By Judith Newmark, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published May 22, 2019
A wedding is a lot like theater, complete with stars, costumes, sets and, not infrequently, plot twists. So, if writers take inspiration from the altar, why not? After all, the source material is abundant.Playwright Tasha Gordon-Solmon draws from that...
BY ELLEN FUTTERMAN, EDITOR
• Published May 9, 2019
Weddings, while usually joyous occasions, can also generate more than their fair share of stress, including the bride’s decision about what to wear on the big day. Google wedding dress and stress, and more than 100 million results come back. Popular...
BY JUDITH NEWMARK, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT
• Published January 17, 2019
“I’m not a genius,” playwright and director Aaron Posner insists. “But I get to work with geniuses all the time.”There’s probably something wrong with both parts of that remark. In the first place, plenty of people would gladly bestow a “genius”...
By Ellen Futterman, Editor
• Published September 21, 2018
Chef is all the rageIf “Raging Skillet” is half as entertaining as the person on whom it is based, then St. Louis audiences should prepare for a thoroughly raucous experience. Written by Jacques Lamarre, the play takes its cue from the 2015 memoir,...
Ellen Futterman, Editor
• Published April 18, 2018
NJT gets new ADSometimes things just work out. That’s certainly the case with Edward Coffield recently being named Artistic Director of the New Jewish Theatre. He will replace Kathleen Sitzer, who is retiring in July after 22 years with NJT, and neither...
BY ROBERT A. COHN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EMERITUS
• Published April 11, 2018
In one of the most shameful episodes of Jewish history, the astoundingly brilliant Baruch de Spinoza was railroaded into a harsh cherem, or excommunication, from the Jewish religion in the very Talmud Torah Congregation in Amsterdam he was once considered...
Ellen Futterman, Editor
• Published March 28, 2018
Prelude to PassoverLast week I was having lunch with a fairly new friend who asked if I would like to join her for Passover. She and her husband were having 18 guests to their home — two more would be no trouble at all, she assured me.I politely declined...
Ellen Futterman, Editor
• Published January 31, 2018
Dress for successCongratulations to the New Jewish Theatre, whose show “Intimate Apparel” last year earned the second highest number of production nominations from the St. Louis Theater Circle. The group released its 2018 award nominees last week...
Ellen Futterman, Editor
• Published January 10, 2018
After 21 seasons and more than 100 plays that reflect the human condition through a Jewish lens, Kathleen Sitzer, artistic director of the New Jewish Theatre, will retire in June, shortly after the close of NJT’s 2017-18 season.Sitzer, 72, has been...
BY ROBERT A. COHN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EMERITUS
• Published October 11, 2017
“Old age ain’t no place for sissies,” Bette Davis famously said, and the New Jewish Theatre’s “Tuesdays With Morrie” drives that truth in every heart-wrenching scene. To begin its 21st season, NJT has produced a poignant and often powerful...
BY ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
• Published May 18, 2017
Generations of American Jews brought up on a steady diet of “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Hester Street” often idealize their grandparents’ backgrounds as Jewish versions of plaster saints: Orthodox, shtetl-born and eager to assimilate into the...
The New Jewish Theatre closes its milestone 20th season with Amy Herzog’s “4000 Miles,” which will run May 11- 28. It quietly tells of the developing relationship between a 91-year-old “lefty” political activist and her 21-year-old grandson....
