The Arts

Originally Named for Charles Lindbergh, Airport Downplays Connection with the Nazi Sympathizer.

There was a time the San Diego International Airport was known by everyone as Lindbergh Field after the aviator Charles Lindbergh, who spent a lot of time in town overseeing the construction of his airplane, “The Spirit of St. Louis,” by Ryan Aircraft. After the job was completed, Lindbergh made several stops across country en route to New York, including in St. Louis.  This was where donors lived who had financed his plane. Then, on May 21, 1927, Lindbergh, the 25-year-old pilot, completed the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, in the process becoming an international celebrity. If he had simply retired on his laurels at that point in his life, the name “Lindbergh Field” today might still be emblazoned across the airport entrance. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Travel and Food, USA

After 2 Years, Full Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra Plays Together Again

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — What a special treat to hear the entire Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO) playing together again. Under conductor David Amos, TICO undertook an ambitious All-Beethoven program for their first full-orchestra concert after COVID forced their suspension for some two years. Prior to this concert, they have had two

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

H’nai Matov: Brothers Working and Surviving Together

Here is a Holocaust memoir that is so well told that you feel like you are sitting in the room with Harry Lenga, listening to him as he relates the meaningful episodes of his life.  His narrative, as transcribed and edited by his son Scott, is at times folksy, other times philosophical, and always interesting. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History

‘Leonard Bernstein’s New York’ Comes to San Diego

By Eva Trieger CARLSBAD, California — When it comes to ushering in summer, nobody does it better than New Village Arts. Once more, a fine June evening in the bucolic Carlsbad Flower Fields, paired with two of the area’s multi-talented actors, and familiar show tunes that never go out of style! That is definitely a

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Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

A German Catholic Girl Learned of Life as a Persecuted Jew

Sabine Fröhlich grew up a Catholic in Breslau, Germany, but her ancestry was Jewish.  Along with her parents and her older brother Andreas, she was declared to be a Jew according to the Nazis’ bizarre racial classifications.  Like self-identified Jews in Germany, she was systematically excluded from normal life—even the Catholic school which she had attended.  Her parents wisely decided to send her to England, but after they made it across the border to the Netherlands, the family reunited. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History

Book Review: ‘The Plot to Save America’

The book contains two main plots. Most startling and fascinating is the idea that followers of President Trump were able to turn the 2020 election results so that President Trump won a second four year term and changed America into a kind of Nazi country, doing things to the president’s enemies that equaled if not exceeded what the Nazis did. [Rabbi Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., USA

A Prescient Account of Life in Pre-War France

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel —The novel Silbermann by Jacques de Lacretelle, which I read in French, was first published in 1922 It describes the life of a French schoolboy and his relations with a Jewish classmate. The general atmosphere in the school is one of rigid discipline and, as is often the case

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

‘Women of Valor’ Portrays Another 6 Outstanding Women

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — This year’s rendition of Women of Valor was celebrated with six beautifully conceived scripts, written by Ali Veiterbi, who also directed the production, Sarah Price Keating, Becca Myers, and Todd Salovey, Director of the Lipinsky Jewish Arts Festival (JFest). The performances took place Thursday June 9, at the

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Eileen Wingard, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

5 Minute Plays Delightfully Kick Off Summer Theater Season

By Eva Trieger LA JOLLA, California — Last night an eager and appreciative audience gathered for the 7th Annual 5 Minute Play Festival. Thanks to COVID-19, the program had been put on hold since 2020. Normally a slate of ten plays is selected from the over 80 submissions. This year, to include some of those

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Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘Iron’ Locks Onto Mother-Daughter Relationships Under Stress

The past few years have shown us that life can be sad, hard, confusing, and disappointing, but they also revealed that facing hurdles head-on, can deliver greater understanding, compassion, and growth.  Thank you, Roustabouts Producer Phil Johnson and Director Jacole Kitchen for bravely bringing us Rona Monro’s tragic play, Iron. (Eva Trieger)

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Eva Trieger, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Screening American Jewish Diversity

Helene Meyer’s book Movie-Made Jews explores how films mirror and shape the diverse identities embraced by contemporary American Jewry.  Readers of the Jewish feminist magazine Lilith and the Jewish Women’s Archive Blog will be familiar with Meyers’ insightful movie reviews. Here on a bigger canvas, she analyzes documentaries and feature films that venture beyond common cinematic stereotypes of American Jews to dramatize their attitudes towards antisemitism, assimilation, feminism, gender orientation, the Holocaust, Jewish assertiveness, and race relations. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Requiem for the San Diego Rep

I was heartbroken to learn that The San Diego Repertory Theatre, known locally as The Rep, is suspending operations as of June 19, 2022. Performances by Hershey Felder will be relocated to other venues (tbd), but the rest of the lineup has been cancelled and their staff laid off. Reasons for this are many including the pandemic, a flooded theatre space just as things were recovering, noisy construction in the re-invented Horton Plaza, and a parking structure with prices so stiff they seemed designed to drive business away. [Eric George Tauber]

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Eric George Tauber, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

SD Repertory Theatre to Suspend Productions as of June 19, Working to Identify Fiscally Viable Future

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — Solutions are being sought to secure the future of San Diego Repertory Theatre, which has produced intimate, provocative, inclusive theatre for 46 years, and been a key fixture of the San Diego arts community and the national theatre landscape.  San Diego REP is canceling the remaining scheduled productions in 2022

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San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Ishay Ribo Elevates Disability Care With Benefit Concert for ADI

(JNS) As spring gives way to summer, the live music scene is heating up in Jerusalem, and the first must-see concert of the season had an empowering twist. On Monday evening, June 6, international superstar Ishay Ribo played a sold out show at the Jerusalem Theater to benefit ADI Jerusalem, ensuring that the residential, rehabilitative

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Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts