Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Streisand’s difficult rise to fame catapulted by face-off with anti-Semitism

That Barbra Streisand is a woman of many “firsts” is indisputable. Streisand is one of the best-selling music artists of all time and the only recording artist to have a number-one album in each of the last six decades. With “Yentl” in 1983, she became the first woman to write, produce, direct and star in

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Jesse Williams talks racism, equality and why black lives matter in powerful BET Awards speech

LOS ANGELES — Jesse Williams made explicit what so much of this year’s BET Awards has been trying to imply: Things are different now, and so much of black America is fed up. The “Grey’s Anatomy” actor, teacher and producer/star of BET’s “Stay Woke” documentary delivered arguably one of the most searing speeches in the

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

‘Stop whitewashing history!’ Thousands sign petition to stop Leonardo DiCaprio from playing Rumi

A petition to stop Leonardo DiCaprio from playing Persian poet Rumi in an upcoming biopic is gaining traction online, as thousands of supporters urge the Islamic scholar be played by a Middle Eastern actor. The petition calls the casting choice proposed by the film’s screenwriter and producer “both ludicrous and offensive,” and says by starring

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International, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Strange happenings and strange choices in ‘MacBeth’

Stars, hide your fires;  Let not light see my black and deep desires. By Eric George Tauber SAN DIEGO–My guest shot me a look when I dared utter the name “Macbeth” as we took our seats at the Old Globe’s Summer Shakespeare Festival. “Oh no,” he intoned, “now somebody’s going to die.” “Don’t we all?”

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Eric George Tauber, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

June 28 play, lecture to augment ‘The Unfinished Diary’

SAN DIEGO — Feivel Wolgelernter, whose father Chaim Yitzchok Wolgelernter wrote the The Unfinished Diary: A Chronicle of Tears, which detailed his experiences hiding in Dzialoszyce, Poland from the German Nazis, will speak at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 28, at Congregation Adat Yeshurun, 8625 La Jolla Scenic Drive North. Feivel’s talk will be followed by a

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, San Diego Calendar, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Brian Williams of MSNBC covers Trump speech savaging Brian Williams

That was one awkward moment for cable news channel MSNBC and anchor Brian Williams during their coverage of Donald Trump’s speech Wednesday attacking the record of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in New York. At one point, Mr. Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, lit into Mrs. Clinton for claiming to have come under fire during a

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Hollywood star explores ancient Jerusalem in City of David

The ancient City of David welcomed a high-profile guest on Wednesday, when Oscar, Emmy, and Tony award-winning British actress Helen Mirren toured archeological sites in Jerusalem with Mayor Nir Barkat. Mirren, who has been chosen to award this year”s Genesis Prize, has a long history of interest in the Jewish state. The Genesis Prize honors

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Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘A Jewish Joke’ is a story of the McCarthy era

By Eric George Tauber SAN DIEGO — As the McCarthy Era recedes into history, we lose sight of the days when “patriots” thought they were protecting our sacred American freedom by denying people their First, Fifth and Sixth Amendment Constitutional Rights. HUAC (The House Un-American Activities Committee) led by Senator Joe McCarthy was a national

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Eric George Tauber, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Yelchin of ‘Star Trek’ fame killed in accident

(JNS.org) Russian-Jewish actor Anton Yelchin, who played the Russian starship navigator Chekov in the rebooted series of “Star Trek” movies, died Sunday after being accidentally crushed by his own vehicle against a driveway wall, police said. The 27-year-old Yelchin was born in St. Petersburg and emigrated to America as a child under political refugee status

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Musical scores save many a movie

By Jonathan L. Friedmann, Ph.D. MORENO VALLEY, California — Jerry Goldsmith, a top film composer of the second half of the twentieth century, regularly worked on projects unworthy of his artistic expression. His filmography includes over two hundred titles, along with a hefty body of television work. Much of it is stale genre fare: thrillers, westerns, maritime

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast