The Arts

Joni Sledge, of ‘We Are Family’ group Sister Sledge, dies at 60

Joni Sledge, who belonged to the four-sister disco-era group Sister Sledge, best known for its No. 1 hit “We Are Family,” died Friday at her home in Phoenix, a spokeswoman for the group announced. She was 60. No cause of death has been announced. “Yesterday, numbness fell upon our family,” said the Sledges in a […]

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials

Richard Gere: Cigar gifts ‘no big deal‘ if Netanyahu makes peace

In Israel, Hollywood star says disgraced ex-PM Olmert was ‘a friend of mine’; compares PM, US president: ‘It’s all deals to them’ By Sue Surkes Richard Gere attends opening night of the Miami Film Festival on March 3, 2017 in Miami, Florida. (Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images/AFP) Hollywood movie star and veteran peace campaigner Richard Gere weighed

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Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Barack and Michelle Obama were spotted in NYC having lunch with a famous musician

Barack and Michelle Obama were spotted having lunch at a New York City eatery with U2 frontman and activist Bono. The trio was seen at the Upland restaurant in Manhattan, an establishment that the former president has frequented in the past. During the outing, the former first lady was dressed stylishly in black pants, a

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

In Israel, everyone knows Richard Gere’s ‘Norman’

Director Joseph Cedar insists the character — though evocative of his uncle, whose cash-stuffed envelopes landed Olmert in prison — isn’t based on anyone in particular By Jessica Steinberg To Israelis, the premise of Josheph Sedar’s latest film might seem achingly familiar: It tells the story of a New York Jew who does exorbitant favors

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Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

This spicy Chilean Jewish singer is hot in Korea

Heard on television and in movies, Yael Meyer’s English and Spanish songs rack up millions of views in the most unexpected places By Lisa Klug LOS ANGELES — Singer-songwriter Yael Meyer is a 21st century fusion. The long-necked, doe-eyed native Chilean sings with a measured sweetness in English and Spanish while gracefully wielding her electric

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International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Fred Weintraub, who financed ‘Woodstock’ and helped discover Bruce Lee, dies at 88

Were it not for the renegade work of club owner, Hollywood producer and self-described showman Fred Weintraub, the lives of Bruce Lee, Frankie Valli, Neil Diamond, Richard Pryor and Woody Allen, to say nothing of the mud-encrusted hippies Weintraub captured in the film “Woodstock,” might have taken other turns. Weintraub died Sunday, leaving a legacy

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Obituaries & memorials, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

President Rivlin sings with Arab Hebrew teacher who went viral

President Reuven Rivlin and his wife Nehama hosted at the Presidential residence on Wednesday a teacher named Jeehan Jaber from the Ibn Sina school in Taibe. The president and Jaber called on Arab citizens of Israel to study Hebrew and for Jewish citizens to study Arabic. Jaber was accompanied by Taibe mayor Shuea Masrawa Mantzur,

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Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Five megillot are examined in ‘Textual Tapestries’

Textual Tapestries: Explorations of the Five Megillot by Gabriel H Cohn (Translated from the Hebrew by David Strauss), Maggid Books, New Milford, CT, © 2016, ISBN 978-1-59264-398-1, p. 433, $29.95 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – The Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, is divided into three broad sections: Torah, the Five Books of Moses; Nevi’im, the prophets;

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish Religion

Hollywood star demands Israel divide Jerusalem, end ‘occupation’

Hollywood A-lister Richard Gere, who portrayed King David in the eponymously titled 1985 film and is perhaps best remembered for his lead roles in An Officer and a Gentleman, Pretty Woman, and Runaway Bride, is set to land in Israel later on Tuesday. But while the actor”s past visits to the Jewish state received warm

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Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

4th Native Women in Film Festival Highlights Anti-Pipeline Cause

Winona at an informational meeting about the Enbridge pipelines Sandpiper and Line 3. (Photo: Keri Pickett)[dc]O[/dc]jibwe Nation tribal member Winona LaDuke – Ralph Nader’s vice presidential candidate on the Green Party ticket in 2000 – appeared Feb. 23 at the 4th Native Women in Film Festival, where an anti-pipeline documentary about…

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Hugh Laurie in Israel to address TV conference

Former ‘House’ star joined by TV heavyweights from CNN, FOX, and HBO for 2-day Jerusalem event By Jacob Magid Hugh Laurie gives his acceptance speech for the Golden Globe he won for Best Supporting Actor on January 8, 2017. (Screen capture/YouTube) Acclaimed British actor Hugh Laurie arrived in Israel Sunday, and met with President Reuven

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Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Robert Osborne, movie connoisseur and host of Turner Classic Movies, dies at 84

Robert Osborne, who displayed an encyclopedic knowledge — and love — of films and film history as the primary host of Turner Classic Movies, has died in New York, the network said Monday. He was 84. Osborne was a former longtime columnist for the Hollywood Reporter and the author of the official history of the

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Obituaries & memorials, Theatre, Film & Broadcast