required. April 7, 4:30 p.m. Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Princeton, princetonsymphony.com, 609-497-0020 “Pursuit of Harmony.” Jewish and Palestinian musicians collaborate and celebrate
both cultures in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. $18; $5 under 18; free, 5 and under. April 14, 5 p.m. Temple Rodeph Torah, Marlboro, concert.trt.org, 732-308-0055 “The Best is Yet to Come.” Jazz singer Art Tapilow salutes Tony Bennett. $39-$46. April 14, 3 p.m. Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Deal Park, axelrodartscenter.com, 732-531-9106 “Simchat Zimrah Spring Concert.” The Awesome Family Band accompanies the Junior Choir, teen choir Jew Directions, and
adult choir Kol Emet. Free. May 11, 7:30 p.m. Anshei Emeth Memorial Temple, New Brunswick, aemt.net, 732-545-6484
shwin. $39-$46. May 26, 3 p.m. Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Deal Park, axelrodartscenter.com, 732-531-9106
“Mango Suite.” Three works by Spanish composer Manuel de Falla with special guest flamenco dancer Griset Damas Roche based on Sandra Cisneros’ novel, “The House on Mango Street.” May 19, 4 p.m. Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Princeton, princetonsymphony.com, 609-497-0020
“The Mount Vernon Virtuosi String Orchestra.” The group from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University performs as part of the Conservatory Music Chamber Concert Series. Dessert reception follows. $25, $20 member and student. Series subscription available. June 13, 7:30 p.m. JCC MetroWest, West Orange, jccmetrowest. org/gaelen, 973-530-3915
“Strike up the Band.” Gabrielle Stravelli sings the music of George and Ira Ger-
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duke ellington’s
sophisticated ladies mar 21–24
directed by André De Shields Duke Ellington steps into the 21st century in this revival, starring talent from Broadway's hottest hits and featuring a live band versed in his greatest music! A co-production of NJPAC and Crossroads Theatre Company
“Golda” against a backdrop of the “balcony” — the platform for visitors to Israel’s secretive Dimona nuclear weapons facility.
For tickets & full schedule visit njpac.org or call 1.888.GO.NJPAC Groups of 9 or more 973.353.7561 One Center Street • Newark, NJ
That woman was Tovah Feldshuh, and the play was “Golda’s Balcony,” which opened Off-Broadway in March 2003, sold out its 16-week run, and garnered a host of awards, including for its star. (A vastly different version — which Feldshuh had a major role in rewriting — had originally been mounted at Shakespeare & Co. in the Berkshires.) Feldshuh went with the production to Broadway in October 2003, where it became, after 500-plus performances, the longest-running one-woman show in Broadway history. Feldshuh was again acclaimed for her portrayal of the “grandmother of the Jewish people”; she was nominated for the Tony Tovah Feldshuh said “Golda’s Balcony, The Film” demonstrates how the work’s crafters honed in on “the truth of Golda, making her exquisite.”
Award for Best Actress, won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, and was hailed by the New York Times, which called the production a “perfect merging of playwright, actress, and character.” And that is what audiences will see in “Golda’s Balcony, The Film” (not to be confused with Gibson’s 2006 screen adaptation starring Valerie Harper, or the 1982 made-for-TV biopic “A Woman Called Golda” with Ingrid Bergman). The “miracle” of this version, said its star, began with the discovery of a rare, multi-camera shoot of the Broadway production. After being edited and refashioned for the big screen by director Scott Schwartz and producer David Fishelson — who found the original footage and to whom she is particularly grateful — reprising their roles with the Broadway show, and with video direction by Gerard Issembert — all “geniuses” — an “elegant, extraordinary” work has resulted, said Feldshuh. While “Golda’s Balcony, The Film” may be a filming of a play, said Feldshuh, it plays like a film, affording those who missed the staging with a “you are there” opportunity. And for those who have been to a theater to see Feldshuh inhabit the persona of Golda, this is an opportunity to see the original iconic incarnation up close and personal, the way they never could from the rear orchestra or mezzanine.
