Most of the production was comedic, poking fun at the challenges of seniority, with no holds barred, from prescription drugs to diapers. There were romances, one unrequited, facing the problems of a demented spouse; and one with a happy ending. [Eileen Wingard]
‘Something in Preserve,’ a Musical about Seniors’ Lives, Wins Plaudits Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Travel and Food
Jenin has no redeeming value. It is simply there for vilification of Jewish people based on falsehoods. San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts could have done research and said no. It didn’t. [Sam LItvin]
Museum of Photographic Arts and an Antisemitic Film Read More »
Sam Litvin, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
I discovered the music of Ryan Cassata via YouTube. Ryan is a singer-songwriter and activist. Ryan sings about his life as a transgender man, issues with substance abuse, suicide and hate crimes. He began socially transitioning (living as a young man) at the age of fourteen and his activism for the trans community got him on Larry King Live at fifteen. Now 28, Ryan is also a grad student at the Pacific School of Religion working on a Master’s in Divinity and Social Transformation. I spoke with Ryan recently via Zoom. [Eric George Tauber]
Every Song a Protest: Interview with Ryan Cassata Read More »
Eric George Tauber, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual ArtsComposer, conductor, pianist and teacher, Friedrich Gernsheim, (1839-1916), is little known today. Yet, during his lifetime, he was spoken of in the same breath as Brahms, Bruch and Reger. In fact, his works were published by the same publishers who published their compositions. [Eileen Wingard]
After a century, Gernsheim’s music makes a comeback Read More »
Eileen Wingard, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
ESPN and ESPN+ will premiere at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept 20, The Survivor, an hour-long documentary on the murder of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics. Reporter Jeremy Schaap interviews Shaul Ladany, a teammate of the slain athletes, who has been dubbed an “ultimate survivor.” Along with his family, he had earlier in his life survived the Holocaust. [Donald H. Harrison]
Israeli Athlete Survived the Holocaust and the Munich Olympics Massacre Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
The current offering at La Jolla Playhouse attempts to provide unity and solidarity for those Latinos disenfranchised by politics and economics. Fandango for Butterflies (and Coyotes) celebrates the “joyous, inclusive spirit” that coexists along with the divisiveness and inequity facing immigrants. Through music and dance, audiences are let into the challenging and often harsh realities immigrants of so many Latin American countries have faced, while trying to gain access to America. [Eva Trieger]
The Poignant Dramas of Border Crossers Read More »
Eva Trieger, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — My Mother’s Sabbath Days is a beautiful, fascinating, and eye-opening story by the Yiddish writer Chaim Grade (1910-1982). His name is pronounced gra, as in open your mouth and say ah, and de at the end pronounced as in eh, the word said in surprise. Grade
‘My Mother’s Sabbath Days:’ An Eye-Opening Story by Yiddish Writer Chaim Grade Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish ReligionBy Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — We are thrilled to announce that Michael Mark, a member of our Jewish Poets-Jewish Voices Committee, just won the prestigious Rattle Chapbook Prize for his chapbook, Visiting Her in Queens Is More Enlightening than a Month in a Monastery in Tibet. The poems are all inspired by his mother,
Jewish Poets-Jewish Voices Committee Member Wins Prestigious Prize Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, San Diego County
By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin BOCA RATON, Florida — Jeffry Bloom, a graduate of the University of Chicago who studied in several Orthodox yeshivas (rabbinical schools) in Israel after college, was bothered by what the scholar Leo Strauss wrote in his book Spinoza’s Critique of Religion. Strauss emigrated from Germany to the United States in
Is Judaism the Truth? Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion
By Gedaliah Borvick JERUSALEM — As we are entering into the High Holy Days, in which music plays a major role, let’s focus on one of Israel’s most beloved musicians. Poet, songwriter, composer, and singer Naomi Shemer has streets named after her in almost twenty cities across Israel. And for good reason, as she was
The Power of Music Read More »
Gedaliah Borvick, Israel, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
Since reciting Selihot is done before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and is a significant, often repeated part of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services, and these holidays teach essential lessons, Jews should read this book to become knowledgeable about what tradition understands Selihot is designed to accomplish. (Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin)
The Importance of Selihot Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion
While most of the book is a hoot – imagine creative adults on the floor happily expressing their inner children as they experimented with toy prototypes – there are some very serious, reflective chapters as well. In 1976, a mentally unbalanced employee killed two executives at MGA and wounded three other workers before killing himself. The man had a “hit list” and on it was Breslow, who, to take a phone call, had just stepped out of the meeting room where his two colleagues were slain. Breslow discusses the impact of that horrific event on his life. [Donald H. Harrison]
How Those Children’s Toys and Games Come Into Being Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA
The stand-out actors were Timon and Pumba (played by Tony Freeman and John E Brady), the three hyenas (played by Martina Sykes, Forest VanDyke, and Robbie Swift), and Rafiki the medicine woman baboon (played by Gugwana Dlamini, who also added some powerful African vocals and can be heard on the original movie soundtrack as well). Judging by the audience’s roars at curtain call, there was consensus on these stand-out performances. [Sandi Masori]
Stunning Costumes, Sets Embellish ‘The Lion King’ Read More »
Sandi Masori, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
The prolific San Diego County playwright, Myla Lichtman-Fields, will be traveling to Los Angeles next month, and then to London, England in November to see performances of two of her 16 published plays that have gone global through lulu.com. [Eileen Wingard]
Playwright Myla Lichtman-Fields Scoring in Los Angeles & London Read More »
California, Eileen Wingard, International, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast