Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Tu B’Shevat celebrated throughout S.D. County

Notwithstanding Sunday’s rain, various celebrations in honor of Tu B’Shevat, the birthday of the trees, were held throughout San Diego County, kicking off a week of observances of what some call “Jewish Arbor Day.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Oscar Predictions for 2020

Think of my predictions as the Oscar version of Real Clear Politics. I compile the predictions made in key Hollywood trade publications to determine the likely winners.  These reflect what insiders know about voting trends among members of the Academy.  I list the favorite and the second most likely if the favorite loses.  Since I have been doing this, my predictions have been right 90 % of the time.  [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Lawrence Baron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

The making of an international Jewish film festival

  Other items in today’s column include: * A graveyard film inspired the SDIJFF chair * Political bytes * Coming our way * Recommended reading By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – You can tell a lot about any of the 35 movies to be shown at the 30th annual San Diego International Film Festival

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

1 actor plays 12 of the play’s 13 characters

urder For Two by Joe Kinosian (Book and Music) and Kellen Blair (Book and Lyrics) stars Tony Houck as all the suspects (count about 12) in a killing we don’t see.  Marcus Moscowic co-stars as JD Dumas, the wannabe detective who wants to solve the who-dun-it. Both enter. Marcus starts playing a four handed overture that ends with a BANG. Yup! A murder, maybe two, has been committed at the residence of Arthur Whitney, The Grand American Novelist. [Carol Davis]

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Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Nobody gets past the Schwartz!

Just as the Oscars have a category for “Best Supporting Actor,” I think the NFL might want to consider an award for Best Supporting Player.  In this game, to my mind, there was none better than offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz, who so far as I know was the only Jewish player in the contest. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Planning for San Carlos neighborhood eruv

Young Israel of San Diego, located in a small shopping center at 7291 Navajo Road, is exploring the possibility of erecting an eruv, which under halacha, Jewish law, extends the area of people’s homes, enabling Shabbat-observant Jews to carry packages or push baby carriages with the eruv’s boundaries. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

‘Matilda The Musical’ hits high notes

Coronado Playhouse is presenting through Feb. 23 Broadway’s Matilda The Musical with book by Dennis Kelly and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin. It is certain to be one of the all-time family entertainment productions here as it hits all the high notes while pointing out that wisdom is not necessarily reserved for “adults only.” [Carol Davis]

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Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

The world according to 11-year-olds

some of the ‘stuff’ said by character’s ‘A’ -Timothy L. Cabal and ‘M’ – Nancy Ross (the two adults playing the eleven-year olds in the West Coast Premiere of “Red Bike” at Moxie Theatre through Feb. 16th) , brought me back to an old TV Show -“Kids Say The Darndest Things.” … But these kids are not saying just the darndest things. They are looking at their world and their decaying community/low wage-earning parents, and the old bus driver who will one-day die on the job, through a different lens than those who are living the American Dream. [Carol Davis]

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Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

China jumps into basketball in ‘The Great Leap’

When I first read the premise for The Great Leap, I imagined an errant ball hitting a patron in the third row. No need to worry. Even though there is a hoop hanging over the middle of the house, they only mime those shots. Projection Designer Blake McCarty presents a flowing river of images of basketball games, newsreel footage and stills of party propaganda that sweep us into playwright Lauren Yee’s complex, bi-cultural world. [Eric George Tauber]

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Eric George Tauber, International, San Diego County, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Movie, play offer gripping Holocaust stories

The film 1945 and the play The Class give new meaning to the phrase “bad neighbor.” These very relevant works of performance art were among those highlighted at the 5th Kisufim (Hebrew for “longings”) conference held at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem, in November. This year’s topic was: “Writing, Memory and Vision” and it was produced in partnership with the Zalman Shazar Center, the Hebrew Writers Association, and the Matanel Foundation, among others. [Toby Klein Greenwald]

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International, Jewish History, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Toby Klein Greenwald

‘Jitney’ evokes laughter, suspense

Their patter and body language have an expressive musicality that’s really fun to watch and listen to. They enjoy the playful camaraderie of old friends who don’t need to be polite. Raised in the Black church, their patter is peppered with Biblical allusions such as the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, the stolen birthright of Esau and Daniel in the Lions’ Den. [Eric George Tauber]

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

‘A Hidden Life’ and ‘The Sound of Music’

Opposition to Nazi power is a theme of two stories set in the Austrian Alps. The musical The Sound of Music by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II featuring the von Trapp Family Singers appeared on Broadway in 1959. The 1965 film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer broke Gone with the Wind box office records. It ran 174 minutes and won five Academy awards. The sound track sold over 20 million albums. It was loved. [Oliver B. Pollak]

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International, Oliver Pollak, Theatre, Film & Broadcast