— ABBY METH KANTER
17 NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
The spring season in books Fiction
was going through difficult times gave “The Dark Young Man” by Jacob her more compassion and admiration Dinezon, translated by Tuna Lunson for her patients. (April) (Jewish Storyteller Press), is the first Julie Orringer’s much-anticipated English translation of novel “The Flight this 1877 novel of roPortfolio” (Knopf) mance, assimilation, is based on the true Special to NJJN and intrigue that is story of Varian Fry, considered the first bestselling Yiddish an American journalist who helped novel. (February) rescue thousands of Jewish refugees A debut novel by a surgeon, Leo Ro- during World War II, including many zmaryn, “Lone Soldier” (Kindle Direct artists and writers. Set in France and Publishing) is a fast-paced thriller and opening at the Chagalls’ home, the love story that takes place in 1970s Is- novel is filled with suspense, history, rael, offering a window into modern art, and a love story. (May) Orthodox culture. (February) “Mistress of the Ritz” (Delacorte) Set among immigrants from the by Melanie Benjamin is set during FSU in South Brooklyn, with news World War II, inspired by the couof events back home and in their new rageous story of Blanche Azuello. home always pressing, Irina Reyn’s A Jewish-American woman who “Mother Country” (St. Martin’s), tells created a new identity for herself in an urgent story of a mother and daugh- Paris, Azuello worked undercover for the French Resistance and played ter separated by borders. (March) “Kaddish.com” by Nathan Eng- hostess at the Ritz Hotel, serving Nalander (Knopf) is a comic and compel- zis. (May) Also based on extensive research ling story of an atheist son’s scheme to into true events — the massacre of a hire someone to say Kaddish for his French village in 1944 — Armando late father. Englander writes knowLucas Correa’s “The Daughter’s ingly of the secular and religious worlds. (March) Tale” (Atria) is set between New York Andrew Ridker’s debut, “The Al- City and Berlin, unfolding a story truists” (Viking), is a darkly funny of family, love, sacrifice, survival family portrait — an inheritance story against odds, and reckoning with the with an unusual twist — with characters past. (April) inspired by the author’s love of great Julie Zuckerman’s debut, “The 20th-century American novelists like Book of Jeremiah” (Press 53), is a Roth and Bellow, pulled into the 21st novel in stories full of rich imagery. It century. (March) spans the life of a regular guy named “Wunderland” by Jennifer Cody Jeremiah — son of Jewish immiEpstein (Crown) is a work of histori- grants, professor of political science, cal fiction, set in 1933 Berlin and years husband, father — over eight decades, later in New York City; it’s a story showing his determination, missteps, of friendship, betrayal, and inherited and inspiring humanity. (May) trauma inspired by the true story of a former Hitler Youth. (March) A debut novel written with deep “Prince of the Press: How One feeling, “The Limits of the World” by Collector Built History’s Most EnJennifer Acker (Delphinium) is a cross- during and Remarkable Jewish Licultural family saga in which secrets brary” (Yale) is Joshua Teplinsky’s are unfolded, challenging relationships, biography of David Oppenheim understanding, and ethics. (April) (1664-1736), chief rabbi of Prague, “Maybe You Should Talk to Some- who assembled an unparalleled colone: A Therapist, Her Therapist and lection of Jewish books, now held Our Lives” by Lori Gottlieb (Houghton in Oxford’s Bodleian Library. TepMifflin Harcourt) unveils the therapeu- linsky’s scholarship places Oppentic process from both sides, showcas- heimer’s remarkable achievement in ing shared humanity and resilience. For the context of its time and ours. Gottlieb, seeing a therapist when she A memoir in essays, “The Art of
Sandee Brawarsky
Nonfiction
Leaving” (Random House) by Ayelet Tsabari is the artful and absorbing story of the Yemenite-Israeli writer, winner of the Sami Rohr Prize, who has traveled in Southeast Asia and North America and now lives in Tel Aviv. She has been “leaving” places all her life, since her father died when she was very young. (February) “Together: A Memoir of a Marriage and a Medical Mishap” (Talese/Doubleday) is Judy Goldman’s tender, candid, and powerful account after her husband of 40 years was paralyzed in a botched procedure. (February) “Savage Feast: Three Generations, Two Continents, and a Dinner Table” by Boris Fishman (HarperCollins) is the appealing, intimate, insightful story of an immigrant family, including the recipes that have defined it. (March) A son’s account, “Death March Escape: The Remarkable Story of a Man Who Twice Escaped the Holocaust” by Jack J. Hersch (Frontline), tells his father’s story of survival, researched and pieced together after his father’s death. “I.M.: A Memoir” (Flatiron) delves into Isaac Mizrahi’s early life in the Syrian Orthodox commu-
nity in Brooklyn, through his many successes as a fashion designer, performer, and television celebrity. In a style that’s smart, playful, and self-aware, the memoir is full of intimate musings, fashion insight, and insider info. Based on original scholarship, Pamela S. Nadell narrates the connected stories of extraordinary Jewish women who have flourished with a strong sense of self and commitment to social activism in “America’s Jewish Women: A
