By Ellen Futterman, Editor
• Published October 1, 2020
For as long as Sherry Salant can remember, visual art has played a huge part in her life. Her grandfather was a professional sculptor and her father, a successful art collector. Her mother was a docent at the St. Louis Art Museum.Salant remembers as a...
BY BILL MOTCHAN, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT
• Published October 1, 2020
At the beginning of 2020, Circus Harmony had a busy schedule. The St. Louis-based nonprofit social circus was getting ready to perform with Circus Flora. The company also had trips to Chicago and Puerto Rico on tap and a nonstop summer planned. Then COVID-19...
By Judith Newmark, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published February 27, 2020
When strangers unexpectedly descend on tiny, isolated town, you have the makings of . . . an award-winning musical.“Come from Away,” which played the Fox Theatre last year, tells the fact-based story of the residents of a Newfoundland hamlet who welcomed...
By Nancy Kranzberg, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published February 7, 2020
Lately, the guitar seems to be taking center stage.In 2019, the St. Louis Science Center featured an exhibition titled “Guitar: The Instrument that Rocked the World.” It appealed to all ages and featured more than 70 guitars including acoustic, electric...
BY ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
• Published January 30, 2020
A deeply affecting production at the New Jewish Theater of “My Name is Asher Lev” compellingly paints a vivid picture of the clash between a revered Hasidic rabbi and his artistic prodigy son, whose God given gifts are both brilliant and blasphemous.Caught...
By Judith Newmark, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published January 16, 2020
Maybe I’m just super-aware of these things. But I can’t be the only one to have noticed that on stages around St. Louis, 2019 seemed exceptionally . . . Jewish.And we’re not just talking schmaltz. This was challenging, high-quality theater, beautifully...
BY JUDITH NEWMARK, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT
• Published December 12, 2019
In 2017, Will Bonfiglio won the St. Louis Theater Circle Award for outstanding actor in a comedy for his performance in “Buyer and Cellar,” a one-man show at Stray Dog. He portrayed an unemployed actor who goes to work in Barbra Streisand’s private...
BY ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
• Published September 13, 2019
Hana S. Sharif has launched her first season as artistic director of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis with a breathtaking production of Tony Kushner’s magnum opus, “Angels in America.” That the 25-year-old play still resonates today is a credit...
By Nancy Kranzberg, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published September 6, 2019
I was once again thrilled by an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Titled “Jewelry: The Body Transformed,” the exhibit is described in the museum’s brochure — “What is jewelry? Why do we wear it? What meaning does...
Compiled by Jewish Light staff
• Published August 29, 2019
Labor Day weekend may signal the official end of summer — though not necessarily the end of hot weather — but it also signals the start of the 2019 Fall Arts Season, with enough performances, concerts and art openings to heat up the landscape. But...
Now in its ninth season, the Jewish Community Center's Gesher Music Festival returns for two weeks in August, offering chamber music with a multicultural twist. The festival will run from Aug. 8-18 with three formal concerts as well as informal opportunities...
BY ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
• Published July 25, 2019
Under the tutelage of Steve Woolf, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis evolved from a respected regional theater to a nationally respected company known for innovation and boldness in selecting plays to produce, including some world premieres.Woolf retired...
