September 28, 2008
We attended a Sunday afternoon performance of “To Paint the Earth,” about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Inspired by first-hand accounts of the Jewish Underground in the Warsaw Ghetto, To Paint the Earth explores how a broken community was brought to one of history’s most stunning and inexplicable decisions — to fight a last battle they had no chance of winning.
Following the performance, a group of us went to a nearby cafe to discuss the play, and hang out.
”To Paint the Earth” starred one of our own members, Lauren Lebowitz. Lauren is also the writer and assistant director.
The musical won the prestigious 2004 Richard Rodgers Development Award, chosen by a committee chaired by Stephen Sondheim.
August 14, 2007
We attended a performance of fellow member Joan Fishman’s one-woman play, “Walking in His Footsteps”. This very personal, semi-autobiographical play is based on Joan’s childhood experiences with her grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, who never spoke of the fate of his family during the war.
After the show, we joined Joan and other group members at a nearby lounge for a post-discussion.
More About the Show: The play was selected to be part of the NYC Fringe Festival that began August 10th. The play’s main content is about Joan’s looking into the past to find clues about her grandfather’s mysterious history: growing up as a Jew in Lithuania, escaping the fate of his family during the Holocaust, meeting her grandmother in a Displaced Persons camp in Munich, and coming to America to start a new life. Yiddish text and song, as well as evocative images projected on a screen are all part of the performance.
NY-based writer Malka Percal recently wrote on her blog “Jewess” about Joan. In the interview, they discussed the play, her other work and 3GNY. Jewess is a blog about Jewish women’s issues.
April 19, 2007
A group of us met up at Helen’s Restaurant in Chelsea to see a performance unlike anything we’ve seen: Kleynkunst! Warsaw’s brave and brilliant Yiddish Cabaret. As Generation X and Y’ers, we rarely experience Yiddish in forms like cinema, theater or Klezmer, let alone cabaret. The songs, in both Yiddish and English, offered us a glimpse of one of the most unique periods in Jewish history. Spanning the 20s and 30s, Yiddish Cabaret reflected the sophistication, as well as the politics and changing social status of Warsaw’s Jews.
In the Warsaw Ghetto, Jews, imprisoned, starved and faced with death, showed their will to live by clandestinely putting on cabaret shows. This was a form of resistance, alongside the armed resistance that began soon after. In fact, this show was performed in honor of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which began on the same date, 64 years ago. Following the performance, we were able to meet and talk with the performers, Rebecca Joy Fletcher and Stephen Mo Hanan.
For two wonderful reviews of Kleynkunst, please read 3GNY’s Rivka Schiller’s reviews in the Yiddish Forward, from February 16, 2007 and March 2, 2007.
July 26, 2006
Thanks to everyone from the group who made it to this performance of “A Jew Grows in Brooklyn”.
Also, thanks for taking part in the special Q&A with Jake Ehrenreich after the show. We look forward to seeing everyone at future events.