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NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
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continued from previous page History from Colonial Times to Today” (Norton, March). Award-winning writer Matti Friedman tells an unknown and significant chapter of Israel’s history, focusing on the contributions of Jews from Arabicspeaking countries. In “Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel” (Algonquin), he describes four young Jewish men who were part of an espionage unit called the “Arab section,” organized by the British during World War II, and a precursor to the Mossad. (March) “The Lion’s Den: Zionism and the Left from Hannah Arendt to Noam Chomsky” (Yale) by Susie Linfield explores how eight public intellectuals wrestled with the philosophy of Zionism, the State of Israel, and conflicts with the Arab world. She goes on to examine today’s antiZionism on the left. (March) “Hate: The Rising Tide of Anti-
Semitism in France” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by French journalist Marc Weitzmann is a disturbing account that connects the rebirth of French anti-Semitism to global terror. His narrative brings together history, intellectual issues, and local reporting. (March) “Auschwitz: Not Long Ago. Not Far Away” by Robert Jan van Pelt, Miriam Greenbaum, and Luis Ferreiro (Abbeville Press) is the catalog of the exhibition opening in May at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. It features hundreds of original objects and images, many on loan from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, along with personal stories. (April) “Everything In Its Place: First Loves and Last Tales” (Knopf) by Oliver Sacks is the last volume of previously unpublished essays by the late neurologist. They include “Life Continues,” one of his final meditations on life in the 21st century. Sacks’ immense curiosity, awe, and wisdom infuse his prose. (April) In “Mensch Marks: Life Lessons
of a Human Rabbi” (HCI), Joshua Hammerman shares wisdom from many sources, including his own spiritual journey — living with humility in pursuit of doing good and finding holiness in the everyday. (April) “The Unwanted: America, Auschwitz and a Village Caught In Between” (Knopf) by Michael Dobbs tells the story of a group of German Jews from the village of Kippenheim, expelled and then interned in Vichy France, AND in desperate need of American visas to escape. Also the story of America’s response to refugees in the 1930s and 1940s, the book complements the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum exhibit “The Americans and the Holocaust.” (April) In “Alfred Stieglitz: Taking Pictures, Making Painters” (Yale), Phyllis Rose reconsiders the influential figure in early-20th-century photography as a powerful force in the history of American art who passionately nurtured the career of many artists; his own accomplishments are often overshadowed by his role as
Georgia O’Keefe’s husband. (April) “Wounds into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma” (Monkfish) by Rabbi Tirzah Firestone is written with empathy, combining research, Jewish teachings, psychological insights, her own family’s stories, and those of other Holocaust survivor families. (April) In “A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism” (Grand Central Publishing), Adam Gopnik asserts a historical and contemporary defense of the liberal tradition, which he sees as the search for radical change by humane measures. (May) Nancy Kalikow Maxwell’s “Typically Jewish” (JPS) provides an original, down-to-earth, earnest look at pressing questions about identity and culture faced by the Jewish community, looking at the way Jews live their lives. (May) ✿ Sandee Brawarsky is culture editor at The New York Jewish Week, NJJN’s sister publication.
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Books and authors galore at Metuchen synagogue
Elissa Brent Weissman I M M I G R AT I O N AND the American identity, family histories, and public and political issues centering on the country’s latest newcomers will be explored at The Donald & Ruth Kahn Book and Author Event at Congregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen on Sunday, March 31, starting at 10 a.m. The writers and their works include:
Elissa Brent Weissman, “The Length of A String” — A middle school-age/young adult novel about adoption and immigration from Holocaust-era Europe. Betsy Carter, “We Were Strangers Once” — A novel about the perseverance and hopes of a circle of immigrants to New York in the 1930s, and the challenges they must face. Boris Fishman, “Savage Feast: Three Generations, Two Continents, and a D i n n e r Ta b l e ( A Memoir with Recipes)” — A recipe-
Richard Slotkin
filled memoir that follows this writer’s Jewish family and their richly described dinner tables from Belarus in 1945 to Brooklyn in 2017. Richard SlotBetsy Carter kin, “Greenhorns: Stories” — Six powerful tales that meld memoir and fiction and open a window into the experience of Jewish immigration in the 20th century.
