THE PODCAST THAT GIVES A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON JEWISH CULTURE
JR OUTLOUD
Daniella Isaacs and Ramzi DeHani talk to JR's arts editor Judi Herman in the busy bar at the Tricycle after their performance.
Come In! Sit Down! runs until Sunday 2 August. 7.30pm & 3pm. £13. The Tricycle Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Rd, NW6 7JR; 020 7328 1000. tricycle.co.uk
With exactly a month left to go and see this glorious exhibition, Judi Herman takes listeners on an audio tour with curator Elizabeth Selby to whet appetites. There are dresses from different decades – Edwardian, flapper and home-made wartime austerity. There are invitations, menus and even dance cards. There’s a range of ketubot (Jewish marriage certificates) from different eras and from plain to highly decorated. There’s a gallery of glamorous photo portraits of happy couples by Boris – the doyen of wedding photographers – and of course his giant camera is on display too. There’s even a chance to stand under the chupah (Jewish wedding canopy)! Judi Herman got to do just that, as she and Elizabeth Selby explored the fascinating history of weddings within the Jewish community from the 1880s to the mid-20th century. So even if you can’t make it to the exhibition, this tour will make you feel as if you too have been invited to the wedding!
For Richer For Poorer: Weddings Unveiled runs until 31 May. Jewish Museum, 129-131 Albert Street, NW1 7NB; 020 7284 7384. jewishmuseum.org.uk
See pictures from For Richer For Poorer – Weddings Unveiled on the JR blog. [link to blog]
As Joshua Harmon's dangerous, yet funny debut play, Bad Jews, enjoys its third successful run – the second in London – at the Arts Theatre, Judi Herman caught up with cast members Jenna Augen (Daphna) and Ilan Goodman (Liam) to talk about battling it out live on stage.
Bad Jews runs until Saturday 30 May. 7.30pm & 2.30pm (Thu/Sat ony). £20-£49.50. Arts Theatre, Great Newport St, WC2H 7JB; 020 7836 8463. www.artstheatrewestend.co.uk
Read our review of Bad Jews. [link to blog]
Mahogany Opera Group’s critically-acclaimed production of Hans Krása’s Brundibár – the 1938 short children’s opera famously performed in the World War II concentration camp Terezin (German Theresienstadt) – heads to Watford Palace Theatre this weekend. So Judi Herman sat in on a rehearsal and met with the director Frederic Wake-Walker, conductor Alice Farnham and two of the 40-odd talented children recruited for these performances; nine-year-old Erin Daniels, who plays Aninku and 14-year-old Ethan George, who plays her brother Pepíček. Brundibár the evil organ grinder thwarts them in their attempt to raise money by busking to buy milk for their sick mother – until some clever animals come to their aid, enlisting the help of the town’s children. It’s a story of the triumph of the poor and powerless over the big, strong and ruthless that resonated throughout the camp – which is just as powerful today.
Brundibár runs Saturday 18 – Sunday 19 April in Watford and Sunday 28 June in Norwich. 7pm (Sat), 3pm (Sun). £10, £8 children. Watford Palace Theatre, 20 Clarendon Rd, WD17 1JZ; 019 2323 5455. www.watfordpalacetheatre.co.uk 2pm. £10, £6 concs. Norwich Playhouse, NR3 1AB; 016 0359 8598. norwichplayhouse.co.uk
For more on Brundibár, read Judi Herman’s interview with Holocaust survivor Ela Weissberger, who created the role of the Cat in the original production in Terezin. [link to blog]
As flagged up in the January 2015 issue of Jewish Renaissance, you can now listen to more of Kerry Shale talking to Judi Herman about performing his live stage recreation of Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner’s legendary double act, from the albums on which an interviewer questions a man who has seen the entire history of civilisation – and gives his replies in a thick Yiddish accent! You’ll also hear from Chris Neill, who will be ‘channelling’ interviewer Carl Reiner to Kerry’s Mel Brooks as the 2000 Year Old Man himself. We've also got a sneak preview of the show for you, with Kerry and Chris listening on cleverly concealed earbuds to Brooks and Reiner to reproduce their personas.
The 2000 Year Old Man runs from Monday 9 – Sunday 22 March. 8pm. £6.50-£12.50. JW3, 341-351 Finchley Rd, NW3 6ET; 020 7433 8988. www.jw3.org.uk
