Broadway’s new Evan Hansen is an Asian-American with mohel parents By Evelyn Frick, Alma May 19, 2022 In a different world, Asian Jewish actor Zachary Noah Piser would’ve become an Olympic swimmer. “Before the age where everyone started growing, I was like, becoming an Olympic swimmer is my journey. This is my path like 100%,” Piser, 28, told me when we spoke recently. “And then as soon as everyone started hitting puberty,… Read More
History Jewish immigrant story part of new museum on Angel Island Heather Klein recalls being moved to tears of joy when she saw her Jewish grandmother’s story featured in an exhibit at the new Angel Island Immigration… By Larry Sokoloff May 18, 2022
Film Israeli documentary about transgender teens gets virtual screening In honor of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, three Bay Area organizations will present a virtual panel discussion Tuesday… By Andrew Esensten May 16, 2022
Music Unable to film in Ukraine, Eurovision winners made intro video in Israel This year’s Eurovision Song Contest did not go Israel’s way — but even though the country didn’t make it to the final for the first time in six years, it… By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA May 16, 2022
TV Can a new Israeli Netflix series succeed if it flunks history? Freedom fighters, a bombing, an unwanted marriage and a forbidden Sephardi-Ashkenazi affair: “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem,” a new, long-awaited Israeli… By Mira Fox, Forward May 12, 2022
Theater ‘Funny Girl’ snubbed, but ‘Lehman’ stock rises, in Tony nominations Some of the biggest Jewish names on Broadway weren’t shining so bright in this year’s Tony nominations. The much-anticipated revival of “Funny Girl,” with… By Andrew Lapin, JTA May 12, 2022
Theater Cast your vote: Jewish Playwriting Contest comes to Bay Area A family of Jewish women connect over their shared grief and love of baking. A haredi woman adopts a biracial child after her marriage falls apart. A… By Andrew Esensten May 11, 2022
Art Welcome to America’s only Palestinian museum About 80 miles from New York City’s renowned Museum Mile stands a nondescript office building; its beige façade conceals the burst of color waiting just… By Cathryn J. Prince, Forward May 10, 2022
Books Joshua Cohen’s satirical novel ‘The Netanyahus’ wins Pulitzer for fiction The 2022 Pulitzer Prize in fiction went to “The Netanyahus,” a scathing, satirical novel by Brooklyn writer Joshua Cohen that imagines a visit by the… By Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA May 9, 2022