Attendees will have the opportunity to meet the authors and hear their stories. Books will be available for purchase and signing by the authors. The doors to this free event will open at 9:30 a.m.; refreshments will be sold. For information, call 732-549-3922 or visit neveshalom.net. ✿
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“Miriam’s Well: A Modern Day Exodus.” Author Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg will discuss her new novel about a modern-day Miriam who discovers how to turn the struggles of the present into celebrated miracles. Free, March 29, 8 p.m., following services. Temple Sha’arey Shalom, Springfield, shaarey.org, 973-379-5387 “The Gefilte Manifesto: New Recipes for Old World Jewish Foods.” Meet authors Liz Alpern and Jeffrey Yoskowitz and sample Passover recipes, including handmade matzah, kugel, and sponge cake. April 3, 6:30-8 p.m. Register at bit.ly/2TiJsXI. The Book House, Millburn, thebookhousemillburn.com, 973-564-6262 “The Lost Family.” Jenna Blum talks about her novel, which spans three decades and is a charming, funny, and elegantly bittersweet study of the repercussions of loss and love. $20. Wine and light snacks served. April 10, 7:30 p.m. RSVP to jccnj. org or call 908-8898800, ext. 253. JCC of Central New Jersey, Scotch Plains, jccnj.org, 908-8898800 “Promised Land: A Novel of Israel.” Author Martin Fletcher talks about his saga of two brothers set around the time of the founding of Israel. Dessert reception to follow. $18, $12 JCC member. Series subscription available. April 11, 7:30 p.m. RSVP to kstrulson@jccmetrowest.org or 973-530-3915. JCC MetroWest, West Orange, jccmetrowest.org, 973-530-3915 “Lilli de Jong.” Janet Benton will discuss her book set in Victorian-era Philadelphia about a young unwed mother who struggles to retain custody of her child. Book signing and refreshments to follow. April 28, 2-4 p.m. Beth El, Yardley, Pa., bethelyardley.org, 215-493-1707
êêêêêê FEATURING SPECIAL GUEST & FOLK LEGEND
PETER YARROW
“Witness: Lessons From Elie Wiesel’s Classroom.” Ariel Burger talks about what he learned as Wiesel’s student and reveals conversations and memories from the close bond they formed. Dessert reception to follow. $18, $12 JCC member. Series subscription available. May 2, 12:30 p.m. RSVP to kstrulson@jccmetrowest.org or 973-5303915. JCC MetroWest, West Orange, jccmetrowest.org, 973-530-3915 “A Terrible Country.” Author Keith Gessen discusses his story of a man who returns to Russia to care for his aging grandmother and must navigate the newly capitalist Moscow. Light brunch served. $20, $15 in advance. May 5, 11 a.m. RSVP to torat-el. org or 732531-4410. Congregation Torat El, Oakhurst, torat-el.org, 732-5314410
The Brothers of Israel Synagogue, Long ersisrael.org, 732-686-9050
“The Terrorist.” Anastasia Goodman discusses her novel about the U.S. in the aftermath of 9/11. May 5, 9:30 a.m. Branch, broth-
OF PETER PAUL AND MARY
MARCH 9
S ngs & Stories Featuring
James Dalton and Friends
MARCH 29
Bridgman | Packer Dance Voyeur & Other Works
APRIL 6
APRIL 13
“Sons and Soldiers: The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the U.S. Army to Fight Hitler.” A men’s book club discussion of Bruce Henderson’s book. May 9, 8 p.m. The Brothers of Israel Synagogue, Long Branch, brothersisrael.org, 732686-9050 “President Carter: The White House Years.” Stuart E. Eizenstat, Carter’s chief domestic policy adviser, recounts his time in the administration. Dessert reception to follow. $18, $12 JCC member. Series subscription available. June 12, 7:30 p.m. RSVP to kstrulson@jccmetrowest.org or 973-530-3915. JCC MetroWest, West Orange, jccmetrowest.org, 973-530-3915
40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
AUGUST 10
ALL SHOWS AT THE POLLAK THEATRE
FOR TICKETS CALL 732.263.6889 OR VISIT MONMOUTH.EDU/MCA
NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
The Book List
NJ Jewish News ■ Spring Arts Preview ■ March 2019
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Let the music speak to you this spring with the NJSO! XIAN ZHANG MUSIC DIRECTOR
INGRID FLITER
JOHANNES MOSER
DEBUSSY MASTERWORKS
AMJAD ALI KHAN
ZHANG CONDUCTS SCHUBERT & DVOŘÁK
Mar 7–10
Newark | Red Bank | New Brunswick
Mar 22–24
SAROD & SCHEHERAZADE Apr 5–7
Newark | New Brunswick
Princeton | Newark | Morristown
Presentation licensed by © Disney All rights reserved.
SIMONE DINNERSTEIN
STEVEN MACKEY
MARY POPPINS IN CONCERT XIAN CONDUCTS MOZART WITH THE NJSO Apr 25–28
ART OF THE DOUBLE CONCERTO
Red Bank | Newark | New Brunswick
Newark | Princeton | New Brunswick
Apr 12–14
Apr 14 performance presented in collaboration with State Theatre New Jersey.
Newark | Red Bank | Morristown
May 16–19
Tickets start at only $20! njsymphony.org | 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476) Made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
CONCERT SPONSOR
CONCERT SPONSOR
CONCERT SPONSOR