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Theater

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Birth of Viola Spolin, creator of Theater Games

November 7, 1906

“If the environment permits it, anyone can learn whatever he chooses to learn." Viola Spolin, the “godmother of improvisation"

Sosúa: Make a Better World

Sosúa: Make a Better World

Miriam Cantor-Stone

The young actors learn about each other’s cultures (through a Passover seder, Spanish lessons, and more) while learning about themselves. I am constantly amazed by the power of theatre, even after experiencing it personally throughout my education. Watching Liz Swados and her production team interact with the teens reminded me of all the incredible teachers and directors I had the pleasure of working with in high school and college. Theatre gave me self-confidence and taught me the importance of community, and it’s clear that the teens involved in Sosúa learned the same.  This fascinating movie provides great insight into the magic of theater as well as into a little known aspect of Shoah history.

Topics: Holocaust, Theater

Comic marvel Joan Rivers is born

June 8, 1933

Comic marvel Joan Rivers is born

Judith Malina

New Home, New Life

Stephen Benson

For those of you wondering about the fate of the peripatetic theatre legend Judith Malina, there’s good news.  The Forward just published an article and posted a video of the grounds and atmosphere of Malina’s new home at the Lillian Booth Actors’ Home in Englewood, NJ, along with interviews with Ms. Malina and her fellow “hostages” (as she jokingly calls her fellow residents).

Topics: Theater, Plays
Mona Golabek

Reflections on the Theatre

Jewesses With Attitude

As a special treat for our blog readers, we’re taking this Friday to do a bit of a blog round up. Our bloggers often explore areas of entertainment, and nothing gets us writing more than a good night out at the theatre. Check out these five incredibly diverse blog entries, each focusing on a different aspect of the stage.

Estelle Getty at the 41st Emmy Awards, September 17, 1989

Estelle Getty: Golden Girl

Jewesses With Attitude

Do I admire her because she's been described as "... evasive about her height, acknowledging only that she was under 5 feet and under 100 pounds?" Well, all the more points to Estelle Getty for being an itsy-bitsy powerhouse, but mostly I admire her for being a genuinely funny, talented woman, who never gave up on her greatest ambitions. In an industry where youth and beauty are often valued far above maturity and wit, Estelle turned the tables. She found success in her later years, cracked wise about it the whole time, and taught young women like myself a few things along the way.

Wendy Wasserstein

Making Trouble: Clips from the Cutting Room Floor

Steven Myers-Yawnick

While hard at work here at the Archive, I stumbled upon some interviews that ended up on the cutting room floor during production of our prizewinning documentary “Making Trouble”. Take a look at a few clips that feature fabulous Jewish women in entertainment talking about fabulous Jewish women in entertainment.

See Tovah Feldshuh speak about the ahead of her time Sophie TuckerAlex Borstein explore Gilda Radner's beauty,  Adrienne Cooper's take on Molly Picon gender roles, and Wendy Wasserstein's thoughts Jewish entertainers on and off the stage. 

Topics: Comedy, Film, Theater
True Colors Group Rehearsal

Painting the World with True Colors: An Interview with Two Jewish Women Helping to Tell an Incredible Story

Etta King Heisler

In the one instant of silence between the curtain and the applause I remember feeling alive. I remember feeling like my heart had been ripped out of my chest, bounced down a basketball court, and thrown through the hoop for the winning shot. Then we (the audience) erupted in cheers. I was elated, proud, and profoundly humbled.

Jackie Hoffman, September 19, 2011

Jackie Hoffman Doesn't Care If You Find The Feminist Message

David Levy

Throughout March, Baruch College Performing Arts Center has been presenting a series of Jewish comediennes in partnership with the Jewish Women’s Arch

Topics: Feminism, Comedy, Theater

Elizabeth Swados’ play "Ten Years of Hope" opens

February 29, 2004

“As a Jew I’m supposed to do this,” Elizabeth Swados said. “It’s called a mitzvah. I think I’m buying some good Jewish time from this.”

Emotional Creature Rehersal

What is the secret life of girls around the world?

Talia bat Pessi

At the NOW (National Organization for Women) conference I attended in June, playwright Eve Ensler delivered the keynote speech. Ensler, who is featured in JWA’s online exhibit Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution, was a riveting speaker whose passionate words truly rallied me to action. I’ve been hoping to see one of her plays ever since. Luckily, her newest show Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World, is now playing Off-Broadway, and I was able to get tickets!

Birth of “I’ll Cry Tomorrow” author Lillian Roth

December 13, 1910

In an era of celebrity tell-all’s and daily website revelations of almost anyone’s personal life, it’s hard to imagine the impact of the first public confession of a famous figure with a drinking p

Frances Alenikoff , 1920 - 2012

For decades and well into her 90s she turned age on its head, subverting its preconceptions, making it an adventure.

Judith Martin, 1918 - 2012

From 1963-2009, she developed a contemporary theater for children. The shows intimately reflected a child’s world.

Judith Malina

"To call into question..."

Gabrielle Orcha

We are a little more than six months from the end of the world (!) Or from the end of the world as we know it—December 21, 2012.

Topics: Activism, Film, Theater
Julie Taymor, TED 2011

Show your cape, Julie Taymor!

Gabrielle Orcha

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to scale tall buildings better than Spiderman, it’s . . .

Julie Taymor! The brilliant! The invincible! 

Topics: Activism, Theater

Bernice W. Kliman, 1933 - 2011

She found that her feminism conflicted with the synagogue practice of denying women a place on the bimah. Only later did she [find] a sympathetic rabbi and a group of congregants who also believed in women’s equality.

Shira Kline and Jon Adam Ross, 2012

An “Extraordinary” Purim with Shira Kline and Jon Adam Ross

Etta King Heisler

Having survived a blizzardy drive down dark, unfamiliar roads last Wednesday evening, I shook the cold and snowflakes from my coat and walked into a warm room at the Newton JCC.

Topics: Purim, Theater
Sophie Tucker

Sophie Tucker: “You’re Gonna Miss Me, Honey”

Stephen Benson

One hundred and one years ago today, Sophie Tucker sang those words from “Some of These Days” onto a four minute cylinder recording device. It became her signature song, and toward the end of her career she guessed that she had sung it over 45,000 times.

Topics: Music, Comedy, Film, Theater

Natalie Portman wins Oscar for Best Actress

February 27, 2011

Natalie Portman was named Best Actress at the 83rd annual Academy Awards on February 27, 2011.

Bessie Breuer’s play “Sundown Beach” opened on Broadway.

September 7, 1948

The first and only play by fiction writer Bessie Breuer was one of the newly formed Actor’s Studio's first productions.

"Baby It's You" Musical Poster

"Baby It's You!" deserved better reviews

Talia bat Pessi

I’ve been absolutely dying to see the musical Baby It’s You! for a while now, and was thrilled when I finally got tickets to see the show.

Topics: Music, Theater

Dr. Sabina Zimering's memoirs come to the stage

March 27, 2004

On March 27, 2004 at the age of 81, Dr.

Sylvia Willard, 1922 - 2006

She and Howard opened a third store and managed all three, while she translated her theatrical training and love of fashion into show-stopping window displays.

Carolyn Leigh inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame

January 1, 1985

Carolyn Leigh wrote hundreds of tunes for Broadway, TV, and film and was twice nominated for a Tony award. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame two years after her death.

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