tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-348686342024-03-19T06:25:12.856-04:00Beyond the Borscht BeltThe Jewish Theatre Festival in Columbus, Ohio. Produced by the Ohio State University Hillel Foundation Wexner Jewish Student Center, the Ohio State University Department of Theatre, the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute, with support from the Leventhal Fund and the Lenore Schottenstein Jewish Arts Endowment and related arts funds of the Columbus Jewish Foundation.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34868634.post-60456189124684559972008-10-16T22:55:00.006-04:002008-10-24T00:03:02.867-04:00Snowflake Theory staging next week!Dates: 26 October (Sunday)<br /> 27 October (Monday)<br /><br />Time: 7:00 p.m. both nights<br /><br />Where: Jewish Community Center, 1125 College Ave. on Sunday, 10/26<br /> OSU Hillel Foundation, 46 E. 16th Ave. on Monday, 10/27<br /><br /><br />Admission to both readings is free, but tickets are required by calling the JCC at (614) 231-2731 or OSU Hillel at (614) 294-4797.<br /><br />Cast: Marge Klein: Lil Strouss<br /> Rabbi Harris Samuels: Jared Saltman<br /> Clark Klein: Damian Bowerman<br /> Violet Sample: Jessie Biggert<br /> Rebecca Klein: Cheryl Jacobs<br /><br />dessert reception following the Sunday reading; deli supper before the Monday reading at 5:00 p.m.<br /><br />The readings are a celebration of several noteworthy events in the Central Ohio theatre world:<br /> --it's the 60th anniversary of Gallery Players, the community theatre of the Jewish Community Center, founded in large measure because of anti-Semitism then prevalent in local community theatres. Gallery Players quickly became on the leading community theatres in the area, both because of its non-discrimination policies and because of the inspired leadership of Harold M. Eisenstein, the artistic director for many years<br /> --we also honor Harold M.Eisenstein's life and work, noting that the theatre in the Jewish Community Center was dedicated to his memory last week<br /> --the readings continue the emphasis that noted Ohio playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee placed, throughout their writing partnership, in nurturing and developing playwrights. When they weren't writing <span style="font-style:italic;">Inherit the Wind</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Auntie Mame</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Mame</span>, and so many other classics of the American stage, both Jerry and Bob taught playwriting, encouraged young playwrights, arranged for readings of new plays, and foreshadowed the development of national theatre oganizations by creating the American Playwrights'Theatre.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Snowflake Theory</span> was a Finalist for the Southeastern Theatre Conference's latest Gethcell New Play Project and had a reading at Kentucky Repertory Theatre (formerly Horse Cave Theatre). It was also selected for a reading in the New Voices Series of the Cincinnati Arts Association and Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative at the Aronoff Center for the Arts and at ScriptFEST at Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre in Mars Hill, North Carolina .Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34868634.post-87873559674797800632008-09-06T09:21:00.004-04:002008-09-06T09:27:56.530-04:00Leads announcedColumbus theatre icon Lil Strouss will play Marge, and Gallery Players Artistic Director Jared Saltman will be Rabbi Harris Samuels, while OSU Theatre and Hillel Players alum Adam Peal will be the perennial college student Clark. Additional casting to be announced soon!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34868634.post-560593118038717022008-03-28T14:50:00.015-04:002008-09-06T09:21:03.307-04:00The Snowflake Theory to be featured in 2008 Festival<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkNIueZvqLjKBOcDP3bDuGbN4iTxM_A1_vNrS2hH1g2iPY2QaoydySvHbztqo2NzC6zWvI9bK017_u-TYkusgPlGk1ERxPGm-L9GVjCuONZlpG0_d5Ok3OQgMu-Z8Drulfa3Kn/s1600-h/logo+purple.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkNIueZvqLjKBOcDP3bDuGbN4iTxM_A1_vNrS2hH1g2iPY2QaoydySvHbztqo2NzC6zWvI9bK017_u-TYkusgPlGk1ERxPGm-L9GVjCuONZlpG0_d5Ok3OQgMu-Z8Drulfa3Kn/s320/logo+purple.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225564566320513474" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Snowflake Theory</span>, a riotous comedy by Louisville playwright Nancy Gall-Clayton, will be the centerpiece of the 2008 <span style="font-weight:bold;">Beyond the Borscht Belt: A Jewish Theatre Festival</span>, to take place October 26 and 27th, 2008. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Beyond the Borscht Belt</span> celebrates Jewish arts and community in Columbus, which is literally "beyond the Borscht Belt" of traditional Jewish entertainment centered in New York's Catskill Mountains.<br /><br />The 2008 Festival coincides with, and honors, the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the Gallery Players of the Jewish Community Center, the oldest Jewish community theatre group in Central Ohio.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrsx3_LkHZMqT7HbzhQg_T3kIr4frn_ug_NDSbwNm6luaTquhSF2ivUA_hYZpD1MlViRrOKV4fePu65de9biSyKB8pTV-xZy957EDSyZZGRrKPAcLMWcJaAPFEYDpVS4lYSaT/s1600-h/july7melmac5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrsx3_LkHZMqT7HbzhQg_T3kIr4frn_ug_NDSbwNm6luaTquhSF2ivUA_hYZpD1MlViRrOKV4fePu65de9biSyKB8pTV-xZy957EDSyZZGRrKPAcLMWcJaAPFEYDpVS4lYSaT/s320/july7melmac5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182987699985293298" /></a><br />Marge has had an epiphany. Her adult children will never do what she hopes (get married, produce grandchildren, finish college, be normal), so she's decided to concentrate on her own journey, starting with smashing her melamine kosher dishes. But they won't break. To her surprise, her children, like her, have just headed in new directions. Rachel, age 40, has been inseminated with Jewish sperm and joined the peace movement. Clark, age 33, is changing majors yet again and may actually graduate from college, thanks to a non-Jewish girlfriend whose hair color changes frequently. Marge seeks advice from the new rabbi, whom she impresses with her vocabulary and a gravity-defying Jell-O creation. A happy ending for all makes this exploration of family relationships and faith even more satisfying.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxc-wfBkpBHmVMSp8FZB-XTcq_QLs0Vs9oHCeFvVtbHtxZnRQB9Y8Bp2dZyvf7c3MJYsGj8LlrFPgpZEazgCvWt9QueDTWDJ_5MiWH7ikf1APQD1Y7Y7kb-RrrLDrIFJlCv7q/s1600-h/Scott+Christensen+Jello+Bridge.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxc-wfBkpBHmVMSp8FZB-XTcq_QLs0Vs9oHCeFvVtbHtxZnRQB9Y8Bp2dZyvf7c3MJYsGj8LlrFPgpZEazgCvWt9QueDTWDJ_5MiWH7ikf1APQD1Y7Y7kb-RrrLDrIFJlCv7q/s200/Scott+Christensen+Jello+Bridge.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235990411707111330" /></a><br /><em>Jello Bridge </em>(2002) by Scott Christensen, scottdesignworks.com <br /><br />Readings will take place on Sunday, October 26th, at the Jewish Community Center, and on Monday, October 27th, at the Ohio State University Hillel Foundation. Playwright Nancy Gall-Clayton will be present, and will discuss the play with audience members following both performances. To learn more about the writer, visit www.nancygallclayton.net<br /><br />A gelatin sculpture contest will celebrate the reading. Chef Lana Covel of <em>The New Standard</em> has volunteered to help cooks explore the wonders of jello sculpture construction. It’s hoped that Franklin County-area women’s clubs will be interested in celebrating this traditional form of culinary expression.<br /><br />Casting information about the readings will be posted early in the fall.<br /><br />Other events in addition to the readings will be announced soon!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34868634.post-1159071024570658772006-09-24T00:06:00.000-04:002006-11-15T12:42:42.883-05:00Meshugah to be staged<em>The reading, and Emily Mann's talk, all went extremely well--enormously positive response from the 100 or so folks in attendance at the reading, powerful performances (several audience members in tears by the end). A quite wonderful evening. Our thanks to the performers, to </em>Alive <em>newspaper's theatre critic Jay Weitz for moderating the post-reading discussion (which ended far too soon), and, especially, to Emily Mann for her whole-hearted and thoroughly involved participation.</em><br /><br />Emily Mann’s adaptation of <em>Meshugah</em> <p><em></em><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/978/2466/1600/book%20cover.2.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/978/2466/320/book%20cover.2.jpg" border="0" /></a> by Nobel Laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer<br /></p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/978/2466/1600/singer.2.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/978/2466/320/singer.2.gif" border="0" /></a></p><p>will be presented in a staged reading on Sunday, November 5th, as part of the first step towards establishing "Beyond the Borscht Belt, A Jewish Theatre Festival" in Columbus, as a cooperative presentation of the Ohio State University Hillel Foundation, The Ohio State University Department of Theatre and the Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute, with support from the Leventhal Fund and the Jewish Arts Endowment of the Columbus Jewish Foundation. </p><p><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/978/2466/1600/Mann.1.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/978/2466/320/Mann.1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Emily Mann</span></p><p>THE STORY: Set in the 1950s on Manhattan’s Upper West Side,<em> Meshugah</em> is a tragicomic portrait of a community of recent Jewish émigrés living in the wake of the Holocaust. When Aaron Greidinger, a struggling novelist and advice columnist, falls in love with the beautiful mistress of a friend from his Warsaw past, dark secrets and bizarre twists threaten to break up the unusual romance. Emily Mann brings to swirling theatrical life Singer’s poignant love story of lost souls in a world gone meshugah.</p><br /><p><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Schedule for events on November 5th:<br /></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">4:30 p.m.: Schmooze with Emily Mann</span></strong></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Roy Bowen Theatre, Drake Performance and Event Center, 1849 Cannon Drive, Ohio State University Campus</span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">7:30 p.m.: Meshugah reading</span></strong></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">OSU Hillel Foundation, 46 E. 16th Ave.</span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Cast:</span></strong></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Aaron Greidinger: Jimmy Bohr<br />Max: Joe Cofer<br />Miriam: Victoria Patten<br />Priva: Ann Mirels<br />Stanley: Kal Poole<br />Woman Who Tells: Irene Braverman<br />Waiter: Bruno Lovric</span> <p><br /></p><p><br /></p><span style="font-size:85%;">for additional information, <a href="mailto:beyondborscht@yahoo.com" target="_blank">beyondborscht@yahoo.com</a></span> <p></p><p>In addition to the staged reading of <em>Meshugah</em>, there will also be screenings of films by and about Emily Mann's work:<br /><br /><em>Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years</em> --a filmed version of Mann's play about the Delany Sisters of New York Thursday, October 26th at 7:30 p.m., Hillel Foundation<br /><br /><em>Greensboro: A Public Dialogue</em> -- a documentary about Mann’s play, <em>Greensboro: A Requiem</em>, produced by New Jersey Public Television. Tuesday, October 31st: 7:30 p.m. Hillel Foundation</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34868634.post-1159070404529281162006-09-23T23:59:00.000-04:002006-09-24T00:00:04.536-04:00<a href="http://www.technorati.com/claim/i49hz67kkg" rel="me">Technorati Profile</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0