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"Passing for Jewish" in The American Theatre

If you’ve worked in theatre, ever been to the theatre, or just know a song from Fiddler on the Roof , you probably know that Jews and Theatre go together like matzah balls and chicken soup. It is a rare production that does not happen to boast a few actors, stage managers, designers, and indeed audience members of Jewish heritage. But equally as important, Jewish stories are often part of many theatres’ seasons each year. Plays as varied as The Chosen , Ragtime , The Diary of Anne Frank , The Whipping Man , Driving Miss Daisy , Bad Jews , and yes Fiddler are often staples at theatres both large and small each year—and certainly that is the case here in Chicago. Joshua Harmon’s play Bad Jews has in fact been one of the most produced plays in the US every theatre season since the play premiered in 2012. So, when a theatre company decides to do one of these plays and has to make decisions on hiring actors, directors, or other artists for that production, should the reality of wh...
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Bullied Into Belief

I have a confession to make... I'm one of those obnoxious millennials who posts facebook statuses in favor of presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, with hashtags like #FeelTheBern #PoliticalRevolution #BernBabyBern. But while I the majority of my posts in this arena have been about the positive attributes and policies of Bernie, a few have been directed at the record, practices, and actions of his contender in this primary, Hillary Clinton. Now before any Hillary supporters reading this gets their leiderhosen all in a bunch, I would like to make very clear that  I WILL CERTAINLY VOTE FOR CLINTON IN THE ELECTION SHOULD SHE GET THE NOMINATION.  There's no doubt that the republican alternatives are across the board insidious, dangerous, and, in my opinion, wrongheaded ideologues. Even the most seemingly moderate of the bunch, Ohio Governor Jon Kasich, has spearheaded a disgusting legislative attack on women's health centers and planned parenthood centers across his st...
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Katrina Anniversary SPAM

When you get an email from the President and CEO of a respected publication like The Atlantic —you answer it. Or so I thought... But after flying from Chicago at the crack of dawn to attend The Atlantic ’s “Katrina: 10 Years Later” conference at the Sheraton in New Orleans, I find myself wishing I had labelled the message as spam . I should have recognized the signs: a generic email with only slight attempt at personal touch (“you would add so much to the conversation”), the REGISTER HERE link at the bottom of her digital signature, and the fact that I had no clue where they acquired my information. And yet, I admit, I was a bit struck with the idea that maybe—just maybe —this was a personal email that just had the detached touch of a successful magazine CEO. I thought maybe my work as an artist and a vocal New Orleanian had made me, in some sense, worthy to be invited. But what I found out was that I was just there to fill seats. Which was disappointing considering that...
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