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
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
Music Lara Downes is on a mission to celebrate Black composers Lara Downes is the queen of classical music in California. Each weeknight from 8 p.m. to midnight, Downes hosts a program that can be heard in the Bay… By Andrew Esensten Apr 29, 2022
Music Krakow Jewish Culture Fest comes to S.F. The annual Jewish Culture Festival held in Krakow, Poland, is the world’s largest presentation of contemporary culture created by Jews from around the… By Andrew Esensten Apr 28, 2022
Music This soprano wants to 'make Wagner turn over in his grave' Emma McAlister is looking to make the earth move at her graduate recital at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Well, to be more specific, her… By Andrew Gilbert Apr 21, 2022
Theater Beanie Feldstein opens up on ‘incredibly moving’ role in ‘Funny Girl’ “Funny Girl” is so deeply ingrained in Beanie Feldstein’s life that she doesn’t even remember the first time she watched the movie. “From my developmental… By Linda Buchwald, Jewish Week Apr 18, 2022
Theater Can an all-Mormon cast pull off ‘Fiddler on the Roof’? It’s a Saturday morning in mid-November and Peter Morgan is pacing the scuffed wooden floors of the rehearsal room. He’s wearing a scraggly beard and a… By Mira Fox, Forward Apr 12, 2022
Music Jazz clarinetist Anat Cohen brings a taste of Rio to S.F. This article originally appeared in San Francisco Classical Voice on March 21. Republished by permission. For Israeli jazz musicians, New York City is the… By Andrew Gilbert Mar 24, 2022