Tucsonan Gabe Lehrer, left, and Sheldon Donenberg at Camp Ramah in Ojai, Calif., in 2011 Tucsonan Gabe Lehrer is not quite 16, but he is already working on his second professionally recorded CD, as half of the singer-songwriter duo Sheldon and Gabriel. Gabe met Sheldon Donenberg at Camp Ramah in Ojai, Calif., in the summer of 2011. Gabe, the son of Mimi Algazi and… Read more »
The Invisible Theatre will present “My Buddy,” a tribute to comedian Buddy Hackett — starring his son, Sandy Hackett — on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9 at the Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway Blvd. This musical production will reveal stories about Hackett’s relationships with myriad… Read more »
Lori Hunt as Rosalind Franklin in ‘Photograph 51’ at Live Theatre Workshop “Photograph 51,” a play about Jewish scientist Rosalind Franklin, will be staged at Live Theatre Workshop, 5317 E. Speedway Blvd., from Feb. 20 to March 22. Written by Anna Ziegler and directed by Sabian Trout, the production takes on the puzzle of DNA. Franklin, born to an affluent London… Read more »
"Spiraling" by Ira Wiesenfeld Twelve additions to the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s Sculpture Garden will be unveiled on Sunday, March 9, 1-3 p.m. at the opening of the 5th annual Sculpture Garden exhibition, which features the work of artists from Tucson and across the country. “The goal was to find sculptures that would… Read more »
Kristen Fabry as Tzeitel and Damian Garcia as Motel in “Fiddler on the Roof” at Pima Community College (Carol Carder/PCC) Working on Pima Community College’s upcoming production of “Fiddler on the Roof” has been “an absolute joy,” says director Todd Poelstra. “More than anything we’ve done, this event, from the first moment we announced it — it’s just been a positive response. ‘Oh, that’s one of my favorite shows… Read more »
From left to right: John Goodman, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Bob Balaban and Bill Murray star in "The Monuments Men" (Claudette Barius/Columbia Pictures) BOSTON (JTA) — There’s nothing like a star-studded Hollywood movie to shine a light on a little-known piece of history. That’s the hope of Robert Edsel, who wrote the book that inspired “The Monuments Men,” the George Clooney-Matt Damon film that opens Friday in theaters across the country. The… Read more »
Mosab Hassan Yousef, right, is the subject of "The Green Prince" by filmmaker Nadav Schirman, left, a documentary about Yosef's work spying for Israel and his friendship with his Israeli handler Gonen ben Itzhak, center. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images) PARK CITY, Utah (JTA) — Perhaps the most difficult thing about watching the new documentary “The Green Prince” is feeling that you should not be there, that everyone in the theater should be asked to leave before any more Israeli intelligence secrets are divulged. When the Israeli newspaper Haaretz… Read more »
The 2006 kidnapping and murder of Ilan Halimi, who is pictured here, is the subject of a forthcoming feature film from the director Alexandre Arcady. (Courtesy of Stephanie Yin) SAINTE-GENEVIEVE-DES-BOIS, France (JTA) — The phone calls from Africa, the calm demeanor of the suspects and their extreme caution left no doubt in the minds of detectives working the Ilan Halimi case: They were up against an international ring of professional kidnappers. It would be more more than three… Read more »
“Phoenix 1” serigraph by Shraga Weil Congregation Anshei Israel will hold a “Festival of Israeli Art Show and Sale” Feb. 13 to 16 to benefit CAI’s youth and education programs. More than 1,500 works of art by over 100 known and upcoming Israeli artists will be on display. Presented by Safrai Gallery of Israel, the… Read more »
A scene from 'Out in the Dark' The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s LGBT Jewish Inclusion Project is sponsoring a film, “Out in the Dark,” at the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival on Jan. 23. What begins as a tender romance between a privileged Israeli lawyer and a Palestinian student becomes an edge-of your-seat thriller, says… Read more »
Food writer Mark Bittman wants you to eat more plants. (Courtesy photo) NEW YORK (JTA) — Mark Bittman is not a religious man by any stretch of the imagination, least of all his own. A longtime food writer for The New York Times who three years ago shifted from cooking to food policy columnist, Bittman has made a living eating the… Read more »
Linor Abargil in ‘Brave Miss World’ Nearly two dozen films from around the world will be screened at the 23rd annual Tucson International Jewish Film Festival. Running Jan.16 to 25, this year’s program features several international award winners, Arizona premieres and special guests. A pre-festival kickoff is scheduled Sunday, Jan.12 at the Desert View Performing… Read more »
(JTA) — So, you think you know what’s going on in the Jewish world? Test just how closely you followed the year’s news (and remember it) with our end-of year-news quiz. 1. Berlin’s Jewish Museum provoked controversy this year with … a) an exhibit exploring the origins of the… Read more »
Danny Cole will perform at Tucson’s Temple of Music and Art Dec. 28, 2013 with Tucson native Eric Buss and juggling champion Ivan Pecel. Danny Cole has been performing magic since he was 10. Now, at 35, he has more than a dozen magic awards to his credit —starting with the Kleinman Award for Most Promising Young Magician at age 15 — and has performed all over the world, from Toledo, Ohio, to… Read more »
Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman is coming to Tucson on Tuesday, Jan. 14, to play Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Perlman has attained the status of superstar — a rarity for a classical musician. He has brought classical music to audiences worldwide through his presence on concert… Read more »
LoVid's "Retzuot (ShinShin Agam)" is a tefillin-inspired video project. (Courtesy of LoVid, photo by Yoni Maron) NEW YORK (JTA) — Jazz music drifts from speakers down to the cherry wood tables of the West Cafe in Brooklyn as the Israeli artist Nurit Bar-Shai prepares to show examples of her latest work. With deft, freckled hands, she opens a manila envelope and slides three petri dishes… Read more »
Peter Himmelman conducts his Nov. 17 Big Muse seminar in Minneapolis. (Stephen Cohen) MINNEAPOLIS (JTA) — The song piping through the sound system at Creation Audio Recording Studios in Minneapolis is bringing the crowd of 60 local musicians, yarmulke-wearing teens and baby boomers in white sneakers nearly to tears. It’s a recording featuring the soulful baritone of Peter Himmelman performing “This Father’s… Read more »
Itzik Becher Itzik Becher, the new development director of UApresents, started singing in Israel when he was 17. He’s been singing about the arts ever since. After arriving at the University of Arizona in January, Becher discovered that “in Tucson people look at the arts like any other necessity. The arts… Read more »
Liad Shoham TEL AVIV (JTA) – “You and I, we need to have a little talk about sex,” my editor said in a deep voice. I was in the midst of writing my first thriller about a geeky lawyer suspected of murder, and I was waiting for my editor’s verdict about… Read more »
The Klezmatics (L-R): Frank London, Matt Darriau (back), Lisa Gutkin, Lorin Sklamberg, Paul Morrissett The Klezmatics are coming to town for a concert at the Fox Tucson Theatre on Thursday, Dec. 5. Since the band’s formation more than 25 years ago, the Klezmatics have led a renaissance of the Eastern European Jewish music known as klezmer. They have performed in more than 20… Read more »
